Editorial: My love/hate relationship with my TouchPad 129
Let me start off by saying that I love my HP TouchPad. I never felt that need to buy a tablet before now, but I took the plunge for webOS. And wow is there is a lot to like in webOS 3.0 and the TouchPad, starting with all the old webOS-staples of cards/stacks, Just Type, synergy, unobtrusive notifications, Touchstone/Exhibition, etc. Add to that the ability to take my phone calls (and eventually SMS) from my Pre2 on the TouchPad, chat/audio/video Skype integration, an amazing virtual keyboard, 50 GB of free lifetime storage at box.net, easy printing, Flash continuing to play in card-mode, and some solid hardware, and we have a tablet that should really be able compete in this space. And yes, I do like the hardware of the TouchPad. While I would absolutely love for it to be a little lighter and not have the glossy back, I really don’t mind the thickness or weight of the TouchPad. It feels solid and think it will hold up to regular usage. After less than two weeks with my TouchPad, I couldn't be happier with my purchase.
Actually, that is not true, I could be a lot happier. Despite all the great aspects of the TouchPad, it's not perfect. It still has a number of challenges that it needs to overcome before it can earn its way to be number two in the tablet market (and maybe even eventually "one plus"). This is where I want to focus in this editorial, because despite all the awesomeness that is the TouchPad, there are a lot of things I would like to see addressed. And we all know that the 800,000 pound gorilla in the room is apps. webOS needs more of them, and the bigger name developers/apps, too. We all know that, HP knows that, the market knows that. Now let's get beyond that and look at the little things that I would like to see HP do to make using the TouchPad a less frustrating and more feasible operating system.
First up are some tweaks that I would like have made to the OS that may be considered new functionality, but would be well worth the effort to implement. Forgive the stream-of-consciousness prose here, but I need to get a few things off my chest: Why do the pop-up menus only take up 1/4 of the screen (e.g. selecting a photo to attach) when you have a lot more screen real estate? The virtual keyboard was well thought-out and the inclusion of a numbers row is great, but I get way too many typos because my finger slides slightly onto a different letter when lifting it off the screen (e.g. press space, but get an "n" or "m"). Can we also please have some virtual arrow keys to move the cursor and select text? They are on the Bluetooth keyboard and you can press Shift+arrow keys to select text, so why can't the virtual keyboard? Copy and Paste is annoying and sometimes hard to actually execute. Auto-correct is much improved in 3.0, but I find that it auto-corrects to a word that I don't want, yet the word I do want is first in the suggestions list. Can I please have a way to sort my launcher icons, especially since my profile loaded up over 100 icons and rearranging takes forever to move them one at a time. The 50 GB of free online storage from box.net is almost useless when you have to pay $15/month for a box.net professional account for any kind of desktop sync that comes free with dropbox or zumo drive. And did you really demo the Airplane Fighter game since last February and provide the Kindle app to reviewers but not include those on the production devices, not to mention no document editing at launch? C'mon, where are those apps?
Next, I want to talk about the shared-profiles between the TouchPad and phones. When I first heard that you could share a profile, I was ecstatic. All my contacts, calendars, memos, apps, etc would all be shared and I would have one big happy webOS family of devices. Note that historically, I have preferred the Palm profile for contacts and calendars so I was not reliant on Google sync since I use Yahoo for my email, and Google calendar in webOS has some sync limits that prevent me from seeing all my events without patching my device. Unfortunately, the sync between profiles was a 1-time thing only. My data transferred, but any changes made on one device will not transfer to the other (except apps, which can be manually downloaded on the other device, if compatible). I would really like to see HP take advantage of what the cloud has to offer and develop a more complete sync-solution between devices, so I know that I am looking at the same data on all my devices. Apple just announced something similar with their iCloud service, but this should have been a natural extension of the existing Palm Profile. If HP can not offer a way to sync your data in your Profile across all of your devices, they shouldn't offer the service. And in the meantime, it would be nice for them to offer a way to extract your data from the Palm Profile in case you do want to transfer it to a different service!
Finally, I want to take a look at features that existed in webOS 1.0 or 2.0 that seem to be missing in 3.0, and I want them back! Bring back more gestures, please! The return of the up-swipe was a welcome announcement, but now we need more advantages gestures like quick app-switching. Also, how hard would it have been to include a virtual meta-key, so you can still do a Meta+C for copy or Meta+Z for Undo? Keyboard combinations work just fine on a multi-touch keyboard, so why not expand it and allow older Mojo apps and even newer Enyo apps access to these shortcuts? And speaking of Undo, why give it to us in 2.0 just to remove it in 3.0, just like the ability to add/remove/rename launcher pages was added in 2.0 but now we are forced to four pre-defined launcher pages. Also, while you can still swipe-to-delete in some lists in 3.0, it no longer auto-confirms the previous deletion? And let's not forget that the ability to set a wallpaper from the Photos app, format email text, sort your screenshots with the newest picture at the top, have copy/cut/paste in the drop-down menus, the ability to choose your icon picture when adding a website to your launcher, and just the simple act of rearranging list items are all gone in webOS 3.0. I understand HP needed to rewrite webOS 3.0 from the ground up for Enyo, but why remove functionality that was provided in previous versions that are useful and make sense?
