We had the chance to lay down with HP’s Jon Rubinstein and SVP of applications as well as services Steven McArthur just after the company’s device-filled event yesterday, and the review was rather than divulgence. Besides being extremely upfront about a little tough issues (timing, bequest await, both execs were some-more than willing to tackle questions about HP’s current deficiencies in a consumer wiring space. We’ve put together a rough twin of a discuss below, and it touches on a lot of issues now confronting HP and its user base — namely, developer support, prospect versions of webOS, where a association is headed with inclination, as well as what a overarching strategy will be in a entrance weeks and months. We rarely suggest you take a look… after a break.

Engadget: Your brand new CEO, Leo Apotheker, pronounced not long ago in an talk with a BBC which the devices voiced during this event would ship “within weeks” — that obviously isn’t a case. Can you insist?

Steven: I can’t comment upon which. I don’t know a context. We’re starting to work on removing these products out as fast as we can.

Engadget: Okay, though you pronounced summer. Early summer, late summer?

Steven: We are concerned to get a illusory product into folks’ hands as quick as probable.

Engadget: What are you doing on a developer front? [This was before the developer event]

Steven: We design to have apps in a low tens of thousands by the launch of a Pre 3 and TouchPad. That’s proviso 1. We’ve got the massive footprint, we’re committed to building the most appropriate collection for developers, as well as we’re committed to putting in place the most appropriate selling, as well as helping them drive their business programs.

Engadget: What about webOS upon desktops? Is this going to be the skin upon a Windows PERSONAL COMPUTER… or the standalone product?

Steven: We’ll announce which in the subsequent couple of months.

Engadget: But it’s possible to create a netbook or a laptop that’s pure webOS?

Steven: Architecturally it’s wholly probable to have webOS have a keyboard and rodent submit. Absolutely.

Engadget: On timing — this feels the little similar to Palm at CES 2009. Hurry up as well as wait for.

Jon: From a inscription perspective, we’ve got a home justice value since of HP’s placement footprint.

Engadget: But how do you conflict something similar to a iPad? Apple is fundamentally a usually uncover in locale right now. We know a scale is here…

Jon: The marketing is starting to be there. Steven is going to deliver the content, we’re starting to broach the cloud cover services. Would I rather have it tomorrow? Of march!

Engadget: Okay, though what about a Veer? You believe in this marketplace — you feel there’s the market for that kind of phone [Kin, Pixi -- little phones for little people]?

Jon: This is a high end device in a small package — as well as if you own the WiFi tablet, why would you wish the large device in your slot? A great example is someone who travels with their TouchPad, and wants to also have the great little phone in their pocket. This can be their mobile hotspot — so you have a big shade to work on, and a not as big a single.

Engadget: On the Pre 3 — a specs have been rival with what’s on a marketplace right right away, though not unequivocally over which. Are you concerned about the actuality which it’s only rival with what’s on a marketplace right now… people are moving on in terms of fortitude, camera specs…

Jon: The being is… we missed the product cycle final year, so we’re right away focused upon bringing these to market, as well as we have a lot some-more in a tube. Whether something’s got 50 more pixels on the shade…

Engadget: But there is a qualitative disproportion between a iPhone monitor and the 800 x 480 display…

Jon: Our goal was to move the great webOS device to market. It’s the workhorse, it has a really quick processor… Touch to Share. It’s the good product.

Engadget: And what OS chronicle is a TouchPad using?

Jon: It’s webOS 3.0.

Engadget: What about the Pre 3?

Jon: We’ll emanate an OTA refurbish at a little indicate so it’ll get 3.0.

Engadget: What about the comparison inclination?

Jon: Not a comparison inclination. We wanted to supplement lots of cool new capabilities, and honestly a comparison products aren’t powerful enough.

Engadget: Pre 2?

Jon: Pre 2 is fine.

Engadget: So the strange inclination… they’re not removing an refurbish?

Jon: No. But we’re starting to do something special for those people.

Palm rep: We want to await the existent customer bottom.

Jon: We’ll do something. The older inclination simply don’t have the horsepower.

Engadget: So removing back to developers — have been you going to be means to get a names you need? Both large houses as well as tiny?

Jon: Two years ago it was just Palm as well as the Pre — even afterwards we did flattering good on getting a apps that matter. My evidence is that in the finish — approbation apps matter, and we need to get a accumulation — but we need to continue doing what we’re doing, and that’s a pass apps. We don’t put the Skype app on it — it’s built into the phone app. When you get your Pre 2 upon Verizon, it supports Skype in a phone app. when you fire up Verizon Skype calls on your Pre 2, you don’t have the apart app — you’re in a phone.

Engadget: Like the Twitter square of a demo we saw during a eventuality — which wasn’t a local app?

