Compaq AirLife 100

In 2009 HP's Emerging Platforms Group was tasked with conceiving new hybrid platforms and bringing them to market. This was before HP decided it needed its own operating system and acquired Palm; HP's devices relied on Microsoft and Google for the OS. The group set out to build a clamshell device that was more connected than a netbook and more capable than a phone.

A clamshell with a physical keyboard and trackpad, a resistive touchscreen, a camera, Wi-Fi and 3G via SIM card, running Android on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset: the world's first Android smartbook. At the time it was a unique product with a unique set of features.

This was my first year at HP and my first job out of university. I participated in the concept-to-delivery process, worked closely with the software and hardware development and QA teams, and owned third-party app integration, coordinating with a dozen software companies. It was a fast education in product management, QA, agile development and team leadership.

Android had been conceived for phones. Google was not pleased with a form factor this far from a phone and this close to the cloud laptop it was about to release, the Chromebook. Android being open source, we could ship, but without the Google app store, G Suite or support for Google services, a real limitation for a device of this kind. I believe this product is part of what pushed HP to acquire Palm in its quest to control its own OS.

The AirLife 100 shipped through Telefónica across Europe and Latin America just before HP acquired Palm, pairing HP's hardware capabilities with one of the main players in mobile operating systems at the time. We took an EVT unit to CES, and the product was covered by Engadget and others.