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Lets face it, HP does not have a glorious track record of releasing leading edge technology in the computer world. Yes they build solid gear that works well, but they are not out there coming up with new ideas and blazing new trails. So to expect them to all of a sudden develop that personality for their cell phone division, Palm, is a bit unrealistic. And that is what they need to be to succeed, leading edge, putting out tech that people anticipate.
I am afraid we are going to see functional middle of the road phones by the time they are released. And in the dog eat dog of the cell phone world, that sort of business plan does not work. HP is not going to keep making phones just to keep WebOS alive. If they can't get a dynamic plan, putting out leading edge technology, they will not even make a dent in the cell phone market. Apple, Motorola, HTC have phones that are 2 months old that are superior to the Pre3. And the Pre3 is not on the market, and we have no clue when it will be. What comes next? If this is how HP continues, their cell phone division goes down. I have to wonder if they have a cognizant development plan to put WebOS in a position to compete. It will not compete releasing similar tech, 4-5 months later than everyone else. This is what they are doing now. Xoom is in the market place, iPad is entrenched, Dell, other companies have had tablets on the market for months and months. The Touch Pad will be out this summer. People are going to be very less likely to change tablets, when they cost $500-900 than they are cell phones. The company that gets a functional tablet on the market first, wins. Think Apple. iPad 1 was so far from perfect, but because it was highly anticipated and first out, it went viral! Catch up is very tough and right now all HP sees is the rear of all the dogs in front of them. I don't expect them to do well in this, they have no experience. They think like a slow to market PC maker, where a 3-6 month delay is no big deal, because you are looking at a 1-2 year life cycle. That is death in the cell phone world where the life cycle is in months and sometimes weeks. WebOS is a wonderful OS, but it can't lead HP out of the darkness by itself. HP has to develop hardware that people anticipate, and put off purchase for. Like the iPad and iphone. If they can't do that WebOS will slowly go into the night.
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