????上周五，平板電腦市場又多了一名新成員，那就是惠普公司（HP）的TouchPad。這款新產(chǎn)品不僅是惠普公司挑戰(zhàn)蘋果公司（Apple）iPad的希望所在，同時也是一系列即將問世的搭載WebOS操作系統(tǒng)的產(chǎn)品的排頭兵。

????惠普于2010年收購了奔邁公司（Palm），同時也繼承了后者開發(fā)的操作系統(tǒng)WebOS。盡管搭載WebOS的TouchPad外形靚麗，甚至在某些方面的性能勝過iPad，但對惠普來說，它并非什么致勝法寶。原因何在？消費者想要的并不是普通的平板電腦，他們要的是iPad。

????在時尚新銳方面，惠普不是蘋果的對手（即使請拉塞爾?布蘭德代言TouchPad也無濟于事）。而且，它在價格方面也無優(yōu)勢可言（與iPad 2一樣，TouchPad起始售價也是500美元）。此外，它更無法與蘋果豐富的應用商店（App Store）相媲美：發(fā)布之初，TouchPad的應用目錄（App Catalog）只提供區(qū)區(qū)300個應用程序。而iPad用戶則有超過10萬個應用可供選擇。

????盡管蘋果對基于iOS的第三方應用的微管理之苛刻眾所周知，但軟件開發(fā)人員仍趨之若鶩，開發(fā)了各種游戲、生產(chǎn)力工具、以及其他運行于iOS手機和平板電腦的應用。最近，他們又競相為搭載谷歌（Google）安卓（Android）操作系統(tǒng)的設備開發(fā)應用程序。原因在于，開發(fā)人員們希望為消費者青睞的平臺開發(fā)應用程序。迄今為止，蘋果已經(jīng)售出了2,500多萬部iPad，因此，為這款平板電腦開發(fā)應用程序的好處顯而易見：其龐大并且仍然在不斷擴大的用戶群早在翹首以盼，準備將那些小巧且色彩豐富的圖標下載到自己手中的觸摸屏設備上。惠普表示，運行于TouchPad上的應用程序的數(shù)量將會日新月異。

????最近，我們采訪了惠普高管，他們強調(diào)指出，TouchPad的應用目錄注重的是質(zhì)量，而非數(shù)量。說到這點，惠普即將發(fā)布Pivot數(shù)字月刊，并稱之為“集知識性和娛樂性于一體的編輯資源，有助于用戶探索基于惠普TouchPad的WebOS應用。”換言之，它有點兒像一本數(shù)字雜志，能為用戶選擇并突出呈現(xiàn)某些應用。由于蘋果應用商店和安卓市場中應用程序的數(shù)量都在不斷增長，對用戶來說，挑選適合自己的那一款應用絕非易事。

????技術研究機構Canalys公司最近的一份研究報告顯示，上述大型應用目錄為消費者提供的選擇簡直令人毫無招架之力。“比如，用戶在安卓市場里搜索天氣應用，結果將數(shù)不勝數(shù)，其中許多尚未有用戶給過評分或評價，”報告作者指出。當然，用戶希望找到他們需要的應用。

????盡管TouchPad將提供Facebook和Kindle閱讀器等流行應用，但它卻無法提供其他許多熱門的應用程序。當然，總有那么一些鐵桿奔邁迷（不錯，我指的正是你們這些Treo曾經(jīng)的擁躉），他們一直對奔邁的回歸翹首以待，很可能愿意掏500美元買一部TouchPad，而不是iPad，盡管其應用匱乏。此外，盡管用戶對TouchPad的總體評價可謂好壞參半，但科技媒體領域的許多評測都對其搭載的操作系統(tǒng)WebOS贊不絕口。

????WebOS在許多方面的處理能力確實過人。對于入門級用戶而言，它在多任務處理方面強于iPad，允許用戶同時打開多個應用程序。它的協(xié)同（Synergy）應用與Facebook和Skype一樣，能將多個聯(lián)系人清單中的數(shù)據(jù)整合到一個主地址薄中（此外，它還能整合不同版本的在線日歷和多個共享服務中的照片）。

