HP’s WebOS TouchPad reveals iPad’s multitasking weaknesses

February 9, 2011 11:49 AM
Devindra Hardawar
Add a Comment
MobileBeat 2013
July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA
Tickets On Sale Now

Unless Apple significantly revamps iOS for the iPad, it’s going to be blown away by HP’s 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 — but if today’s announcements are any indication, HP definitely won’t let Palm’s innovative WebOS platform stagnate.

HP and Palm have finally realized WebOS’s full potential with the TouchPad — a 10-inch tablet that will give the iPad, Android tablets, and RIM’s 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, Apple’s iOS lacked any sort of multitasking capability — it didn’t 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 Palm’s 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 doesn’t 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 — every single notification on iOS demands your attention by appearing on top of whatever application you’re running. I’ve been living with an iPad for a few months now, but I use it less and less these days specifically because it’s 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. It’s 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 won’t need to jump into a separate app to text or instant message as you would on the iPad. Similarly, the TouchPad’s 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 — for example, a web page that you already have open on the TouchPad — 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 it’s 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. We’re expecting Android 3.0 to bring some innovative capabilities to tablets as well, but even that platform doesn’t seem as polished as WebOS yet when it comes to multitasking.

Check out VentureBeat's product data sheets for more in-depth information on tablets.

Topics:

, , , ,
  • http://twitter.com/DavidStewart David Stewart

    One has to wonder how much time the author has ever spent with an iPad given some of the odd assertions made about it here. For instance, it is stated that the TouchPad is easier to use than the iPad because you can delete multiple email messages. Certainly a nice feature, but one which has been on the iPad since it launched.

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    It's done in a more gesture-based way on the TouchPad. It's not just hunting and pecking.

  • http://twitter.com/rodneyjwoodruff Rodney J Woodruff

    As for the interruption of the Angry Birds game, you won't have to worry about that on the touchpad because so far webOS doesn't appear to be suited for gaming. Please correct me if I am wrong.

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    They just demonstrated Open GL gaming on the TouchPad http://www.blogcdn.com/www.eng… , also Angry Birds has been on WebOS since August

  • http://www.facebook.com/serio Austin Serio

    I have an iPad and I 100% agree with the author. Compared to everything else coming out IOS is terrible on it. Don't even get me started about the multi-tasking. It is pure crap.

  • http://twitter.com/maffyoot matthew taylor

    so, the multi tasking is implemented in a different way, there is no mention of whether the touchpad can actually perform ok with multiple apps open, and the notification system needs a minor tweak in order for it to be less obtrusive. Way to overstate the case. Blown away … hardly as recent stats on the galaxy tab prove, even getting close to iPad sales never mind beating them, is an almost impossible feat. Oh and apps. they are all on the iPad. What use is multi tasking with no apps? maybe thats how they keep performance respectable, terrible article, terrible ….

  • http://www.google.com/profiles/k.lagan Kam

    Whenever someone complains about the multitasking capabilities of iOS I can only conclude that they have the wrong device. This is *not* the same argument as comparing the desktop market. An iPad is a very unique device yet people insist on using them or comparing them to a laptops ability. The iPad is not a laptop without a physical keyboard, unlike the competing tablets out there. The iOS is a beautiful example of focusing attention to the task in hand. Development strategies are shifting towards a more focused approach rather than multi tasking approach as you normally end up doing a lot of things badly rather than one thing well.I wonder whether these same people buy screwdrivers and complain that they are rubbish hammers…

  • http://twitter.com/maffyoot matthew taylor

    i agree entirely with this. Lets take a look at how the TouchPad differentiates itself with the ( year old ) iPad 1. it isnt real yet, i cant buy one2. it has slightly different app features such as photos being able to integrate with flickr (arent there like 1000 or so apps, most free, that do this anyway?)3. it can display flash (this one is so old) better hope it has a good battery then eh?4. the iPad “FORCES” you to swipe a bar at the bottom of the screen. surely the touchpad FORCES you to swipe using cards, what if i dont like the cards approach. and the similarities1. its the same size 9.7″ screen and form factor/resolution as the ipad2. it has the word “pad” in its name3. it is, for all intents and purposes an iPad clone albeit a newer one with slightly higher hardwars specsipad 100000's of apps … touchpad …?

