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HP webOS Fate: Alive or dead and buried worries

HP has suffered disappointment with its webOS mobile platform after a $1.66 billion decision to fade out the operation. There has been speculation and rumor surrounding HP’s options, but in recent report from Mashable, Meg Whitman CEO has announced that in the next two weeks the webOS’s fate will be unveiled.

Furthering the complications were findings that around 600 staff have still been left working in webOS. After the release of its TouchPad tablet back in the summer of this year, HP suddenly announced that they would no longer continue making any smartphones using the OS.

There were rumors that possible buyers including Amazon and Oracle, could be in the picture to take over the OS, even talks of HP keeping the rights. However there is still to be confirmation of any of these possibilities.

The webOS platform looked as though it would get its answer last month, with Whitman announcing a meeting with all the relevant staff. Unfortunately nothing came from this and the platforms fate still hung in the balance. There are still believers out there that speak of a system good enough to chase the heels of smartphone and tablet giants Apple and Google. But the belief is that large investment and enterprise are what is needed if webOS is to get anywhere near up to speed.

Do you think that the HP webOS platform has what it takes to challenge the likes of Google and Apple with the right backing?

Comments

2 thoughts on “HP webOS Fate: Alive or dead and buried worries”

  1. Gordon says:

    I’ve been a Pre user for the past two years and I definetly believe webOS has, at its core, the right stuff to take personal computing where it should be…closer to the tempo of real life. 

    Starting with the muti-tasked nature of webOS, this is the stuff life is made of.  I ride a comuter bus daily and love it when iPhone and iPad users proudly whip out their devices (to watch movies, browse the web, Tweet, update Facebook, etc.)  as a show of ‘I’m-with-it-ness”, only to start cutting eyes at how my Palm Pre keeps up with me handling BUSINESS.  I frequently talk to other musicians on the phone, while retrieving email they’ve sent me, while checking my calendars for availability, while IM’ing two or more people, while the web page I was reading is waiting in the background for me to return.  No, I’m not scitzophrenic.  But the fact is, life does have bursts at the speed of light and we need tech that can handle those peaks.  Isn’t that, kind of, the point of technology in the first place?

  2. Huxin2 says:

    YES.  YES!  webOS is a fantastic OS. I’ve been using it for 2 years on my Pixi and was really looking forward to their next generation of phones.  Since my contract is up, I’ve been looking at other phones, but it feels relatively clunky, non-intuitive and inefficient when I try out my friends’ Android and iOS phones.  I’m far from a tech geek, but I definitely multitask and use my phone heavily for both work and personal life.

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