????但是，僅憑上述這些優(yōu)勢，TouchPad是否能夠吸引大量消費者和開發(fā)人員？難說。在平板電腦市場，惠普是個遲到者，大眾市場才不在意新穎的操作系統(tǒng)特性，他們在意的是夠不夠酷。盡管其它品牌的平板電腦接踵問世，但這一市場依然是蘋果一枝獨秀。

????但是，惠普為WebOS設計的宏偉藍圖絕不僅限于平板電腦市場。正因如此，它才于去年斥12億美元的巨資收購了奔邁。惠普已經(jīng)表示，WebOS將運行于從打印機到個人計算機等多種設備上。因此，盡管TouchPad并非惠普的致勝法寶，但對蘋果的iOS 和谷歌的安卓來說，WebOS最終仍然可能成為其強勁的競爭對手。

????譯者：大海

????Starting Friday, there will be yet another tablet on the market—the TouchPad from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). The new gadget is the hardware maker's attempt at taking on Apple's (AAPL) iPad and one of the first in a long line of upcoming WebOS devices.

????But while the TouchPad's WebOS operating system—which HP inherited from its acquisition of Palm back in 2010—is sleek and even does a few things better than the iPad, it's unlikely to be a slam-dunk for HP. Why? Consumers don't necessarily want tablets—they want iPads.

????HP can't compete with Apple on coolness (even by getting Russell Brand to endorse the TouchPad). And it isn't competing with Apple on price (like the iPad 2, the TouchPad starts at $500). It also can't compete with Apple's extensive App Store—at launch, the TouchPad's App Catalog will offer just 300 applications. iPad users, meanwhile, have access to over 100,000 apps.

????Despite Apple's notorious micromanagement of its third-party apps, developers have flocked to create games, productivity tools and other applications for iOS phones and tablets. Lately, they've also raced to develop apps for Google's (GOOG) Android-running devices. That's because developers want to develop for platforms that consumers want to use. With over 25 million iPads sold to date, creating apps for Apple's tablet has its obvious advantages—a huge and growing audience ready to download those tiny, colorful icons onto their touchscreen device. HP says the number of apps available on the TouchPad is "continuing to change daily."

????At a recent meeting with company executives, they also stressed that the tablet's App Catalog is about quality, not just quantity. To that end, HP is launching Pivot, which it calls "an entertaining and informative editorial resource for discovering webOS applications for the HP TouchPad." In other words, it's sort of like a digital magazine that highlights certain apps for users. As the number of applications in Apple's App Store and the Android Market grows, finding the right one can be tricky.

????According to a recent report from technology research firm Canalys, these large app inventories can present overwhelming choices for consumers. "A consumer searching for a weather app in the Android Market, for example, will find numerous possibilities, many of which have not yet received any user ratings or reviews," say the report's authors. Of course, people do want to find the apps they're looking for.

????While HP's TouchPad will offer some popular applications like Facebook and Kindle, it's lacking many others. Of course, there are some die-hard Palm fans (yes, I'm talking about you former Treo addicts out there) who have been itching for Palm's comeback and might be willing to shell out $500 for a TouchPad instead of an iPad, despite its lack of applications. And while reviews of the TouchPad are a mixed bag, many in the tech media have showered praises on WebOS, the operating system that powers it.

????WebOS does do a lot of things right. For starters, it's better at multitasking than the iPad, and allows users to keep multiple applications open at the same time. It also has a feature called Synergy, which consolidates data from multiple contacts lists—like Facebook and Skype—into one master address book (it also consolidates different versions of online calendars and photos from various sharing services).

????But will that be enough to lure significant numbers of consumers and developers to the TouchPad? Doubtful. HP is late to the tablet game, and the mass market doesn't necessarily care about new operating system features, it cares about what's cool. Despite the proliferation of other devices, Apple still owns the tablet market.

????But HP has big plans for WebOS that reach far beyond the tablet market. That's why it shelled out $1.2 billion for Palm, creator of WebOS, last year. HP has already said WebOS will run on multiple devices—from printers to PCs. So while the TouchPad isn't a slam-dunk for the company, WebOS might still end up being a formidable competitor to Apple's iOS and Google's Android.