You probably have heard about HP’s new decision on killing their tablet PC (like the iPad) dubbed “HP Slate”.   Instead, HP quickly bought out Palm and decided to launch a tablet that will run WebOS, which powers our Palm Pres.

Well, there’s no one better to talk about whether that will be successful or not because I have been a true, loyal Palm Pre user since it came out.  Plus, I have even bought a Nexus One, and using it diligently, performing the similar hacks done on my Palm Pre.

So, here’s the first dibs on why WebOS Tablet I think will be wildy successful:

First of all, after using Palm Pre and the Nexus One together for couple months, I’ve realized one thing about the Palm Pre.  It’s multi-tasking is flawless in comparison to Android, especially when it comes to managing your apps using the card interface.

On the other hand, for my Nexus One, applications don’t close automatically at the swipe of your fingers, they must be closed like Windows.  You actually have to install a 3rd-party app called “Task Killer”, which allows you to kill off any apps that’s running in the background.

For that reason, Palm Pre’s WebOS is a really great mobile operating system, probably the most underrated mobile OS today.

On top of that, WebOS’s native linux possess a lot of room for running full linux applications as X-server and OpenOffice. That’s on a mobile phone, I can hardly imagine what it can do with a larger tablet device and better hardware.

Why did Palm fail to capture the masses with the Pre and Pre Plus?

First, Palm didn’t put the WebOS on the right hardware.  With a small screen (than like iPhone/Nexus One) and a physical keyboard that was all too-cramped, it drove a lot of people away.

I know, I am one of the people who bought the Palm Pre because it had a physical keyboard but that’s the killing point.  With a multi-touch screen, you don’t need a physical keyboard, especially at the sacrifice of a larger LCD screen.

Had Palm Pre been loaded onto a larger LCD with slimmer profile and no physical keyboard, it might have even proved to be more popular, perhaps not having to resort to selling their company to HP.

My real hope is that HP will do this with Palm, load the WebOS onto a larger smartphone with a larger LCD screen.

After using my bigger Nexus One for awhile, I found that even though my Sprint Palm Pre had faster/more reliable network, I used my Nexus One more because the large screen size it offered and more usable in terms of browsing sites I goto everyday.

Also, Palm Pre’s GMail app is a bit flawed as you cannot “search” any of e-mail, which is the highlight of using GMail.   For example, if I wanted to find that e-mail I received 3 months ago that held my access code to the tradeshow I am trying to enter, I can’t with the Palm Pre or I have to “star” my e-mails.  It doesn’t make sense why Palm didn’t make a quick fix for that, search is major functionality of GMail.

As for number of apps on the Palm Pre, I don’t think that’s the selling point but that Palm failed to sell enough devices to make it worthy for app developers to make apps.

And also, with WebOS’s ability to run full linux software, number of free linux apps that could be put on WebOS might make it wildly appealing to the masses who no longer have to “wait” for developers to make apps rather, just install it themselves using linux shell.

In all, I think HP is making a smart decision to go ahead with WebOS.  It’s simply a great mobile operating system that needs a larger device like HP Hurricane.  I will probably be one of the first to buy it and of course, show you how to hack it like the Palm Pre.

Free Nexus One phones

Enter your zip code here and find out if you can qualify for 2 free Nexus One phones.

Rate

Related News and Resources