What can webOS do for you?
July 19th, 2010, 7:24pm by JakeLots of chatter on Twitter today on future webOS devices, real or imaginary, kicked off by HP’s filing of a trademark for Palmpad. Now, it’s all but certain that HP will eventually release a webOS-based slate. And there’s still hope that Palm actually releases a new phone before the Pre hits its 2-year anniversary. Of course, HP is all but certain to stick it on some of their printers. But what else?
Seems to me that the easy, low-hanging fruit is a photo frame. There’s always a question of hardware requirements, but my guess is that bill for Pixi-like components won’t run into triple figures excluding the display. A lot of the cost is in miniaturization & battery, and plugged in photo frame (w/ a 10-minute battery) would avoid those stumbling blocks. Beyond that, it’s less clear. Sure, it could be the backbone of an Audrey II, complete with integrated Touchstone chargers. But that’s really not so different from a slate. Now, one area where software could make a difference is in digital cameras. It would be nice to have the full suite (well, once there is a full suite) of webOS apps to instantly edit & upload select photos, or quickly reference optimized (or downloaded) websites for help. HP was once a respectable niche player, and if they could provide a differentiated product they might get back in the game. Of course, the iPod Touch 4 might fill that hole given the quality of the camera in the new iPhones.
What other form factors could HP create where webOS can shine?
July 19th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
My web connected HPTV could use a dollop of webOS combined with project Natal/Kinect-like gesture recognition. That would be sooo minority report.