The Examiner reports that an HP “insider” has informed them that HP is working on a webOS tablet code named “Hurricane,” that will be released in the third quarter of this year.

HP seems to have figured out what Apple has — that mobile computing starts from the ground up, tablets should be built using an operating system optimized for use on handsets not using an operating system built for desktop computers.

In just a few short months HP will turn webOS from an also-ran OS into a huge competitor in the mobile space. If HP can build enough momentum, I can see webOS becoming iPhone OS’s biggest rival.

From my perspective, webOS and iPhone OS could be the Windows and Mac OS X of the mobile space (although I’m uncertain who will take which spot). This of course, leaves Android with a Linux-sized piece of the market. All of this could change once Windows Phone 7 is released, but as it currently stands, this is how I see things playing out.