The Brief History of WebOS & The End of Palm
As much as I enjoy my iOS devices, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Palm, specifically WebOS. My first smartphone was a Palm Centro. The Centro was a blocky, modern redesign of what was essentially a Treo 650 and it ran Palm's aging PalmOS operating system. I chose the Palm over the Blackberry Curve and Motorola Q (running Windows Mobile), because PalmOS was more "hackable". When Palm changed the game, I fell in love with the Pre, and their new WebOS. I was originally going to write a quick bit tossing in my $0.02 about the ever-raging Android vs iOS debate, but writing a mobile phone history lesson seems like a more productive use of my time. Some trademark features of WebOS live on in current iterations of iOS and Android so I'll talk about those afterwards.
In 2008, Palm was dying. Palm had gone from creating one of the most defining mobile devices in tech history to a whirlwind of splits, acquisitions, and reorganizations. In fact, Palm was still limping along with the OS it had released in 2004, PalmOS v5. It wasn't alone though, as Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms weren't doing so hot either. Apple's iPhone had recently come out and Google's Android platform was in it's infancy. Both newcomers were proving to be game-changers.
In early 2009, Palm released a radically new device along with an all new OS. The Palm Pre was released running Palm's all new WebOS platform. The device itself had normal internals (ARM CPU, wifi, CDMA or GSM radios, etc.), but the form-factor was unlike anything else on the market at the time. At first glance, it looked like a smooth flat stone with a 3" touchscreen built into it. For buttons, there was only a power button, volume rocker, Palm's classic silence switch, and a ball-like home button, that looks like it would be a track-ball or something (it's not). However, what made the device unique was that if you slide the screen up, it would reveal a hardware QWERTY keyboard (almost exactly the same as the one found on the Centro and earlier Palm devices). Palm users loved their physical keyboards (I know I did). On top of that, the Pre also had optional wireless charging, which was practically unheard of at the time. After the Pre came the Pixi, which featured a smaller display in a non-sliding design.
The Pre didn't do as well as Palm had hoped. The specs of the device weren't particularly competitive compared to other smartphones on the market at the time. By the time it released, the CPU and RAM specs were basically the same things you'd find on any comparable device. The unique form-factor was polarizing as well. Some loved it while others hated it.
To add to that, WebOS was just starting out and it was tough to compete with the growing market share dominance that Android and iOS had. Palm had made a number of mistakes in pushing the Pre.
Firstly, they released exclusively with Sprint, leaving out Verizon, AT&T and T-mobile customers. The Pre was a very unique device but it was advertised through a very weird ad campaign that almost nobody liked.
Second, while the hardware was unique and the gesture navigation was years ahead of its time, the hardware device itself was largely flawed. The camera had decent resolution but lacked autofocus. The CPU was a single-core 528MHz unit paired with a paltry 256Mb of RAM. The screen featured a 320x480 resolution spanning 3.1". The slider mechanism was prone to breaking, following an issue known as the "Oreo Twist". The all plastic construction helped keep costs down but didn't help the device feel particularly premium.
Third, in my opinion, Palm wanted to control the hardware and software, like Apple. While the Pre was flawed from a hardware standpoint, WebOS was years ahead of its time and was the star of the show. What I always thought would've been beneficial to Palm and WebOS is to license the OS out like Palm did with PalmOS back in the day. Let manufacturers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola make the hardware and Palm can just license WebOS out. I acknowledge that there are cons to this approach but I think it would've helped get WebOS out there more.
In 2010, HP bought Palm. HP had big plans for WebOS, such as putting it on every HP computer (on top of Windows) and even printers. HP put out new versions of the Pre (called the Pre3) and the Pixi (called the Veer), and even developed a WebOS tablet. By fall of 2011, HP pulled the plug on Palm, stopping device shipments of the Pre3 before it released in the US, and had an epic fire-sale on the HP/Palm tablet.
Even though you can't buy a new WebOS phone today, there are UI features that made its way into current versions of Android and iOS. Notifications showing as small banners and icons at the top or bottom of the screen? WebOS did it first. Multi-tasking cards? WebOS did that too. Advanced single- and multi-touch gestures? Palm pioneered it.
HP open sourced most of WebOS and eventually sold the remaining IP to LG which currently uses it for their smart HDTVs.
The History
In 2008, Palm was dying. Palm had gone from creating one of the most defining mobile devices in tech history to a whirlwind of splits, acquisitions, and reorganizations. In fact, Palm was still limping along with the OS it had released in 2004, PalmOS v5. It wasn't alone though, as Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms weren't doing so hot either. Apple's iPhone had recently come out and Google's Android platform was in it's infancy. Both newcomers were proving to be game-changers.
In early 2009, Palm released a radically new device along with an all new OS. The Palm Pre was released running Palm's all new WebOS platform. The device itself had normal internals (ARM CPU, wifi, CDMA or GSM radios, etc.), but the form-factor was unlike anything else on the market at the time. At first glance, it looked like a smooth flat stone with a 3" touchscreen built into it. For buttons, there was only a power button, volume rocker, Palm's classic silence switch, and a ball-like home button, that looks like it would be a track-ball or something (it's not). However, what made the device unique was that if you slide the screen up, it would reveal a hardware QWERTY keyboard (almost exactly the same as the one found on the Centro and earlier Palm devices). Palm users loved their physical keyboards (I know I did). On top of that, the Pre also had optional wireless charging, which was practically unheard of at the time. After the Pre came the Pixi, which featured a smaller display in a non-sliding design.
To add to that, WebOS was just starting out and it was tough to compete with the growing market share dominance that Android and iOS had. Palm had made a number of mistakes in pushing the Pre.
Firstly, they released exclusively with Sprint, leaving out Verizon, AT&T and T-mobile customers. The Pre was a very unique device but it was advertised through a very weird ad campaign that almost nobody liked.
Second, while the hardware was unique and the gesture navigation was years ahead of its time, the hardware device itself was largely flawed. The camera had decent resolution but lacked autofocus. The CPU was a single-core 528MHz unit paired with a paltry 256Mb of RAM. The screen featured a 320x480 resolution spanning 3.1". The slider mechanism was prone to breaking, following an issue known as the "Oreo Twist". The all plastic construction helped keep costs down but didn't help the device feel particularly premium.
Third, in my opinion, Palm wanted to control the hardware and software, like Apple. While the Pre was flawed from a hardware standpoint, WebOS was years ahead of its time and was the star of the show. What I always thought would've been beneficial to Palm and WebOS is to license the OS out like Palm did with PalmOS back in the day. Let manufacturers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola make the hardware and Palm can just license WebOS out. I acknowledge that there are cons to this approach but I think it would've helped get WebOS out there more.
In 2010, HP bought Palm. HP had big plans for WebOS, such as putting it on every HP computer (on top of Windows) and even printers. HP put out new versions of the Pre (called the Pre3) and the Pixi (called the Veer), and even developed a WebOS tablet. By fall of 2011, HP pulled the plug on Palm, stopping device shipments of the Pre3 before it released in the US, and had an epic fire-sale on the HP/Palm tablet.
How WebOS lives on
Even though you can't buy a new WebOS phone today, there are UI features that made its way into current versions of Android and iOS. Notifications showing as small banners and icons at the top or bottom of the screen? WebOS did it first. Multi-tasking cards? WebOS did that too. Advanced single- and multi-touch gestures? Palm pioneered it.
HP open sourced most of WebOS and eventually sold the remaining IP to LG which currently uses it for their smart HDTVs.
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