Highly innovative but remarkably illusive – that’s how I describe the webOS. The operating system never made its way to The Netherlands, and as such, I never got to try it. Now that Palm is part of HP, development on webOS continues, and the company has just detailed what’s coming for developers in version 2.0.
If I think of webOS, I think of two things: the card metaphor for multitasking, and the unique SDK and API, which is based on web technologies. Both of these defining features of Palm’s mobile operating system will be improved and extended in webOS 2.0. On top of that, several other improvements will arrive as well.
The card metaphor will be further enriched by adding ‘stacks’. Cards will now be stacked based upon how they relate to each other. “The idea here is simple,” writes PreCentral’s Dieter Bohn, “When you are doing multiple things on your phone, your cards are ‘stacked’ together in a small fan based on their association with each other. So if you get an email, reply to it, and then go back to tap a link in the original email, those three cards would be stacked together in a small fan separated from your other card stacks.”
Developers will not have to change anything in their applications to make use of stacks; the webOS will figure these associations out all by itself. Stacks are more of a workflow tool, grouping those items together that belong to the same workflow. Very interesting.
Universal search, which the webOS has had since its inception, will be renamed to Just Type, and it seems like Palm will pretty much leapfrog competing universal search implementations. Instead of just being able to search, developers can also create Quick Actions, turning Just Type into the webOS equivalent of Quicksilver.
“So, for example, a developer could make a ‘Tweet This’ Just Type action so users could type a tweet and send it all from the Just Type Interface,” Bohn writes, “Sending emails, text messages, adding todo items, setting alarm reminders, making appointments… We imagine pretty much any text-based action could be initiated from the Just Type screen.”
Palm was the first to combine information pulled from various sources together with Synergy, a concept copied by most other phone makers. In webOS 2.0, Palm will open Synergy up to developers, so everyone can add IM services, social networks, and so on to Synergy. This way, Palm doesn’t have to add services to Synergy on its own, but instead can rely on the developer community. Clever.
As said, a whole lot of improvements are also coming to the development side of things, so head on over to PreCentral for more information. A beta SDK has been made available to members of Palm’s Early Access program. WebOS 2.0 is scheduled to be released later this year.
looks like it has the potential to be a really solid release. I am looking forward to getting to play with it. As for as the tablet and smart phone style OS’s WebOS is my favorite from an OS perspective. Don’t get me wrong, android is great and all, but it’s not that exciting for me.
Android is half-arsed, sloppy and downright ugly. Still can’t handle common unicode characters, HTML5 video is still broken and the fragmentation is so chronic that Dell are releasing a brand new device with Android v1.5.
WebOS is the only smart phone OS I want to use; I just want some good hardware to run it on. This is what’s holding it back right now, and I hope HP can pull off something big.
I can’t say enough about WebOS. And I still love my Sprint Pre, especially after overclocking it, which is just way too easy. I can’t wait to get WebOS running on proper hardware, regardless of form factor!
I hate trying to use my iPod Touch 2G after using my Pre and WebOS.. It feels completely dated and unintuitive.
Palm had the luxury of learning from the mistakes made by both Apple and Google, and came up with the best mobile OS to date. iOS and Android have areas where they are better, but multitasking on iOS is a joke and Androids is far less intuitive.
The notification system WebOs is frequently overlooked, but one of the other areas where WebOs is fare ahead of the curve.
Just Type sounds awesome. I hope iOS will copy it, because if I wait for a webOS handset in Greece, I might as well write my own OS.
When Rogers has a phone that supports this OS, I’ll be buying it.
Can’t wait. As a developer, it looks like an intriguing platform.
It’s good to see webOS getting some updates. I had high hopes for the Pre, but wound up getting an iPhone because I didn’t like the hardware. The processor was slow and there wasn’t enough memory to handle the multitasking well. It was sluggish and jerky. I hated the tiny keys on the keyboard and the whole thing just felt cheap and not very substantial. Contrast with my 3GS which feels solid. I think Palm should work on another slider, but with build quality more like the new Torch. They should also consider a model with a larger screen with on-screen keyboard. Not sure if HP is going to try being a contender in the smartphone market, or if we’ll just see webOS on tablets.
But put webOS on some faster, higher quality hardware and it could do well. It certainly doesn’t help that the Pre, Pixi (and plus models) have been relegated to the carriers’ smartphone bargain bins…
Since the first information on the webOS was released it got my attention. It looked fresh, very creative and nice to use. I really wanted to test it and potentially buy a Pre instead of an iPhone. But it never even got here to Brazil (officially). I seriously hope that changes in the near future.