HP had a lot to talk about at its webOS event yesterday, but it wasn't all about mobile devices. Just before the end, Executive VP Todd Bradley returned to the stage to briefly discuss what the future held for the platform.
As well as printers, phones and tablets, he revealed that we'd soon be seeing the operating system on HPs biggest family of devices - the PC. Unfortunately, Bradley moved on quickly after dropping that bombshell, leaving everyone curious as to what exactly the world's largest PC manufacturer has planned.
So does this mean that HP is ditching Microsoft for good and moving to a whole world of webOS? Unlikely. According to Silicon Alley Insider, the mobile platform will complement Windows, rather than replace it. This is likely to mean that it'll be used as a touch-based interface for the company's TouchSmart desktops and multitouch laptops.
When you start to think about it, this actually makes a lot of sense. PC manufacturers have been toiling away for some time on trying to make Windows more finger-friendly, but for the most part, they've been unsuccessful. webOS is a highly tuned and relatively mature platform built from the ground up to be navigated with a finger, making it an excellent fit.
It's also a very clever way for HP to increase the platform's installed user base and try and attract new developers. The company currently shifts tens of millions of PCs every year, meaning that it could get webOS onto far more devices than would ever be possible with just the Pre and TouchPad. In turn, such a huge number of users is likely to attract a large developer community, since they'll gravitate to where there are the most potential customers - and profit.
On top of that, the common web technologies that underpin webOS apps should make developing for PC and mobile a relatively trivial task.
This isn't to say that we won't see notebooks, netbooks or desktops only running webOS in the future. For now though, it'll just be a companion to Windows that has the potential to give the platform a huge shot in the arm.
Expect to see webOS enabled PCs from HP before the end of this year.
