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Oracle considered buying RIM or Palm to get into the smartphone game

Oracle considered buying RIM or Palm to get into the smartphone game

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The long-awaited Oracle / Google trial is finally underway, and the Wall Street Journal just reported on some pieces of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's testimony, including the fact that his company considered purchasing RIM or Palm as a means to get into the mobile phone marketplace.

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Oracle

The long-awaited Oracle / Google trial is finally underway, and the Wall Street Journal just reported on some pieces of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's testimony, including the fact that his company considered purchasing RIM or Palm as a means to get into the mobile phone marketplace. Ultimately, RIM was deemed too expensive at the time, and we all know that Palm was snapped up by HP. Additionally, Reuters is reporting that Oracle also considered partnering with an Android manufacturer like Samsung, but didn't note why that didn't come to pass — Ellison simply said that it was a "bad idea" to try and compete with Apple and Google. Ellison also testified that he tried to convince Larry Page and Eric Schmidt to make Android "compatible with the industry standard version of Java," but he didn't have any luck on that front. Page also had some noteworthy comments (that were pre-recorded from an earlier deposition) — he noted that Google had considered working with Microsoft to use its mobile software rather than use Java.

Page's deposition also revealed that Google did consider licensing Java at one point, saying that "there were deals discussed to where we were going to make payments." Not to be left out, Judge William Alsup started the day by reminding everyone that the case centered around a relatively small piece of intellectual property, urging everyone involved to remember that the case "is not Java versus Android." This trial's just getting started and we're already learning some interesting secrets about these companies — Larry Page just finished giving his live testimony, and we'll have details from that very soon.