I still love my TouchPad (really, I do!) and have no plans on returning it. But it's frustrating to see so much potential in a device and not see it implemented well. We all know the (somewhat valid) excuses that it took time to integrate HP and Palm, that the TouchPad and webOS 3.0 are the first iteration of their tablet, and that there are more updates right around the corner, but for a company that promised to only ship a perfect product, they failed in a number of areas. But all is not lost, as the TouchPad is still an amazing device and HP has lots of plans to make it (and webOS) even better. But in the meantime HP, please take a look at these issues and fix them ASAP!
129 Comments
Interesting and pretty solid point! Thanks for the heads-up and questioning many of the same things I was thinking. Sorli...
what is 'Sorli' ??
his name...
I'm pretty sure "sorli" is a pokemon
You know what's interesting? If you read back and examine all of Adam's concerns, and consider someone who has never experienced webOS 2.x or earlier, I bet they wouldn't know about the 'issues' Adam finds.
So it is ok to continue to support a platform that is consistently offering us less of what made it 'better' with each iteration? Other OS and hardware are getting tangibly better with each update/revision, yet WebOS seems to be backpedaling from where it began.
With such a regressive strategy, WebOS won't expand to become what we all hope for. It is frustrating to see such potential get consistently hammered. All the missing functionality from 1.x and 2.x are the exact features which made the original WebOS feel more like a real operating system and not just a pared-down mobile OS.
Once again, another rushed, half-baked item that isn't truly ready to compete. One-plus my foot...
That's not what I said at all. sigh...
But webOS 3.0, as indicated in the article, is a rewrite of the OS from the ground up. It's quite possible that those 'issues' are codes just not written into the OS yet, but can come with OTA updates, once again, as indicated in the article.
Is it too much to ask that we be able to see the same calendar info on all hp devices without entering it on each one individually?
I can see the same calendar info on more than 1 device. I personally wouldn't rely on Palm Profile to sync calendar events between multiple devices anyways.
They've promised recently that the timing and amount of OTA updates with the version 3.0 will change significantly. That is on a regular basis, bringing new features constantly. Well, I want to be a witness of this.
Like the updates we never received after 1.4 or 1.4.5?
To be released 'in the coming months' along with our WebOS 2.x upgrade for our original pre... Right alongside docs-to-go
Best part is, the TP is not tied to carrier approval, once HP approves of an update, they can put it out there without it going through additional approval or carrier add-ons/changes.
They've "promised"? LOL
One OTA in the next twelve months is one more than I've seen in the last twelve months, despite promises.
When the OTA updates come, will you, chodaboy and phreakish above come back here to cheer?
I'll cheer when the combined forces of Palm and HP, can work together for 18 months to push my phone off of 1.4.5 where it has been stuck, despite promises, despite some Droids getting two bumps when some said they'd never get anything.
One OTA for an incomplete tablet product is like cheering for the special olympics. If it makes you feel better, yes I will cheer for you nyallj. YOUR ALL WINNERS! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT. Yer special HP, so very very special. Wipe your chin, you're drooling on your medal.
I actually played with a Playbook and dare I say that they may have better implemented the rip off of the Card UI than WebOs.
Performance trounces the HP Touchpad and the gestures are much more intuitive.
I dont know, I am really dissapointed with the overall performance of the HP Touchpad and WebOS. I had the original Pre and the same lag plagues WebOS.
Cnet's Playbook VS. TouchPad shows the Playbook winning.
http://reviews.cnet.com/2722-3126_7-1169.html
True... How is it possible?... Didn´t they copy webOS?... How could they come out with a smoother OS in less time?
I got the chance to play around with the TP the other day at a BB in Long Beach... I was very disappointed, lots of buggs, slow transitions (not like ipad), apps took forever to open (slower than my pre- when it wasn´t OCed)... I also tried Flash, worked well, but when closing the browser, the TP crashed.... Yes, maybe they were preproduction models, but those are the models exposed to people.
I went to BB in order to buy the TP and left the building thinking do I really need a tablet? (and I do, trust me, I travel overseas from Spain 4 times a month and I hate carrying my laptop)
I love webOS so much it´s going to kill me changing to another OS if things don´t change very soon. It´s been 2 years since I bought my Pre (still in quite good shape except for the battery that only lasts around 4 hrs) and so far nothing´s changed. No carrier in Spain has any webOS phone since the pre-, no TP either here yet, lots of news that never come true....
You might want to restart it next time your in Best Buy. It seems as if they are never turned off.
I went to my Best Buy and noticed one TP doing all the things you described, slow and stuff. I then picked up the other TP opposite the 1st one and it was flying and everything was loading quick. I even connected my Pre- and tested an incoming call.
So I decided to restart the other TP and wouldn't you know! it was flying just like the other one was.
Playbook has been out for a while, give the touchpad time to get an OTA update and the "hard launch" apps/services. btw, was the review a day one playbook vs a day one touchpad?
HP was making tablets, long before even Apple hit the rumor stage for Ipad. How much time do they need to come equal with little RIM?
First off this is their opinion and it was pretty clear they were not going to give TouchPad a fair chance. The first 3 categories they mention how the Playbook is deficient to the TouchPad including size, buttons, having to use Blackberry phone to update, etc and then they give each round to the Playbook. As has been mentioned they are comparing a device that has been out for 2 weeks to one that has been out for several months. How many updates has the Playbook already had.
As has been mentioned they are comparing a device that has been out for 2 weeks to one that has been out for several months. How many updates has the Playbook already had.
It doesn't matter how long the playbook has been out, or how many updates it has had.
When a customer walks into a store, those are the two machines he can spend his money on NOW.
That's all that matters. Comparison of an day 1 Playbook to a day 1 Touchpad is something for historians and fanboys to worry about. Not reviewers.Not consumers.
