Transmeta to be bought out?

With huge deals like Microsoft and Yahoo brewing, sometimes we miss the smaller but still interesting tech companies coming and going. Transmeta, who has survived attacks by Intel in the courts and has some really huge competition looming over them might take a turn for the worse. One of Transmeta's larger investors seems to be disappointed with the performance of the company and now wants to buy the whole thing up and turn it into a “patent farm”.

The obvious goal here would be to strip down the company to its bare bones and begin either licensing technology or more likely, suing everybody they see fit. The company, which used to be a noticeable underdog, has suffered from serious setbacks. While the release of their Efficeon processor put them in an interesting position to provide excellent hardware, by the end of 2007 they were making next to nothing with sales ground to a halt. Their biggest cash influx came from Intel in a patent settlement. It wouldn't be a surprise if the company ultimately disappears, though it would be a sad state of affairs to see it turned into another “sue-everyone” firm that will try to strongarm money from others.