HP's Core WebOS Enyo Team Going To Google

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HP's Core WebOS Enyo Team Going To Google

Posted by Soulskill on Friday May 25, 2012 @03:36AM from the i'm-sure-a-beta-is-launching-soon dept.

benfrog writes "The core of HP's Enyo team (responsible for webOS's HTML5-based app framework) is heading to Google. What they will be doing at Google is unclear right now, but everyone is speculating that they might be active in developing something webOS-based for Android."

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Hopefully with UI improvements to come by xrayspx · 2012-05-25 03:41 · Score: 5, Informative

I'd love to see the UX design team go start working on Android. WebOS is still hands-down the best mobile OS I've used day-to-day. The functional UI + ease of rooting were huge advantages for WebOS. Too bad it got saddled by Palm's historically bad record of actually like, selling phones, to people... Android feels so hacky, and IOS, while pleasant enough, is too much of a limiting walled garden for me. I like being able to use VNC over an SSH tunnel, for instance, or get a terminal on my phone.

--
I like music
1. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Windows+Breaker+G4 · 2012-05-25 03:55 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  As someone who got a touchpad figuring it would be kinda gimicky on the firesale, 1000 times this. Work gave me an iPad2, what did I continue to use instead of the iPad every time? The touchpad. And it wasn't because of the apps on it, it's the UI. WebOS is fantastic, I hope the cards model is something Google picks up on
  
  --
  brickspeed.net for your old Volvo performance addiction
2. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 03:58 · Score: 0
  
  What app are you using for VNC on your webos phone?
3. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by EXrider · 2012-05-25 03:59 · Score: 2
  
  and IOS, while pleasant enough, is too much of a limiting walled garden for me. I like being able to use VNC over an SSH tunnel, for instance, or get a terminal on my phone.
  I'm not arguing that iOS isn't a "walled garden", but there are apps out there that will allow you to tunnel VNC (or even RDP) over SSH. I use iSSH and it's freakin awesome. I've used several other SSH apps, but iSSH so far is the best IMHO.
  
  --
  grep -iw skynet /etc/services
4. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by EXrider · 2012-05-25 04:01 · Score: 2
  
  Oh, and iSSH will tunnel X11 too.
  
  --
  grep -iw skynet /etc/services
5. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by X.25 · 2012-05-25 04:03 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not arguing that iOS isn't a "walled garden", but there are apps out there that will allow you to tunnel VNC (or even RDP) over SSH. I use iSSH and it's freakin awesome. I've used several other SSH apps, but iSSH so far is the best IMHO.
  $9.99?
  That is a joke, right?
6. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Lucky75 · 2012-05-25 04:07 · Score: 1
  
  IMO, the playbook has a better interface (although VERY similar) than WebOS.
  
  --
  DNA -- National Dyslexic Association
7. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by MightyMartian · 2012-05-25 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  I have to admit iSSH is a damned fine app. In thirty years of buying software, it sits near the top of the I've purchased.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
8. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  How dare you suggest I should pay someone else for their work in putting together a great system?!
9. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by hawguy · 2012-05-25 04:23 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not arguing that iOS isn't a "walled garden", but there are apps out there that will allow you to tunnel VNC (or even RDP) over SSH. I use iSSH and it's freakin awesome. I've used several other SSH apps, but iSSH so far is the best IMHO.
  $9.99?
  That is a joke, right?
  That's the price of a few Starbucks Lattes, and I spend a lot more time with ssh than I do drinking a latte.
  But yeah, I agonize over whether or not I really want to pay $9.99 , $1.99, or even $0.99 for an app that I'll use every day, but think nothing of buying an $8 drink after work that I'll enjoy once. Since I'm paid by the hour, the few minutes I spend reading the reviews to decide if I really want to pay $1 for the app costs me more than just buying it and trying it out.
10. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by lister+king+of+smeg · 2012-05-25 04:25 · Score: 1
  
  that isn't a problem .the problem i shouldn't be forced to pay for it whne there are great free version that do the same thing better that the only reason i cant use is because the device manufacterer don't like the gpl or other simmiler licence. i am fine paying for app but don't force me to only use the pay apps when there are better free alternatives avalible.
  
  --
  ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
11. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by EXrider · 2012-05-25 04:27 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  No, $10 is totally reasonable and worth it for me, since it's a tool I use almost daily as a sysadmin. The developer actually provides support too. I've personally exchanged email with him when I was trying to get a proprietary VT100-based warehouse inventory app working on it and he helped me sort it out in a later update. It is one of the few apps I've actually paid for though. I don't mind paying for an app if it's reasonably priced, of good quality and well supported. Something that was NOT the case when I had a BlackBerry, where apps were rarely priced below $30 and totally blew anyways.
  
