14 DAY TRIAL // Hewlett Packard, the leading computer maker all around the world, recently confirmed that it would focus solely on webOS when it comes to its future smartphones. According to the company, it does not plan on coming to the market with such devices powered by Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 platform, nor by handsets running under Google's Android operating system.
The move towards handsets powered by the recently purchased webOS operating system from Palm was confirmed by HP’s Executive Vice President Todd Bradley in a recent interview with CNBC. Just as some might have expected, HP plans on moving away from the operating system provided by Microsoft, as well as from Google's Android platform, while aiming at making a wide range of investments into the webOS platform.
HP was rumored soon after the Palm purchase that it would not come to the market with smartphones powered by the webOS platform, but it seems that things are different in the end. “In my conversations with HP executives, they sound determined to use HP's heft to make Palm into a top-tier smartphone platform on par with Apple's iOS and Google's Android,” a recent article on CNBC reads.
Of course, this means that HP would have to build relationships with carriers around the world to have the webOS-based handsets available for as many users as possible, but that might not be a problem in the end, since Palm already has its own connections in the area. At the same time, the computer maker would have to invest a lot into luring developers on its side, something that would also build on Palm's existing programs.
In addition to detailing its plans on the smartphone market, HP also announced that it will bring to the market a tablet PC running under Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. Previous rumors suggested that the company scrapped these plans too following the purchase of Palm, but it didn't. WebOS-based tablet is also a possibility, as well as, perhaps, one slate running under Google's Android OS, just as rumored not too long ago.
Follow me on Twitter @ionut_arghire.