A WebOS retrospective

If you know Bonnie Cha, you know that she’s not happy about today’s news that HP was discontinuing support of WebOS smartphones and tablets just over a year after acquiring Palm. Bonnie was a big fan of the mobile operating system from the moment she first saw the original Palm Pre at CES 2009. And her passion continued while reviewing every WebOS smartphone, from the Pre to the recent HP Veer (Donald Bell examined the TouchPad tablet).

Related links
• HP bidding adieu to WebOS, PC business (roundup)

I’m rather sad too, even if my experience with WebOS wasn’t quite as extensive. While on a level it’s not completely shocking, I’m still rather bewildered by HP’s decision. Like Bonnie, I don’t think HP really tried to reinvent the OS and make it better. Indeed, when you look back on the WebOS devices that we’ve seen, HP did have fertile ground that it could sow. No, we didn’t like everything about every Pre and Pixi we saw, but they remained innovative and attractive devices that enriched the smartphone landscape. We were hoping for a lot more to come (hello, Pre 3), but now it appears that we’ve seen it already. That’s a bummer

A gallery of WebOS devices (photos)

+5 more


See all photos

Check Also

8 New Google Products We Expect to See This Year

Google’s device line could end up having a particularly important moment in 2023. The company usually announces new Pixel products throughout the year. Google is expected to release its first foldable phone this year, however, which would directly compete with Samsung’s proven line of Galaxy Z Fold devices. Google also introduced its own ChatGPT rival, …

Leave a Reply