  If you want SSH for free, you could try that SSH Mobile app I guess. Or, if you don't like the walled garden you can jailbreak and hope you don't come across any rouge free apps. But for me, the handful of admin apps I've purchased have totally paid for themselves by not having to drive back home or into the office to solve issues that required some minor intervention.
  
  --
  grep -iw skynet /etc/services
12. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:37 · Score: 1
  
  ... Since I'm paid by the hour, the few minutes I spend reading the reviews to decide if I really want to pay $1 for the app costs me more than just buying it and trying it out.
  And thus, an entire world of shitty $1 apps is born and continues to survive.
  Oh, and about you being paid by the hour - there is somebody out there that will do things cheaper. Like spend time with your mother or raise your children. Seriously, your method of pay cannot be compared to your time off. That's apples and oranges.
13. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by synapse7 · 2012-05-25 05:17 · Score: 1
  
  Bring me some of that gesture loving that makes me miss using my palm pre!
14. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Hellasboy · 2012-05-25 05:20 · Score: 1
  
  Not just the card model, but the 'swipe' ui is fantastic. Swipe up to go to the settings/apps/etc, swipe left and right to access other programs. It's the only UI/OS I've seen that can work without a single physical button.
  Android looks to be transitioning away - they've went from 4 physical buttons to 3 software buttons but they're still buttons.
  
  --
  
  "Tread softly because you tread on my dreams"
15. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Hognoxious · 2012-05-25 05:31 · Score: 1
  
  I'd like to see every "UX designer" on the planet hung, drawn and quartered.
  If WebOS is any good it sure as heck isn't down to that bunch of latte-sipping fops.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
16. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by amRadioHed · 2012-05-25 05:34 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Uh... Matias Duarte, the guy behind the Web OS UI, already switched over to Android about 2 years ago. Gingerbread was the first release his changes started to make it into, and the major UI overhaul in Honeycomb and ICS were largely influence by him.
  
  --
  We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
17. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by ColdWetDog · 2012-05-25 05:39 · Score: 0
  
  While you're checking around for software, see if you can find an app that capitalizes sentences for you.
  And maybe a spell checker for good measure.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
18. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by d3ac0n · 2012-05-25 06:17 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Yep. Mathias Duarte is the single reason I went Android over iOS when coming from webOS. He is slowly but surely "webOS-ifying" Android. Taking the very best UI elements from webOS and merging them slowly into Anrdroid. Expect to see the software button lessen and lessen and more Gesture based UI elements to come in. Eventually even the card metaphor may make a comeback. Full and Proper multitasking FTW!
  
  --
  Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
19. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 06:20 · Score: 1
  
  So you're comparing the same free applications on Desktops (TightVNC, RealVNC, PuTTY, etc) to the $10 from the store ($3 of which doesn't even go to the dev, who could use that to make the product even better) - some of which have similar support? The developer and APL would like to thank you for throwing away your money.
  Nice argument.
  Congratulations, you prove that people like to throw away money on that ecosystem.
20. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by AuMatar · 2012-05-25 06:29 · Score: 0
  
  That isn't exactly a great recommendation for him. Putting Ics on my nexus s made it much slower, removed usability from the browser, provided no useful new features, an ugly theme, and added pointless annoying eye candy. If that's what the teams about, keep them the fuck away from Android.
  
  --
  I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
21. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by xrayspx · 2012-05-25 07:36 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not, it's one of the things I like about Android, sorry that could have been clearer. On the Android I'm using PortForward with AndroidVNC for VNC over an SSH tunnel.
  
  --
  I like music
22. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by xrayspx · 2012-05-25 07:40 · Score: 1
  
  I cringed, having written "UX design" for the first time while not specifically making fun of someone, but I couldn't think of a better way. I mean, the Android "UX" needs be friggin "Designed". Whatever else they did wrong, WebOS was fantastic from an end user perspective.
  
  --
  I like music
23. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by xrayspx · 2012-05-25 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  Good to know, hopefully he can continue to improve things. I don't have a phone that will be getting ICS and don't want to deal with the hackery to get it installed with an unsupported build, so I can't comment. But yeah that's definitely a good sign.
  
  --
  I like music
24. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by larry+bagina · 2012-05-25 07:43 · Score: 0
  
  It's open source. Fix it yourself.
  