HP was making tablets years before the Playbook came out. Didn't HP learn anything during that period? Isn't HP big? Dont they have scale? What have these guys been doing for the last year? Hanging out in Cannes, entertaining the Prince? Dog and Pony shows in February? Decorating Mini's?
Works like nothing else? Everybody on? Finish my phone. Finish this tablet.
I agree, even though I love Webos I believe that little bit of lag will always be there. Personally between the two I see QNX having more potential than Webos. My pre plus recently died and I picked up a WP7 handset. The first two things you notice is the lag is gone and the apps. They have basically every official app you'd need. Hopefully HP spends the money to get developers on board. Maybe ill be back for the Pre 4 if they finally figure this all out.
what? it sucked. I couldn't directly make the cards switch. it was more like, "oh, thats a left gesture, I think I'll move to the left now."
Woah. You may be the only person I've ever heard that actually likes the feel of the Playbook. It feels like a cheap imitation because well.. it is. In fact.. I can honestly say its the worst UI I've ever used and I actually get paid to work on a plethora of archaic UI's all day.
I played with the Playbook at an Office Depot and I thought it was laughable. webOS was the clear winner to me in regards to the UI, but I agree with everyone who says that webOS 3.0 has backtracked, and I feel that even 2.x did as well. We have lost so much functionality from 1.4.5 (yes, inlcuding the extension of Preware) that I am truly cnoncerned with the overall direction of our beloved OS. Finally, I am amazed that HP has not just worked in many of the UI customizations that are commonly found in 1.x Preware, but instead, it seems as though they locked out some really nice customizations. I hope I don't know what I'm talking about!
Like what? I'm probably missing something obvious but what would you have brought over from 1.4 or 2.x that 3.0 is missing?
All those gestures you can't do because there is no gesture area on the only 3.0 device?
2 weeks with 2.x and even on the smaller Veer I don't like using my 1.4.5 Pre-. If I had been a pre plus owner I probably woulda hacked on 2.x. Much happier with 2.x, and I expect the "missing" things will be coming to 3.x as it takes time to recode a whole OS.
Do you really love the lamp, or are you just saying it because you saw it?
You hit on the two things that bug me most about the touchpad in its launched (and current) state.
a) I got VERY accustomed to using advanced gestures on my Pre-. Its an outright hassle to not have them on the touchpad. It makes me think HP really hasn't got a clue on what makes WebOS great, and certainly can't be counted on to not muck it up going forward.
and b) The kindle app (advertised as being available pretty much since the touchpad was announced) is just a placeholder and there is absolutely no word from HP on when it'll actually work.
There are plenty more irks and quirks, but those are the two that are aggravating the bejeezus out of me.
FWIW, they implied the Kindle app will be available at the "real" launch of the TouchPad on the 17th. I'm not holding my breath anymore.
It sure does not look good when an exec at HP talks about how the TouchPad purchaser downloaded all their Kindle books, which is clearly impossible and untrue.
OutOfTouchPad?
How many apps were present for the initial iPad? I'm guessing things took off after it was released, that it is to be expected that more apps would become available after developers got their hands on the device. But I don't know if I've ever heard if the iPad was somewhat light on apps at launch...anybody know?
The App Store had 5000 iPad-specific apps available at launch. What really matters for app development, though, is how successful a platform is.
Right now, there is a no-brainer choice for your tablet app - iOS. Then, there is a speculative second choice - Android. webOS? It wouldn't even show up on the radar for the vast majority of developers. Why would it? It hasn't proven itself to be viable yet. Why would any developer take a chance on it right now?
If you want to use the latest apps or have the widest selection of apps, webOS will never, NEVER, be the platform for you. After the unintentional soft launch, I would think that most people don't expect webOS tablet share to be any better than its smartphone share.
WebOS apparently showed up on enough developers' radars to have 300 tablet apps at launch, which is right about where Android 3.0 is right now.
Most developers I've talked to would LOVE the opportunity to be involved with an emerging platform vs getting lost in the sea of cr-apps. The problem of course isn't the upstart developers more than it is the big corporate ones (logmein comes to mind). They provide free apps to support their own platform and have no interest paying their developers to write for mobile platforms that they feel won't have a large market share. It's more about losing money than it is "making" money. Emerging developers however are looking to webOS because a) its bar none the easiest platform to develop on and b) you have a chance for your app to really stand out. It's a no brainer. Give it time.
I've had the exact opposite reaction. Most developers I talk to (including the ones in the small mobile development shop where I work) are either unaware or don't care about webOS. Usually, I'm the only one that knows anything about it and I've never met a developer that has actually developed for it face to face (besides looking at myself in the mirror).
We have all kinds of clients and build everything from native to html5 to hybrid apps for them. None of them have even expressed so much as curiosity about webOS so far.
This has been my experience for the last couple of years or so.
First off, I find it hard to believe mobile platform developers don't at least know about webOS. A blurb about it is in most tech news sites every day. I suppose it would make sense if you didn't know about something you wouldn't be jumping at the opportunity to develop on it. I'd implore you to read some of the developers blogs on it however. Every single one have expressed reservation going into it and every single one has been pleasantly surprised at the traffic they got afterward.
I'm not speculating. I HAVE developed for webOS. I DO work for a mobile development shop. Our clients DON'T know or DON'T care about webOS. None of the developers I've come in contact with face to face have worked with webOS (some of them have heard of it but really don't care). I thought it was just because webOS was new and unreleased when I started in the early access program back in early '09. However, it turned out to be the same thing 2 years later. It's just not on the minds of the developers or clients I've encountered.
