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HP no longer in the Windows Phone 7 release gang, going the WebOS route

In an interesting (and heartbreaking, for some) report by CNBC, it has been confirmed that HP will not be coming up with any Windows Phone 7 devices (which invalidates the info provided during the Windows Phone 7 launch event, which was before HP bought over Palm). Instead, they’ll be focusing on getting WebOS phones (and tablets, duh) out… in fact, we did mention mid this week that WebOS 2.0 will be coming by the end of this year, presumably with at least one device running the operating system (PalmPad anyone?!).

And what will happen to the iPAQ brand? Well, I hope HP addresses and answers that next…

HP buys Palm for $1.2 billion

Well, I’m sure HP and Palm have known each other pretty well for a while now, since the days of Pocket PCs and PDA devices early last decade (the 2000′s) and today they finally got together via HP’s acquisition for Palm. Alright, forget the financial stuff and hoo’s and haa’s to this pretty sudden and shocking piece of news – we’ve already got enough of that around the internet, what we’re gonna look at is what could potentially happen out of this, and how/what changes could be done…

Phone OS Strategy

Well, once they get off their butts and release a couple of new (hopefully, droolworthy) phones for the world, HP is likely to support and use two different mobile operating systems for their phones – Web OS (or whatever they call it if they decide to change the name) and Windows Phone 7 (because they’ve already been confirmed as one of the companies on the list at Microsoft’s various Windows Phone 7 launches, parties, events and conferences). Three would be possible – adding Android into the mix – but unlikely, at least for now, in my opinion. First off, if HP were to further develop Web OS as their “in-house” OS and re-establish their presence in the mobile device arena, they would need quite a bit of horsepower and work done in order to maintain what Palm created while pushing it forward and/or HP-izing Web OS. Remember, they not only need to run their own OS show now, but also the things that come along with it – such as the Palm’s app store. Next, they already will have their hands full (or filled up) because of Windows Phone 7 as well. A gut feeling tells me that HP will be one of the first, if not the first, manufacturer to launch a Windows Phone 7 device – due to their new-found motivation today (you should see the various statements on how they’re gonna get back into the phone/mobile device game) and also because of their close ties with the big M (Microsoft). Adding a third OS would not only cause problems for support, but also require HP to either channel in more funds or move people from the other 2 teams towards doing up an Android-based phone – and remember, we don’t want quantity, we want quality (anyone seen what HP’s been doing with their iPAQ phones over the last 3 years?!)

What goes where?

We’re likely to see HP bring out one or two Windows Phone 7 devices, which will also likely be their ‘flagship’ products, and release a couple of consumer-level phones running Web OS. For the latter plan, it’s either they will just release/rush out a new Web OS phone “as is and as made/developed by Palm” (I’m sure they’re bound to have something designed somewhere before today’s acquisition) which would tell everyone “hey, we really wanna do this!” or take their time, make everyone wait and wonder, and boom, suddenly release something new or completely new that’s based off Palm’s legacy.

Why not the reverse? Why not Windows Phone 7 devices for the masses/consumer-level and a Web OS phone as their flagship? Well, in time I’m sure that will happen, but not now I think. HP would probably want to HP-fy Web OS before doing that, which will probably take a while.

Spillover to Touchsmart, Slate and beyond

Assuming HP makes good use of Palm’s resources and existing know-how, we could jolly well see UI elements, or even the whole Web OS itself, moved and used on HP’s other products such as their Touchsmart line or in their tablets (Slate) line. When this would happen is unknown – HP could upscale the OS and use it as an option to run on their to-be-launched-soon HP Slate… but it’s also equally likely that they would want to make tweaks, launch it for their phones, check out market reaction and then only put it on other products.

New HP iPAQs… soon?!

HP hasn’t released any new additions to their iPAQ line for over a year and a half now… while I’m sure they are/should be brewing up something good by now, I wonder if they’re gonna release any new phones between now and Windows Phone 7′s release later this year, to you know, remind everyone “we still make phones!”

Windows Phone 7: HP’s chance at making a fresh start (iPAQ)

I make it a point to repeat myself about HP’s position as top Pocket PC/Windows Mobile device maker, once upon a time, and that they can do it again if they put enough effort into their iPAQ line. HP has made some “just” decent Windows Mobile phones over the past several years, but nothing that was nearly as inspiring or conversation-fueling as their original iPAQ h6310 series or hw65/69xx series phones. I don’t know what happened to HP during the period they remained quiet for about 18 solid months, before releasing the underwhelming iPAQ 600/900 series phones, which only became available another several months down the road (by which time, they had become seriously outdated). Then they came out with the iPAQ Voice and Data Messenger phones, which were already ‘outdated’/paled in comparison to other QWERTY side-slider phones at launch, yet they were pricey as ever (their long names that were a mouthful didn’t help either).