  --
  Do you even lift?
  These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
25. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-05-25 08:03 · Score: 1
  
  Expect to see the software button lessen and lessen and more Gesture based UI elements to come in.
  That's already there. Example one: notification drawer swipe down to open (been there since forever, though), and now in ICS you can also remove notifications by swiping them off to the side. Example two: Chrome Beta, where swiping left and right from the edge of the screen switches tabs; and in the tab list, swiping aside is used to close tab. Example three: task switcher in ICS. It's pretty much webOS cards, except stacked vertically. Again, swipe aside to close.
26. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 08:23 · Score: 0
  
  The even sadder part is the touchpad has an inferior version of the WebOS UI compared to the phones because it lacks a discrete gesture area. However much you like WebOS on the Touchpad, even better than that on the Phones. If google is smart they will copy that as well as the cards metaphor, the better notifications of WebOS, etc, etc.
27. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by ryanov · 2012-05-25 08:32 · Score: 1
  
  If you want SSH for free, you could try that SSH Mobile app I guess. Or, if you don't like the walled garden you can jailbreak and hope you don't come across any rouge free apps.
  Are the red apps more dangerous or something? Or is it apps that wear lipstick?
28. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by EXrider · 2012-05-25 09:16 · Score: 1
  
  Yep, rogue app icons will be tinted rouge so you can identify and avoid them entirely. I shall patent this idea and sue the fsck out of anyone that infringes upon it!
  
  --
  grep -iw skynet /etc/services
29. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by samoanbiscuit · 2012-05-25 13:18 · Score: 1
  
  Yes because attacking someone's grammar instead of the substance of their statements is always a good move that shows good faith discussion.
30. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 14:39 · Score: 0
  
  Great. Now fandroids will have to come up with an excuse as to how Google didn't clone WebOS like they did iOS. Come on guys. We're waiting for you to spin the story!
31. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by obarthelemy · 2012-05-25 17:22 · Score: 1
  
  I indeed found the Cards model 100% gimmicky. Requires a full screen redraw every time you want to switch apps, including cutesy animations for just a bit more delays. Looks nice the first handful of times, makes you want to beat some sense into the damn machine afterwards.
  Apart from those Cards, I'm not sure I noticed anything much to justify all the hoopla about WebOS. Sold my Touchpad and got an Android Tablet.
  Best thing that can happen is those guys get mixed into the Android team and enrich it.
  
  --
  The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
32. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by alexandre_ganso · 2012-05-29 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know what you mean with gimmicky. Application windows (or cards) can be perfectly dealt by using openGL surfaces, for example, if the "window/card" subsystem does so. Being the hardware capable - and this one is, - it is just a matter of letting OpenGL perform the matrix transformations and show the card reduced.
  Which is pretty much what MacOS and some Linux window systems do.
33. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by obarthelemy · 2012-05-29 05:47 · Score: 1
  
  Gimmicky because the cards look cool, but using them requires lots of full-screen redraws, whereas a start menu a la win7 provides the same functionnality, in a much faster/resource efficent, if less cute, way. Hence gimmicky: it provides no functionality but only a "oh, shinyyyyy !" effect.
  
  --
  The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
34. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by alexandre_ganso · 2012-06-01 20:16 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, I find them quite useful. Like having the windows showing up their contents even when in miniature mode in mac os, or that bad copy of aero in win vista/7, when it works.
  I cannot think how start menu on win7 is useful at all, unless when it is set to look like winXP, the new versions are terrible.
35. Re:Hopefully with UI improvements to come by obarthelemy · 2012-06-01 22:46 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed, I have mine setup like XP.
  
  --
  The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Further Erosion fo HP by gpronger · 2012-05-25 03:43 · Score: 4, Insightful

I think the bigger picture here is the further erosion of HP. From one of the stellar tech companies only a few years back, to right now in an impressive tail-spin. If you have talent, and you want the opportunity to see it to fruition, are you going to choose HP or Google?
1. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 03:53 · Score: 1
  
  HP is dead. The only thing they have left is there desktop business they tried to get out of. Their server software is horrendously over-complicated and is just a terrible java enabled GUI on top of open source projects you can get for free (as evident by the fact they sent people to a recent conference to look at puppet to replace their current server automation software underpinnings which was CFengine2). Their servers are terribly overpriced with not nearly as good a warrantee as even Dells. Their personal device died a very public and painful death.
  HP is destine to go right back to being a Printer company.
2. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by MightyMartian · 2012-05-25 04:10 · Score: 1
  
  Having had two midrange HP printers have formatter boards kick the bucket after just a couple of years, I'm not even sure what kind of printer company they will be. They were once my first choice, but now.... They're fading fast.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
3. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2012-05-25 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  HP is destined to go right back to being a Printer company.
  . . . you mean right back to selling oscillators out of a garage . . .
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
4. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by phantomfive · 2012-05-25 04:21 · Score: 1
  
  HP is already gone. "Further erosion" is uninteresting. But if this guy can give Android a decent UI, that will be something great.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
5. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by gpronger · 2012-05-25 04:39 · Score: 1
  
  Re: Further Erosion - Hey, I was just trying to be polite ;>)
  
  Re: Android - Exactly. My guess is that there's a 'bit' of financial consideration in jumping ship, but anyone with talent has a strong desire to see their stuff in action; who knows the outcome with HP at this point.
6. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:40 · Score: 1
  
