Its Official TCL Communications/ALCATEL OneTouch to create a new Palm Inc, US based company.

TCL Communications, the parent company of Alcatel OneTouch, today confirmed to Phone Scoop that it has acquired the Palm brand and plans to revive the failed tech company. 

"We are interested in the brand because we believe the brand has value," said TCL CEO George Guo. "It was once a very strong brand and there are many fans of this brand around the world, including people at TCL." 

TCL intends to resurrect Palm with new hardware, software, and services -- but not on its own. It will ask the community to contribute ideas for potential new devices, operating systems, and apps. It will commit engineers and its manufacturing resources to the project, but hopes much of the R&D will come from the tech community at large. 

TCL said it hasn't worked out the details of how this community-driven revival will function, but it is confident it can restore luster to the brand. "Palm was an original pioneer and we want to keep it that way. 

We want to attract the people who have ideas on how to revive the brand in a meaningful way." Guo shot down the idea of using webOS, which is owned by LG, and ran on the Palm Pre, Pixi, and other phones. 

"We are open to all ideas, but probably not webOS," said Guo. "Palm built by Palm fans is the intent." TCL expects to eventually offer both Alcatel- and Palm-branded products in the US. TCL said it couldn't comment on the terms of the acquisition. It will provide more details as they are developed.

Palm brand has always been synonymous with innovation throughout its history. As such it has consistently acted as a pioneer of mobile technologies. Now is the time to revive and bring back this pioneer spirit.

To do so, TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited ("TCL Communication" or the "Company" which, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as the "Group"; is very proud to announce that it will create a new Palm Inc., a US-based company that will take ownership of the Palm brand. New Palm Inc. will remain a truly Californian, Silicon Valley, based company leveraging on the talents and partnerships of the area.

What we understand is that TCL/ALCATEL OneTouch wants to make a new mobile OS (maybe) consulting to before and actual Palm phones owners and developers to make something totally new according to what the consumer wants NOW adding what was missing on before Palm devices. 

Press Release:

TCL Communication co-(re)creates Palm

(LAS VEGAS, January 6 2015) – Palm brand has always been synonymous with innovation throughout its history. As such it has consistently acted as a pioneer of mobile technologies. Now is the time to revive and bring back this pioneer spirit.

To do so, TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited ("TCL Communication" or the "Company" which, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as the "Group"; is very proud to announce that it will create a new Palm Inc., a US-based company that will take ownership of the Palm brand. New Palm Inc. will remain a truly Californian, Silicon Valley, based company leveraging on the talents and partnerships of the area.

Palm has always carried a lot of affect and emotions. That's why TCL has set the direction to rebuild the brand involving Palm's very own community, making it the largest scale crowd-sourced project ever seen in the industry.

The objective goes far beyond proposing a more advanced device. It is to deliver absolute breakthrough innovations in Technology, Design, User Experience, Eco-system, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Business Models.

Palm will be fully supported by the various assets of TCL Communication:

• A best in class R & D organization, rich with 5000 engineers across 7 R&D centers around the globe
• The most modern and efficient mobile devices manufacturing facility
• A top level quality record recognized by the global tier 1 carriers and retailers around the world
• A cutting-edge supply chain ready for the flexibility required by the market today
• A global network already serving more than 170 countries and the most demanding customers of the industry with local Sales, Marketing and Technical teams

The exact timeline of the roll-out of the Palm project will be communicated at a later date.

TCL Communication, the 5th largest global handsets vendor, is operating globally under the ALCATEL ONETOUCH brand and TCL brand. It has already reached breakthrough positions, in multiple regions of the world.

During the past 3 years, TCL Communication has evolved from a leading position in feature phones to a top player in Smart Devices with a comprehensive portfolio of Smartphones, Tablets, IoT, Wearables, Mobile Routers. Today the company is adding new dimensions to its legacy hardware capabilities, turning itself into a true mobile Internet player with applications and cloud services in areas such as health care, education, smart home, video conferencing, music, etc.`

About TCL Communication

TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited ("TCL Communication" or the "Company"; HKSE stock code: 02618) together with its subsidiaries (collectively the "Group") designs, manufactures and markets an expanding portfolio of mobile and internet products worldwide under two key brands -- ALCATEL ONETOUCH and TCL. The Group's portfolio of products is currently sold in China and over 170 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, TCL Communication operates its highly efficient manufacturing plant and R&D centers in various provinces of the PRC. It employs over 16,000 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and overseas.

