New Gadget 2011

The past couple weeks or so there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the HP TouchPad, and why wouldn't there be? After all, the device was cancelled after only less than two months into its release. Since then the tablet has seen a fire sale where it saw its prices drop to $99 for the cheapest option, and let's not forget that Android developers are now working to get an Android ROM running on the device.

In an interview with Reuters, head of HP's Personal Systems Group, Todd Bradley, dropped a piece of rather shocking news when he casually mentioned that HP could resurrect the TouchPad. He acknowledged that the tablet industry was important which could be one of the reasons HP is reconsidering getting back into the game.

Bradley said the company could resurrect HP's short-lived TouchPad tablet computer, which was introduced on July 1 before being terminated only about six weeks later.

�Tablet computing is a segment of the market that's relevant, absolutely,� Bradley said.

As to whether Bradley was being drop-dead serious about the possibility of reviving the TouchPad, or if he was merely discussing a distant possibility remains unclear, but if it turns out that they do revive the TouchPad, those who got their hands on it for a mere $99 will definitely be extremely pleased!
source: Ubergizmo

After HP announced it would discontinue production of its TouchPad tablet last week, it looked like early HP tablet adopters spent $500 on a dud. If you're an enterprising software hacker, however, there could be an opportunity to make your money back � and then some.

A hardware modification web site is offering a $1,500 cash bounty for the first person to successfully port a full version of the Android operating system over to HP's TouchPad.

Hacknmod.com offers a tiered bounty system for would-be TouchPad hackers: Just getting Android to run on the TouchPad without taking full advantage of the tablet's hardware will win you a cool $450. But the more you're able to integrate the system software into the device, the more cash you'll earn. Get the Wi-Fi, multitouch capability, audio and camera up and running, and you'll add another $1,050 to the pot.

While the bounty is characteristic of the Android modding crowd which basically wants to slap Android onto anything with a circuit board and touch screen, it's also an admirable effort to breathe new life into a dying piece of hardware. After reports of dismal sales and third-party retailers sitting on hundreds of thousands of unsold TouchPads, HP decided to kill production after a mere 49 days on the market.

It was bad news for current TouchPad owners. No more HP hardware gives little incentive for webOS app developers to continue producing applications for the platform. In turn, TouchPad owners miss out on the latest popular applications to come to mobile devices. And of course, it gives potential customers no incentive to buy the remaining TouchPads retailers have in stock, costing HP and retail stores hundreds of millions of dollars. Everyone loses.

But if the porting plans work, it could mean bringing a slew of Android apps over to HP's tablet. If the TouchPad were capable of running thousands of Android apps, the device may not be obsolete.

This isn't the first time the Android modification community tried to port the operating system over to non-Android devices. Android modders have run the operating system on the Barnes And Noble's Nook Color e-reader, certain Nokia smartphones and even an iPhone.

If you don't want to go it alone, Android modification enthusiast site RootzWiki created a team specifically to work on porting Android over to the TouchPad, christened the TouchDroid team. The plan is to get Android version 2.3 (Gingerbread) up and running, then install a version of CyanogenMod, the most popular modification software available for Android devices. Eventually, the team wants to get Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) onto the TouchPad, Google's tablet-optimized version of the software. The coders will post updates to a thread on a message board devoted to Android development on the TouchPad.

All of the Android hacking mania begs the question: If all you want is an Android tablet, why not just go out and buy one?

First, you may be able to get a TouchPad for even less than you would a proper Android tablet. HP, Best Buy and some U.K. retailers slashed prices on its TouchPad inventory over the weekend, dropping the price as low as $100. Sales skyrocketed, and the TouchPad reached the top of the electronics sales charts on Amazon.com. Android tablets that boast hardware similar to the TouchPad average $400 to $500.

Second, the future of webOS is unclear. HP says it will continue to support the operating system despite discontinuing its tablet, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll see tablet-optimized updates to webOS in the future. And of course, HP could sell off the operating system for its patents to a competitor like Google or Apple, which would all but secure the system's demise.