  HP printing gear is rebadged Canon hardware and the software comes from HCL. Xerox has taken this direction too, except the decision to rebadge Canon gear hasn't been officially taken yet because they still belive HCL can deliver the hardware projects they took over.. HCL has two buildings in Chennai within yards of each other: one for the Xerox work and one for the HP work.
7. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by phantomfive · 2012-05-25 04:52 · Score: 2
  
  Yeah, it's depressing to watch a once-great company continue its descent into irrelevance and pointlessness.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
8. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by gpronger · 2012-05-25 05:01 · Score: 1
  
  I'm familiar with HP on the instrument side before it was spun off to Agilent. At that point in time, it was an impressive organization. Strong focus on innovation, ethical, and a solid program for employees. On these three points, I believe the current rendition of HP is batting zero.
9. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by gpronger · 2012-05-25 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  I think that's what they lost. the level of innovation that happened in the garage, and through the '90's was impressive. And then they dropped their focus on innovation to become another run-of-the-mill, PC company and quickly crashed-and-burned.
10. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 05:29 · Score: 0
  
  The only thing they have left is there desktop business
  Uh, yeah, that's right. HP doesn't make any money at all selling servers. Or storage. Or networking gear. Or services. Or Cloud. Or printers. Or software. Or support.
  
  It's just desktops and WebOS. Sure.
11. Re:Further Erosion fo HP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 05:33 · Score: 0
  
  But if this guy can give Android a decent UI
  What the hell is wrong with Ice Cream Sandwich? I have a Galaxy Nexus, an iPad and an HD7 windows phone sitting in the drawer and prefer the interface of Android 4 over them all.
Sinking Ship...... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:00 · Score: 0

Rats overboard!!!
1. Re:Sinking Ship...... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:07 · Score: 1
  
  All HP employees, please report to to the lifeboat.
  All HP board member, please report to the helicopter pad.
  Your gold parachutes are waiting.
dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Thud457 · 2012-05-25 04:04 · Score: 1

really webos team, your damn browser doesn't have a useful ad-blocker, like every other goddamned civilized browser? (yeah, that's a cheap slam against IE, deal with it...)
It's a real eye-opening nightmare when I have to resort to using a browser with no ad blocking. Probably why my parents don't use the web as much as we do.

This is not acceptable.

--
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:07 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  There are multiple AdBlock patches in Preware that you can add. They don't give you personalized control like AdBlockPlus, and it's not ideal, but they block the ads just fine.
2. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Windows+Breaker+G4 · 2012-05-25 04:08 · Score: 2
  
  Ads make the world go round on the web. It's how things are paid for, this is like complaining that a gas station won't let you avoid paying the gas tax for road up keep. Yes some sites go overboard, but really by and large, no matter if we like it or not, sites are paid for with ads. Do you have a better suggestion?
  
  --
  brickspeed.net for your old Volvo performance addiction
3. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Archangel+Michael · 2012-05-25 04:22 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Blocking Ads is a result of too many sites trying too hard to "monetize" a site. It is what I call the "rule of assholes". The Rule of Assholes goes like this: Any thing that is legitimate and good can be ruined by assholes. In fact, that is my definition of what an Asshole is; they ruin it (for normal values of "it") for everyone else.
  Ads done right, are unobtrusive and might even ad value to a site. However Assholes come along and splatter and plaster the most annoying adverts all over negligible sites. Worse is the fact that often times they don't even vet the advertisers so that they become a vector of malware payloads, and ruin it for everyone else. The result is that you HAVE to run your browser with AdBlock enabled just to have a reasonable surfing experience.
  You want to run ads on your site? Sell banner/ad space yourself, serve it yourself and most adblock software won't bother blocking your adverts. It costs more in time and energy, but that is the cost of all the assholes in the world ruining things for everyone else.
  
  --
  Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
4. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:24 · Score: 0
  
  You can go round with you DSL's on my johnson you putrid marketing shill!
5. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by TheLink · 2012-05-25 04:26 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  Yeah my suggestion is do NOT install adblockers for everyone. People who can't figure out how to block ads by themselves should get them.
  
  The ones who can figure out how to block ads and choose to block them typically aren't the target market for those ads, so there's no real loss to the advertiser (and in fact the wise advertisers might prefer it that way since they may get charged if the ad is shown or if the person accidentally clicks on the ad).
  --
  
  Too many replies beneath your current threshold
6. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Artifex · 2012-05-25 04:49 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  often times they don't even vet the advertisers so that they become a vector of malware payloads, and ruin it for everyone else.
  This and the fact that third party ad server response can significantly delay page loading is why I pretty much only whitelist sites that handle ads in house. Once a site sells space to a network that partners with other networks (which most do), it becomes anyone's guess what will come out.
  
