
HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1 - marklabedz
http://blog.palm.com/palm/2011/06/hp-touchpad-its-a-date.html
======
junklight
Well it looks like they have already done something better than all their non-
Apple competitors - instead of rushing it out half finished they seem to have
waited until it's done. Given the biggest complaint about webos on the phone
was the power of the processor this stands a good chance of being a nice
product. fingers crossed for them

(I'm unlikely to give up my iPad given iCloud now but there really should be a
decent competitor in the market place) ((and by decent I mean something a
casual purchaser will be happy with and not a tablet that is good enough to
make someone happy who pointedly doesn't want to buy Apple and will put up
with all sorts))

~~~
cmarshall
The 500MHz processor in the original Pre really does hold back WebOS. Running
an overclocked custom kernel, I have mine set at 1GHz, makes a huge difference
to the usability and surprisingly doesn't reduce battery life by much (which
is partly due to the custom kernels clocking the CPU back to 500MHz when the
screen is off).

It looks like HP/Palm have learned from this and aren't going to make the same
mistake twice, the more recent videos of the Touchpad show how much they've
optimised the UI to remove the lag:
[http://www.precentral.net/webos-3-0-optimizations-make-
smoot...](http://www.precentral.net/webos-3-0-optimizations-make-smoother-
touchpad-swiping-video)

~~~
chops
As I was completely unaware of overclocking in WebOS and specifically for the
original Pre (which I have), I'll save the user the bit of googling I did to
find overclocking. I had no idea it was this easy in preware:

[http://www.precentral.net/why-i-overclock-my-palm-pre-its-
ea...](http://www.precentral.net/why-i-overclock-my-palm-pre-its-easier-you-
think-video)

So now I have my distraction for the next half-hour while I play with the
overclocking options and test the responsiveness.

So thank you for mentioning that. +1 to you!

~~~
phamilton
I don't know how many times I said the words "I had no idea it was so easy"
when I had my Palm Pre. It really is an impressive OS.

------
jdavid
I have been waiting for this device for months.

It's not the second coming or anything, but for those of us that don't want to
buy Apple, and think that android is ugly. WebOS devices are a nice balance.

It's also been true that Samsung has not been able to get clean devices out.
They are buggy and expensive.

The TouchPad may not be as fast as an iPad 2 or the new Samsung tablet, but it
will be faster than the iPad 1, and most of the Android Tablets on the market.
The OS is clean and is easy to use.

If the device sells well the app market is not yet crowded and there will be
plenty of room for app developers to create a niche for themselves.

I also think that HP will have better distribution into the enterprise.

Touch to Share will not just be about moving files between your phone and
tablet, it will be about moving files between all of these devices including
your laptop, your printer, and your mobile, ( maybe even your camera ).

Imagine if Mom could buy a printer, a camera, and a phone and just print out
photos by taping her phone to the printer. What if you could print out those
TPS reports by tapping your tablet on any one of a hundred printers in an
enterprise?

And then there is the touch stones, which wirelessly charge your devices.

Yes, I am excited someone is finally competing with iDevices by creating a
better experience, not just a cheaper one.

HP don't just make it cheaper, make it easier to use across all of my devices.

And don't forget that there is that rumor of dropbox integration into webos 3.

------
modernerd
They are also offering free TouchPads to webOS developers who can demonstrate
a working TouchPad app that they intend to submit to the App Catalog. Details
on their blog: [http://developer.palm.com/blog/2011/05/show-us-your-app-
at-w...](http://developer.palm.com/blog/2011/05/show-us-your-app-at-webos-
connect-for-the-chance-to-get-an-hp-touchpad/)

~~~
smackfu
Step 1 to get your free TouchPad: get to Paris or Berlin.

~~~
ansy
A company the size of HP can afford to give away piles of TouchPads and Pres
to developers that might be mildly interested. HP should have somebody hunting
down the twitter accounts of prolific app developers and mailing out starter
packs of hardware. Google has been handing out hardware left and right and
doesn't seem to be slowing down one bit.

------
sleight42
Just once, I'd like to hear an electronics developer, in HP/Palm's situation,
humbly concede, "We realize that we're entering a crowded market. We realize
that we're entering late. However, our strategy is simple: ply the development
community with incentives which, over time, should help us flesh out our
platform into an engaging and useful product."

I've read little but boasting from HP about the new round of WebOS devices.
Let's be honest: they have a very tough road ahead if they want to get any
market share. They need all of the help and good will that they can get.

