Plam Pre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoBx5O6KKz8
Palm Pre 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_yMCd6BzVc
Palm Pre 3 and Touchpad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK3O9tJpOl0

Was just watching these videos of the plam pre and the palm pre 2, of course there was the first pre back in 2009, a time when Android was in it's infancy and still favouring function over look, but webOS certainly looks like it was a good few years ahead of it's time, perhaps a little too good.

We are definitely starting to see these influences make it's way in to IOS7 and of course Blackberry devices before that. It's interesting what good marketing can do for you. If you look at the pre 2 in particular it looks quite nippy and has a fluid UI with the use of cards and more swiping gestures. At that time, IOS and Android were still reliant on button presses. I guess you can call all this borrowing from WebOS as a tribute which only now is starting to find it's way in to current hardware.

The UI on the Pre 2 would not look so out of place today to be honest. Well just an observation.

Google hired Matias Duarte who was responsible for the WebOS UI to work on Android. He was the one who designed Android's stock "Holo" UI, so I guess Android has inherited WebOS' forward thinking futuristic UI.

Well you can see it now, a lot more swiping, looking at the current android youtube app, can always reach the links for example with a swipe, even when the video is playing., google+ and google music really starting to use the swipe gestures more. I wonder if Key Lime Pie 5.0 would have a theme which fits with these apps? Be interesting to see, since we have IOS7 coming out later this year, we could see both operating systems sporting more WebOS like functionality, with the flat design language.

Apple have shown there hand with IOS7 beta so google will of course respond. We could see 5.0 looking quite different to Android 4.x.

Well, I think it's fair to say that Android is the successor to WebOS in terms of mobile UI design now. Android seems to be moving towards natural gestures and cards which is another MD idea first seen on WebOS.

I think 5.x will continue that trend but maybe flatten the icons more and remove any remaining skeuomorphisms from Android as there are still some elements of that.

Can't agree - Android hasn't followed the webOS in the slightest. Devices like the Playbook and the Z10/Q10 are much closer, and evolve the interface quite nicely.

Android - as much as I like it - doesn't really flow anything like as well as webOS, PB2, BB10 or Meego, all of which comprehensively better Androids interface in every practical way.

Flattening of icons and removing the virtually non-existent skeuomorphisms best not justify a move to Android 5, as that is just a theme.