There is a difference between fans wanting people to get involved with their favorite OS vs clients and developers investing time and money into it.
So while you may "find it hard to believe" because of what you've read, I'm reporting what I've experienced. Take it for whatever it's worth...or not.
Well, if the interview at ThisIsMyNext
http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/14/dewitt-rubinstein-interview-exclusive/
app developers are expected to maintain multiple versions of their apps to target all of the webOS devices.
v1.4.1, v1.4.5 - Abandoned, but cannot use new stuff in v2.x or v3.x.
v2.1, v2.2 - No Enyo, so apps are still Mojo. ????
v3.0 - Enyo apps.
Who wants to support that mess?
I think you're right, but the iPad was the only product of it's kind on the market -- there was nothing to compare it to (other than a laptop). Today, releasing a tablet without basic apps is inconceivable. HP (and PreCentral/WebOSRoundup) have reminded us over and over again about their great resources and retail prowess...and yet in six months they could not write or buy an app that lets me read an eBook on the TP? They couldn't lean on their enterprise partners to develop a remote desktop app (or write one themselves?). They can't get MS Office editing functionality?
It's more like the iPad redefined the market. There had already been tablet computers before the iPad. I remember always wanting one just for the cool factor of having a touchscreen computer. Then the iPad came along and changed everything.
Actually, it's more like the iPad IS the market. Now that HP has come up to bat and has swung and missed, there is yet to be any real evidence that there is a significant consumer tablet market other than the iPad.
iPad is not going to dominate the tablet market forever - just like they're becoming less dominant with smartphones. They will remain a strong force, though, don't get me wrong. The issue is that they will not license their OS - therefore, other OSes will become dominant in time.
In tablet market of 2012, we will likely see iOS, Android, webOS, and Windows 8 all coexist with RIM's QNX as a wildcard (they have the smallest pockets of the OS sponsors).
IIRC, the Apple App Store launched a year after the initial iPhone. Certainly, webOS has had more than a year since the initial Pre on Sprint, so the lack of apps is still a valid point.
sounds deja vu, like pre minus on sprint in June 2009
the big difference is that the Touchpad, as is, is still a very solid device. the Pre and webOS 1.0 in June 2009 was not complete at all!
For the price and what the competition offers, the Touchpad is lacking rear facing camera, HDMI out, GPS. I'm not sold.
At least when the pre came out it had flash for the camera whereas the iphone at the time did not. The pre was also promised to be the first phone running Adobe Flash... that never happened.
Palm and now HP have certainly fallen into this rut of always being 6 to 12 months behind each product release. Palm could never get above the curve but I see HP not having a problem with this. It may take a year but I would be shocked if this time next summer you don't have HP releasing devices in line with everyone else. This is going to take some time.
I agree, for $399, I got an Asus transformer running HC 3.1, has HDMI, GPS, MicroSD card, Dual Core Tegra (I overclocked it to 1.6 GHz), and EVERY app I have on my Evo 3D runs perfectly on my new tab including LogMeIn.
I am sorry, I love webOS but there is NO WAY I come back at this point, the platform is about 2 years behind.
How do you like the EVO 3D? I'm debating if I should jump to the EVO 3D or to the HTC EVO 4G once my pre minus dies.
Get the 3D you won't regret it for a second!
Yup. EVO 4G user here. From what I've seen and read about the EVO 3D, you'll get everything I have and the some. The only missing "feature" is the kickstand. Two members of my family are looking to upgrade from their Pre- to the EVO 3D as well.
Get the kickstand case. ;-)
Unless Sprint turns around 31 days later (day after I can't change my mind) and announces the EVO 4G+ is coming since that Wimax phone is already announced in Korea.
I think I'm starting to get this bad nauseating feeling in my stomach that I too may have to switch due to it taking so long for WebOS to figure out what it wants to be for HP. I think if the EVO 3D had been the same minus the 3D - i.e. a single 8MP camera - I would've switched already.
The Galaxy S2 should be coming to Sprint soon. 8MP camera. Best selling phone in Europe.
Yah, I've been waiting for that to happen for months as well, almost as long as the Pre3. My wife thought about waiting it out, but decided to go ahead and get the Epic. Good thing she did then, since it's now months later and still no S2.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking about buying another Pre- from ebay. It will be my third. Close as I'm going to get to a Pre3 on Sprint will be having 3 Pres on Sprint I guess.
I dumped my Pre- and I'm loving my EVO 3D it only took me about a day to learn the basics on Android and now I learn a new cool thing every day!
Swype works much better than the pre's physical keyboard for me, it is unbelievable how accurate it is and you will find just about any app you want on the android market. You can't go wrong with the EVO 3D trust me.
Strip away the 3D gimmick and it's still a hardcore workhorse phone ready to run long and hard for two years or more.
This is exactly why my brother is looking at the EVO 3D. He doesn't care about the 3D aspect of it. He considers it a solid device which happens to have a bonus gimmick if he ever wants to play with that feature.
Having said that, I was actually impressed with the 3D functionality. Looks real nice. Just saw a rumor that Netflix may begin streaming 3D movies to it based on what they are doing with Nintendo. Could be interesting if true. If I didn't already have an EVO 4G and was in the market for a new device, I'd give a serious look at the EVO 3D myself.