Jon: It was the plugin for Just Type. Look, we adore developers, we’re starting to pierce to await them. What Todd said about “not locking up a tools in the garage” — that’s what we’ve been doing for a final couple of years. We’re going to do the large app push, we get it, it’s dissimilar now which HP could have the most broader product offering, and I think this isn’t just about apps — it’s about content too. Why would you wish 100,000 books when you can have Kindle and have 810,000 books? When you look during alternative app stores, the lot of it is just calm. For all of the calm providers, HP is the devoted and respected partner. When they go hit upon doors, doors open. We’ve gotten the tremendous response.

Steven: Take Kindle for example, they’ve non-stop up APIs for us that they haven’t non-stop for anybody else…

Jon: And it’s not only since I’m on a board!

Engadget: So what is the storyline? Why should consumers select this things over the competition? When they travel into a store, because are they starting to leave with your product?

Jon: First of all, webOS is a improved knowledge — true multitasking, Synergy, Just Type, OTA updates, a list goes upon as well as upon. It’s the essentially improved experience. The total prophesy of connected devices… this is only the commencement. Connected devices, web connectivity, delivering one HP webOS experiences across the variety of devices.

Engadget: But right right away, it’s hard to see the indicate where you’re in the marketplace and competing upon this stuff.

Jon: We have a home justice advantage. Who’s a biggest distributor of consumer electronics in a universe? It’s HP.

Steven: Like Best Buy — look during someone similar to Best Buy. We have a very really low relationship with Best Buy, as well as you’ll see it in their stores.

Jon: But that’s a single square of a puzzle… it’s not just smartphones. It’s smartphones, as well as tablets, and PCs, and printers, as well as it’s a set of cloud services that HP provides.

Engadget: Speaking of a cloud stuff — you had issues with this whole iTunes sync thing — do you see an event to get into partnerships with companies similar to Rdio [streaming / cloud cover services]?

Steven: Think about what Sonos has done in the home, integrating different services into the purify interface which allows you source a content irrespective of where it comes from. They’re the little company — consider about what HP can do building which kind of customer, those business relationships, and putting it on 100 million devices a year.

Engadget: So you see event there? Do services like Pandora turn reduction similar to an app as well as more similar to the member of something else?

Steven: What you’re describing is Music Synergy.

Engadget: Does which exist?

Steven: Stay tuned.

Engadget: Okay, shifting gears — how do you have HP into the brand that has inflection to consumers? You sell the lot of laptops, though people don’t feel passionate about a HP mark similar to they do with Apple, Google, Microsoft…

Steven: What you’re describing is an event — which is, if you look during the folks which Todd and Leo are bringing in… you have to pretence that we figured which out. As we go to market against a consumer, as well as you think about not only leveraging the PC commercial operation, and the mark that stands for integrity and certitude… if you do a mark analysis, does it have a little of the softer features which an Apple has? No it doesn’t. But we can deposit the great deal to change which.

Jon: As soon as we have products. We have nothing to advertise right away. Soon you’ll see a “Everybody On” debate.

Steven: It starts tomorrow — watch the Grammys this weekend.

Jon: And as we start shipping these, you’ll see the constrained selling debate around them.

Engadget: Leo said he wants a products to be cooler than Apple — what do you think of which?

Jon: When I speak to Leo he is very supportive. He says, ‘what can I do to make this occur faster’? Leo has completely embraced this. He’s a software guy who understands a significance of program. He likes gadgets. He’s unequivocally jazzed about all this. When he speaks inside a company, he’s always attack on how important webOS and connectivity across devices is.

Engadget: Did you have to switch to an HP laptop when you came over?

Jon: I use all.

Engadget: Except for a iPhone.

Steven: And iPads…

Engadget: you’ve never used an iPad?

Jon: I’ve held a single.

Engadget: C’mon. Really?

Jon: Look, your guys’ pursuit is to look during everyone’s experience and review them — my job is to create new experiences, and I don’t know how to do which if I’m being impacted as well as shabby by what other people are you do.

Engadget: I know you have an armed forces of people who look during this stuff, though they’re not you — don’t you ever want to look at these deeply as well as try as well as figure out because have been people so delighted by the competition’s products?

Jon: I review about it upon Engadget as well as I see a videos. I’ve been you do this for the really long time. We have the UI group that looks during all these products, a rival analysis group which looks during these products. I want the uninformed look during all we make, and I don’t want it to be influenced by what anyone else is doing. So I don’t use a alternative things. This didn’t begin off as the eremite thing — when a iPhone came out, I was getting the Centro out a door as well as I was testing it 24 hours the day. It got incited into the eremite thing but the reality is that if I’m starting to spend my time I wish to outlay it upon our devices as well as upon our practice as well as thinking about how we have them even improved.

Additional reporting by Nilay Patel

Via Engadget