  --
  Get off my launchpad!
7. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by ColdWetDog · 2012-05-25 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, all we need is one big, honking HOSTS file.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
8. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 05:50 · Score: 1
  
  sites are paid for with ads.
  Ads pay for nothing. We do, via higher price products to pay for the ads and the middlemen who make them. And we pay again with our time and attention.
  Unsolicited ads are just the web's really crappy micropayment system and I for one would jump for joy if they died.
  The idea that ads or insurance pay for anything at all is one of the biggest scams ever perpetuated in the modern world.
9. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 05:59 · Score: 0
  
  I'm glad to see somebody mention ad server response times. That is by far the biggest factor in slow page loads for me. I don't hesitate to move on to the next site when a site is sitting there waiting for an ad server to deliver content.
10. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by xrayspx · 2012-05-25 07:27 · Score: 1
  
  It should be pointed out how easy it is to load code from alternate sources by rooting. KONAMI CODE = done. I spent a few minutes looking at the PITA/Benefit analysis of rooting my Android phone and decided to leave it alone.
  
  --
  I like music
11. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Bert64 · 2012-05-25 08:31 · Score: 1
  
  Well said, i only run an ad blocker because of all the intrusive ads (especially those with video and/or sound)...
  When it was simple static banner and text ads i didn't have a problem.
  
  --
  http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
12. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by sdnoob · 2012-05-25 15:46 · Score: 1
  
  that they become a vector of malware payloads,
  
  and that is the main reason everybody should be browsing with at least an adblocker (the less technical, and with noscript for those who can handle it) in addition to their antivirus/antimalware software.
13. Re:dear god, the ADS, the ADS! by Artifex · 2012-05-26 01:30 · Score: 1
  
  I'm glad to see somebody mention ad server response times. That is by far the biggest factor in slow page loads for me. I don't hesitate to move on to the next site when a site is sitting there waiting for an ad server to deliver content.
  I don't mind too much opening multiple tabs in order to let one load on my desktop, but it really sucks on my phone.
  Just yesterday I installed Adblock (Or Adblock Plus, whichever it was) on Firefox for Android; hopefully it's as good as the desktop version of ABP.
  
  --
  Get off my launchpad!
Plea to Google by jejones · 2012-05-25 04:06 · Score: 4, Interesting

For heaven's sake, PLEASE adopt the WebOS UI. It is easy to use and intuitive. Let the Android UI die the death it overwhelmingly deserves.
I recently went to the local Sprint store to ask whether the batteries on my wife's and my HTC Evo 4G need replacement. In passing asked the tech what things I could do to extend battery life, in particular how I could avoid leaving apps running. Here's what I was told: "If you leave an app by hitting the 'home' button, it will keep running. If you leave it with the back arrow button, it will shut down." I've been training myself to do that, and what a proctalgia it is, especially with the web browser and apps that invoke it! (Do I really have to back all the way out of the sequence of pages I've viewed, potentially reloading graphics or Flash animations?) With WebOS, it's easy--if an app has a window, it has a process. Flick the window up and off the screen, and you're telling it to shut down.
1. Re:Plea to Google by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:15 · Score: 0
  
  The UI for WebOS is 100x better than the android UI and 2x better than iOS.
  - I like being able to have two apps open. You can easily copy and paste between the two instead of having to launch and close each app multiple times. This came in handy when working on a presentation for my graduate course.
  - I like being able to flick apps I no longer need off of the screen. It is both simple and mentally satisfying. Hitting the back button multiple times in Android just to close an app is clunky, at best.
  David
2. Re:Plea to Google by jomcty · 2012-05-25 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  In ICS you can flick away running apps from the task list.
3. Re:Plea to Google by Psyborgue · 2012-05-25 04:27 · Score: 1
  
  You might consider installing a custom rom such as ClockworkMod. The stock rom on the Evo is loaded with bloatware. Properly written apps should suspend themselves even when running in the background on Android. Carriers aren't always so careful. Don't blame Google for what carriers do to Android. If you want a real android experience, either flash CWM, or buy a nexus. My partner's nexus lasts easily a day and a half with moderate usage (~1hr browsing / day). My Galaxy S flashed with ICS has similar life. It's not quite as good as an iPhone, but it's pretty close.
4. Re:Plea to Google by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:35 · Score: 0
  
  Agree totally.
  Having both a webos device (tablet) and android phones/tablets..I'm with you that webos is a better UI.
  My hope is that they are at Google to try and allow the ability to run native android apps in Webos. If they can do that...WIN.
5. Re:Plea to Google by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:50 · Score: 0
  
  There is zero reason to make sure apps do close. Memory doesn't use any more power just because it's used and any well-behaved app shouldn't actively run in background unless it does something useful (that you don't want to cancel)
6. Re:Plea to Google by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:52 · Score: 0
  