TCL Communication is one of the few companies in Hong Kong or mainland China who owns or licenses 2G, 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G and 4G-patented technologies. It is also able to independently develop products and solutions for the GSM, GPRS, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, TDSCDMA and LTE. For more information, please visit its website at http://tclcom.tcl.com

For further information, please contact:

iPR Ogilvy & Mather

James Wong / Candy Tam / Stephanie Fung

Tel: +852-3920-7642 / 3920-7626 / 3920-7645

Fax: +852-3170-6606

Email: tclcom@iprogilvy.com

SOURCE TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited

prnewswire via webosnation and phonescoop

CES 2015: Embracing Open Innovation, ALCATEL ONETOUCH Announces Their Innovation Accelerator For North America.

Expanding Their Innovation Program Launched In Europe in Early 2014, The Innovation Accelerator Comes To North America; Based In San Francisco. "Our company is driven by ground up innovation, and our accelerator program will allow us to embrace open innovation to identify those next great ideas to help bring greater connectivity and engagement to the masses," Steve Cistulli, Senior Vice President of North America for ALCATEL ONETOUCH. "We've successfully proven this concept in Europe with our accelerator program launched early last year, and now thanks to our partnership with PRIME, we look forward to unlocking new opportunities to partner with innovative startups that want to bring new technology to a global market." For participating developers and startups, they'll have a unique go-to-market opportunity with ALCATEL ONETOUCH, backed by TCL Communication, one of the world's largest and fastest growing mobile device manufacturers. This opportunity will unlock access to mobile operators worldwide, as well as provide access to ALCATEL ONETOUCH's resources, including R&D, testing, engineering and executives. Participants will also have the chance to scale globally, via ALCATEL ONETOUCH's worldwide network of suppliers, customers and partners. The key component of the ALCATEL ONETOUCH Innovation Accelerator is the open and flexible environment for collaboration. By expanding this program toNorth America, ALCATEL ONETOUCH is looking for real and sustainable relationships, giving participating developers and startups the opportunity to freely shape the look and feel of this engagement. "We're very excited to partner with ALCATEL ONETOUCH in expanding this innovation program from Europe to North America," said Patrick Consorti, Open Innovation Director at PRIME San Francisco. "Bringing greater access to innovation and technology is at the heart of PRIME's mission, which is why we align so perfectly with ALCATEL ONETOUCH and their philosophy of bringing affordable smart technology to a global mass market." 2015 AT&T DEVELOPER SUMMIT HACKATHONAs part of the lead into the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, ALCATEL ONETOUCH is sponsoring a hackathon challenge at the AT&T Developer Summit being held January 3-5 at Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The challenge is focused on bridging the technology gap in education, bringing greater connectivity and usability of tablets in the classroom. You can find out more information on the Hackathon and ALCATEL ONETOUCH challenge here:https://devsummit.att.com/hackathon. Additionally, ALCATEL ONETOUCH is also running a more expansive Challenge aimed at identifying the inaugural class of developers and startups to join their Innovation Accelerator in San Francisco. With this program, ALCATEL ONETOUCH aims to create valuable partnerships and innovate with developers and startups active in creating new hardware, mobile application and connected device solutions. Participants should already be past the proof of concept stage, with an innovative product or service ready to be scaled and brought to a global mass market. Challenge applications are being accepted now through January 28, 2015. For more information about the ALCATEL ONETOUCH Innovation Accelerator, or to take part in the innovation challenge, visitwww.ALCATELONETOUCHAccelerator.com. About ALCATEL ONETOUCHALCATEL ONETOUCH is simple, unexpected, down to earth, irreverent and colorful. We believe that what makes technology smart is what you can do with it rather than what it can do. ALCATEL ONETOUCH is a brand within TCL Communication, an international multicultural company which designs, develops, and markets globally a growing range of mobile and Internet devices. TCL Communication is a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2618.HK) and part of TCL Corporation one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world. ALCATEL ONETOUCH is a SMART MOVE. For more information, please visit http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/usa/. About PRIME PRIME, with offices in San Francisco and Boston, is a transatlantic innovation platform offering services and programs fostering technology partnerships with institutes of research, R&D department of large corporations, connecting corporations with innovative startups. PRIME is the US subsidiary of the Paris Region Entreprises, the economic development agency of Paris Region. PRIME has a sister company, the French Tech Hub, the largest growth accelerator for French high tech companies in the U.S. For more information, please visit www.innovation-prime.com. SOURCE ALCATEL ONETOUCH

CES 2015: ALCATEL ONETOUCH unveiling the PIXI 3 series smartphones and the WATCH series.

