HP discontinues TouchPad, webOS phones →
I don’t think any outsiders saw this coming:
[HP] will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.
It’s sad for a platform to be killed so early in its life — webOS phones have been around (and struggling for sales) for a while, but the TouchPad is less than two months old. As much as I poke fun, it seemed like the most likely non-iPad tablet to be great in the future.
The discontinuation seems sudden. As if there was a strong motivator that had little to do with the TouchPad’s poor sales.
Such motivators may include a big offer to buy the large patent portfolio formerly owned by Palm and likely extended by HP, which probably has a lot of applications in smartphone and tablet software.
That would be interesting.