  You might want to try Advanced Task Killer
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rechild.advancedtaskkiller&hl=en
  I've heard mixed opinions on whether it helps or not but in my experience, it has.
  Anecdotal I know but I left my 2 year old EVO in the car overnight a few days ago and then threw it on the charger for about 30 minutes the following morning and was still at half battery that evening before bed.
7. Re:Plea to Google by oakgrove · 2012-05-25 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  - I like being able to have two apps open. You can easily copy and paste between the two instead of having to launch and close each app multiple times.
  On my Galaxy Nexus, there is a button on the bottom right that acts as essentially an alt-tab switcher. The apps do not open and close, and I can switch back and forth cutting and pasting as much as I want.
  
  I like being able to flick apps I no longer need off of the screen. It is both simple and mentally satisfying. Hitting the back button multiple times in Android just to close an app is clunky, at best.
  Again, on my Galaxy Nexus, I click the app switcher button at the bottom and any app I want to close I just drag out of the list.
  Have you ever used Android?
  
  --
  The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
8. Re:Plea to Google by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 05:40 · Score: 1
  
  Using a task killer is stupid and pointless in Android and can even reduce battery life if the app just restarts itself over and over. Android is a real multi-tasking operating system so the best idea if you are getting poor battery life and you think it might be some app is to go into the settings and see what is running in the background. It evens tells you which apps use the most memory. If an app is misbehaving, uninstall it and rate it accordingly in the app store.
9. Re:Plea to Google by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 06:11 · Score: 0
  
  - I like being able to have two apps open. You can easily copy and paste between the two instead of having to launch and close each app multiple times.
  On my Galaxy Nexus, there is a button on the bottom right that acts as essentially an alt-tab switcher. The apps do not open and close, and I can switch back and forth cutting and pasting as much as I want.
  
  I like being able to flick apps I no longer need off of the screen. It is both simple and mentally satisfying. Hitting the back button multiple times in Android just to close an app is clunky, at best.
  Again, on my Galaxy Nexus, I click the app switcher button at the bottom and any app I want to close I just drag out of the list.
  Have you ever used Android?
  I have used Android. I have CM9 (ICS) loaded on my Touchpad and use it as my primary OS due to the availability of Apps. My understanding was that the "app switcher" list was simply a recently used list. However, you are correct, if I swipe an active application off of the list, it does close. Thanks for the tip!!!
  I still prefer WebOS, though.... (grin)
10. Re:Plea to Google by AuMatar · 2012-05-25 06:35 · Score: 2
  
  As an Android dev, that's wrong. The app remains running no matter how you leave it. It is only paused, not destroyed
  
  --
  I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
11. Re:Plea to Google by AuMatar · 2012-05-25 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  Except most apps aren't well behaved, many will hold open wakelocks.
  Oh and security- I may want to game my phone to someone and not allow him access to my previously opened banking app.
  Oh and phones don't have infinite memory, so out means a delay in the future when you run out.
  And it's different from how every other OS in the world works, and differences without good reason are confusing
  It was a bad design mistake, probably their biggest one. They need to reverse it badly.
  
  --
  I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
12. Re:Plea to Google by SpzToid · 2012-05-25 16:37 · Score: 1
  
  Flick the window up and off the screen, and you're telling it to shut down.
  You've also just described Harmatton, the linux OS behind the Nokia N9. Check out the 2nd thumbnailed video from the left, on the bottom of this page. FWIW Microsoft paid Nokia a billion dollars to bury this phone and OS so no one can choose it over Nokia's newer WP7 phones, like the Lumia 900 with very similar hardware, albeit with lighter specs. (no front-facing camera, no 64GB option, so you're stuck at 16GB with no expansion on WP7. That sort of thing. Still, you can use it as a hammer to pound nails.
  Initially, only countries like Saudi Arabia and South Africa were allowed to sell it through their telcos. But I see Amazon USA has it, so no more need to import it yourself; however you'll never see a US ad campaign to tell you about it. OK, me, I'm like an ad but that's about all you'll hear otherwise. I've got one and now two friends do too, and they really like showing it off, and they aren't geeks at all. One of them is really impressing all the iPhone kids he knows, and then explaining the net-cost of the iPhone after the contract is paid for. And what SIP and companies like 12voip are all about.
  
  --
  You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
13. Re:Plea to Google by DMUTPeregrine · 2012-05-25 20:27 · Score: 1
  
  On android 4.x at least, the process is simpler.
  From the home screen (or another app, if you forget). Hold home, if vibration is on it will vibrate twice. The task switcher will come up. Swipe an app's thumbnail right or left to kill it.
  Most previous android phones could do pretty much the same thing, but IIRC it took an extra button press somewhere. It's been a while since I've run Froyo or Gingerbread on my Vibrant (same generation as your Evo).
  Third-party roms are great.
  
