webOS has effectively been dead since mid August, but reports of its impending death continue to swirl. Hewlett-Packard Co. made a colossal error this past summer when it abandoned its webOS device business and shunned any ongoing commitment to the webOS platform. Such a move would instantly slash the value of any business and indeed it has. The HP-Palm deal is one of most botched marriages and subsequent business decisions to hit the wireless industry in years.

HP threw in the towel on its mobile plans way too early, and just as it was getting off the ground with new webOS devices and a tablet built primarily by the Palm team it acquired 18 months ago for $1.2 billion. Leo Apotheker was forced out of the top job at the company over that decision and newly installed CEO Meg Whitman has shifted gears on the mobile front, but only slightly.

Under Whitman’s leadership HP has reversed its decision to abandon the tablet market, and the PC business for that matter — another FUBAR decision by Apotheker. But as of yet, Whitman has not committed to any life ahead for webOS. The future of the platform may have been hanging in the balance months ago, but any remaining value to outsiders has already vanished. Developers weren’t flocking to the platform before and they sure have no interest in starting now. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

Hewlett-Packard Co. came out with news on rapid fire today. The company killed its webOS device business, leaving the webOS software destined for an anticlimactic end, and announced that its PC business might be separated into another company or spun off in another transaction as well.

That news alone would be enough to indicate that yesterday’s HP will be vastly different from the HP of tomorrow. But when you string it all together with mixed results from the recently closed quarter and plans to acquire Autonomy Corp. for $10.3 billion, it’s clear that HP wants to change — and fast. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

Hewlett-Packard Co. just dropped a bombshell — Palm and webOS are effectively dead. The company just announced that it will stop selling devices based on the webOS platform it acquired from Palm less than 16 months ago for $1.2 billion.

In addition to preliminary results for the recently closed quarter, the statement from HP said it “plans to announce that it 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.”

Unless HP can find a manufacturer to license webOS, which might stand a little higher chance following Google Inc.’s planned $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the platform is effectively dead. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. – For all the momentum Google’s Android operating system is enjoying of late, there are some key areas that many executives believe Apple has it beat on with the iPhone OS. These differentiating features – billing, user interface, development ease and scale (for at least the time being) — are nothing to scoff at either.

Now, with the iPad already surpassing 1 million units sold in as many months, there’s a reinvigorated sense of interest and easy-to-understand business reasons for placing more focus and investment in Apple’s mobile flavor.

A crowded panel of eight representing big media and publishers at Digital Hollywood yesterday spent considerable time heaping praise and wonder on Apple’s latest gadget. Later on, the OS offerings from BlackBerry, Google, Microsoft and HP-Palm got their fair shake, but Apple kept cropping up as the main draw. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. – Throughout the LA Games Conference, two names kept resurfacing whenever the topic of mobile was broached – iPad and Android.

It should come as no surprise why the iPad is almost universally seen as an opportunity for game makers. Just look at the prices developers are charging for apps on the iPad and compare that to the so-called sweet spot app price of 99 cents on the iPhone.

From the tone of at least a few developers represented at the annual conference, the iPhone may be left behind as the path to greater profits per app gains momentum on Apple’s latest gadget. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LAS VEGAS — Fresh off its announced plans to bring the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus to AT&T Mobility, RCR Wireless News met with Palm Inc. to discuss its ongoing strategy in the face of an increasingly crowded smartphone market.

While there has been stronger sales and interest in the Palm Pre Plus initially, Kimberly Sauceda, product manager of smartphones at Palm, said the company is promoting the sister devices equally and focusing on finding the right target audience for each device. Read more

I have serious commitment issues when it comes to my mobile phone. Early termination fees don’t scare me as much as a phone that’s just gotten plain old boring for me. And believe me, I always find a way out.

It might be dropped calls, crap voice quality and pathetic download speeds that drive me to the edge one time. The next time, I might just get sick of the color or maybe I don’t like the way it looks at me or fits in my pocket. Either way, I’m bound to jump and run — it’s just a matter of when. Materialistic? Sure. Overindulgence? You bet.

Like any commitment-phobe, I’m all about multiples. Whether it’s the carrier(s) I do business with or the mobile device(s) I carry, I just can’t settle down and tie the knot with one or the other. I’m one of those types who has two phones usually. Although I try to keep them from knowing about each other — work and personal don’t always belong together — they inevitably cross paths. Read more