~~~
Yhippa
I could care less about talk in any case. I've been following Windows Phone 7
as of late and it seems that they've made it easy to program for the platform
by offering development tools, samples, and instruction. There is scant
documentation or examples for Enyo.

They changed app dev frameworks on all of their existing developers from Mojo
to Enyo. That can't help either. I think they have a near Herculean task in
trying to claw back market share. There seem to be a few evangelists who love
the webOS platform and its devices but when it comes to consumers paying at
the door that is in jeopardy.

~~~
megaman821
Enyo docs are scant because Enyo is still a beta and the docs are under NDA,
but they do exist and aren't that bad. There is still plenty of room for HP to
improve their docs and more code samples though.

------
desigooner
I still fail to understand on why companies prefer to price their products at
the same level as iPad?! Spec for spec, there are not many things that put HP
TouchPad to an advantage. No extendable memory, no extra ports, a weak app
ecosystem, etc.

Ever since the ASUS Transformer was released at 399$ for a 16GB model, that
pretty much became the price to beat for a tablet which wanted to compete with
the iPad2

~~~
martingordon
I was going to post a snarky comment about how the Transformer can't compete
with the iPad because its not actually shipping yet, blah blah, but I did a
search first and found out that it shipped over a month ago.

Which can only mean that ASUS really botched the PR on this one. Neither
Engadget nor Gizmodo (arguably the two largest gadget sites) have reviewed it,
but the few reviews I did find were generally positive.

I've read about tablets from Motorola, Toshiba, and Samsung, but nothing about
the ASUS, which looks to be a decent, relatively cheap Honeycomb tablet.

~~~
cmarshall
Engadget reviewed the UK edition of the Transformer in April and seemed to
generally like it. [http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/18/asus-eee-pad-
transformer-...](http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/18/asus-eee-pad-transformer-
uk-edition-review/)

------
patrickod
One of the cooler things about WebOS when I was using a 1st generation Pre was
the large community of jailbreakers and the mods and apps that they produced.
Given some of the cool things they made possible on the Pre I'm really
interested to see what they'll do with the TouchPad. Here's hoping it's a
success, I really liked WebOS.

------
saturdaysaint
I like WebOS, so it's too bad that the form factor lags behind a generation. A
1.6 pound device will be palpably less comfortable to use than the new
generation of 1.3 pound devices (iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1).

~~~
lamnk
If that's the case, I think you should go out and do some exercises.

Can you really tell the difference between 1.6 pound and 1.3 pound gadgets ?

~~~
daeken
If you're using them in bed, you absolutely can. Even an ounce makes a huge
difference when you're holding it up for hours on end.

------
freshrap6
As a webOS fan/user/developer I'm happy to hear this. It's a big step forward
for the platform. Sadly though what I really need is a new phone. Where is the
pre 3, when is that going to be release? A new phone would do much more for me
right now than a tablet.

------
suprgeek
I am a fan of the Android notifications but I have told that the webOS ones
are even better! This should be an interesting device all in all.

~~~
MatthewPhillips
WebOS notifications are nice because you can swipe away individual
notifications. But they also take up more screen than on Android (which
matters because Palm/HP loves tiny phones). I'd say it's a push overall.

~~~
WrkInProgress
It would be really nice if they have a notification tray (or rather a summary
area). That would make it the best notification system on any current
platform. Right now, once you swipe the notifications away, there's no single
place to go and view those notifications. I can't recall if it still keeps a
small reminder icon on the bottom.

Ideally, swipe left to dismiss, swipe right to dismiss for now (still listed
in the notification "tray").

~~~
jimmyk
> I can't recall if it still keeps a small reminder icon on the bottom.

It does this if you don't swipe it away and you interact with some other app.
So, if I'm writing an emial and a text message comes in, it will show up with
the full notification, but if I touch the email again, it will show the tiny
reminder icon.

------
Killah911
"Touch to Share capability for sharing web addresses between HP TouchPad and
compatible webOS phones"

I'm sure all 5 people who still have the palm pre can barely contain their
excitement...

Seriously, what's HP thinking? I think the Palm Pre came out with more
fanfare, and that didn't turn out that great. If all that really
differrentiates HP's tablet from the iPad is the OS, well, quite frankly, it's
been done before with the Palm Pre vs. iPhone, with less than flattering
results for Palm.