But we can’t change the past; we only can put it aside and learn from mistakes. The announcement of the new Windows Phone 7 Series mobile operating system by Microsoft no more than 12 hours ago has sparked quite a lot of interest (in all senses of the word: positive, negative, speculative, etc) on the net. And I think this is the perfect chance for HP to get a fresh start. New year, new mobile OS, changed products.

Staying with Windows

I do believe that HP should stick to Windows on their iPAQ phones, instead of going the Android route of some manufacturers, or worse, come up with their own mobile OS (please, no!). Why? HP has a long-standing relationship with Microsoft, in the PC manufacturing, phone making business and other areas; even to the extent of Microsoft making limited edition HP co-branded Microsoft Arc mice (yes, I have one!) and Microsoft recently ‘sharing’ CES stage-time to introduce the new HP Slate. If there was one company that could ‘persuade’ Microsoft to support a tight-fitting Touchsmart UI/application in their new mobile OS, it would probably be HP.

As of this week, it appears that Windows Phone 7 is the new black. Plenty of people are excited and have high hopes that Microsoft will work things out with Adobe (regarding Flash), clarify the sort of multitasking their OS can/will do and further refine the wonderful interface before Windows Phone 7 phones start coming out later this year. If the iPhone with its iPhone OS could rise to insane popularity just because of ‘pretty looks’ and ‘user friendly interface’, despite lacking multitasking, plenty of business-oriented features, hardware keyboard and various restrictions imposed by Apple themselves; then imagine what sort of following/response the new Windows Phone 7 OS could generate. Everyone loved/loves the Microsoft Zune HD interface (even more than the iPhone interface), and Windows Phone 7 is just like the ‘phone’ version of that – only difference is that Microsoft is letting other manufacturers do up the hardware side.

Besides, there are already many Android phones from various brands out there – it would be unwise to step into an arena filled with ‘heavyweight’ phone makers making Android phones, complete with their own Android-skins and all. Perhaps HP still could release several Android offerings themselves, but I think their main concentration should be on making Windows phones. In today’s market (and as proven by Apple with their iPhone), it’s not how well features sell, but how well you sell your features.

The Windows Phone 7 iPAQ

Microsoft has already imposed a small set of ‘minimum hardware requirements’ for Windows Phone 7 phones to ensure a smooth-flowing, lag-free experience on the user interface part. So it’s kinda “Captain Obvious” that HP’s Windows Phone 7 iPAQ will have at least a WVGA screen with multitouch and hardware that can run Microsoft’s latest mobile OS.

I’m talking about design and aesthetics here – granted that phones nowadays have a pretty generic “big screen, 1/2 inch thin profile, few to no buttons”, there’s still a bit of room here for HP’s design team to tinger with. I kinda liked the industrial-look of HP’s original iPAQ h6310 phone (you know, the phone which had a massive 3.5 inch touchscreen looooong before the iPhone came out?!), so it’ll be great if they could make a sleeker, modernized version of that. HP should move back to using huge touchscreens (ie 3 to 3.5 inches) instead of the sub-3 inch displays they’re using on current iPAQs.

The thing I like about the original iPAQs is that they were dock-able (aww, come on HP, bring back that old dock connector of the original iPAQs!), had uniquely-placed front-facing “on/off” buttons and nice two-toned color schemes (instead of the glossy all-black iPAQs we’re seeing now). Perhaps now HP can use the same 3D Imprint/metal etched surface design features in their Envy/Mini notebooks, and backlit/flashing HP logo for phone status indication?

Release date and delivery

This is the most crucial factor that HP has to consider, besides design and specifications. The Windows Phone 7 iPAQ needs to be one of the first few (if not, the first) Windows phone to be announced and made available to the masses. In order to gain a larger marketshare (on the consumer user side, especially) for their iPAQs, an early availability date is important, because this will be the time where buyers and early adopters won’t have much choice if they were to buy a “Windows Phone 7″ phone. Paired with a good experience with the (new) iPAQ, users will be spreading the word around – fast – leading to more sales. The idea here is to grab as many new users as possible at launch (seeing this is a mobile OS re-built from the ground up), giving them a good impression and experience of things, and letting them do the rest – be  it spreading the word and/or become repeat buyers when the time comes for their ‘next’ Windows Phone.

There’s also more that can be done by HP to rise once again in the mobile phone arena – how about giving a special discount on the new Windows Phone 7 iPAQ with the purchase of every new HP notebook, or bundling an iPAQ (or Voodoo phone?!) with every Envy sold?! Ah, and this reminds me of the Voodoo phone. I would think the Voodoo phone will depend very much on the success of new 2010 iPAQ phones, because once they (iPAQs) become a hit, HP can expand from there and tack on a premium phone line (ie Nokia’s 8800 series).

Ready. Set. iPAQ.

Well, I wish the best of luck to HP in making the iPAQ line succeed this year and the years to come. Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 OS is really a window of opportunity of HP and I sure hope they take advantage of that fact!