Features

• More WebOS rumors: What we know so far

  The leaked details on HP and Palm's WebOS tablet keep on coming, though HP has said we haven't seen everything yet.

• HP-Palm deal: 5 things I hope It brings

  Hewlett-Packard just raised the ante in the smartphone wars by purchasing Palm, bringing to the table its standing as the world's largest PC maker and potentially bringing on a new era of WebOS devices. The future is still cloudy for the union of the ailing Palm and the mighty HP, but here are five ways HP can make the best of its $1.2 billion buy:

• HP purchase of Palm paves way for WebOS tablet

  The fall of Palm from groundbreaking innovator of handheld PDA's, to ailing developer of capable-but-waning smartphones is complete with the announcement that HP will acquire Palm to the tune of US$1.2 billion. The primary asset of Palm is the WebOS mobile platform--an asset that puts HP in a strong position to create a tablet device to compete with Apple's iPad.

• Palm CEO: We Could Have Been Bigger Than Droid

  Yesterday's statement from Palm's CEO, lamenting how Motorola's Droid beat the Palm Pre into Verizon stores, I was reminded of a famous Marlon Brando line from "On the Waterfront." Many people know the words, even of they don't know they come from a 1954 motion picture.

• A quiet Palm releases WebOS update

  Palm has stayed very quiet since its releases of the Palm Pre and Pixi devices this summer, which debuted the WebOS that was at one point seen as a key rival to Apple's iPhone.

• Would Nokia-Palm merger spell doom for WebOS?

  If I had a dollar for every instance of misguided Wall Street speculation, I might be richer than a trader, but let's just imagine that Nokia will acquire Palm, as reported on Friday.

• Droid beats Pre, iPhone beats Droid--for now

  Motorola's Droid has a tough game of catch-up to play, but not as tough as what faces Palm's Pre as both challenge Apple's iPhone. Longer term, this may be a two horse race, with Android winning in the end and BlackBerry still chugging along.

• Smartphone OS smackdown: WebOS vs. the world

  Does the world need another smartphone operating system? Apple's iPhone OS is still booming; Google's Android is increasingly promising; and three longtime contenders--Microsoft's Windows Mobile, RIM's BlackBerry OS, and Symbian's S60--are undergoing serious renovation to keep up with the times.

• Palm Pre apps and Palm's App Catalog: A closer look

  The Palm Pre might have a slick OS and stylish hardware, but when it comes to apps, it has a long road ahead of it. The Apple iPhone OS has the largest (more than 35,000 apps now) and most comprehensive native app store of any mobile operating system. And if Palm wants WebOS and the Pre to challenge Apple's smartphone juggernaut, it's going to have to step up its apps game. But Palm's App Catalog shows a lot of promise: Its design makes navigating and shopping for apps from the Pre easy, and many of the apps take full advantage of WebOS's best features.