An unnamed source claimed something that the article itself says there's a bunch of problems with this idea and we are supposed to believe it? It was more likely a rumour that someone at Palm was putting around to try and push the price up, and the "source" believed it.
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-rim-google-hp-palm-2010...
One year later, I'm sure whatever it was Apple saw in Palm (patents, according to the above article) is still there.