I liked what I’ve seen of HP’s Linux-based webOS. Still I did think, given Apple and Android’s leading in cutting edge smartphones and tablets, that webOS had much of a shot. Maybe I was wrong. I’m not the only doubter who after HP’s latest webOS presentation now thinks that HP’s webOS devices may yet find a place in the fast red-hot smartphone and tablet markets.
The devices, including the tiny HP Veer smartphone; the Pre 3 with its HD video recording and powered by a 1.4GHz Qualcomm CPU, and the 9.7-inch TouchPad with its Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2-GHz processor and 16 to 32GBs of RAM all sounded and looked great at HP’s great webOS device unveiling party.
What I found most interesting though was that HP is planning on taking webOS 3.0 to laptops and desktops as well. What’s this!? HP wants to get into the Linux-based desktop operating system business!? As my buddy from the Washington Post, Rob Pegoraro put it, “‘We’re going to bring webOS to PCs’” almost two hours into a keynote raises the bar on burying the lede.”
I wonder what Microsoft thinks about one of their more faithful partners going into direct competition with them on the desktop?