Emails from HP CEO are strangely familiar 71
Sending an email to Apple CEO Steve Jobs is all the rage these days, so a couple enterprising PreCentral readers thought they'd email HP CEO Mark Hurd regarding his, erm, lack of emphasis on smartphones in HP's ecosystem. We can't say that what they received back came from Hurd himself (in point of fact, the "CEO Customer Relations" signature suggests otherwise), but given that HP's official statement on the issue hasn't quite calmed everybody down, we figured we'd let you know what the line from the top sounds like:
When we look at the market, we see an array of interconnected devices, including tablets, printers and,of course, smartphones. We believe webOS can become the backbone for many of HP's small form factor devises [sic], and we expect to expand weOS's footprint beyond just the smartphone market, all while leveraging our financial strenght [sic], scale and global reach to grow in smartphones.
In other words, it sounds exactly like HP's official statement on the matter, excepting a few strangely persistent typos in the copy sent to both our readers. Kudos to HP for consistency and given that the buyout hasn't yet been completed, we can't blame them for staying on message.
Of course, given our near-unshakable belief that webOS would rock on beefier hardware, the message we're hoping to hear and right-quick is that we'll see some iPhone 4 (or at least EVO 4G)-calibre hardware in the near future.
Thanks LateNiteWithJme and 2ForTheRoad!
71 Comments
I want a new phone!!
Running "weOS"?
yeah and soon
edit: ha sorry missed the typo - the screen on my pre is too small!!
It's statements like these that really make me cautious on what phone I am going to get next. I love webOS to death as much as the next loyalist on this site, but if I don't see HP making the right kind of progress with the acquisition, I see myself, along with many others, jumping ship to Android or possibly RIM or Nokia (Apple can suck it imho).
Let these comments be a wake up call to Palm and HP that webOS has tremendous potential that many loyalists are willing to invest in. However, if that potential is squandered, do not be surprised with the results.
Just my $0.02.
I see myself, along with many others, jumping ship to Android or possibly RIM or Nokia (Apple can suck it imho).
Well said. I really hope new hardware comes around VERY SOON.
Otherwise I'm buying an Evo and hacking it and putting WebOS on it.
If I ever jump ship, it's gonna be to WP7, the only other sexy-looking OS out there.
I agree...... If there is nothing announced shortly on new hardware I will be jumping to the Evo.
No EVO in the UK.
I got this email too, twice, even though I only wrote once...
He looks so much like Steve Carell from office!! and acts like him to. :))
But he has a fatter head and smaller nose. I don't see much of a resemblance. ;)
I hope a new device is announced soon with a ti 3640 or better class hardware. A bigger screen would not hurt either :).
Let's see, they misspelled devices, WebOS and strength. There is a missing space after one of the commas.
Nope, that sounds like it came right from the CEO all right.
I would like to hear ONE clear word from Mr. Hurd to phones, possible hardware and visions, where it all will go...but there is nothing you can do with...
So, dear Mr. Hurd, after all the trouble of the last days, do yours to show your position in that case...
I am a loyal user of palm hard- and Software from the beginning, and there were many situations in the life of this company that left users unclear.I for myself, am an "often buyer", that means "early upgrader", and I was planning to buy a Pre plus to use the former pre for private and give my iPhone 3gs to my son. After your interview my son is waiting for the iPhone because I can't buy a product I can be sure of being upped and evolved in the next months and years. So, please, mr. Hurd, help my son getting my iPhone as what it is (a toy) and his father to confide in product politics of HP...
PS.: Even if not, it would be fair to let customers know. The longer you wait, the bigger the loss in confidence.
I am user of HP-lasers and computers in my office and at home. So that shows my relation to you as a manufacturer 'til now...
At time I am thinking of a tablet btw., and when I see how things are goingto think about an iPad, because confidence in (not even arrived) products result in confidence in products already at the market and theyr persistence. And thats its very hard these days!
I don't know, the WebOS is getting stale very fast. They better have a couple of damn good phones and some major updates to WebOS soon.
Forget the iPhone, they have HTC/Android to contend with now.
Uhhh, to each his own, but WebOS is one of the things about our platform that *isn't* getting stale. I think HP would agree with me... :)
Try patching. It makes the OS a thousand percent better!
The last sentence makes it sound like the Evo's hardware is inferior to the Jesus Phone v.4's hardware. I think I'll take the Evo's specs over the other any day of the week. Put WebOS on that and you've got a winner.
LOL!!! The Jesus phone. The Evo is definitely a much better device.
Beefier hardware doesn't solve the lack of big apps or the crappy music player.
+1
What app would you most desire for WebOS?
