reece146
Automotive Artist
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...
HP Tablet: TouchPad
- Thread starter haven
- Start date
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...
Agreed. HP must have felt uncomfortable with the stability of the OS and the 3rd party apps, but they wanted to rush the product out the door. So they installed a fast way to diagnose problems when they surfaced. Early adopters acted as a beta test group.
Unfortunately, this approach resulted in almost universal negative reviews when the machine was released. This discouraged a lot of people from buying.
Unfortunately, this approach resulted in almost universal negative reviews when the machine was released. This discouraged a lot of people from buying.
Rumors continue that Best Buy and HP still have stocks of TouchPads that will be put on sale in the next few days.
I've had a TouchPad, purchased from Best Buy, for 5 days, and I enjoy using it. After loading the OS upgrade and turning logging off, the TouchPad feels roughly as fast as my original iPad. I like the multitasking and the card metaphor used in the interface. And it's nice to use an onscreen keyboard that has a Tab key (convenient for navigating between fields during data entry, instead of touching the screen).
3rd party applications are very limited in number. The QuickOffice app is currently read-only for files created in a Microsoft Office application, but the company says a version that can create or make changes to files will be available in a few days.
I took advantage of HP's free offer of the Audubon bird guide for North America, which normally costs $15. It took three tries to successfully download from the HP App Store server and install the 2 GB of program data. It's lots of fun to see photos and listen to songs of the birds.
So far everything seems to work OK, with one exception. The web browser included with the TouchPad (upgraded to 3.0.2) has had problems displaying some Google GMail messages. Sometimes long messages can't be scrolled to read to the end. And messages that have lots of graphics don't always display properly. I don't yet have a solution that works consistently.
I've had a TouchPad, purchased from Best Buy, for 5 days, and I enjoy using it. After loading the OS upgrade and turning logging off, the TouchPad feels roughly as fast as my original iPad. I like the multitasking and the card metaphor used in the interface. And it's nice to use an onscreen keyboard that has a Tab key (convenient for navigating between fields during data entry, instead of touching the screen).
3rd party applications are very limited in number. The QuickOffice app is currently read-only for files created in a Microsoft Office application, but the company says a version that can create or make changes to files will be available in a few days.
I took advantage of HP's free offer of the Audubon bird guide for North America, which normally costs $15. It took three tries to successfully download from the HP App Store server and install the 2 GB of program data. It's lots of fun to see photos and listen to songs of the birds.
So far everything seems to work OK, with one exception. The web browser included with the TouchPad (upgraded to 3.0.2) has had problems displaying some Google GMail messages. Sometimes long messages can't be scrolled to read to the end. And messages that have lots of graphics don't always display properly. I don't yet have a solution that works consistently.
This is odd...
The story circulating online had been that HP was gathering up unsold TouchPad inventory from its retailers in preparation for one final clearance sale. Now we're told that HP was pleasantly surprised by the high volume of demand for TouchPads at $99. So the company has ordered one last production run of the tablets. These will be sold sometime in "the next few weeks." Details will be announced later.
Here's the announcement:
http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/The-Next-Bench-Blog/More-TouchPads-on-the-Way/ba-p/68749
I take HP at its word that they want to stop selling TouchPads. And I also believe HP wants to reduce the money they're spending on webOS development. So it appears that HP will spin off the webOS business as a separate company, and license webOS rather than develop it.
This last production run may be designed to increase the number of TouchPads in the hands of the public. A larger installed base means greater sales potential for 3rd party app developers. So by selling TouchPads at a loss (most reports I've read put the cost of producing the TouchPad closer to $300 than $100), HP increases the value of its webOS to potential buyers.
I'm happy with my TouchPad as a tool for web surfing and light web tasks. Let's hope HP keeps the price $99 for the 16GB Touchpad. They have been selling in the $175 range on eBay.
Update: The reason HP is going ahead with a final production run for the TouchPad is to help suppliers who had booked HP's orders for TouchPad parts. HP ordered the components months ago, and the suppliers need to be paid. I have read estimates that HP has enough parts in the pipeline to make an additional 200,000 TouchPads
The story circulating online had been that HP was gathering up unsold TouchPad inventory from its retailers in preparation for one final clearance sale. Now we're told that HP was pleasantly surprised by the high volume of demand for TouchPads at $99. So the company has ordered one last production run of the tablets. These will be sold sometime in "the next few weeks." Details will be announced later.
Here's the announcement:
http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/The-Next-Bench-Blog/More-TouchPads-on-the-Way/ba-p/68749
I take HP at its word that they want to stop selling TouchPads. And I also believe HP wants to reduce the money they're spending on webOS development. So it appears that HP will spin off the webOS business as a separate company, and license webOS rather than develop it.
