HP Touchpad - WebOS

Surprised there are no threads about this. Looks like the HP Touchpad may be hitting by the end of the month. Price competitive with the iPad 2.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/08/h...-500-for-16gb/

I have mentioned it in the iPad threads, but if any tablet is going to give Apple's baby a run for its money in terms of user interface and general innovation it's the Touchpad. I would argue that WebOS is still ahead of even iOS 5, if we take specs, features and early the builds at face value. It's just a well put together OS that feels tailor-made for a tablet.

The one area that HP will have to catch up in, and quickly, is apps. They are behind the curve and launching late in the game. It's going to be a hard sell compared to Apple because of this.

Anyone planning on buying a Touchpad? I'm torn between it and the iPad 2 and want to see how it plays out after launch.

Part of Apple's selling ability has actually nothing to do with its actual products and more to do with the accessibility, convenience and assistance available in Apple stores. ****, the Manhattan flagship is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It's XMAS eve, my computer goes apeshit, I can go down to the store and they are available to help me out: that's a powerful selling point.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Part of Apple's selling ability has actually nothing to do with its actual products and more to do with the accessibility, convenience and assistance available in Apple stores. ****, the Manhattan flagship is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It's XMAS eve, my computer goes apeshit, I can go down to the store and they are available to help me out: that's a powerful selling point.
That's true, any place Apple is easily accessible, one will see plenty of Apple products. Where I am there is almost no Apple at all. A few people have real iPhones. Plenty of fake iPhones available locally though and are quite a common sight. I have a Macbook Pro, but only because I brought it with me from England. Nearest authorised Apple dealer or Apple Store is a 10 hour bus ride away. I actually only realised this when my Macbook Pro started shutting down and crashing. Took it to the local computer repairer, he took one look and said "This is Apple computer, I not know this!!". In the end I opened it up and found that the fans where clogged with dust.* But if something went wrong with an Apple laptop that I couldn't fix myself. NO Apple Geniuses around here. I would be having a very long bus ride and maybe 2-3 days away from home. I can confirm though Apple service, where it is available, is almost second to none. While I was still in the UK, the DVD drive on my Macbook Pro stopped working. Took it to the local Apple Store, and the Geniuses able to replace the internal DVD drive while I waited. PC World in the UK takes around 4-6 weeks for their 'Tech Guys' or 'Geek Squad' or whatever they call them, to send a laptop away for the same repairs. That's 4-6 weeks without the laptop! Next laptop I buy will most likely be a Lenovo, or maybe a Haier or Great Wall. Ones I can get local service with. * http://www.ifixit.com/ A very useful website by the way. Contains detailed disassembly instructions for most Apple products and other tech devices.

I start a thread about the HP Touchpad and the first two posts are about Apple. Nice...

^^^^^^^^

I was responding to imageWIS's comments about the availability of Apple and their selling points. Also I'd never even heard of WebOS until I saw your post here about it. Certainly not come across WebOS devices in China or the UK, iPads and Android tablets are quite common here, especially in Hong Kong.

I always thought HP made Android and Windows tablets. So if HP is making Android, Windows and these apparently little known WebOS devices. I wonder which devices will have HP's full commitment and support in the long term? Also what about the long term availability of apps and updates for this platform?

HP bought Palm. WebOS is the OS Palm created and launched on the Pre. Now that HP owns Palm they will not be releasing any Andriod or Windows Mobile based devices. They are all in on WebOS.

The Touchpad will be the first tablet to run WebOS.

I've heard of Palm, I wondered what happened to them, never saw their phones though.

So if HP is discontinuing Android and Windows tablets, and is going it alone with these WebOS tablets. One thinks how they're going to do in a market which is almost totally saturated with Android and Apple's iOS devices. Even the RIM's Playbook with QNX can or will run Android apps.

Already a few non-Android/iOS/Windows tablets have fallen by the wayside. e.g. Fusion Garage JooJoo, Nokia N810, Meego, etc.

Palm has a rich history and a loyal following. WebOS is widely regarded as one of the most robust and well put together mobile OS on the market. Picture the polish and finish of iOS combined with the flexibility of Android and you have WebOS.

That being said, they are behind the curve and late to the game. It will be a challenge but they have a loyal development community and some of the easiest tools on the market to make apps. In terms of growing a userbase they have HP's reach and connections which are extensive. The tablet will be sold everywhere. HP is 100% commited to the platform and will put all it's muscle behind making it work.

Will it be a success? I don't know. Time will tell. What I do know is that I find the OS itself far more intuitive and interesting then iOS. That's coming from an IPhone owner and Mac user.

The key here won't be just the Pad, it'll be the next generation of Palm phone. The reason the iPad is so popular is that the iPhone is so ubiquitous and people can just jump from one to the other. If HP can mount a worthy phone competitor the Pad will take off.

Originally Posted by JMRouse

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The tablet will be sold everywhere. HP is 100% commited to the platform and will put all it's muscle behind making it work.
Hopefully yes, HP been a global company and maybe be able to pull it off. As I mentioned previously I'd never heard of WebOS, and not come across Palm's phones on sale anywhere. Did Palm just operate in the US?

Originally Posted by JMRouse

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Will it be a success? I don't know. Time will tell. What I do know is that I find the OS itself far more intuitive and interesting then iOS. That's coming from an IPhone owner and Mac user.
I do hope HP can be successful with WebOS devices. More competition, the better. BTW I'm also a Mac user as I posted previously, but I do have an Android phone.

HP should double-down on the corporate market and dominate. Then they can start thinking about the commercial space and hope they have a following and their apps marketplace has begun to develop. Apple is going the other direction.. and I'm starting to see them in the corp space as well but there is some resistance from the IT departments to adopt the iPad as a corp standard.

Originally Posted by JMRouse

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I start a thread about the HP Touchpad and the first two posts are about Apple. Nice...

What does HP have to do with the far more important topic of Apple?

Originally Posted by JMRouse

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I start a thread about the HP Touchpad and the first two posts are about Apple. Nice...

your post was partly about apple!

Originally Posted by NH_Clark

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HP should double-down on the corporate market and dominate. Then they can start thinking about the commercial space and hope they have a following and their apps marketplace has begun to develop. Apple is going the other direction.. and I'm starting to see them in the corp space as well but there is some resistance from the IT departments to adopt the iPad as a corp standard.

It's because ios devices can't be managed like BB. You can do some very light management like remote wiping and some basic password policies, but not much more, and only companies with fairly expensive enterprise software can even do that. MS is gonna have a VERY strong product in market competing with BB soon. I was told by an MS guy recently that windows phone 7 v3 will have full encryption and a lot of the enterprisey stuff BB with BES has. Combined with configuration manager 2012 (which provides the management side) and it looks like it'll be a very strong product. If apple wants to make a dent in the enterprise market, it needs to get serious about enterprise features.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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What does HP have to do with the far more important topic of Apple?

Originally Posted by grundletaint

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your post was partly about apple!

New promo video for the Touchpad:

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I do think HP's biggest mistake was not getting this out the door when they originally showed it off around the start of the year. The market is moving so fast that they no longer look as cutting edge as they did then (even if I would argue the OS is still the nicest out).