Rockbeast, you'd have to go back to find out how many apps were available on the original iphone/itouch because I think nearly all of those apps worked on the ipad at its initial launch. They may not have taken full advantage of screen size, but they were mostly functional and available.
Sync is out of sync, didnt know it was not not two way sync. One time sync and that's it wow thats bad, hopefully another OTA will fix that in coming months
That's profile sync though. Could've used Google to sync contacts and calendars (despite the calendar limitations), but that was just his personal preference.
w Ruby gone, this Dewitt guy may make it better
i was afraid of all the points you talked about here. i've had several convos with a good friend of mine about these issues and how hp has taken over and made great steps but they are still playing from behind the eight ball and they keep putting themselves there. i love webOS but as an original subscriber the platform, i need to be resold before i purchase another device...
Awesome article. Agree 100% on all your points. The only thing I'd add in your section of things we could do in previous versions of webOS and can't in 3.0, is the ability to rearrange my bookmarks. Seems we are stuck with the order in which we add them.. :(
that was part of "and just the simple act of rearranging list items are all gone in webOS 3.0."
Honestly, these are many of the things that need to be worked out and fixed before a phone is released. Actually they need to be fixed before the "official" launch on the 17th.
Adam, like you said, Enyo is a rewrite from the ground up, so they did not remove code (of features in 2.0) but have not rewritten those features in 3.0.
To a developer maybe. To a user 3.0 is an "upgrade" that does some things better than, and lost some of the features of, the previous version.
You're both right - but I don't know how many users who aren't already familiar with webOS phones notices the missing webOS 2.x features.
Many iOS users like the rigidity, er, simplicity of what was originally a single-tasking system, for example.
Features that are annoying them are the double space for period, the autocorrection, and the inability to easily highlight text for cut/paste - features that exist in iOS (or are more refined there) but not webOS 3.0.
As for 2.x vs 3.x OSes - Ruby said in the This is My Next interview today that 2.x is not going away - the labeling of the Tablet OS as 3.x is in essence a bit of a misnomer because both OSes will exist in parallel for the foreseeable future.
*****
As for 2.x vs 3.x OSes - Ruby said in the This is My Next interview today that 2.x is not going away - the labeling of the Tablet OS as 3.x is in essence a bit of a misnomer because both OSes will exist in parallel for the foreseeable future.
*****
That's unfortunate.
How does HP really expect a developer to support all versions - 1.x, 2.x, 3.x???
Even if a developer is brave enough to support one, the other devices will suffer. If all developers target the tablet, buh-bye phone apps.
good point in the sense of the rewrite, but we all know what he meant.
typically when you rewrite something though, you are usually doing so to make it better, and you would most likely keep all the key points.
think Bruce Banner getting blasted w/ Beta particles instead of Gamma..
or Superman being sent away cause his parents didnt want kids and Krypton was still in one piece...
Um, like Palm did copying features from the Treos to webOS 1.x? There are STILL many features missing from webOS that my Treo had years ago.
I love WEBOS! I have the original Pre- on Sprint. I truely enjoy using the OS itself however there are so many things that it can do that are not being implemented really quicky. For a international company like HP, with all their resources - they should be able to address these issues ASAP. It can be done! Thats the beauty of WEBOS!!! The basis of WEBOS enables you to make updates/changes on the fly (OTA) anytime that other OS's can't. Same goes for the TouchPad. I want to get one so badly however all the points noted here are the reasons why I still doubt if HP gets it! Or realizes the TRUE POTENTIAL of WEBOS.
It can be more.
It should be more.
And We want more!
If WEBOS customers want more and are craving to have more from it why isn't HP providing it? If you have to send updates in increments - just do it. That's the beauty of WEBOS! (I am a techie and I understand the basis of WEBOS (Linux) and realize the ease of it.)
This is why I am still on the fence trying to decide to purchase a TouchPad or not. My contract is up for renewal and should I stay with WEBOS or not. I don't care which carrier the wEBOS phones are on because I priority in a smartphone is the OS and its capibilities. I understand Verizon/ATT's plans are more $$ than Sprint but you have to admit their infratructure is more stable and realiable.
Why doesn't HP come out and say in plain english and be upfront with it's WEBOS community - we are their diehard supporters. So many people are also jumping ship to other OS's and that will leave a bad mark on a truely wonderful OS.
I would go buy a TouchPad today if I had just a comfortable feeling about HP or even believed what they had to say! First of all, the TouchPad and it's accessories are expensive (taking into account all it's flaws). Second, I will not make a BIG commitment like this to a product without knowing if the manufacturer will back up their device.
So please HP, convince and show me !!! :)
Good review. Hopefully, we can check back a month from now and see some progress on some of the minor/quick fix items (missing Kindle app, the first patch that address some performance glitches, updates to the profile, launcher pages, etc).
I find it interesting that 3.0 seems to be a rewrite of the OS itself instead of just introducing the new Enyo application framework. I guess HP wanted to use Enyo within the OS itself for performance purposes but maybe also in order to consolidate the OS code base across both tablets and phones (and other devices like printers when those arrive). Hopefully HP can fill out the gaps in 3.x relatively quickly and then push it to phones - until then, they'll have dual maintenance which will stretch their resources. From all reports so far that I've seen, it looks like Pre3 runs on a hybrid - 2.x OS with Enyo framework available for apps.
One item missing from your list - I wish HP would assign some resources to optimize the boot-up sequence so it would be quicker. It always seems low-priority in the global scheme of things (How often do you need to reboot? Not often...) but it's still annoying on the rare occasion when it is required.
