HP/Palm finally making an iPhone-style webOS slab phone?

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, writing for sibling site PreCentral.net lands an exclusive first look at an HP/Palm webOS slab device, potentially code-named Stingray.

While we are quite confident that the image is legit, unfortunately we don't have a lot of confidence in any further information. Is the device coming or is it simply a prototype that has been canned? Our tipster described it as "an EVO with webOS" and suggests it simply has yet to be announced.

If real and if HP goes ahead and releases it, it will be their first phone without a keyboard, leaving webOS itself as their key differentiators. With more an more emerging about the tablet-specific webOS 3.0 (similar to how iOS 3.2 was iPad specific), it'll be interesting to see what ultimately launches on the phone.

Now where's that HP iPod touch competitor so webOS fans don't need another cell contract just to enjoy it on a handheld?

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

21 Comments
  • yawn...am I first?
    Here's a real exciting fact: Netflix has just announced that MAD MEN will be available for streaming. Woohoo! :D
  • Mad Men has been on Netflix in Canada for months :)
  • saw 4 episodes. didn't like it. The 1950s Misogony, sexism and racism is not something i find interesting. There was rarely a character that i didn't want to get hit by a bus.
  • Isn't that why we watch it?
  • That is obviously a phone...so why are you saying it's a iPod touch competior?
  • Where the f in this article do they mention an iPod touch?
  • It's fixed now.
  • Finally. This may be webOS's first blockbuster phone device.
    QWERTY thumb board designs are basically niche market designs. Either you are RIM surviving on enterprise inertia or you are selling to a small market.
    With the slate phone design, they can address a larger market.
  • I have a Palm Pre since August 2009... and it's really not a good competitor at all. It has a nice OS, but not having any Apps I want that are available on iOS and Android really kills the overall experience. This phone will only be good if webOS can get the Apps that matter!
  • At a fair price for the apps. If HP gets it right, web OS could really be something, but are they too late to really be a competitor? There are a lot of if's, but if the iPhone 5 is really delayed, and HP could get a new phone out early June, could really be good for HP, but I don't think they can do it.
  • Windows phone 7!!!
  • Looks fat. Slider?
  • (Click-through links don't seem to be working, in case that is explained there.)
  • I saw this last week, having it few minutes in hands. Internal HP peoples are using already this phone. Seems interesting but is slower than my iPhone 4. And yes, it is fat :-)
  • no u didnt stfu!
  • when did this become precentral.com
  • Amen
  • The crowning feature of webOS is said to be it's witty excuses for being years late to the party.
    "As we all know, you should never be the first one to arrive. You should let all the lesser people show up and anticipate your arrival. It builds excitement and we here at HP are all about being fashionably late. We hope to bring you an OS filled with feature that you've been familiar with for years." - Léo Apotheker had to say from the podium.
    In related news, it's been that Apple HQ in Cupertino has raised a giant white cloth above it's campus. As the massive white flag stands flowing in the springtime breeze, Steve Jobs had only to say "We know when we're finished.".
    I'm some drunk jerk, reporting from somewhere in Canada. Or maybe NY. I forget.
  • IOS IS THE BEST.
  • I have an iPhone 4 as my personal phone and a Pre2 as a business phone. Believe me when I tell you that in an OS comparison between the two iOS wins on stability and not all that much more. webOS is pretty impressive in it's integration to cloud-based services, syncing your content, it's ability to handle notifications, multitasking and navigation. Apple keeps my business because I have a collection of apps that cannot be matched currently in webOS. Hopefully, iOS 5 is a rethinking of the user experience because iOS is pretty long in the tooth right now and is not the best as you state.
  • I agree, HP has the best OS, and ios has the apps, they should combine forces... wow, then we would really have something to get excited about...