I just don't see the sensible part yet... if someone else does, please point
it out to me...

~~~
megaman821
Palm made the mistake of not realizing fanfare isn't the same as distribution.
Touchpads are going to be available at Amazon.com, HP.com, BestBuy, Walmart,
Sam's Club, OfficeMax and several others within two weeks of launch, not to
mention the international push. The Pre was stuck on the nation's 3rd largest
network for like 6 months. It really had no chance of competing with current
offerings on AT&T and Verizon being that old.

~~~
jimmyk
Yup, and it took me over two months to get a Pre after it came out. And I was
the first to get one from that Sprint store.

------
shaggy
Aside from the the hardware and the OS, the most exciting part of the
announcement is how HP is using their sizable scale and distribution channels
to get the touchpad into the 4 of the top brick and mortar retailers. It will
make it far more accessible to the average consumer than the iPad. I wish the
price was lower, but sadly if they didn't match the pricing of the iPad then
too many people (or worse media outlets) would automatically assume that it
was priced cheaper because it's an inferior product (which it isn't).

------
marklabedz
>>HP also said today that it will be partnering with AT&T to introduce a
connected version of HP TouchPad later this summer. No details yet, but stay
tuned.

------
dstein
I think HP's marketing is wrong, they shouldn't be touting the WebOS operating
system so much because ordinary people don't care. The operating system is
irrelevant in this type of device. In fact, I think something along the lines
of Google's ChromeOS is the right operating system for a tablet -- an
ultralight web-browsing only device with cloud-connected filesystem for
downloads/photos/movies etc. It's the only type of device that I foresee being
able to really compete against the iPad.

~~~
r00fus
It's important if one of the goals of the TouchPad is to rejuvenate the WebOS
brand so they can market it for notebooks and other non-tablet/phone devices
in the future.

------
Apocryphon
_If_ webOS fails, I think its legacy will be being too ahead of its time
twice- one for being a neat smartphone OS back in 2009 with several features
that both the iPhone and Android lacked (card system for multitasking,
development platform based on web programming languages), and second for
getting into the multi-device platform game prior to OS X Lion and Windows 8
(the webOS will run on everything from desktops to printers initiative that HP
is currently pushing).

~~~
sleight42
Too ahead of it's time? I'm pretty sure it's just that they were too late to
market.

(1) they launched on Sprint. Sprint is a distant 3rd now.

(2) they didn't reach Verizon in time.

They had this lovely window of time before Verizon launched the first Droid
phone. Verizon users were _hungry_ for a smartphone. Droid got their first and
filled the niche.

It's easy to armchair quarterback but, after trying the Pre on Sprint, I kept
wishing for them to get a faster Pre on Verizon before Android arrived.

Too little, too late.

~~~
Apocryphon
What you're saying is true, but I still think that mine are true as well.
webOS seems to be the first to have:

1\. Certain features like cards, a good notification system, and requiring
only HTML/CSS/JS knowledge to develop for, back in 2009

2\. Currently being the only(?) mobile OS out that is designed to be also run
on non-tablet/smartphone systems.

So it boils down to webOS being ahead of its time on some technical features,
while marketed poorly and thus causing it to miss the boat.

------
6ren
It's a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2GHz

But they don't mention RAM or cpu.

It runs flash, but doesn't mention java (so it probably doesn't).

~~~
piranha
> But they don't mention RAM or cpu.

How's saying that it's 1.2 ghz cpu is not mentioning cpu? As for RAM,
Wikipedia page says it'll have 1 gb.

~~~
6ren
sorry, typo, I meant gpu (or is that integrated into the SoC?)

~~~
piranha
Ah, right, GPU. Here: [http://www.fudzilla.com/mobiles/item/21816-qualcomm-
official...](http://www.fudzilla.com/mobiles/item/21816-qualcomm-officialy-
announces-its-apq8060-processor)

> ... comes paired up with Adreno 220 GPU ...

~~~
6ren
Thanks! 1080p 30fps seems not quite there yet (though impressive for a
tablet).

Preview for their lead game doesn't look "console quality" to me
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY7lUziafr4> Though the first games usually
don't max out the hardware and of course tablets will probably go through a
few generations before the next console generation (excluding nintendo's Wii
U), so it's only a matter of time. Just not there yet.

I saw elsewhere that it's not as powerful as the iPad 2 (though clocked 20%
faster...)

