HP's webOS 'Eel': An Innovative OS That Never Was

While most of HP's tablet and phone plans were underwhelming, their software team was developing truly innovative designs. Codenamed 'Eel', the next major version of webOS aimed to expand on the 'card' metaphor introduced with the original Palm Pre. It combined 'card stacks' and 'responsive panels', allowing users to open links in new, separate cards on the left, slide them, or 'shear' them to different stacks. This offered flexible window sizing and grouping, managing well on both phones and tablets. It represented an innovative attempt to boost productivity, but ultimately, the project never reached its full potential.