Recently HP’s CEO Leo Apotheker said that they were open to the idea of licensing WebOS. And I literally heard the entire internet say, “It’s about time.” Arguably WebOS is the freshest and best multitasking mobile OS available. If you don’t agree with that, you most certainly will agree with the fact that even if you have never owned a WebOS phone, you respect WebOS.
WebOS is like a Mercedes with no wheels. It is very attractive, it also is not going anywhere. With Palm Pre’s initial launch people loved WebOS but hated the Pre. I thought more devices were coming but all we got was the Pixi (which I actually like). Next thing you know, Palm is sold and WebOS was M.I.A. then Android took over. WebOS resurfaces with an updated Pre and a showing of the 3 new devices to come. Finally!
The HP Veer has recently launched and most people are scratching their heads as well as I about this one. The latest device to try to put WebOS on the map literally and figuratively is over shadowed by huge slates from Android. HP what are you thinking? Most people around the net were very excited about the Pre 3 and they should be. It’s what the Pre 2 should have been. The HP Veer should have never been made! So we all wait until who knows when for the Pre 3 and the Touchpad.
Meanwhile on AllthingsD, HP CEO says that he is open to licensing WebOS. Well duh! You should’ve done this when you had no new devices on the market and you sat back and watched Android invade every space possible. Then you release the tiniest smartphone ever like people are looking for a Web capable device with the smallest screen to read anything on! Ridiculous.
I hope that HTC, Samsung and Motorola jump off the Android Wagon (we know how much Google has been a thorn in their side). I would love to see a 4.3 inch WebOS phone. Make this happen and you could see a glitch in the Matrix.
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The Palm Pre sucked, and so did it’s stupid WebOS. Better than Android? LOL, have you even picked up one of the latest Android phones or tablets? They’re awesome! They also open source. The Android marketplace also has become powerful and easy to use. Comparing that dinosaur to Android or even iOS 5 is like comparing a covered wagon to a private jet. Get off your high horse old man.
The Palm Pre was good but but not good enough. Actually i have many android devices and really they aren’t all that different. They may skin them differently, but unless you have a ROM like MIUI it not that dramatic of a change. The problem with you Fandroids is you think nothing can top Android, when they have a lot of things that simply aren’t great, and Yes the Android Market has gotten better as it should be. The thing is…. A lot of people who have Android wouldn’t have Android if there were as many choices from other OS makers provided they have the form factors that people like. Thats why Android is so successful. At the end, there really isn’t one better than the other, it’s about personal choice, I just think that there wasn’t much choice besides Android in the past 2 years. Fandroids Fear other Operating Systems moving up. Like WP7 with the mango update is something that people should look at. The Pre 3 will be something you can’t deny.
webos is the best. But it really needs a side slider keyboard phone and an office suite. These are the gate keeper requirements.
Palm blew the WebOS launch so badly it was a sin…but it was also something they had done before.
They were way too late to market with WebOS and then rushed it out the door with bugs and unfinished…they slapped it into a pretty poor piece of hardware and sold it through Sprint.
When they finally got around to upgrading the hardware they ignored Sprint (or Sprint ignored them) so all of the early adopters…they people that actually got excited about WebOS were forced to switch to Verizon in order to get a phone that was usable. Verizon had the exclusive on the Pre Plus but they put their marketing muscle behind the Droid and the game was over.
Its going to be very hard for HP to win any real space in the consumer marketplace for WebOS. There only hope is to come up with something spectacular for the the tablet marketplace and practically give it away to grab some market share from Apple and Google in order to attract some developers.
The tech highway is littered with the wrecks of “better” hardware or software that couldn’t gain traction or got run over by a lesser product in a technical sense with a far better marketing plan and support.
Webos does not need a 4.3 in phone. That dumb and way to big. Its called diffferent and making a phone 4.3 in is a touchpad. Im wait for the pre 3.
If HP licenses webOS to say, HTC, they greatest mobile hardware maker – then it is all over. Why? Not because HTC is to great, but because Moto, Samsung and LG will want in as well. We all know they aren’t going to have a piece of the WinMo pie for very long once MS buys up Nokia.
@rockworthy, Android is open source right? Can you provice me with the source of Android Honeycomb?
Webos is great, still the best OS out there. Android is getting better as is Ios and even Windows and Blackberry are getting better. The Veer is not a bad phone, a number of people would like a small phone that is smart, especially if it was able to connect to printers and computers and tablets, the problem is that other Webos devices are not here yet. The majority I think would like a 4+ inch screen phone, as would I.
Though HP wont listen to me, I would sell a slab device close on the heals of the pre 3,
make the phones well built of steal and glass
sell the phones with a 25$ gift card to the Webos App market
HP can’t license to HTC, Moto, Samsung and LG because that would kill the 1 billion dollar investment in Palm with WebOS driving it. They will probably entertain someone big but not yet in the market to be the “Pepsi” to Palm’s “Coke”. Sony made a pretty good run at the PDA market licensing the old Palm OS when it came out with the Clie line. It was a sturdy device with lots of attachments and cool features, like a wheel/button to speed up navigation. One high level competitor to Palm Smartphones and one low level, cheap, almost disposible brand in the “Pay as you” market like Virgin makes the most sense.
Either way, I will stay with WebOS, leaving Sprint if I have to in order to get my new Pre 3 and rocking my new TouchPad. When they come out with a PC version of WebOS, I will be the first to install it. It won’t replace Windows but I can see the advantage of the operating system, especially in a business environment. WebOS simply works great. All it has to do is catch on in the market place and the developers will put WebOS over the top.
