The next generation of WebOS will make or break HP’s attempt to slide in among RIM, Apple and Google in the mobile arena.

Last week was an Apple launch week, and short of the launch of World War III, there were likely few things that could pull much interest away from this event. Still, HP chose the week to launch WebOS 2.0 in advance of what will is expected to be a line of products that will actually dent Apple’s dominance in the tablet and smartphone space. But hasn’t that boat already sailed, you ask? Can anyone really slow down Apple? And if someone was going to do it, wouldn’t it more likely be a vastly more consumer-oriented company like Sony or Panasonic, than a firm that started out making calculators and test equipment?

Ah, but you forget that HP was the only company to have ever actually scared Apple in the MP3 player space, so much so that Steve Jobs offered HP the opportunity to clone the iPod in order to kill HP’s effort. That scam worked beautifully, but HP is still pissed, and WebOS 2.0 along with its upcoming tablets from HP are Palo Alto’s chance for revenge. That’s high drama, and makes this battle worth watching.

Where the Apple platform is weak

Apple leads with a strong media core, and the company is likely to remain that way when it comes to media. However it fumbles with two things: partnering, and integration with third-party products. This has made the iPhone kind of a joke, because it sucks at being a phone, and with PDA functionality, at least when it comes to connecting to non-Apple e-mail and calendaring services. HP is actually rather good at both partnering and integration It has to be, as the leader in PCs and servers, and HP teams have to work closely with companies like VMware and Microsoft in order to complete their solutions.

This means that HP won’t be as religious about going to war with Adobe and Flash, it will better integrate withMicrosoft Exchange and it will work more closely with more carriers. That means HP may even be better with Apple’s core partner, AT&T, but certainly will emerge rapidly on Verizon and Sprint possibly T-Mobile