webOS is already so great, I think HP’s R&D resources will produce and incorporate the platform in so many different ways to improve their line of products. In my opinion Intel and Microsoft can be kept happy by simply treating webOS for x86 not as a full OS but as a software stack to windows. When you think of it this way you start to understand why this will not affect any relationship or business in the PC space at all. In the mobile space – HP just made itself stronger…..they owned only one tenth of 1% of the market with their iPaq line. It is not like they were doing any justice in mobile OS selection or sales by only selling 100K units over its lifetime. It is an enhancement to the company in so many different ways and if implemented correctly it can be a game changer for HP+Palm…..all while keep current relationships solid.

CyKiller

webOS is already so great, I think HP’s R&D resources will produce and incorporate the platform in so many different ways to improve their line of products. In my opinion Intel and Microsoft can be kept happy by simply treating webOS for x86 not as a full OS but as a software stack to windows. When you think of it this way you start to understand why this will not effect any relationship or business in the PC space at all. In the mobile space – HP just made itself stronger…..they owned only a tenth of 1% of the market with their iPaq line. It is not they were doing any justice to the mobile OS selection only selling 100K units over its lifetime. It is an enhancement to the company in so many different ways and if implemented correctly it can be a game changer for HP+Palm…..all while keep current relationships solid.

CyKiller

Top layering the OS, or putting a touch friendly UI over Windows has been tried many times, and has failed the same number of times. Microsoft themselves tried twice with two Origami Experience software packages for Windows slate UMPC’s. It doesn’t work. No desktop operating system crammed into a mobile device has.

CyKiller

http://cnettv.cnet.com/touch-screen-features-windows-7/9742-1_53-50074521.html

It’s not like MS wasn’t aware that tablets were the future and that Vista wasn’t meeting the needs of Tablet PC users. They went back to the drawing board with Windows 7 and made sure that multitouch controls were built into the OS. They even included a “touch pack” for Tablet PCs. Touch Screen controls was one of the biggest upgrades of Windows 7 over Vista.

When you look at Surface, Windows 7, Zune HD, Courier, Phone 7 and even Project Natal you realize that Microsoft has been obsessed with touch based controls for the past 18 months on all of their devices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtEhQqS1dw

The Courier was a rendered concept video. The HP Slate is a very real product that is coming to market within the next few months. Microsoft pulled the plug on Courier before investing the money to make it a real product. HP has already spent 5 years developing the HP Slate software and hardware with many partners. Microsoft never even confirmed the Courier’s existence while HP has spent the last few months marketing the HP Slate. There is no way that HP is going to stop making the Slate. A webOS tablet will take at least a year to get to market.

The Courier would have been dumb because it didn’t run Windows 7 or Windows Phone 7. It would have been a 3rd operating system for Microsoft to support and Microsoft would have had to make the hardware themselves. Courier didn’t fit into Microsoft’s plans. It makes more sense for MS to be promoting Windows Phone and Windows 7 tablets that other companies are making the hardware for.

Intel is the biggest loser.For all its brainy power, Intel is missing on many things lately ( last few years). They totally screwed up that mobile division before selling to Marvell. Somehow they got Steve Jobs to let their chips on the Macs. Now they are having good time with Atom processor but no compelling offering from them in mobile market.

With Apple doing its own processors, Google working with ARM,nVidia and Samsung , Intel has only Nokia who are still figuring out how to write a decent operating system. So the big loser is Intel.