  --
  Not a sentence!
14. Re:Plea to Google by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-29 16:07 · Score: 0
  
  *sizzle, fo wizzle* *drum snare* tt,t,t,t,t,ttttrr,t,t,r,r,rrrrroooooo ooo o lll
  G to the R to the O to the V to the E!
  What's up, lil nigglets?
  DJ Saul T. Nuts with another classic troll for your ear hole.
  Bitch, what you know about Android? Fucking works great for trollgrove. Ladies always be calling him to hear those sweet trolls roll off that brown-eye lickin' tounge. His daddy taught him how to like around brown town real good like.
  Mofo's got a Galaxy Nexus, ridin' in his Lexus, jizzin' out the Slashdot posts, boyfriend by his side, pumpin' the roast.
  TROLLGROVE TROLLED YOU HARD, SON. GET EM' TROLLGROVE! IT WORKS FOR JEW!
Sail Away, Sail Away, sail away by rossdee · 2012-05-25 04:18 · Score: 1

Did anybody else read that as "WebOS Enya team"
1. Re:Sail Away, Sail Away, sail away by gpronger · 2012-05-25 05:07 · Score: 1
  
  Umm, yeah. That's where you really see the level HP is at. The whole crew jumps ship.
2. Re:Sail Away, Sail Away, sail away by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 11:24 · Score: 0
  
  The moon upon the ocean
  is swept around in motion
  but without ever knowing
  the reason for its flowing
  in motion on the ocean...
Android inside webOS by WillyWanker · 2012-05-25 04:19 · Score: 4, Interesting

There's been talk of adding an Android emulation layer to webOS that would allow devices like the Touchpad to run Android apps. My guess is this meeting might have something to do with this. Hopefully. WebOS is an amazing platform but the lack of apps has all but killed it. Being able to run Android apps side-by-side with webOS apps would literally breath life back into the OS and allow it to move forward as a serious mobile contender.
1. Re:Android inside webOS by interval1066 · 2012-05-25 04:46 · Score: 1
  
  Palm killed WebOS, and kicked the corpse. Maybe they'll kick it back to life here.
  
  --
  Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
I miss WebOS by greywire · 2012-05-25 04:23 · Score: 1

I reluctantly "upgraded" to an android phone, from a Palm Pre, only because the palm pre was wearing out (which is pretty much the only reason I upgrade my phones every 1.5 years). After 6 months, I wanted to go back to the Pre. Yes, apps were limited, but I dont use most of the apps on android anyway. I use email, messaging, and web 90% of the time, and WebOS integrated my communications so seamlessly and it multitasked so intuitively that I didnt much care that it did not have a million apps. And it had the ones I wanted anyway.. pandora, angry birds, etc.
Now I have another android phone, with Ice Cream Sandwich (the other one never got the upgrade), and its much much better than Gingerbread but still not as slick as WebOS. Close, though.
I think it would be a slam dunk for some company if they ported the WebOS GUI and built in apps (synergy) to run on top of Android. Then you'd get all the android apps, too. And if you had Android apps running inside of WebOS "cards", wow, that would be spectacular. Other handset companies have their own GUI extensions to Android, why not have WebOS?

--
-- Senior Software Engineer, Attorney appearance services, locallawyerapp.com.
1. Re:I miss WebOS by amRadioHed · 2012-05-25 05:42 · Score: 1
  
  What do you mean by wear out? I find it hard to believe your phone would be unusable after only 1.5 years. I go over 2 years with all my phones and only replace them if I want something new, they still work fine after that time.
  
  --
  We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
2. Re:I miss WebOS by zubiaur · 2012-05-25 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  The original palm pre was poorly engineered, the slider was a mess and flex cables were a prominent point of failure (had some issues with power managment too). further revisions improved the design but early adopter certainly got sub-par hardware. The pre plus addressed some of the most notable quality issues. The pre 2 improved further and the pre 3 was a completely new and much more solid design. Pixi phones were simple and tough. The touchpad had some problems with the housing (brittle plastic, hairline cracks). Thats the state of Palm/HP hardware. TL,DR: not great.
3. Re:I miss WebOS by ryanov · 2012-05-25 08:37 · Score: 1
  
  It's incredible to me how much better made the Palm Pre Plus was than the Pre. Mine has been dropped and has tumbled and is cracked in a bunch of places but holds together. My girlfriend had one that cracked when I opened the battery cover (yes, properly) and the cracks travelled until they hit the screen.
4. Re:I miss WebOS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 10:10 · Score: 0
  
  The Pre 2 continued the improvement with the addition of the Gorilla glass screen.
5. Re:I miss WebOS by ryanov · 2012-05-27 13:38 · Score: 1
  
  To me that seems like not an improvement. I bought a Pre3, but... I'm concerned that now instead of just looking like hell from being dropped, I'm going to end up with broken glass.
The curse of WebOS by Junta · 2012-05-25 04:28 · Score: 3, Insightful

WebOS has a beautiful UI strategy, for alerts and multitasking. It however had crappy apps....