Start with complete sync directly with MS Outlook.
pocketmirror used with tasktocal. 50 quid all in I know but works well
My Pre syncs with my company's Exchange server with no problem. Not to mention it also syncs with my gmail, linked-in, and facebook accounts as well.
I use Outlook on my laptop, and the email, calendar and contact apps on my Pre. They are all kept in sync.
What do you mean by sync directly to Outlook?
I use PocketMirror as well and it falls short as a complete solution (eg categories do not sync). Irritating...US$40 was a steep price for an incomplete app (Chapura says they are unwilling to take the next steps that would make PocketMirror a complete solution).
Palm should have created a complete PIM solution out of the box. The Google/cloud sync option is simply a none-starter for many of us in the corporate world. And relying on third party developers to fill in the blanks on the basics turned out to be bad decision for the customer experience.
@Skysurfer
Please qualify this statement after reading [rlopin]'s post above.
"The Google/cloud sync option is simply a none-starter for many of us in the corporate world."
I have two Exchange 07 accounts synched to my Pre and the 'Notes' (which I've never used) are the only thing that doesn't transfer. What aspect are you referencing??
Ditto. I sync yahoo, two gmail and an exchange account. Frankly, outlook fairly sucks compared to the other options out there. I get my emails on my pre before they pop up in Outlook.
sky sports, bbc, docs to go, proper google maps. Think there is thread for that question somewhere....
I don't want one app most. One app isn't close enough to satisfy me. i'll write what i wrote yesterday and today. This is what i want for starters:
ESPN, ESPN radio, CNN, CNBC, Photoshop, Beatmaker, Fidelity, Bank of America, My credit union which i won't name, redlaser, shazam, true visual voicemail, ebay, paypal, Tom Tom, sling box, Mint, skype, bbc, bbc radio, fox soccer channel, skysports, Time Warner Cable, docs2go, google navigation, etrade, cnbc, salesforce.com, nba.com, ESPN Fifa World Cup 2010, pretty much any piano and guitar app but guitar toolkit, Amplitube, epicurious, Gibson, food tv, an audio recorder that let you delete recordings, Yahoo Finance app.
I think they will announce something a month or so after the iPhone 4 launch. Last time the announced the Pre before an iPhone launch and that didn't go so well, I think they have learned their lesson. The media will be looking for a contender to go against the iPhone so there will be plenty of free coverage.
>"iPhone 4 (or at least EVO 4G)-calibre "
Dieter! At least EVO calibre??? The iPhone 4 is no better than the Evo. iPhone 4 has a smaller screen, no SD slot, no FM radio, no removable battery, locked into iTunes hell, proprietary video port, and locked into the iClosed club; other specs are about the same.
Now, if you flipped the two around, it would be much better.
I don't really care for the iPhone OS or Android but the iPhone 4 has the EVO beat in a lot of areas:
* build quality
* sleekness (steel and glass)
* screen resolution
* battery life
* pocketablility
Too bad it is in a fascist ecosystem I never want to be part of.
"Build quality, sleekness, pocketability"... are you kidding?
Balance those against the measurable things on the EVO that are better.
As for the screen, PPI is a stupid figure that nobody cared about - for a good reason - until His Holiness Steve told us we should. Just because pictures might look sharper and you might be able to read text that is a little smaller (that you could just zoom into to read anyway) is nothing compared to the larger virtual keys on the keyboard, or the PLETHORA of other things that you have to click that are now larger.
The Evo is simply too big. It has to be big in order to make the v-keyboard work better, but IMO the tradeoff isn't worthwhile. Give me a physical QWERTY 8 days out of 7.
Love the irony of a mini iPhone vs EVO war being waged on PREcentral.net.
honestly the Evo is smaller than I thought it was gonna be. Went to see it at the store. But I'm a big boy with big pants, so might be different for the munchkins out there... ;)
on the note of it's hardware compared to new iphone's, chalk me up for thinking the pro's of the Evo out weigh the pro's of the iphone. All a preference for sure but seems pretty evenly split on the interwebz on the topic from what I can tell.
p.s. Palm needs new phone so we can talk about that instead of everyone else's cool phones. ;)
honestly the Evo is smaller than I thought it was gonna be. Went to see it at the store.
Had the same experience. I tell people to go try it for themselves because it can seem huge depending on who is demoing it in any of the vids online. I thought it would be too big for me until I actually tried it at the Sprint store. Fits nicely in my pocket. I think for some with smaller hands, it might feel too large. All depends.
@megaman
* You don't know if the build quality is better yet.
* Steel and glass weigh more and are not necessarily and advantage.
* Screen resolution on a tiny screen is useless for most people.
