There is some wild talk that HP is going to have a crack at licensing the WebOS operating system. The OS was used in Palm's range of phones, and the TouchPad tablet but was pulled in a surprise move as HP withdraw from the tablet and mobile phone business on Friday.
However what the pundits are failing to notice is that WebOS failed twice, firstly for Palm and then for HP. There was no reason that it was not given a fair chance either by Palm or HP.
While the TouchPad did have some lousy hardware, the biggest part of its problem was that it was not supported by developers. Consumers did not want it because they could not have the same apps that they would have got from their Apple or Android Stores. The operating system was not as well developed as Windows Mobile 7 and was not as good for corporates as either that or RIM stuff.
The other problem for anyone who would licence WebOS is that they would not get any support from HP. The only way that the maker of expensive printer ink would be interested in that sort of arrangement was if the licence fee was high enough. But if the price was that high, then OEMs might as well go for Windows 7 or RIM.
It is stone dead
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