Most importantly, hackers hack because they can. Android was built using open-source software principles, a favorite of the modification community who codes for the fun of it. If you propose the challenge of running an operating system on a piece of foreign hardware, expect the DIY community to take you up on it.

If nothing else, do it for the money.

source: Gadget Lab

Guess the massive price cut in the discontinued HP TouchPad has proved to be a rather popular move, so popular in fact that it has done quite an impressive job in evaporating off shelves in the UK. Further investigation was done at various web sites including Currys, PC World and Dixons, where they introduced the newly discounted price points at 6pm, and all these sits seemed to experience a slowdown in performance.

There were times when you were required to register and provide personal information before you are able to place an order, while other sites proved the TouchPad to be rather elusive across a range of postcodes.

In fact, all Currys and PC World stores had already sold out their stock of HP TouchPads, regardless of whether they are online or pre-order models. It makes me wonder just what kind of use will these firesale TouchPads be used for � how would you make use of a TouchPad if you had one?

source: Ubergizmo

Interested in purchasing the new HP TouchPad tablet that features a faster internet connection than the one available now? Great news, because it looks like the HP TouchPad 4G could be almost upon us. The webOS 3 tablet headed for AT&T's HSPA+ network was recently spotted as being available for pre-order on Amazon's website. And like most 4G devices, the tablet isn't going to come cheap.

I wonder how long the prices for the tablet will stay, after all HP should know that it will be hard to compete in the tablet market with such a high price tag, running a relatively unknown operating system (webOS) that most people probably haven't heard of. But it does have 4G connectivity (HSPA+ is 3.5G to be more accurate), which puts it a step above most of the other tablets. But is fast internet enough to sell the tablet? I guess we'll have to see about it when it launches, though I've got a feeling the price won't be $700 for too long.
source: Ubergizmo

HP needs to get its tablet in your hands, and the company is doing everything it can to make that happen.

HP has tried slashing the tablet's prices. Over the weekend, the company discounted its new tablet by $100 when purchased through HP's web store and other participating retailers, bringing the price of the TouchPad down to $400 and $500 for the 16GB and 32GB versions, respectively.

HP has tried rebates. The company's first rebate for early TouchPad adopters � available to those who bought it when it was first released in July � knocked $50 off the tablet's price.

HP has tried bundled software freebies. At the TouchPad's launch, the company partnered with Box.net to offer 50GB of free cloud storage, a $240 yearly value.

To some, HP's actions are those of a desperate company.

�Consumers aren't buying the TouchPad at the iPad price point, so HP is hoping a lower price will make its tablet look more attractive,� said Forrester research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps in an e-mail. �Cutting prices may cause consumers to buy the TouchPad out of curiosity, but it undermines HP's efforts to market a premium iPad competitor.�

HP's webOS platform is the underdog in today's mobile space. A DigiTimes report expects Apple to take 61 percent of the tablet marketshare in 2011, leaving the remainder up for grabs between the myriad Android tablet manufacturers, BlackBerry PlayBook makers Research in Motion, and HP (and possibly Microsoft, if its Windows Mobile OS comes to tablets any time soon). A veritable David to competing Goliaths Android and iOS, HP has a lot of work to do.

In the company's most recent effort, it will send out a $50 credit for purchasing apps in HP's App Catalog to anyone who bought a TouchPad from July 1 to August 4. It's an attempt to boost support for the webOS catalog from the consumer side. If the company can get enough TouchPad owners to start buying webOS apps, HP may have a good chance at convincing app developers that webOS is worth developing programs for.

The company is also trying to bolster its application ecosystem on the developer side, recently launching the �webOS certified developers program,� essentially a promotional deal for developers who want to get noticed. The program offers referrals and more visibility for the up and coming webOS developer who wouldn't otherwise get noticed in a very crowded application environment like Apple's or Google's.

�We've seen great developer interest in the webOS platform from companies big and small,� an HP spokeswoman told Wired.com in a statement. As a result of its developer push, the company expects a boost in apps over the next 12 to 18 months. �We currently have more than 600 TouchPad apps and more than 9,000 total apps in the webOS app catalog,� the spokeswoman said.

