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Every time Apple has an event, rumors of a tablet netbook pop up.  The idea of a larger iPhone with a bigger screen and connectivity has been drawing techies like moths to a flame, yet Apple stays on the sidelines.  Now, an interesting discussion about Palm’s new WebOS on a netbook is laying out the case for the company to spin its wares to netbooks.  I’ll take it one step further, it could make a touch-based netbook and beat Apple to the punch.

At CES this year at the Pre introduction, Palm was careful about saying they expect the WebOS to migrate to other devices.  Editor-in-chief of LAPTOP Mark Spoonauer wrote a post why a Palm-Dell marriage might make lots of sense.

“This week the hot rumor is that a Dell-Palm marriage could be on the horizon, and I do think the idea has merit. Although the eagerly anticipated Pre device would certainly give street cred to any potential suitor, it’s the WebOS itself and its potential beyond smart phones that makes Palm an especially tempting target.”

Spoonauer goes on to list five reason why WebOS would shake up the netbook world: most attractive Linux build, ever; touch friendly, integrated with the cloud, ARM processor friendly, and it supports Flash.

Building on Spoonauer, I’d add that Palm has already done the leg-work in the netbook world with their attempt know as the Foleo.  The company delved into pseudo-netbook territory before so building again would not only make sense, it might help a bunch of the bruised egos with the implosion of Foleo.  Having a laptop form factor, the Foleo was nothing more than a Treo assistant that connected through the phone.

I believe Palm is not just looking to pull even with anyone; clearly, they see the value in creating a category.  The touch enabled Eee PC or HP laptops have left me wanting.  Their OS touch controls are little more than sideshow effects.  Not until an OS built touch-specific will touch make much sense on a netbook.  Palm could pull this together and make a compelling offering, something their Pre has done as well.

Can Palm build this fast enough? 

Source: [LAPTOP]