--
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
1. Re:The curse of WebOS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 06:15 · Score: 0
  
  I dunno, there's some pretty good apps for WebOS.
  BUt honestly I don't use much of anything except for this: Scummvm
  $100 tablet + Preware speed hacks + ScummVM + Gog.com pretty much is the awesomeness
2. Re:The curse of WebOS by xrayspx · 2012-05-25 07:32 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, massive dev buy-in problem. The apps that were there were OK, but there weren't very many overall. That was really the both the first and last nails in the coffin. When they launched, it was $100 to publish an app, so if you wanted to give your app away for free, it cost you. jwz has a couple of good posts about the app posting nightmare. Besides, why maintain apps for three different mobile platforms when IOS is already widely adopted, and Android is winning the footrace for second place?
  
  --
  I like music
3. Re:The curse of WebOS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-26 03:39 · Score: 0
  
  Don't forget slow. Using the browser on WebOS is painfully slow. Reboot the same device with a CM9 nightly and response is so much better that you never want to go back to WebOS.
Dear HP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 04:36 · Score: 0

Please spin off your server products division so I can continue to buy prolient servers. Preferably before your hack of CEO runs your company in to the ground and jumps out of the burning wreck with her golden parachute.
The only party more criminally incompetent than the tea-tard hack they brought on is the board that hired her. Seriously, what the hell is with HP's board? Don't we have a body of anti-trust law that's supposed to stop such intense board level corruption?
Probably copyrighted by johanwanderer · 2012-05-25 04:38 · Score: 1

The problem with that is, most of those features that make WebOS easy to use are probably copyrighted. Then again, with HP opensource WebOS, Google might just be able to incorporate it wholesale into Android.
Not good news from my perspective by GodfatherofSoul · 2012-05-25 04:57 · Score: 2

I was hoping a non-Google/Apple machine would get behind WebOS to push it as a 3rd option to those gorillas. Assimilation of the tech team probably eliminates that possibility.

--
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
1. Re:Not good news from my perspective by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 07:08 · Score: 0
  
  Interestingly I think of it as a Google/Apple machine which could use a good third competitor too.
  I think most people who think of it at all do-- bad news for Microsoft.
Or the other way around by ourlovecanlastforeve · 2012-05-25 06:10 · Score: 1

Perhaps they'll be developing Android compatibility for WebOS.
web Os is an ugly piece of shit by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 07:23 · Score: 0

I've used it twice, never impressed...my wife _HATED_ it too
Tech employment motivated by new approaches by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-25 08:11 · Score: 0

HP and IBM are laying off a ton of workers. I suppose if Google hired some of them and "virtualized" their jobs, some real value added could follow.
JJ
Phlaiming skulzzzzzzz!!eleventyone! by Hognoxious · 2012-05-27 21:01 · Score: 1

What's wrong with Android? If it's that options aren't grouped together logically, the most commonly used menu items are seven levels down and terminology is inconsistent the you want a human factors engineer/ergonomist.
If you think buttons should react when pressed by sparkling like a crystal being scanned with a laser - no, make that two lasers, one red working from left to right and one green working right to left - then I guess you can find your local Starbucks.

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
1. Re:Phlaiming skulzzzzzzz!!eleventyone! by xrayspx · 2012-05-28 00:49 · Score: 1
  
  I mean things like the card & stack model of multitasking / app switching. The way the Palm mail app worked with several accounts, which was better than anything I've used on Android, and better than the IOS mail.app.
  
  --
  I like music
Would a dynamic gradient fill help? by Hognoxious · 2012-05-28 07:09 · Score: 1

Having not used any of those things I can't comment with certainly, but it seems those would be the kind of issues that would be beyond the comprehension of most UX fucktards.

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
1. Re:Would a dynamic gradient fill help? by xrayspx · 2012-05-29 02:33 · Score: 1
  
  Absolutely right, that's why I hesitated to even say the words. Clearly though, someone "designed" the "user experience" to such a degree of polish on Palm, and it's a shame to lose it down the memory hole of ex-smartphones:
  
  Video showing card based task switching. It's important to note that these aren't launching, things in cards are apps that are actively running. Also, by throwing away the card, it quits the app, that simple. In Android, some apps have a quit menu item, some don't. By using the "Recent Apps" feature (holding down the home button on my Evo, for instance), it will show you recent apps, but not their state, and it's not known if they're still running or have been shut down or what, it's not a task switcher as much as a history button.
  
  --
  I like music