For comparison, Apple's App Store with around half a million apps, and the Android Market with over 250,000 apps.

With the 4G version of the TouchPad coming soon at a pricey $700, we'll have to wait and see if tablet shoppers are willing to shell out such a hefty chunk of change for a non-iOS tablet. Considering how poor Motorola's Xoom sales were in the wake of its high starting prices, the outlook doesn't look so good.
source: Gadget Lab

The deal is on for both the 16GB and 32GB variants, suggesting that it's perhaps the best time for all the WebOS tablet lovers who have been waiting to buy the WebOS tablet this weekend.

Staples is also offering a similar deal where users can get a $100 flat off as HP TouchPad discount for both 16GB and 32GB versions. The offer is valid through 7th of August at both Staples and HP's official retail sources.

As a refresher, HP TouchPad tablet features a 9.7" capacitive touch display, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel HD camera, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor flanked by a gigabyte of RAM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, onboard GPS, Web OS 3.0 and much more.

The HP TouchPad price was originally listed as $499 for the 16GB version and $599 for the 32GB version. But, the current HP TouchPad discount price lists the 16GB and 32GB models at $399 and $499 respectively.

One reason HP could have popped up the discounts is to make the tablet even more easily affordable to a greater number of consumers who are looking at a nice tablet in around the specified price range. Secondly, it could also be possible that HP wants to entice more consumers (by slashing the prices) who would otherwise be lured in the similarly priced iPad or other Android tablets.

Anyway, the aforementioned HP TouchPad offers are a good deal, particularly if you were already inclined to treat yourself with the WebOS tablet. While the offers may last for only a couple of days, we expect (but do not assure) that HP and other authorized resellers may strike similar offers in the near future, particularly so if a new version of the TouchPad is on the launch horizon.
source: Technology Nerd

Today's LogicBUY Deal is $80 off the HP TouchPad 9.7" WebOS tablet: 16GB for $419.99 or 32GB for $519.99. Features: Dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon cpu at 1.2GBz, 1024X768 display, integrated webcam, and integration with other WebOS devices. It's 0.54" thick and weighs 1.54 pounds.

16GB model: $499.99 � $50 instant discount - $30 coupon code = $419.99 with free shipping

32GB model: $599.99 � $50 instant discount � $30 coupon code = $519.99 with free shipping

Recommended accessories are available at a 15% discount: TouchPad Case ($42.49), Touchstone Charging Dock ($67.99), TouchPad Wireless Keyboard ($59.49).

This deal expires July 31, 2011 or sooner. Check the above link for more details on this deal, and check the LogicBUY home page for other deals.
source: The Gadgeteer

UK retailer Comet is stocking a �new� Packard Bell branded Android Honeycomb tablet, with the 10.1? 1280�800 Libertytab now on sale for �349.99. The Libertytab is yet another Tegra 2 powered device and it does indeed launch with the original 3.0 version of Google's tablet OS.

We believe this is nothing more than a rebranded Acer Iconia Tab A500, although it's a bit more colourful. This colourful:

A decent price for a 10? Honeycomb device and that actually looks half tasty with its angular, metallic finish. Sooner or later we're going to go crazy and actually buy one of these things. But not this one.
source: Eurodroid

The HP TouchPad has finally become available outside the US, just five short months after it was announced. The few countries that were lucky enough to be granted the honor of selling the TouchPad starting today are the UK, Canada, Germany, and France. At least those have been confirmed until now. The TouchPad may have become available elsewhere too.

Many customers who pre-ordered a TouchPad in those countries may have already received it, but today is the first day when you can just go to an actual physical store to pick one up.

In the UK, you can get a 16 GB Wi-Fi model for �399, or one with 32 GB of storage for �479. Some of the places you can buy it from are PC World, Currys, Comet, the Carphone Warehouse, and even direct from HP.com.