In addition to improving the use of the Touchpad with the external keyboard, I also hope HP looks long and hard at the Asus EEE Transformer idea of having a tablet with a keyboard/laptop dock - that concept seems to make a lot of sense and it would be great to see a vendor with full control over the HW and SW implement and fine tune it.
The new interview with Rubenstein and DeWitt on This is My Next discusses 2.x and 3.x OS codebases and whether they will be combined. Ruby states that combining them is the long term goal but no timeline has been announced. So it looks like HP is committed to dual maintenance within the OS itself for a while.
From a developer perspective, the Enyo framework will be available on phones starting from the Pre3. Also again discussed new tools to aid developers managing their apps from phone to tablet (and vice versa) are coming.
http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/14/dewitt-rubinstein-interview-exclusive/
Not that anyone else cares, for me, a month will be too late. $600, or even $550, is too much for me to gamble that something *may* happen. Quite frankly, Palm has lied to us too many times. I refuse to trust them any longer.
I also refuse to buy into multiple ecosystems. If I cannot get a webOS phone on Sprint that can run the current webOS version, then I will be forced to move to Android - phone and tablet.
I always thought the autoconfirm the previous deletion was a bug, not a feature. I loved using it in the email app, but I hated having it in my own app. I never could find a way of disabling autoconfirm.
IMHO, autoconfirm should always be driven by a user preference setting.
I'm not really sure what Richard Kerris has been doing? He has not landed many big name apps. He has not really brought in independent App Developers.
I figured he would have the knowledge and drive to get apps users really want on webOS, but he seems to, at this point, not been able to do it.
I honestly think they just picked a guy that can sweet-talk current developers. If you try to say something bad about Kerris among other developers, they'll think you're crazy. For some reason they love the guy.
Interesting thoughts on Kerris. Well, we don't know what is in the works and there is lead time. And some larger developers may be taking a wait-and-see approach based on how TouchPad sales go/trend. If the device sells well, we may start to see some momentum.
The good news for HP is that a tablet is much more usable without a full stable of apps due to how much web content there is (many web pages are optimized for the resolution of the TouchPad) - this reduces the barrier to entry somewhat for a Tablet with a new OS. Hopefully HP can build an installed base because that's what is really needed for the apps to come.
People around here love whoever tweaks or talks to us. Look at how Rahul Sood became idolized here for a few months even though he really didn't have anything to do with webOS.
Hey Kerris, where are the nesseccary apps? Maybe in the "coming months" correct?
Kerris already said in his Engadget app, that they already have all the key apps.
Just don't ask why he doesn't think office/document editing is a key app.
I would love to get a Pad. Let me correct that I would love to get a TouchPad since I have been a Pre (Sprint) which I have used from more or less day one. Now since Sprint did not carry Pre Plus / Pre 2 and Pre 3 I am still on the original Pre.
It is my understanding that if I really would like to take advantage of the TouchPad I also need a new phone – so we are looking at spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 - $800. Hmm now add the negative item that TouchPad has and we all have read | seen | experienced it – is this the way I want to go.
If I get the new TouchPad do I get stuck as I did with the Pre (original) that begins to look obsolete and I have to change carrier since Sprint is not in the game anymore – what a mess.
By the way what is Robinstein now doing and where are all the original guys on the Pre | Veer (are you still writing about this phone?) | Pixi (which you do not write about)?
I think I need to wait till all the dust have settle and in the mean time I can maybe find on CL an old cheep iPad (Origial) to play with.
"It is my understanding that if I really would like to take advantage of the TouchPad I also need a new phone..."
No, it works just fine w/o a new phone. Touch-to-Share is (at this point) pretty useless IMO.
My TouchPad won't pair with my phone.
Thanks for the rehash. Now, I can move on with my life.
To SUM it all up:
HP has SOFT LAUNCHED its line of Smartphones and TouchPads, so.... Users are going to SOFT-BUY SmartPhones and TouchPads until HP gets it right.
In this case Soft-Buy means going to BB/WalMart/Staples etc and playing with devices to see how they really work, and posting on Blogs to see what experiences others are having before committing to pay for and own one or more of the HP Devices.,
Im my case, I have the PRE- so bought the TouchPad on July 1, and returned it on July 4th to BB. Why? Because while it was a neat device, it was riddled with PRE- like promises... Kindle coming soon, Music store coming soon, Lagginess to be fixed soon etc.... So I did not want to own a device for another 2 years waiting for Flash, Doc editing, etc...
So my 4 Day SOFT-BUY ended on July 4th... INDEPENDENCE Day (From HP Products).
IMHO
New rule for reviewers-- you are no longer allowed to say "it doesn't have enough apps" without listing at least some of the apps that you were going to buy but couldn't.
It doesn't have enough apps.
No Office/Document editing. Nuff said.
It's amazing that people still believe that all that matters is what a reviewer wants in terms of apps. Try asking 2 million people what are the 5 apps they want right now. Then ask them again in a month or two and then a month or two after that. You will quickly see that the app count needs to be well into 5-6 digit range to satisfy them all now and to keep them satisfied down the road.
It's NOT about how many apps 1 person would buy.
It's NOT about the apps that make the top 20 "today".
It IS about having an ecosystem that is so well supported that the apps customers need or want are available even before most customers actually need or want them.
Needs and wants change all the time. If your storefront takes 2 years to break the 10K limit, your ecosystem is not nearly as dynamic as it needs to be.
