After HP unveiled the Pre3, Veer, and TouchPad at their big webOS event today, we figured they were pretty much done with news for the day.
Turns out, they had at least one more tid-bit to share. We’re at their post-announcement webOS developer gathering, where they’ve just announced a new hire: Richard Kerris, joining as VP of Worldwide Developer Relations. Prior to jumping on board with HP, Kerris spent 3 years as the CTO of Lucasfilm. And prior to that? He was an Apple Exec.
Kerris previously filled a venerable bevy of positions at Apple. At one point, he helped lead projects like Final Cut Pro, Logic, and iLife; for the majority of his stint there, however, he was the Senior Director for Apple’s Worldwide Developer Relations group.
His duty in that role? Convince folks who were working on other platforms to build their apps for OS X, and assist them in getting it done. Sounds like just what webOS needs right now, doesn’t it? Palm had a pretty great platform with webOS, and with HP now steering the ship (and one or two duds in their past to learn from) it certainly seems like they’re finally figuring out this whole hardware thing. Now they just need apps. Lots, and lots of apps.
Plus, snagging Apple alum — especially when your goal is to take them down a notch — is never bad for your cred.