In Canada, the prices are $449.99 for the 16 GB version, and $549.99 for double that storage space. Retailers that now sell the TouchPad include Best Buy, Future Shop, The Source, Costco, Staples, London Drugs, Rogers sales locations, the HP store in Vancouver, as well as HPshopping.ca.
source: Unwired View

And that other dimension would be Canada. Best Buy, Canada to be exact. One of the advertising wizards behind their weekly flyer has the HP TouchPad curiously listed as running Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Right�but the TouchPad actually runs webOS 3.0. We understand getting the 3.0 part confused, but a quick glance at the other side of the page clearly states webOS. Somebody didn't double check before sending this one to print.
source: Android Phone

The HP TouchPad seems to be rather elusive at the moment, having popped up here and there as an image or rumor, but never having a true blue release date attached to it. Well, what can be done about the situation? Either HP comes clean with the situation to reveal the exact release dates so that geeks like you and I are able to budget our monthly expenses to accommodate yet another tablet purchase in our lives, or we can always sit down and wait for whispers and rumors to create a befuddled picture.

Todd Bradley (Executive Vice President, Personal Systems Group, HP) might have done us some good by coming out to declare on a Bloomberg interview that July 1st saw the soft launch of the TouchPad, while pointing towards a very real July 17th TouchPad release date � off the record, of course.

Not only that, it must be said that Bradley also let slip that an OTA update will be arriving in around 10 days after the TouchPad is released. How's that for efficiency?
source: Ubergizmo

According to analyst outfit Isuppli, the 32GB model of the HP Touchpad will cost a total of $328 to manufacture � at least that is what Isuppli makes of the Touchpad's bill of materials (BOM), including a $10 thrown in for manufacturing costs. The display and touchscreen segments will cost $132.50, making up the bulk of its cost price. According to Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of teardown services at Isuppli, �The TouchPad in some ways does closely resemble the original iPad, with its use of the same LG display Apple used in the first-generation iPad, and by initially offering a product that only employs Wi-Fi as its exclusive wireless connection.�

Up next in terms of cost? The Touchpad's NAND flash memory which is going for $45. With a market price of $599, the amount of profit is south of $300, which ain't too shabby considering the amount of research and development that had gone into it. Now, if only the Touchpad would be a huge success � that will certainly drive prices further down due to economy of scale.

Will you be getting the webOS-powered device when it arrives?
source: Ubergizmo

Don't you just love leaks? We do, what with all the shadowy operations going around, capturing photos on-the-fly with a shaky hand as there is always the risk of getting caught by your superior or authorities � hence the blurry images of a particular handset or device. Screenshots, however, are not affected by trembling hands, so here we are with a leaked roadmap which points toward HP's plans for their webOS platform in 2011. The current TouchPad will see a 64GB model released later next month, sporting a faster processor, the possibility of a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor and taking a page out of Apple's book, coming in a glossy white shade.

There will be a �4G� (in reality, 3G) edition with HSPA+ model of the TouchPad as well which is tipped to arrive on AT&T. Apart from the change in modem, everything else about this model will be the same as the current 32GB model, although we would think that the name can be rather misleading.

A 7? Opal tablet has also been mentioned for a fall release, in addition to the US-bound Pre 3 during the same period. No idea on who would want to pick up a webOS-powered smartphone with Android and iOS already making leaps and bounds over the rest of the competition � perhaps those who are visionaries?
source: Ubergizmo

HP's TouchPad gets lots of hu-ha from the media because it's a standalone tablet running WebOS that no others had. But what's actually inside the tablet? Is it the same as the iPad and the mass Android tablets? Well let's check it out.

It's "built more like a PC than an iPad" according to the screwdriver-meisters at TechRepublic. This means you can easily take the thing apart with just a Phillips screwdriver (and a little prying) should you wish. Or, you know, you can just look at the pictures on the other end of the source link and keep yours in one piece. They tend to work better that way.
source: 2DayBlog.com

After unveiling the 9.7-inch WiFi-only TouchPad and a 3G/ WiFi counterpart, HP is said to be building a 7-inch version of the TouchPad that will be released in August. If you are one of many who prefer a more portable tablet, this should come as good news.

