Palm Jumps on Report That Sony Covets Unit

Palm(PALM Quote) shares staged their strongest gain in weeks after Sony's(SNE Quote) chief executive voiced interest in the handheld maker's operating-system division.

Shares of Palm were up 30 cents, or 3%, at $10.45 in late trading, after Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei said the company was interested in purchasing the operating system division of Palm. The comments were in a January interview published this week on the Web site of the Always On Network. The interview was conducted by Red Herring magazine co-founder Tony Perkins.

"I really want to own either Symbian or Palm -- I want to buy them," said Sony's Idei in the interview. "Three years ago the Palm was so simple, but it is getting better and better. My problem now is that as [a] Palm licensee we have to pay them lots of money." ...