The TouchPad is rumored to be bombing at retail, but that isn’t slowing down HP’s plans for webOS. Very similar to Google’s Android ambitions, HP is hoping to embed webOS in smart appliances, gadgets, cars, and absolutely anything else that has a screen. HP’s new head of webOS, Stephen DeWitt spoke with the WSJ (via CNET) concerning the potential of the company’s smartphone platform, noting that there’s an “enormous amount of interest” in webOS as a platform.?

This stance mirror’s Google’s way to Android. At its Google I/O conference this year, Google revealed that it’s far working to integrate Android into smart appliances and a lot of other electronics. HP have been hinting at an expanded future for webOS because it revealed the TouchPad earlier this year. The pc maker plans to integrate webOS into all of its computers by 2012 and is actively taking a look at licensing partnerships.?

“I happen to believe that WebOS is a uniquely outstanding operating system,” said HP CEO Leo Apotheker in the course of the D9 conference. “It’s not correct to believe that it is going to only be on HP devices. There are all sorts of different people that need to make whatever form of hardware they make and wish to connect them to the net.”

We are fans of webOS, but when HP hopes to expand the platform, it’s going to ought to tackle the performance issues we’ve seen at the TouchPad and Palm Pre devices and work to drum up more interest from the developer community. Currently, webOS is fifth place competitor within the smartphone race, ranking behind Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform.?