No Palm branded phones by ALCATEL ONETOUCH to show at CES 2015 but:

With a series of announcements at the International CES, ALCATEL ONETOUCH, one of the world's largest smartphone brands, makes good on its commitment to offer the latest technological innovations to all. The brand's new PIXI smartphones make mobile Internet available to everyone, while offering another innovative feature of OS-agnostic. It is available with Firefox, Windows or Android, providing the flexibility to all consumers. What's more? The smartly priced WATCH creates a newly attainable smartwatch category. 4G LTE at an affordable price First among ALCATEL ONETOUCH's announcements at CES, the smartphone brand is launching its affordable PIXI 3 series, ranging from a pocket-friendly 3.5-inch display to a larger 5-inch display. Offering both 3G and 4G LTE connectivity for the PIXI 3 (4"), (4.5") and (5") and 3G for the PIXI 3 (3.5"), the PIXI 3 series further features easy customization and the most popular applications pre-loaded. OS-agnostic - Firefox, Windows or Android Besides being the first among the PIXIs to offer 4G, the PIXI 3 series is also first to be compatible with three major operating systems: Firefox, Windows and Android. "Our users do not want complicated systems -- they want something familiar from their work environment in the office, but also on a smartphone," said ALCATEL ONETOUCH Chief Marketing Officer Dan Dery. Cross-device integration, from smartphones through to PCs. PIXI 3 series offers consumers simplicity of use and the reassurance of having the same system at home, at the office and on the go. With its OS-agnostic PIXI 3 series, ALCATEL ONETOUCH presents operating-system choices to its customers. This continues the efforts begun last year, when the brand teamed with Mozilla to launch the Firefox OS on its FIRE series of smartphones. A Smartwatch at a Smart Price It looks like a watch and feels like a watch but it's much smarter than that. ALCATEL ONETOUCH introduces the WATCH series, a smartwatch that puts a premium on elegant design at a very accessible price. In launching the WATCH, ALCATEL ONETOUCH creates a new market segment: the affordable smartwatch. Offering the WATCH at a fraction of the cost of competitors, the smartphone brand has implemented its compact design expertise to offer a series of fine finishing that meet the demands of everyone looking for the same look and feel as a traditional watch. While offering choices and styles, the WATCH is also packed with sensors and apps that allow users to monitor daily activity, and connects to Android smartphones to control music, take photos, receive notifications and more. A Blast of Color: ALCATEL ONETOUCH's Interactive Booth Visitors to ALCATEL ONETOUCH's CES booth will not only be able to test the brand's products but also really get in the game with activities such as the Interactive Color Run. Color Run is a five-kilometer race during which runners are doused with color at every kilometer. In this virtual version, a video wall will display landscape at a scrolling speed that matches the runner's speed. To win points, players will be able to throw colored sand at the images of other people as they run. Four different smartwatch functions will also display onscreen. Stop by our booth #9829 at the International CES. Media Contacts Fran Tam - ALCATEL ONETOUCH - Global +852 3180 2831 - fran.tam@tcl.com Jason Gerdon - ALCATEL ONETOUCH - N. America +1 949 245 9913 - jason.gerdon@alcatelonetouch.com Codi Dugas - Ogilvy Public Relations +33 1 53 67 12 91 - codi.dugas@ogilvy.com About ALCATEL ONETOUCH ALCATEL ONETOUCH is simple, unexpected, down to earth, irreverent and colorful. We believe that what makes technology smart is what you can do with it rather than what it can do. ALCATEL ONETOUCH is a brand within TCL Communication, an international multicultural company which designs, develops, and markets globally a growing range of mobile and Internet devices. TCL Communication is a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2618.HK) and part of TCL Corporation one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world. ALCATEL ONETOUCH is a SMART MOVE. For more information, please visit http://www.alcatelonetouch.com.