Admit it, you had no idea that Palm was trying to market their webOS phones the to enterprise. I didn’t. So I was kind of surprised to be flipping through my back log of IT magazines and saw an ad for the Palm Pre and Pixi (no distinction between the “standard” and “plus” variety) in CIO Magazine.

The ad reads, in part:

“Palm Simplicity.
It’s good business.

Mobile doesn’t have to mean complicated. Palm webOS phones integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange, so here’s no need for additional servers or middleware.”

The ad ends with the line, “Learn more about how Palm can simplify your infrastructure at palm.com/simplify.”

Let’s hope that HP’s marketing department can get the word out about webOS in a more meaningful way than Palm’s could. The HP acquisition of Palm is expected to be finalized in the next few business days.

Palm is running a special 50% off promotion for most titles in their software store, App Catalog. Announced yesterday on their company Facebook Page, the sales runs until July 9th.

Now is a great time to stock up on apps for your favorite webOS smartphone without having to pay full price. To get in on the 50% off action, just launch App Catalog on your Pre or Pixi and go to town!

HP has posted the slides and a transcript from yesterday afternoon’s bombshell announcement that the PC and printer maker intends to acquire Palm the troubled handset maker for $1.2 billion dollars later this year.

HP has stated that they plan to continue to develop and grow the webOS platform after Palm is integrated into the Personal Systems Group, lead by formed Palm CEO, Todd Bradley.

You can view the slides and read the transcript on Slideshare.net.

Earlier today, Hewlett-Packard announced their intention to acquire troubled smartphone maker, Palm for $1.2 billion dollars, or $5.70 per common Palm share.

Palm announced the deal on their corporate blog by posting:

“In case you didn’t hear, we just announced a merger with a little shop down the street called HP. That little shop happens to be the world’s largest technology company, and certainly one of the most revered companies in all of tech-land. Can you say “webOS acceleration”? We’re pretty excited, and pleased we surprised the world again.”

In a separate posting, HP wrote:

“Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.”

“We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP’s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, Palm. ”We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners.”

You can read HP’s full press release on the HP news release website.