Rumor: HP’s webOS Tablet Will Have a Stylus

Back in April, when Apple launched the iPhone 4 OS, Steve Jobs candidly said, “If you see a stylus, they blew it.” HP, at least, might beg to differ. According to one rumor, the forthcoming tablet running webOS (let’s just call it the PalmPad for now, even if the name isn’t official) will include a stylus for taking handwritten notes. However, it will also have a capacative touchscreen, allowing users to make a similar range of gestures with their fingers as they can make on the iPad.

When you think of tablets as they were born years ago, under Microsoft’s tutelage, having pen input is what make something a true tablet. And in this case, we’re talking about an OS much more finger-friendly than Windows, where a stylus was needed not just for taking notes, but for selecting tiny onscreen objects. In this case, the stylus could only make the PalmPad more versatile. Then again, the lack of a stylus hasn’t hurt Apple, nor did hand-writing recognition help propel those early tablets (nor, even, recent ones sold by HP). In the end, of course, it comes down to the software as much as, or even more than, the input options, which makes us even more curious about how the critically praised, but underrated webOS will perform on a tablet.