There was a webOS phone that never got to play before it was over.

by geekzhang on 2013-05-03 13:27:21

After Nokia donated 1 million yuan for the Ya'an earthquake, another heartbreaking news emerged: a prototype of an unreleased webOS all-touchscreen phone, codenamed WindsorNot, was exposed.According to TheVerge, webOSNation obtained the legendary prototype codenamed WindsorNot. This all-touchscreen smartphone features a 4-inch 800x480 LCD screen, with internals similar to the Pre3, and a home button on the exterior. It runs on the same version as the HP TouchPad, webOS 3.x. However, the prototype is far from stable, making it impossible to get past the boot screen.webOSNation reported that in 2011, when Mark Hurd was still the CEO of HP, HP's Information Products Group failed to secure sufficient funding from headquarters, causing the webOS series products to be unable to launch on time. Later, Leo Apotheker replaced Hurd but showed little interest in webOS. This put the entire webOS strategy in jeopardy, forcing product release plans to be determined based on limited funds.Jon Rubinstein ultimately decided to delay the release of WindsorNot.This phone was originally planned to be released after the Pre3 in 2011, with Veer, TouchPad, and the 7-inch TouchPad Go also scheduled for release that year. However, internally, it was believed that compared to the Pre3, WindsorNot needed more development before entering the market, especially in software, making it look more like a smaller version of the TouchPad.The release plan for the phone was then postponed until 2012. This plan caused AT&T to lose interest, as they wanted to launch LTE phones that year, which WindsorNot did not support.Thus, even before WindsorNot could take the stage, its story had already ended.Tragedy is showing people the destruction of beautiful things, and the fate of WindsorNot is one such tragedy, evoking the same heartache as the downfall of heroes or the fading beauty of a once-great system. In 2008, during the Wenchuan earthquake, Nokia's total donations of cash and supplies exceeded 53 million RMB, and in 2013, during the Ya'an earthquake, Nokia donated 1 million yuan and 4,000 phones.Such amounts, placed next to Samsung and Apple, are incomparable and lack promotional appeal. However, when placed next to Nokia's recent news of years of losses and selling its headquarters, it evokes memories of one's own Nokia phone from the past.Title image source: webosnation