Another OS OS?
I hope they open source it.
HP CEP Meg Whitman is expected to announce the fate of WebOS next week. If the claimed imminent release of version 3.0.5 of the tablet'n'phone operating system is correct, the omens for the OS may be good. HP released WebOS 3.0.4 in October and its successor's first Release Candidate has just been issued to developers, …
I have a firesale TouchPad and the release of CyanogenMod 7 (now in alpha 3 status) - based on Android 2.3.7 - has most of the hardware working correctly and it's basically kept me off webOS almost since it was installed and after I'd tweaked the CM 7 setup to my liking. There's even the promise of CM 9 (aka Android 4) next year for the TouchPad, which will make webOS look even more stale.
Sure, I'll apply the forthcoming webOS 3.0.5 update (usually needed for Preware kernels and hacks because they update them to match the latest kernel), but it won't keep me away from Android, which has so many apps that work on the TouchPad that the paucity of those in the webOS app store is frankly embarrassing. Heck, they couldn't even put the Kindle app in the UK store (I have it on the Android side, but not in webOS), despite having it at launch on the US webOS store!
It's a little odd having the left & right arrows on the upper row but it makes the text editing much easier. All in all, I'd say that the WebOS keyboard layout is the best one I've encountered.
http://www.precentral.net/patch-adds-arrow-keys-touchpad-keyboard-finally-gives-us-way-navigate-your-text-1
The thread it links also gives some information on how to tweak your own keyboard variants.
Here's my list:
A colon on the main keyboard page (so I can type http:// ) better yet, an "http://" and "https://" key.
Proxy capabilities for web access
Web authentication capabilities for the video client
mpeg2 for video client
Decent mic sound (skype and BT tethering is awful)
An ereader that works - I have calibre converting everthing to pdf because preader doesn't seem to like much.
editable mime type associations
If you're buying an OS to distribute, you also want to hire the programming team. If HP is going to keep those programmers on the books, they may as well put out software updates that at least keep the technological infrastructure maintained.
If the buyer winds up buying/licensing the Palm patents then HP can lay off the programmers.
Besides, all signs point to HP wanting to standardize on WebOS fot applicance-type OS uses (aka printers). I'm guessing their printer group has already migrated all their unreleased, high-end products to WebOS. Lord knows the android-printer didn't fly off the shelves.