In the end, Hewlett-Packard had as much luck with WebOS as Palm did. Maybe even less. So long, TouchPad. We hardly knew you. HP said today it will discontinue operations for devices running on WebOS, including its recently launched TouchPad and smartphones. It's part of a broader shake up including the potential sale of the company's personal systems group, which deals with PCs and other consumer devices, and the possible acquisition of software provider Autonomy. The announcement effectively marks the death of WebOS, which won critical acclaim but little commercial success over the past few years. HP's surprise move underscores the brutally competitive nature of the smartphone operating system. Read more: WebOS goes down in quiet death | Wireless - CNET News
While technically, it was a fine OS, Apple & Android have much more support from software developers. Its not as much the operating system, but the applications that run on the OS.
The body isn't even dead yet and the M$ is already stepping in to sway the developers: Microsoft offers free tools, devices, and training to webOS developers - GSMArena.com news
The price on the HP Touchpads has crashed. $150 will now buy you a new 32GB model. I'm sure somebody will publish a hacked ROM to install Android on them.
The discounted price on the 16gb us $100. Its kind of hard to say if it is worth it. It has limited apps around 300 and no more will be developed. If you want something for web browsing and email you can't go wrong at that price. The stores are not accepting returns, so you probably should figure out if it meets your requirements before spending the $100. Good luck.
Somebody at HP should be fired for this. Anyone who did their homework would know that WebOS needed a few years of continuous investment. If they weren't committed they never should have bought Palm.
I totally agree. WebOS was/is my favorite mobile OS. I loved it on my GF's Pixi that she used with Sprint. I think it was the classic "chicken/egg" example. No one developed for webOS because no one was buying webOS devices. No one was buying webOS devices because no one was developing apps for it. Palm, then HP, should have done something to entice app development. I think perhaps giving subsidies or guaranteed minimum sales to developers would have led to more development for the platform, which in turn would have led to more sales and more widespread adoption of the platform. I also think that Palm's decision to go with Sprint as the exclusive vendor for the Pre and Pixi from the start was a huge mistake. If you are going to sign an exclusivity agreement for a new device and new OS hitting the market, don't sign it with a company that only has about 30 million users (Sprint's CDMA numbers), sign it with AT&T or Verizon and more than double your potential target audience. Finally, the decision not to allow the existing devices access to the latest OS was probably a killer for many loyal Palm customers. While it probably made sense from a performance standpoint not to upgrade 1st generation devices, Palm had promised it for a long time and when Palm/HP changed their minds and said only new devices would get the new OS, I suspect that turned off what few remaining loyalists there were in webOS' favor.
All very good points, AnthroMatt. I remember being thoroughly puzzled by the Sprint exclusivity agreement at the time. Perhaps they thought that if Android was initially introduced through a smallish carrier (T-Mobile) that Sprint would work for them, but there's a difference between exclusive CDMA and exclusive GSM
I totally agree and think the CEO should be the one that is canned. I tried Android and quickly went back to my WebOs phone. Now there are really only two OS choices for smart phones which is not a good thing.
You mean there are WebOS phones?.... That I can agree with. This is the reason Android is on multiple carriers, although they started on T-Mobile, but that was not really an exclusivity deal with Google. But Android was a success even on T-Mobile alone, but that was because the iPhone was the only competitor and had a "luxury line" price tag. WebOS was just too late to the game so they missed the window of opportunity. When Android came out, there was a large audience to conquer, mainly those who wanted an iPhone but couldn't afford one. But now, that audience is gone since Android took a big chunk of that market and Apple changed its business model for the iPhone to compete with Android. So between the two, they took the pie. Not much left for WebOS or even Windows Phone.
