btw - interesting little tidbit. http://m.engadget.com/default/artic...-slower-hardware/&category=classic&postPage=1
It also suffers from a lack of developers. Who on earth was going to buy a tablet that has no apps? Creating a tablet based on WebOS was a ridiculously stupid idea. And why would anyone buy a phone at this point that has no apps? Until someone solves the problem that no one writes apps for WebOS, that operating system is worthless - no matter how great the underlying concept might be.
Following the fallout of this is interesting. I suspect a lot of it has to do with HP being the 'sexy' low end consumer seller....their margins have to be razor thin, even with crap hardware.
So what does this mean for their tablet? Are they dirt cheap now? What about the OS? Can you get apps for it?
yes. rooting the tablet is as simple as the konami code. installing the homebrew app called preware will give you access to the some 600 apps (which is still more than android honeycomb tablet os i believe). a group called webosinternals (webos' core for all os modifications) have made things so they are not reliant upon hp's servers. they have all the basics covered - twitter, facebook, google maps, angry birds, etc. however, the major thing is document editing (update was supposed to come out within a couple of weeks before the webos slaughter yesterday), so i'd advise against getting one at this point if you need to manufacture docs. if the tabs can't be had for cheap now, they very soon will be. so went from vzw to sprint for the orignal pre. got no updated hardware and jumped to att for the veer. i'll hack'em to death until i get bored. will have to settle for being the dorky guy with the overclocked homebrewed beyond belief phone that no one has. :grin: if anything i'll have a couple of collecter's items on my hands.
I had a Pre and LOVED the OS, but wound up dumping it after nearly two years for an EVO. PalmOS was genius, but damn the Pre hardware sucked hardcore.
I was under the impression that Google buying Motorola was to inherit its hardware patents and to protect itself from any copyright suits. Google assured other hardware companies that Motorola would still have to go through the same hoops as others to bid on being the next Nexus/Google phone. No special treatment for Motorola. HP is going with IBM route. Selling off its PC line that makes very little to no margin per unit sold, and expanding into enterprise (cloud computing) and consulting. They'll still ink and imaging products, just offer more services. I think it's a solid move. Get rid of the toxic assets of webOS and sell to (samsung), and sell an SBU that is slowing down their inventory turnaround to someone outside the states who will destroy Dell (lenovo).
It's weird. I'm sitting at a desk in my study, staring at a truly excellent HP IPS display, being driven by an HP PC that's a modest gaming rig. If the major players get out of the PC game, the PC market is going to end up owned by the boutique "gaming PC" makers, and possibly major brand owned "boutique" PC's like Alien. PC's have been getting steadily cheaper, but if this becomes a trend, gaming rigs will probably go back to being as expensive as they used to be, and PC's will become a niche market. IMO, anyway.
Computer hardware has always been low margin (well, unless you can hypnotize people, like Apple... lol). I remember either Hewlett or Packard back in the 90's fighting going into the PC business. He didn't want to do it because he thought it was too low margin. Carly Fiorina slammed the nail in the coffin when she made it her primary goal. Wooptie doo, HP, you became the #1 computer maker - it didn't get you anything. By the way, I loved Michael Dell's tweet about this : "If HP spins off their PC business ... maybe they will call it Compaq?" Ouch.
Exactly. Google actually talked to other hardware manufacturers and kind of got "ok's" from them before their deal for Motorola Mobility, and it was pretty much for the patents. I think this is right, too. They're basically becoming another IBM. IBM's not known for a lot of mainstream things anymore to the average public, but they are woven into damn-near everything services and consulting. Quite possibly the coolest company out there, working on the neatest research that nobody gives any credit to. They've always been pretty much content being #2 or #3 for the past couple of decades and they've prospered.
buyer's beware. touchpads are 100 bucks on bestbuy's site: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=24aa74e36d1cba4ce76fdd5a9f3298cfen02 only posted since someone above asked. edit: looks like they've sold out (not to mention that link was for canada). word is that slickdeals is coming up next. if purchased, app usage is available through homebrew. no document editing however.
I bought one. Came out to $92, honestly, this is a steal, and it's too hard to pass up, even if it is being discontinued. I have NO NEED for this either, am probably going to leave it at home for my Mom to use when she wants to. Funny cause my sister has an iPad 2 as well. So now our household has 2 tablets.
Writing was on the wall for a long, long time but still a shame to see how badly HP botched it once they got their hands on it. RIM is next.