This last production run may be designed to increase the number of TouchPads in the hands of the public. A larger installed base means greater sales potential for 3rd party app developers. So by selling TouchPads at a loss (most reports I've read put the cost of producing the TouchPad closer to $300 than $100), HP increases the value of its webOS to potential buyers.
I'm happy with my TouchPad as a tool for web surfing and light web tasks. Let's hope HP keeps the price $99 for the 16GB Touchpad. They have been selling in the $175 range on eBay.
Update: The reason HP is going ahead with a final production run for the TouchPad is to help suppliers who had booked HP's orders for TouchPad parts. HP ordered the components months ago, and the suppliers need to be paid. I have read estimates that HP has enough parts in the pipeline to make an additional 200,000 TouchPads
http://www.precentral.net/hp-splitt...aded-office-strategy-and-technology-exclusive
Now it appears that HP will keep the webOS unit intact and in-house, as part of HP's Office of Strategy and Development. The team that developed the TouchPad hardware will be sold as part of the hardware divisions.
Over time, the new HP will become a software and services company. I suppose that HP will offer licenses for webOS to any hardware company that wants to use it. It's not clear if HP will develop versions of webOS for other platforms, but the company had been working on a version that would co-exist with Windows on PCs. This would enable an instant-on capability for a quick check of email or view of a web page.
Now it appears that HP will keep the webOS unit intact and in-house, as part of HP's Office of Strategy and Development. The team that developed the TouchPad hardware will be sold as part of the hardware divisions.
Over time, the new HP will become a software and services company. I suppose that HP will offer licenses for webOS to any hardware company that wants to use it. It's not clear if HP will develop versions of webOS for other platforms, but the company had been working on a version that would co-exist with Windows on PCs. This would enable an instant-on capability for a quick check of email or view of a web page.
HumphreyBear
Adventurer
Haven, when you say "sold off as part of the hardware divisions" are you saying you've heard about them splitting off more than PSG? The article only seems to mention PSG, and my HP ESSN and TS reps mentioned the expected PSG split, but nothing about other divisons. Where-goes ProLiant goes my heart, and I can't imagine this extending beyond PSG who have been, frankly, a problem child (at least in Australia) for some time.
Some day soon, you may be able to load software that transforms your TouchPad into a fast Android tablet.
CyanogenMod is a team of volunteers who develop alternative operating systems that extend the capabilities of stock Android. The team is working to create a version of Android 2.3 that can run on the HP TouchPad hardware. And they are making progress!
http://liliputing.com/2011/09/cyano...-android-video-shows-wifi-android-market.html
The TouchPad running CyanogenMod Android has been benchmarked, and the results look promising. The TouchPad uses the 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core processor, so it should be able to outperform tablets that run a 1 GHz dual core processor.
http://liliputing.com/2011/09/hp-touchpad-with-android-alpha-benchmarked.html
CyanogenMod is a team of volunteers who develop alternative operating systems that extend the capabilities of stock Android. The team is working to create a version of Android 2.3 that can run on the HP TouchPad hardware. And they are making progress!
http://liliputing.com/2011/09/cyano...-android-video-shows-wifi-android-market.html
The TouchPad running CyanogenMod Android has been benchmarked, and the results look promising. The TouchPad uses the 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core processor, so it should be able to outperform tablets that run a 1 GHz dual core processor.
http://liliputing.com/2011/09/hp-touchpad-with-android-alpha-benchmarked.html
The Touchpad is sold from time to time as a clearance item by an assortment of retailers. Most recently, TigerDirect.com had some refurbished Touchpads for sale. Price started a bit above $200. Used models are available in the $170 range in Craigslist and eBay.
The CyanogenMod team has created versions of Android 2.3 and Android 4.0 that run on the Touchpad. Most features work properly, but the software is still at an "alpha" stage, meaning use at your own risk.
Recently, RIM reduced the price of the Blackberry Playbook to $200. That's an outstanding value because the Playbook has a GPS chip, Bluetooth support and the ability to run just about any software written for Android 2.3. Worth checking out if you're interested in an inexpensive tablet for use as an in-vehicle navigator.
The CyanogenMod team has created versions of Android 2.3 and Android 4.0 that run on the Touchpad. Most features work properly, but the software is still at an "alpha" stage, meaning use at your own risk.
Recently, RIM reduced the price of the Blackberry Playbook to $200. That's an outstanding value because the Playbook has a GPS chip, Bluetooth support and the ability to run just about any software written for Android 2.3. Worth checking out if you're interested in an inexpensive tablet for use as an in-vehicle navigator.