Most industry observers credit HP's acquisition of Palm as a
good move to get back in the mobile business. I see it as potentially bending
the Android developer growth curve. Programmers have to write
Objective C for the iPhone, JavaME for Blackberry, Java for Android and Symbian
for Nokia. That didn't leave much room for Palm webOS development, until now. Even
though they already knew what they needed for webOS: HTML(5), CSS and JavaScript, there just wasn't enough
critical mass because developers couldn't get to it. This acquisition is about
software and I believe the Pre and the Pixie will become collector items. The
webOS is much lighter than HP's Touch Smart for Windows so I expect to see it
powering the new HP Slate. In fact, webOS is better suited for places where
Android doesn't work well like e-readers and web tablets. The issue is the open
source Android device orphan. Remember, the Nexus One had new features not
available to the Motorola Droid via a software download. When you get an
Android, you are tied to the device, not the OS. With webOS, your phone
improves when the OS is upgraded, just like the iPhone. I wished RIM had been bold
enough to consider buying Palm. They certainly needed it. Now HP can come after
RIM in the enterprise. HP can offer a mix of Android and Windows Mobile 7 for
consumers or corporate users. Palm webOS gives them something of their own and
a developer community waiting in the wings.
HP will court Attention Deficit Developers
Most industry observers credit HP's acquisition of Palm as a
good move to get back in the mobile business. I see it as potentially bending
the Android developer growth curve. Programmers have to write
Objective C for the iPhone, JavaME for Blackberry, Java for Android and Symbian
for Nokia. That didn't leave much room for Palm webOS development, until now. Even
though they already knew what they needed for webOS: HTML(5), CSS and JavaScript, there just wasn't enough
critical mass because developers couldn't get to it. This acquisition is about
software and I believe the Pre and the Pixie will become collector items. The
webOS is much lighter than HP's Touch Smart for Windows so I expect to see it
powering the new HP Slate. In fact, webOS is better suited for places where
Android doesn't work well like e-readers and web tablets. The issue is the open
source Android device orphan. Remember, the Nexus One had new features not
available to the Motorola Droid via a software download. When you get an
Android, you are tied to the device, not the OS. With webOS, your phone
improves when the OS is upgraded, just like the iPhone. I wished RIM had been bold
enough to consider buying Palm. They certainly needed it. Now HP can come after
RIM in the enterprise. HP can offer a mix of Android and Windows Mobile 7 for
consumers or corporate users. Palm webOS gives them something of their own and
a developer community waiting in the wings.