Please add support for a wider range of video formats to your list. We have tech savvy users scrambling for third party products and hacks to get some of the basic video capability that should have been available on day one. P.S. Love my Touchpad. Please make it better..
I think it all comes down to priorities. Would you want the Touchpad now, or would you want it perfect(from a WebOS perspective - e.g. minus app selection) in 6 months?
HP had to make a decision, since they couldn't do both, as much as I'm sure everyone in HP wanted to I'm also sure they weren't able to hire people and ramp people up/architect/design the new system and re-write everything in such a short time frame AND get it right at the same time.
Keeping in mind that the app situation would likely get worse if HP held out to make the tablet perfect.
While the market will not be as forgiving as someone like myself (who I have to admit don't appear to be nearly as hardcore to webos as most people here I've had an account on precentral for 2+ years and I've only posted 2-3 times), HP is in it for the long haul.
I think they made a good compromise, if they left a product gap in the tablet space for another 6-9 months while they perfected the system they would of lost even more mind share and developers. They are still losing them I'm sure but the losses are mitigated to a degree by at least having a product out there that can be built on.
It's a tough situation to be in, the main thing that keeps me optimistic WebOS can succeed is the dire situations Nokia and RIM are in, both, like HP are trying to re-invent themselves in the mobile space and neither of which intend to run Android or (of course) iOS. Look at Windows mobile - it's been in the mobile space in some form or another for a decade and still has 2% market share. But MS hasn't given up on it. I hope HP gives the same commitment to WebOS.
So the market opportunity is there, I do hope that HP can execute right over the next year or so to capitalize on it.
Just as much as I hope HP can capitalize on their purchase of 3PAR last year, a company with products that I am the most passionate about myself. While the enterprise storage space is very different from the consumer tablet space - 3PAR hasn't released a new hardware product in more than 2 years, and no major software changes in more than a year and a half.
Be patient.
They announced it in February. If they needed another year to get it right, they should have said so. They could have save a lot of people a trip to Best Buy to spend $500 last week.
I may fully understand why HP has been late and underwhelming in the tablet market but that won't prevent me from buying a much better device which is sitting right next to it in the store.
HP isn't underwhelming in the market. None of the items Adam has raised are show-stoppers. He clearly states he still loves the device.
If you read the reviews on Amazon, a lot of folks who are new to webOS really like the device a lot (some of these folks are coming from an iOS or Android). I think that people who come from a webOS background have much higher standards than the average person does. We're used to Synergy, webOS notifications, and card-view multitasking but most users are not. New webOS users see how HP really nailed those aspects of the device.
Your kidding me? your complaining about wasting a trip to best buy (maybe twice if you returned it?) How far do you have to go to get to best buy? Hopefully you didn't fly to the U.S. to buy a touchpad from Asia or something.
My best buy is less than a 4 minute drive from me, if you had to drive less than 2 hours each direction to reach your best buy you have nothing to complain about.
And with best buy's 14 day return policy you don't even suffer a restocking fee if you returned the touchpad.
I can buy the fact that this is a soft launch, after all I still can't find the touchstone anywhere, nor the protective case. I think the keyboard is available from some places, after using the Touchpad for the past 2 weeks I don't anticipate wanting an external keyboard, if I have a lot to write I'll use my laptop or netbook.
I got my touchstone and case today from Amazon. I couldn't find them locally either.
I ordered them on Monday and they shipped yesterday. I am an amazon prime member and I went with the free 2 day shipping.
Somehow I don't think the trip to best buy was the actual point of that post.
I don't have to "Be patient" because there are plenty of better products already on the market.
The really helpful part of this article is the discussion about syncing. The need to buy a box.net account is annoying, but even more importantly, the lack of a sync between devices is a serious flaw. This is something that IOS has all over the competition, and it seems to be getting better. It just works. This alone will keep me from buying a WebOS tablet. I say this for no other reason but to register a serious need in the platform.
Agreed, sync between devices is a must, but I imagine it will at least need an update to the phone software to achieve this and that's just for the built-in apps. 3rd party apps are another matter.
Failure to Launch?
HP needs some pills to prevent more "soft" launches.
Now this is the type of critique I can appreciate. Thanks for the constructive criticism Adam!
I've been meaning to ask about this so please someone tell me if it's already on the device...
Is there a way to disable the screen rotation? Or Screen LOCK (not the code entry).
My Touchpad flips from portrait to landscape WAY TOO easily.
the rotation lock is on the main menu on the top right of the touchpad UI.
some things can override this lock, such as full screen games but for the most part it works very well for me.
(slaps forehead)
d'OH!
Thank you ...
Great article Adam!
It really hits the nail on the head. I have faith that most, if not all, will be addressed over time. Just how long it will take is the question.
Even with the issues Adam brings up (I agree with a lot of them), am I the only one who loves the Touchpad? I use it everyday and only go to my laptop when I need to type a lot. I think it's great and if the OTA updates will make it even better, that's amazing. Not regretting this device one bit, the only dissapointment is the rumor Sprint won't be getting a Pre 3 but no dissapointments with the Touchpad.
I love mine. There have been several things that I can do that my wife's iPad cannot.
I think mine kicks butt
Got it today - like it a lot so far. Android has more apps (I also have a Galaxy Tab) but I like the webOS UI so much more.
I hope more digital magazine subscriptions come to it so I can retire some of my paper subs - magazines don't work at all on a 7" tablet.
Was pleased to discover that Amazon Prime movies work in a window (almost works full screen except for what appears to be a re-sizing glitch).