The news came out from Taiwan Economic News, which reported a claim from an Inventec employee that HP ordered up to 450,000 tablets every month from their company. Among those orders, according to the source, is a 7-inch TouchPad. Whether it would be WiFi-only, with 3G, or even with 4G, remains a mystery.

We have yet to hear from HP to confirm this report.
source: Gadget.com

Dying to get your hands on HP's TouchPad and flirt with its WebOS before it's available on July 1st? According to Pre Central, a visit to either Best Buy or Walmart may give you the opportunity, if you're lucky that is.

During the past few days, the stores have apparently begun quietly displaying demo-loaded versions of the slate. The device went up for pre-order about a week ago, but for WebOS hopefuls still contemplating whether to take the Palm-rooted plunge, a pre-release impression may not be a bad grab between socks and motor oil. Don't feel like taking a trip to Wally World, you say?
source: 2DayBlog.com

While HP's 9.7? TouchPad has yet to hit the stores (July 1st for those not in the know), it looks like the company already has a successor planned. According to reports from CENS.com, a Taiwanese Economics news website - Inventec Corp, a major manufacturer of personal computers in Taiwan, has received orders from HP to start producing 400,000 to 450,000 TouchPad tablets. But in addition to the 9.7? webOS 3.0 tablet, the company has also been reported to be supplying HP with a 7? tablet that will be released in August.

No other details about the 7? tablets were revealed, but it would be safe to assume that they would just be smaller versions of the TouchPad - probably for users who don't need the bulk of carrying a large tablet, but still want a display larger than their smartphones. If that turns out to be the case, will you be waiting for the 7? tablet or will you be picking up the larger TouchPad when it drops next month?
source: Ubergizmo

HP's answer to the iPad, the TouchPad, is now available for pre-order.

The HP TouchPad, which was first revealed in February, is set to go on sale July 1, but you can currently pre-order it on HP's website.

Consumers can also pre-order the tablet from retailers such as Best Buy, Newegg, Amazon, Costco, Staples, and TigerDirect. There is no expected ship date currently listed for TouchPad pre-orders.

HP's webOS tablet sports a 9.7-inch, 1024-by-768-pixel screen and will be available in two models: a $500 16-GB version and a $600 32-GB version. One feature that set the TouchPad apart from other tablets was its Touchstone technology, which shares information between the tablet and HP/Palm Pre phones. Apple's new iCloud service (a major foray into data synchronization and online storage) renders that functionality a bit less exciting.

The TouchPad joins the crop of tablet devices hitting the market in the wake of Apple's iPad. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, manufacturers showcased nearly 100 tablets powered by Google's Android OS. Some technology journalists argue that the TouchPad's approach make it a more viable competitor to the iPad: HP and Palm developed both the hardware and operating system in house, meaning the device's user experience should have the elegance and polish necessary to make a tablet succeed.

In addition to making the TouchPad available for pre-order, HP has also posted a slew of instructional demo videos showing off the key features of their tablet on YouTube. Below is an overview of the TouchPad, but other videos detail things like wireless charging using Touchstone, notifications and the device's multitasking functionality.
source: Gadget Lab

After having reached pre-order status in the US and Canada, HP's first webOS tablet, the TouchPad, is now finally available to pre-order in the UK as well. And just like on the other side of the pond, there are two versions up for grabs, one with 16 GB of internal storage, and another with 32 GB.

These tablets come without any need to sign up for a long term contract with a mobile network operator, as they're sold by Clove, a well known independent retailer of unlocked mobile devices. The 16 GB TouchPad costs �399.99, and the 32 GB version can be yours for �479.99. The only difference between these two tablets is the internal storage space, so if 16 GB is enough for you, then you should probably go for the cheaper version.

Deliveries are set to start on July 15, when the TouchPad will see its official release in the UK. If you're interested in being one of the first people in the UK to get your hands on one, perhaps you should head on over to Clove right now and pre-order either the 16 GB or the 32 GB version.
source: Unwired View