I think that billion dollar investment has already been killed. Really they have nothing to lose if the license WebOS. What’s the worst that can happen that hasn’t already happened. There is only so much market out there. They need to steal some thunder and I think they could if they have the right devices. I personally Like WebOS and WP7 and hope they succeed. We need variety and competition otherwise the smartphone business get stale and boring. If I see another unboxing video of an Android phone I am going to scream!
I would like to see webos licensed but it is hard to see how HP could recoup it’s investment. If they sell 10 million licenses a year at $10 each it would take 11 years to recoup there investment. That said if the os catches on and they license 100 million per year they are golden. I believe if they are taking a marathon approach and not a sprint then an 11 year out look is not terribly long.
As much as I think that competition in the mobile OS space is a good thing, I don’t think that WebOS has a prayer. They’re very late to the game, and unfortunately for HP, time is everything here. So many people already have a significant investment in iOS and Android apps that it would take a major breakthrough in performance or ease-of-use to convince those users to switch platforms, knowing that they’ll be losing all of their apps. The best that WebOS can hope for is to fend off Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry in a battle for third place.
Also: “literally” means that something actually happened, and that you are in no way exaggerating. Unless you *actually* heard — with your ears — the entire internet speaking the words “It’s about time”, then “literally” is not the word you want here.
I literally don’t care. LOL. And I don’t think they are late to the party because there aren’t many people there to begin with. Android and iOS, Blackberry, WP7. You don’t think Android is over saturated? I do, and i think the devices are getting stale. 2.3 is not a drastic update, its more like what SP3 was for XP. Developers will move to whatever platform makes them money and the more money they can get by being on several platforms, the better. Not to mention the pain it is to develop for a fragmented OS like Android. Android is great and I love it, but it’s getting corny to me. Obviously I’m not alone on this.
HP is responsible for the Pre’s demise not Sprint! While I think the Pre really good it’s not perfect! The Pre has a pretty bad reputation with most Sprint customers. Yes, the Pre bombed on the Sprint network. I won’t be surprised if Sprint doesn’t carry the Pre 3. Sprint customers that love the current Pre (except me) mostly blame Sprint if there’s no future for the Pre 3 coming but I personally blame HP more than Sprint! Get it together HP! The Pre is not quite as good as it could be!
I guess Android has finally made it, since we have rabid fan-boys now too. I got to use a Pre and a Pixi, and frankly, Web OS is really nice. They suffered on the under-powered phones, but the task switching was awesome. I have got to fondle a Veer up close and personal, and it is nice as well.
Frankly, as much of an Android fan as I am I LOVE to see progress in the competing platforms (iOS, BB, Web OS, and WM). Competition is great for us.
I agree.
HP had nothing to do with the failure of the Pre…that was Palm all by itself. They had the shot to be the flagship phone on Sprint’s network and they released an unfinished OS on an underpowered piece of hardware.
HP and Microsoft have no edge anymore. They blow billions of dollars buying up other companies that have no edge in an attempt to regain an edge. It’s comical really. They’re giant dinosaurs who would be best served to stick with their core businesses rather than trying to compete with companies that are better than HP/MS outside of those core business.
Android is stale in the smartphone market? A new iphone only comes out once a year and nothing noteworthy has come out of RIM in recent memory. As someone who covers smartphone technology, Jeff should be on his knees kissing Android’s feet for keeping the market interesting. Instead he’s living in the neighborhood of Make Believe dreaming up hair-brained scenarios in which WP7 or Web OS could gain a market share that isn’t completely laughable.
Come on Jason… You seen one Android you have seen them all haven’t you? the most exciting part about Android isnt even Android. HTC Sense 3.0. All the ROMs out there… So forth. No one really cares that HTC made another rehashed EVO for another Carrier. Its all the same thing just slightly different specs. Like i was soooo excited about the Droid 2 when it came out because it was so different from the first one… Or the Droid X2 makes me wanna chuck my X in the trash… Oh the Nexus SII makes me want to boil my Nexus S in motor oil! Because its soooo new. Its stale man
Come on Jeff…you’ve seen one iphone, you’ve seen them all…quite literally.
If you can’t identify the very obvious and fundamental differences between Droid X, Droid Pro, Droid 2, Thunderbolt, Atrix, Incredible, EVO etc lines, then I don’t think there is any help for you.
I assume you hate all Windows laptops too, because they’re all the same. It doesn’t matter whether it has a 10″ or 17″ screen, a Celeron or Core i7 processor, high res or low res screen…it’s just a Windows laptop, they’re all the same.
…I really hate all automobiles that run on gas, because they’re all the same. I hate all people who eat food, because they’re all the same…
You must live in a very stale world my friend. I’m glad waiting for the annual revolutionary iphone announcement and the forthcoming world smartphone domination by WP7 and Web OS spice things up for you.
The Thunderbolt is nothing but another EVO am I wrong? so is the HTC Inspire. They all look exactly the same except small little detail changes. Please thats not new. its the same phone just for different carriers. The Droid 2 and the Droid 1 you cant even tell apart until you slide the keyboard out. The Incredible and the Incredible 2 are basically the same phone. Seriously. I’m not looking for WP7 to take over. or WebOS I’m just looking for more variety than “YET ANOTHER ANDROID”.
Sorry about the multiple posts…
The iphone At&t and iphone Verizon are the same phone, right? Apple took a successful product and made it available to another carrier. Why would HTC, Motorola, etc not do the same?
The multiple iphone incarnations are just as hard, if not harder, to tell apart from the outside as the updated droid models. The point is, you can’t fault Android makers for lacking variety when Android phones come in many different hardware varieties, but take no issue with Apple who only makes one phone. If anything is stale in the smartphone world, it’s Apple who has been selling vitually the same iphone for 4 years now. Your argument that Android is stale while iphone isn’t doesn’t hold water my friend.