* Battery life is yet to be proven, and at least the EVO (and Pre) can have SPARE batteries, and UPGRADED batteries
* Pocketability is a matter of preference.
Amazing, that's the exact same message from "CEO Customer Relations" that I received. Staying on message indeed.
I just want to make sure that the CEO switches to a webOS phone... That's the best way to force product improvement - have them eat their own dog food...
and I don't mean his admin, I mean the ceo and their direct reports...
hey dog food does not taste 1/2 bad lol
All I know is that they better get some better hardware because i had to just call sprint and order a NEW Pre because my 4th replacement went to shit on me he tried to get me to swap for the EVO i almost did it...
I was a pre holdout at first, unless they make some announcements soon, it could be EVO for me.
PRE is good, but not good enough
Sorry, once my Sprint contract runs out, I'm off to Android. Hubs had a freebie from a developers conference and the apps were SO much more interesting than the Pre's.
Sure, WebOS rocks, but the apps are so far behind. And several of the apps just plain don't work well (I'm talking about you Foursquare) or their data can't be backed up simply, or the basic calendar program sucks (yeah, I use the agenda hack, but really, Palm built their business on PIM).
And don't bother telling me about all the issues with the Droid's OS. I've read it plenty on these forums.
Just for the record, I've been a Palm owner since the beginning. I've owned at least 5 different Palm devices over the years (that I can think of off the top of my head).
HP's takeover doesn't fill me with optimism.
wow, so he can't spell. I'm filled with confidence.
it's looking like it's going to be a while before we see any new WebOS devices. Even tho i've been through 9 pre's in the 10 months i've had it i'm still sad to put it away. Hopefully someone figures out a way to get Webs running on the HTC Evo. Now that would be dope.
No gesture area on an Evo? No thanks.
Complete sync with Outlook & Document editing!
I believe I have heard enough from HP. No confidence that they have even an elementry understanding of the smart phone market. It might be the time to jump.
I need a new hardwear!!! I got me an ipad and I can't stand not bein able to jump around apps... I want my webos on a better hardwear.. Is that too much to ask for Mr. CEO?
this is the kind of neanderthol obliderance you get when you deal with HP (ref the misspellings, typos). This is also why I'll never own their hardware. I'm hoping webOS continues on for future smartphone devices, but only from the Palm division of HP.
"this is the kind of neanderthol obliderance you get when you deal with HP (ref the misspellings, typos)."
Hahaha tell me, what does "obliderance" mean again?
heehee...so, uh, perhaps HP is renaming the OS in response to Apple's naming? iOS vs weOS? I pick the team vs the solo player. Just on principle-- there is no i in team.
um, but I guess there IS in WiNNER... Shucks.
:)
I am very happy to hear that HP CEO Mark Hurd has exactly the right idea to take the webOS to a much higher level. He sees it right. This is how it should unfold:
I think webOS can do much better if webOS can become a true device-independent OS. To do that HP/Palm should try to build, ASAP, a true web-based service facility, just like a Google-Doc system on a virtual server. And it should be build in a way to be able to interface with any system (like a navigation system, or a billing system, or a library or medical system), or device (like a smartphone, or a tablet/slate, or a printer, or a laptop operating inside a plane flying by, or a camera/video streaming live shots in an wi-max setup, etc.) that requests for a webOS-based service. Anyway, I just dropped some hints,and I hope someone understands.
In reply to my own post above, some points to be noted :
If,
webOS is developed to be a true internet based (it can also exist on VPN on web) OS, and becomes totally independent of any device or program requesting any webOS based service [just like Google has created its cloud based services for consumer (in webOS version it should be users because such service requests may come from a consumer request generated from his/her device, or a system requesting a webOS based service either auto-generated, or on-demand, like an account manager wants to mine a large accounting database to extract a list of billing information etc.)],
then,
there probably would be very less demand for device-based app developers, but there could be a huge demand for webOS interface developers for various devices and systems to interact with webOS and various patch-works needed to go with.
So there developers, do as you see.
Another point, here Google has one leg up than anyone, and Apple with its i-culture and i-ecosystems doesn't have a chance. No wonder Google is working hard on their ChromeOS.
Also, yesterday, with the introduction of video-chat on iPhone4/OS4, Apple may have killed to a large extent the demand for texting, just like YouTube kills the demand for audio.
I need a new hardwear!!! I got me an ipad and I can't stand not bein able to jump around apps... I want my webos on a better hardwear.. Is that too much to ask for Mr. CEO?
hee, hee,,,:-),,,crying like a baby won't help.
...you want WHAT? A new HardWEAR? What happened to the old one, did you outgrew it ;)?
