Unless Apple significantly revamps iOS for the iPad, ita4ぎa4г going to be blown away by HPa4ぎa4г upcoming WebOS TouchPad tablet when it comes to multitasking.
HP unveiled the TouchPad today at a media event in San Francisco, along with the miniscule Veer phone, and its new flagship smartphone, the Pre 3. These are HP&'s first new products following its purchase of Palm last year for $1.2 billion &8212' but if todaya4ぎa4г announcements are any indication, HP definitely wona4ぎa4д let Palma4ぎa4г innovative WebOS platform stagnate.
HP and Palm have finally realized WebOSa4ぎa4г full potential with the TouchPad &8212' a 10-inch tablet that will give the iPad, Android tablets, and RIMa4ぎa4г BlackBerry PlayBook some much-needed competition. WebOS wowed the technology world when it was unveiled in January 2009, specifically because it focused heavily on multitasking. At the time, Applea4ぎa4г iOS lacked any sort of multitasking capability &8212' it didna4ぎa4д appear on the iPhone until the release of iOS 4.0 last summer, and it took several more months for it to land on the iPad.
Like Palma4ぎa4г WebOS phones, the TouchPad uses a card-based system to quickly move between applications. All of the apps are multitasking enabled, so you can always count on being able to continue reading a web page, or composing an email, from where you left off. A bar at the top of the screen keeps notifications contained so they doesna4ぎa4д interrupt your productivity.
In comparison, the iPad forces you to swipe through a small tray of icons on the bottom of the screen, and not every app can take advantage of multitasking. And forget about managing notifications on the iPad &8212' every single notification on iOS demands your attention by appearing on top of whatever application youa4ぎa4вe running. Ia4ぎa4ёe been living with an iPad for a few months now, but I use it less and less these days specifically because ita4ぎa4г so difficult to manage multiple tasks at once.
The next time a notification interrupts a life or death game of Angry Birds, I may just have to catapult my iPad out the window.
The TouchPad is also full of many thoughtful features that makes it easier to use than the iPad. You can select multiple email messages to delete at a time with gestures, or make your virtual keyboard larger or smaller on the fly. Ita4ぎa4г also capable of playing back Flash content on web pages, which Apple has staunchly refused to support on iOS. The WebOS messaging app also integrates multiple services, so you wona4ぎa4д need to jump into a separate app to text or instant message as you would on the iPad. Similarly, the TouchPada4ぎa4г photo app integrates web photo services like Flickr and Facebook.
HP also demonstrated the ability to perform video calls between the Pre 3 and the TouchPad, something we expect to be possible between the iPhone 4 and iPad 2. You can also touch your Pre 3 to the TouchPad to share information &8212' for example, a web page that you already have open on the TouchPad &8212' and easily print from the TouchPad to HP wireless printers.
We expect some major software updates from Apple with the next version of iOS, but ita4ぎa4г unclear if multitasking on the iPad and iPhone will be improved. Apple managed to snag WebOS notification guru Rich Dellinger last year, so we expect an improved notification system to hit iOS some time soon. Until then, the iPad remains an incredibly frustrating device for me to use if I want to juggle multiple apps.
HP is definitely breaking new ground by bringing WebOS to a tablet. Wea4ぎa4вe expecting Android 3.0 to bring some innovative capabilities to tablets as well, but even that platform doesna4ぎa4д seem as polished as WebOS yet when it comes to multitasking.
Next Story: HP to bring Palm&'s WebOS mobile operating system to PCs Previous Story: Convore gives online chatting a needed upgrade
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Companies: Apple, Hewlett Packard, HP, Palm
Companies: Apple, Hewlett Packard, HP, Palm
Devindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.
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