Nokia announces intention to acquire Palm?

Palm has been the subject of lots of acquisition-related rumors this year, thanks in large part to the positive buzz associated with the Palm Pre. The smartphone wowed the world when it was demonstrated at CES in January, and reportedly sold well at launch in early June.

Earlier, the Standard's Prediction Market published a prediction that has Dell acquiring Palm before the end of the year. The community sentiment for that outcome now stands at 28%. But in the past week, the rumor mill has gone into overdrive concerning the possibility of Nokia (NOK, NOK1V) buying Palm (PALM). The Pre launch and acquisition talk has helped quadruple Palm's stock price this year.

But is Nokia -- or any other company -- willing to pay a premium for Palm? The company has been cagey about sales, and surely did not anticipate having to drop the price of the Pre to $150 in response to market conditions (including Apple's iPhone 3GS launch).

Prediction: By October 19, 2009, Nokia announces its intention to acquire Palm. The announcement can come in the form of a press release or confirmation from a company official in a news report.