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    I love the “it isn't real” argument with tech geeks. This isn't exactly vaporware. You also seem to miss the point about the software differences. WebOS's card swiping gives you a live preview of running apps, which makes it more useful than just an icon. And on the iPad, many apps don't hold their state for multitasking, which isn't very useful at all.But clearly nothing in your mind can match the amazing iPad ;)

  • http://twitter.com/maffyoot matthew taylor

    I dont think its me missing the point, and until these things become real consumer goods they are vaporware. What other OS gives you a live preview of other running apps? i mean without actually going to the app to continue what you were doing. Windows 7 has the rollover, OSX has a live icon, but do we actually need it?. I cant think of any real use cases on the iPad where i've thought Dang i wish i had a preview, i usually know what im doing. I'd like to see how this works with apps that share platform features such as camera or GPS. Apps have to be written to maintain state on the iPad so they all *can* but not all choose to. It depends how you measure useful. Notifications could do with a tweak but its not exactly a groundbreaking change is it.The main problem with the article is there is absolutely no context at all, you just *tell* us why things are bad on the iPad and orgasmic on the touchpad without any objective dialog, just your opinion, being forced to do things on the iPad but the touchpad “letting” you do things (its own way let it be said) Don't be surprised if people don't agree.But clearly nothing in your mind can match the amazing TouchPad …

  • http://www.paramountwest.com/ Perry West

    Yes I agree with matthew. This article is just an opinion. Well, as for me, I really like the iPad and it still does its thing while I am playing my games.

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    So just because nobody else is using live icons in mobile it's useless? I have a feeling you'd be saying otherwise if Apple was doing it. It's particularly useful in mobile if you're juggling between multiple browser windows (you have to do this inside Safari in iOS) and apps that look similar.Yes, what I'm writing is opinion. Welcome to the Internet. Until I get a TouchPad in my hands to review, I'll mostly have to write based on my opinion. But I know how WebOS works, and I know what benefits it could bring to tablets. Just because I'm not writing what you want to see doesn't mean I'm not being objective ;)

  • Christopher

    Just Opinion? Ok, lets think about it.. Its does multitasking.. something that REALLY bugs me on my iPad – Yes MY ipad Ken and Taylor. I've had one for quite a while and had to jailbreak it to get multitasking on it. Does it make a difference? Fully. Unless you have jailbroken your iPad and really come to understand the benefits then you are simply spewing your opinion. (i dont care) Oh and how did you like the performance on the TouchPad. Oh wait.. YOU WERE NOT THERE were you? Really. I'm think its too little too late for HP but that does not take away that the WebOS is a very impressive OS. (i dont care) I've played with it on Pre and was quite impressed. I can see this platform taking to the next level where there is far more RAM, CPU available to let it shine. (I dont care..I want the iphone 4. it has the 3G's… and the wifi's.. ) THAT is what I hear when I read you comments.

  • Christopher

    Matthew, Kam, I have a reply for you a few comments below…

  • http://www.24pagebooks.com MartinEdic

    Excuse me, 'unless'? Do you think they are sitting still? And you're writing this about a device that has no launch date, no pricing and no one outside of HP has actually touched the thing.Ridiculous.There could well be two new iterations of iPad and iOS by the time HP releases…

  • honjk

    so let me get this straight, the HP is “going” to be better???? when it ships in like 6 months? heard of vaporware before? might want to look it up…. also what company would you invest in? one that innovates? or one that copies it 2 years later??? 2 years???? and then copied so much that they will be sued as soon as it is released….. 6 months is like a half life in computer years….. and 6 months? by then Apple will of released 2 main versions of it's iPad, and about 4 to five OS updates… are you really serious with this “going” to be better? someday in the distant future?

