I guess by now you’ve already heard the news of HP planning to sell or spin-off its Personal Systems Group (PSG) and that includes its PC hardware business, mobile unit and of course, the freshly acquired WebOS.
HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward. – HP News Release
Aside from the shocking news of HP’s plan to move out of the PC building business (just like what IBM did with it’s own, hello Lenovo) is the sad news that WebOS is getting canned as well. The news is a big disappointment for early adopters of the HP Veer and the HP Touchpad. What will happen now? and will we ever see Pre 3? I’m pretty sure the answer, what ever it may be, won’t be good.
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I have been a fan of WebOS since its introduction last 2009. Having reviewed the Palm Pre Plus (click to read), I felt that the hardware was just not up to par with what the OS could’ve lived up to. It was a GREAT OS, mind you. far better than Android in terms of usability and iOS in terms of multitasking, but sadly it never did catch on.
To whoever will buy WebOS next, well… Goodluck. Just make sure you never do what Palm and HP did. It sat down doing nothing with this great OS. Both were sluggish to release devices at the earliest time possible (1 week after announcement would have been great), sluggish updates, and full of flopped promises (Web OS 2.0 will come to Pre minus and plus my foot)
What I hope will happen to WebOS
I hope that WebOS won’t completely die but evolve into a more modern OS into the arms of a more willing and supporting buyer. But who? My bet is HTC or Samsung. They could buy WebOS in full or license it from HP. It is a long-shot but anything is possible as seen from the developments these week’s events. (Googtorola). Despite HP’s “We are not walking away from WebOS” statement, it’s either license it, sell it, or let it die slowly.
One thing I’ve seen from this still unfolding event is that, you can never trust companies, even large ones to keep their promise even if its accompanied by press releases, or went on the record, in black and white. They can just easily abandon and cancel a device you just bought a week before without any sign of it. It’s like pulling the rug under your feet before you even know it. Caveat emptor.