Pairing and receiving/sending calls on the phone (Pre2) is a pretty neat feature.
"Wow"!I mean,all these so-called webOS wannabees coming here and posting negative things about HP,-do yourself a favor,get-out, and go get the Playbook,or your so-called love for the Ipad.Touchpad just came out,an OTA update is coming in few days.The whinning and all the negative talk wouldn't do any good;be supportive and keep things in a more structure prospective,than just a near-sightiness of why things isn't out now.I'm sure with more OTA updates coming,we will get a better feel of things to come.Andriod Tablets been out longer than the Touchpad,still not enouch apps.Playbook? on the other hand, wants to piggy-back on Andriod.lol
I like the term "fondle slab" myself from the register :)
Arrow keys. I need arrow keys!
Being able to work with the dragging in things like Google Docs (since that's our only office tool, right now) and Google+ would be welcome, too.
Also, HTTP proxies, please.
And why partner with Bing for maps, but have no way to add them as a search engine other than (as I was told by the Butler service) to "bookmark bing.com in your browser"? Seriously? That's your elite support answer?
I think he started with "I love my touchpad" and ended with "I still love my touchpad". What's with all the haters? Go hangout somewhere else.
People are just tire of HP over promising and under delivering. Haven't you noticed? HP market share is dropping while they release new products, the sales people need to start doing their job if the products are so great.
$500 for a netbook without a keyboard. Buddy you better have it nailed out of the gates. I honestly would not pay $500 for any tablet. (Not true I bought an IPad one from my soon for Christmas, but there is a story behind that)(Oh he hates it) Tablets are all about being with the in crowd at the moment. Not gonna do that. I'll give you five good reason this is not for me at the moment.
1. They cost to much. Actually I pretty much can afford to buy what ever I want with in reason.
2. They are all to buggy or restricted.
3. They weigh to much to hold up constantly on the couch. Maybe a Nook Color or something like that would work but I think anything over the weight of a good size magazine just will not do it for me.
4. My laptop does everything these do and more. They sit in my lap and also heats my lap. Should call them lap warmers.
5. Tablet do not do everything my laptop does not even close.
6. In case you think 4 and 5 are the same. They can not run robust applications. And all of the tablet apps combined do not have any where near the apps as windows.
I do not travel so battery life is not an issue if it wore I would buy more batteries. Are these things really any lighter than a laptop after you add a key board and docking station. When I do travel with my laptop and that is not often. Well actually anytime I do travel I take my laptop I just don't travel that often. I have a laptop bag with wheels. It always get's me a free (second) carry on bag.
I do not think tablets are a fad but I do think they are still evolving and they just have not hit the cost benefit proposition for me yet. Under $200 and under 1/2 pound I am in. Should be around mid 2013 at the rate things are going.
I hate to say this but I hope Windows makes a bang up tablet skin for windows. I am no Microsoft fan boy but it is the platform that I know best.
I returned my touchpad today to upgrade to the 4G version that supposed to have a 25% performance increase. Read thisismynext's interview with HP's Stephen DeWitt and Jon Rubinstein...http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/14/dewitt-rubinstein-interview-exclusive/
I'm personally finding this recent trend in the tech world to be disturbing. Every time a Company makes a 'newer/better' operating system, it seems like the consumer always looses to the dune of double-digit % functionality loss.
PalmOS --> WebOS Loss: think PIM, among other things
WinMo 6.x --> Windows Phone 7: Apparently they have dropped Active Sync and effectively have lost much of the native Microsoft Outlook integration.
Blackberry OS 5/6 --> QNX: No native eMail or PIM as of yet
etc..
If this trend keeps up -- what else will we loose: inability to have full phone capability on our smartphones (wait .... that also happened / my featurephone from 5 years ago has better voice features than my Pre+)!
The part that bothers me the most is that this seems to be industry-wide AND that we, in some ways, were better off 5 years ago. I'm hoping one of the pack wakes up and jumps in with something actually 'business-friendly' vs. what we have today.
Good that you were going to "ignore" talking about apps. Because if you did, I would have stopped reading right there and started to read something else.
The apps aren't the problem. The people who whine about the lack of apps are often people who get confused about installing PreWare and think it's some "exotic hacker trick". Which it is NOT. The ability to so painlessly tweak the operating system on your device is a huge reason why I decided to finally replace my Windows XP netbook with a TouchPad...the iPad doesn't allow me to make it mine. Out of the box, and 2 years later, the iPad is still Apple's. By tweaking how my TouchPad works, it becomes mine, suited to my tastes. I like it when the card animation runs at hyperspeed. I like it when I can modify my browser, tweak my leds, overclocking, change touch sensitivity, etc...all without having to do something "bad" like jailbreaking or rooting.
So yeah...I'm having a tough time coming up with negatives as I saw how Homebrew grew over 2 years with my Pre, and I figure that a lot of my minor nits will be solved by that.
After reading the article "Big Talk from HP Europe" I was reading through the comments and saw this. Thought it was a pretty good guesstimation proved correct.
"By PreMaster on Mon, 23 May 2011 10:34 am EDT
+0
Seems like they are saying everything but a date. I really would like to know the date already so i can figure out my summer vacation plans.
By VDubDan on Mon, 23 May 2011 10:42 am EDT
+1
It's coming in June.
By Rambo on Mon, 23 May 2011 10:55 am EDT
+0
Wanna Bet?
August is my guess, launched without OS complete so they will promise the update "in the coming weeks", that will actually arrive around November."
Way to say it Rambo
+1
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