Why webOS 2.0 Should Have Rivals Shaking in Their Boots
If you are reading this blog entry, then it is highly likely that you already agree with us that webOS is really the best mobile OS on the market. You’re probably already really excited about webOS 2.0 coming out soon.
There has already been a lot of buzz about webOS 2.0 on major tech websites like Engadget and Gizmodo. But let’s say you are a rival company to Palm, like Apple, Google, or RIM. Should you be worried about webOS 2.0?
PCWorld makes that exact point. Now that the webOS 2.0 SDK has been released to developers, new HP/Palm hardware cannot be too far behind.
Suffice it to say there are some unique features that bring some pizazz to WebOS 2.0, but none of the details for the new WebOS suggest that there is anything groundbreaking about it as a mobile OS. [ed. Is that because webOS 1.0 already had those groundbreaking features, e.g. Card-based multitasking?] So, should Apple, Google, RIM, or Microsoft even pay attention to WebOS? Rivals don’t need to be concerned about WebOS in and of itself, but the combination of WebOS with the marketing and distribution power of HP is another story.
Ding Ding Ding! Absolutely correct. webOS 2.0 looks to be a great OS, but if Palm were to release it only with the power they released the original Pre and webOS, then webOS may very well go away as a non-player in the mobile marketplace. Add in HP’s money and power for hardware development and marketing, and now webOS becomes a real force that has the potential to really excel.
Now, WebOS has a second chance–and this time it has the marketing credibility and established sales and distribution channels of HP on its side. An excellent technology with poor marketing is doomed. A poor technology with excellent marketing can succeed. An innovative technology with superior marketing is virtually guaranteed.
Seriously, we can’t agree more with that statement. webOS is very innovative, and now it has the marketing power of one of (if not the) largest technology companies in the world to back it up.
Smartphone competitors are not the only ones who should be worrying. Anyone who hopes to bring a tablet to market better be looking out for HP and Palm. It’s obvious that the current leader in the tablet market is the Apple iPad, and HP is going to have to work hard at trying to unseat it as the top-selling tablet, but they definitely have a shot at being a major player.
Even more than competing smartphones, rival tablet platforms should keep an eye on WebOS 2.0. HP has already revealed that a WebOS tablet is being developed, and the elements of WebOS that make it such a solid mobile OS for smartphones will make it an even better mobile OS for tablets. A WebOS tablet–especially a WebOS tablet with an HP brand and marketing budget–will be a formidable challenger for the iPad and the emerging stable of Android tablets.
The new marriage between Palm and HP is still in the early honeymoon stages, but we are already starting to see more and more of the great things to come. Put webOS 2.0 on some killer hardware, and have HP market the heck out of it, and the rest of the mobile world will stand up and take notice. We’re excited for the future of webOS, and are glad to start seeing it be given the respect it is due.
[Source: PCWorld]
