HP WebOS 2.0 with Flash: Hands On

Hewlett-Packard launched Tuesday, and we got some time with a piece of developer hardware. While many of WebOS 2.0's features will rely on third-party developers taking advantage of the new software, we got to play with Adobe Flash and many of the OS's more subtle usability features, such as Just Type.

The good news: Flash works. HP WebOS devices can now browse the full Web, and a range of Web sites rendered promptly and displayed accurately on the AT&T HSPA 7.2 network. That said, I'm worried about Flash performance on anything slower than the 1-GHz phone on which I tried it. But Flash here has a few smart tricks that make it usable.

First of all, Flash content doesn't load by default. When you load a Web page with Flash, you get a page featuring several gray boxes with play buttons in them. Press any of the play buttons, and the system loads the Flash content. That prevents Flash from slowing down initial page loads.

Second, Flash is partially modal. When you hit "play" on a Flash element, it starts playing. You can interact with it, but some other browser functionalities, like scrolling and pinch-to-zoom, are severely slowed down. This does create a usability problem, when you realize you've launched your Flash element at the wrong size and then you have to stop it to resize it. Rotating the screen works to resize and zoom page elements without stopping them from playing.

In terms of interactivity, clicking on things in a Flash element is no problem. Click-and-drag works sluggishly; I wouldn't rely on it.

Okay, okay, this isn't as elegant as Flash on the desktop. Apple would never put up with these usability compromises. But Flash works. It's more of the Web than you'd see otherwise. And if you don't want to invoke Flash, you have the choice to not press the play button. Overall, it's a net plus for WebOS.

Skype and Facebook IM weren't available on our demo phone, and there aren't any apps showing off the new Synergy or Exhibition functionality yet. The new QuickOffice document viewer tapped into my MobileMe and Google Docs accounts to show various Web-hosted documents, but I wish it was an editor.

Just Type has potential, but Palm needs to narrow down the number of things you can do when you type. Typing "WebOS" gave me three e-mails, a Google search, Exchange Global Address Lookup, various other search options, and the ability to create a new SMS, memo, or calendar event. That's great, but it took a while to scan such a broad list of options.

That leaves a lot of little usability enhancements. Palm's card metaphor is still the best way to do multitasking on a mobile phone, and Stacks makes it even more convenient. In general, accounts are now easier to manage, the program launcher is more customizable, and the favorites lists should have come to the dialer long ago.

Palm has squandered much of its technology lead since WebOS came out, but WebOS 2.0 is still ahead of the game in some ways. The new Synergy plug-in functionality, for instance, is something competitors haven't matched, and it could make Palm's phones the best social networking devices on the market.

But what Palm needs right now is more phones. The Pre 2 looks like a maintenance update. HP is fighting Apple's marketing dollars, Microsoft's huge launch, RIM's installed base, and a massive Android onslaught. I'm hoping that at CES 2011 in January, HP shows us a huge WebOS lineup for next year. That may be its last chance.