  • honjk

    ——–This isn't exactly vaporware——actually this is the very definition of “vaporware”, announcing a product 6 months before shipping is the worst kind of vaporware, by then the market can change 3 times…. and 6 months is like a half life in computer years…you can't get much closer to vaporware than this… it is textbook.worse, by then, there will be 100,000 NATIVE iPad apps, along with 300,000 other apps for the iPad, when HP launches it will have about ZERO native apps, give or take half a dozen… :0)THAT is vaporware, the only reason anyone would ever buy a tablet, is for the apps so that you can actually do something on it…worse the batterylife will in real life (when it is not vaporware) suck… because it is vaporware they don't have to worry about real world things that make a tablet useful… worse than that, THEY HAVE NO PRICE…. textbook vaporware….the 3 things that people buy a Tablet for….1. price… HP has… wait for it…. vapor.2. Apps… HP vapor….3. batterylife… HP vapor…i'm surprised the cann'ed demo's are not see through it is so vaporware….

  • honjk

    no one should write a review without one in hand… that is what you call false blogging… worse it is misleading… for all we know the thing is slow because of the stupid live icons.. actually a REAL reviewer who actually had their hands on the thing, (although HP wouldn't let them hold it , HP personel held it while the reviewer barely could touch it to test features) and the reviewer said that it WAS SLOW….. why did HP not let him hold it? because it is VAPORwARE, with pie in the sky eye candy canned demos…. if people actually used it it would crash and show that it is 6 months out…THAT is why you don't write a review about something you know nothing about. let alone have one.

  • http://www.webosroundup.com/ Roy Sutton

    webOS is well suited to gaming and Angry Birds has been available for months, launching on webOS well before Android. There are a number of highly polished 3D games for webOS devices.

  • http://www.webosroundup.com/ Roy Sutton

    Ridiculous. Multitasking has always performed wonderfully on webOS and has since the first Palm Pre shipped. The TouchPad is bringing a lot more horsepower and RAM so multitasking should be very smooth.

  • http://www.webosroundup.com/ Roy Sutton

    Wow, dude, your iPad will continue to work. You don't have to scream at the sky to make the TouchPad go away. You'll be safe in the walled garden. Palm innovated pretty much everything that Apple, Blackberry and Android are implementing lately. I'm also pretty sure the iPad wasn't the first tablet computer… Anyhow, I violated the first law of the internet: Don't feed the trolls. Oh well.

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    Yes, “unless.” Right now WebOS's reality as a multitasking platform is far beyond that of iOS. And two iOS releases, are you kidding?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YSBZ3SVBFWQJ7FG24JN5TO2W6Q Ernzo

    Multitasking on iOS is just task switching. A Palm Pilot did that, almost exactly the same way…True multitasking as available on Apple Computers and Microsoft Windows, that is how it works. HP WebOs does it as well, which is why it is called True Multitasking. If Apple wants to implement it, that is fine, and maybe i Pad users don't care, but those are different stories.

  • http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/10/hp-permanently-drops-touchpads-price-by-100/ HP permanently drops TouchPad’s price by $100 | VentureBeat

    [...] Although it isn’t as well-known, that doesn’t mean the TouchPad doesn’t have decent specs and interesting features. The 9.7-inch TouchPad features a dual-core 1.2-GHz Snapdragon processor and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. It also runs the very cool WebOS, which puts Apple’s iOS on the iPad 2 to shame when it comes to multitasking. [...]

  • http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/17/report-best-buy-has-more-than-240k-unsold-hp-touchpads/ Report: Best Buy has more than 240K unsold HP TouchPads | VentureBeat

    [...] Although it isn’t selling well, that doesn’t mean the TouchPad doesn’t have decent specs and some interesting features. The 9.7-inch TouchPad features a dual-core 1.2-GHz Snapdragon processor and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. It also runs the very cool WebOS, which puts Apple’s iOS on the iPad 2 to shame when it comes to multitasking. [...]

blog comments powered by Disqus