Silicon Valley Insider thinks it's identified the companies that tried to buy Palm and didn't.

Remember Companies A through D that Palm talked about in the merger proxy filed with the SEC? Well, the blog thinks Company A, which offered $600 million cash, was Apple. It was Apple's second time through (Steve tried to buy Palm years ago) and it was mostly interested in Palm's patent stockpile but reportedly seemed willing to fund operations.

It thinks Company B was Lenovo. It put stock on the table but said it needed time to close the deal. Palm didn't have time.

Company C is assumed to be RIM and the blog says it was RIM's deal to lose, which it did to HP and its $1.2 billion. Company C wanted patent rights at first, then the company offered $6-$7 a share then lowered its bid to $5.50. It went for $5.70.

That leaves Company D, which the blog thinks was Google which was supposedly in the game to spoil it for Apple without knowing that Apple was actually in. Company D never made an offer just talked a lot, Palm said.