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There are two ways you could take the news that Hewlett-Packard has confirmed WebOS phones for early next year. One is “At last! What took so long?” The other is “Thank God they didn’t rush this thing.”

Speaking at a Conference in Barcelona, Spain yesterday, HP senior VP Eric Cador said “You will see us coming early next year with new phones” and added that Palm’s WebOS is “extremely fundamental.”

HP bought Palm earlier this year, so releasing new phones early next year is still pretty fast. But if we have learned anything from the runaway success of the iPhone and iPad, it’s that these things can’t be rushed: Apple’s devices were in development for years before they launched.

What we’re really looking forward too, though, is a WebOS tablet. Could it be that HP, once known for innovation but now just another commodity gray box maker, is taking its time to come up with an amazing, killer product? Let’s hope so. Right now, there’s only one tablet worth buying, and that lack of competition is not good for the consumer.

HP to launch new webOS phones in early 2011 [Reuters]

Image: New Palm Pre WebOS screenshots

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Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Palm CEO John Rubinstein will continue to head up his webOS team under new boss HP, and will be working on smartphones, “future slate PCs and netbooks,” according to a statement from HP

The computer giant completed its acquisition of Palm yesterday, and announced that Palm will continue to develop both hardware and software, headed up by former Apple employee Rubinstein.

This will include new phones (the Pre and Pixi lines are now also owned by HP), but most exciting is the confirmation that there will be webOS tablets. After all, apart from iOS, name another operating system that is as suited to a tablet as the webOS (sure, Android is close, but still a little too clunky).

Better still, HP has the deep pockets to go up against Apple, and if Rubinstein and team are left to work on great machines their combined experience (many of them are also Apple alumni) should finally provide an iPad competitor. And even if you are a total, unashamed iPad fanboy, this should still excite you. Competition is good for us buyers. Take a look at the iPhone 4: Do you think it would be this good if Android and Palm weren’t chasing so close behind?

HP Completes Palm Acquisition [Yahoo]

Photo: Lisa Brewster/Flickr

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews