Then Whitman hedged: “Let me put it that way. I would say these are going to be more acquisitions, in the sub-$500 million range would be my guess. We might get to $1 billion, but I doubt it.”

Now we know what she meant by that. Overnight, HP said it will acquire Hiflex Software, a German maker of printing management software. The deal is small enough that terms haven’t been disclosed, and that makes it hard to analyze.

Hiflex is based in Aachen and specializes in supplying print services to the commercial printing and graphics industry. Launched in 1991, it has completed some 300 customer projects, and its products are generally used to help different parts of a printing operation work together.

Vyomesh Joshi, HP’s executive vice president and the head of its Imaging and Printing group, described the deal like so: “HP wants to break the traditional barriers of how and where business customers print, making it easy for them to produce custom or personalized materials anywhere, anytime … Hiflex’s technology provides a powerful platform to deliver on this goal as part of our overall cloud printing strategy.”

Brian Marshall, an analyst with ISI Group, said in a note to clients this morning that he thinks it’s a “small deal,” but one that amounts to “an inexpensive way for HP to build exposure to cloud services that integrate with existing HP assets,” like printing.

If HP is going to be acquisitive at all during 2012, the deals are going to look like this. Now, at least, we know what to expect. And, as Whitman sets expectations, so far she’s sticking to what she says, which is a good sign.

Now we’re starting to hear some ad sellers and buyers tell us that things are indeed slowing down this fall. But the stories aren’t consistent, so it’s hard to figure out what to make of them quite yet.

Yesterday, for instance, Time Warner Cable said that its ad sales had been soft last quarter, and that would continue through Q4. But Time Warner Cable’s main business is selling subscriptions to consumers, not eyeballs to marketers. So, hard to tell if that’s a harbinger.

This morning, though, ad giant WPP cut its full-year growth forecasts because of slowdowns in the U.S. and Europe and an “increasingly challenging economic environment.”

But the ad guys aren’t consistent about this stuff. A few hours later, ad holding company Interpublic said that it was hanging on to its 2011 forecast, even though “macro uncertainty remains.”

This is normally the point where digital optimists tell us that even if traditional ad markets get hit, digital will do fine, because marketing dollars are still transitioning from offline to online, and online buys are much more efficient, etc.

And all of that may be true. But I took a quick survey of some digital ad sellers in the past couple days, and heard uneasiness from them, too. The mild version: “Companies are pulling back and being more selective with spend versus spreading it across the board.” The more alarming one: “If you ask around, all you’re getting from anybody is ‘brutal.’ Dollars have dried up.”

Again, this is profoundly anecdotal, so I’m happy to hear from folks with different experiences — my hunch is that Facebook is still moving very quickly, by taking share from a variety of competitors.

More important, no one is yet suggesting that we’re entering the dark days of 2008-2009, when ad spending went negative — so far, people are just talking about not hitting sales goals they made earlier in the year. Hopefully that’s as bad as it gets.

Marketing companies are experimenting with a new wave of digital technologies to pitch to consumers while they shop: interactive dressing-room mirrors, kiosks with virtual customer-service representatives, and shopping carts and digital scanners that offer personalized discounts.

These futuristic technologies are among the interactive tools on display at Interpublic Group of Cos.’ new retail center at the advertising company’s Media Lab in Los Angeles.

There, Interpublic is testing innovative ways for marketers to connect with customers as part of an effort to better understand what makes consumers buy and to encourage companies to rethink their approaches to the role of the retail store.

Retailers are grappling with lackluster sales and consumers who are dissatisfied with the store experience as online shopping with its related interactivity becomes mainstream. Shopper satisfaction at retail stores is declining up to 15 percent a year, according to an ongoing IPG Media Lab study of more than 10,000 North American shoppers.

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It’s now very old news that the online ad market is going to get roughed up next year. But by how much? If you want, you can take a gander at this week’s prognostications from Interpublic (IPG), WPP and Publicis. But online ad sales people I talk to say there really isn’t much point in placing any bets on 2009 until the end of this month.

That’s because ad sales have basically stopped until the end of the holiday season, I’m told.

There are some exceptions: If you want, say, prime placement at Yahoo (YHOO) to promote your blockbuster over the July 4th weekend, you have to pay up now. And Google’s (GOOG) search ads aren’t purchased in advance, anyway. But in general, no one wants to commit money to the Web until they see how they did in December.

That may sound like common sense, but it’s a change from past years, and it’s a story I keep hearing. Latest example: A sales executive from a very, very large online publisher told me he has multiple seven- and eight-figure ad deals hammered out and ready to go. But buyers have walked away and are letting the deals sit for the rest of the month, until they assess their holiday sales.

My ad executive is an optimistic sort (obviously), so he figures they’ll sign the paperwork eventually. But he also assumes that said buyers will try to use this month’s data as a hammer to knock down prices by 10 percent or more. I’ll check back at the end of the month, and see how that optimism is holding up.

ZenithOptimedia, the media-buying agency owned by ad giant Publicis Groupe, is lowering its 2009 forecast for North American ad spending. It figures spending will drop 5.7 percent in the North America (down 6.2 percent in the U.S.) next year; it had previously forecast an increase of 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile GroupM, the media-buying agency owned by ad giant WPP, says U.S. ad spending will decrease three percent next year.

Not coincidentally, executives from both companies will be presenting at the same 8 a.m. panel this morning at the UBS media conference, which kicks off today and runs through Wednesday. Ad giant Interpublic Group (IPG), which is also sending an emissary to said panel, will roll out its predictions at the event.

Fear not, MediaMemo readers: I will be there, and will dutifully report any glum prognostications. UPDATE: Here they are: IPG predicts U.S. ads down 4.5 percent.

UPDATE: A little more detail, courtesy MediaPost; full report now available here. Zenith predicts online advertising will increase 10 percent next year, down from 22 percent in 2008. It doesn’t have a breakdown of the spend, but safe to assume that search will take the lion’s share, which is great for Google (GOOG), and not much help to anyone else.

[Image Credit: sherlockonline]