Well, judging by the recent news from HP, you might have a better chance to have your wishes listened to, than people who would like a new webOS phone ;)
HP,
You have exactly 4 months to either come out with a new SUPER SMART PHONE or at least announce a new smart phone before I decide to jump ship. I have had my Pre for almost a year and I want an updated top of the line device. I do not want to leave webOS because I love it but I will do so because I refuse to wait till 2011 before I get a new phone. Since the iphone is not coming to Sprint (as reported), I will be forced to switch to Android which I am not happy about. However I want a larger screen and faster phone (not made completely of plastic). Since I am spending my hard earned money I should get what I want. If HP and Palm want to take their sweet time getting new hardware on the market then I will take my sweet money to another device. Sorry, its just business. Get in where you fit in HP because you are being left in the dust....COUGH COUGH
You can switch to a Pre-Plus model after July 2th, if Sprint adopts Pre-Plus CDMA phones. I'm very happy with it, and IT DOES NOT FEEL PLASTIC-EE AT ALL.
Pre-Plus is the best COMPACT smartphone ever designed yet.
I was initially kind of impressed when they emailed me that, but then the horrible spelling reminded me of prior emails to HP support for other products and the bad spelling in the replies from their tech support. Most likely farmed out over seas. Wonder if that was the true origin of these emails? ;)
I admit I am getting the itch for a new phone too, but if you think about it how bad is that,that we can't go one year without upgrading. I agree that Palm/HP do need to come out with new hardware to save the OS. But I think giving a little time between the EVO and I phone release will give a place for the the new Palm hardware to shine. And I get that we are all eager to see the future of WebOS but getting mad at the CEO of HP really. They still haven't officially bought Palm yet and we are already prodding him for answers. What I wanted to know they answered, that they are still going to produce smartphones. Now I am just excited to see where they take it, just imagine your smartphone, your computer, your printer, your set top box, and maybe even your refrigerator all interconnected. Your phone being able to send print jobs remotely. Your phone and your computer automatically and seamlessly syncing. Your set top box reminding you that your show is on or maybe just streaming it directly to your phone. Maybe your fridge will text you to tell you your out of milk and add it to your grocery list. Maybe they will even make a system like sonos, where you can stream music from your phone to all of your interconnected WebOS devices. You have got to admit that that sounds amazing and if a structure like that doesn't make people flock to WebOS I don't know what will. I think the only problem would be Apple and Android getting there first and stealing our thunder. You have got to look at the what if and support the OS that everybody seems to agree is awesome. Otherwise WebOS will die and then we will all be bitching about another platform.
What I wanted to know they answered, that they are still going to produce smartphones
I am terribly sorry for breaking the news for you, but they haven't said that, not at all. Read carefully again, and please quote from the press release where they stated they will release webOS phones in the future. I'd love to be proven wrong, but they carefully avoided saying anything about actually producing webOS based smartphones.
Do not assume what you want to hear when reading press releases. Someone (possibly a team of people) spent quite a while preparing that "dementi". Be as much critical and picky when reading this, as they were crafting it to make certain impressions, without actually saying anything - to avoid disappointment. I would like to hear it as much as you want it, but there's simply no such statement in it.
Cheers,
Ladies and Gentlemen, as we all know this is the end of our beloved mobile OS. you see; this dumb as CEO got his eyes stock on his behind. He his destroying his own consumer and developer base before he start building it. Just look! Guys are leaving because they know what is to come. I'm one of the wishful thinkers but I'm loosing faith in this acquisition. We wouldn't be seen any Web OS phone with the caliber of the Palm pre. Let all say our good buys now, and wish for some good news.
I'M OUT! :( :( :(
HP's CEO is actually quite limited as to what he can say due to a self-imposed quiet period leading up to the finalized acquisition. We're going to keep hearing generic messaging about HP's cross platform intentions concerning Web OS, etc. No doubt about it- he can't say anything that will affect current stock prices, board votes, etc. You'll definitely NOT get any speculation, thought-leadership, company-wide intentions, or updates/product development news, etc. etc. until the T's are crossed and I's dotted post the shareholder vote. Anything to radical - could have consequences and hurt this unfinished deal from getting done.
Be that as it may - I highly doubt that HP would acquire Palm and keep Rubenstein on board to run the mobile division- if they weren't going to be pushing the next generation of WebOS smart phones. That wouldn't make sense.
I personally think that Palm is right now- heavily into R&D mode right now.
Unless they are totally blind and deaf - they can see that the bar has been raised quite high by EVO and Iphone. They must know that - WebOS functionality can only take them so far. They must be quite aware that the next phone must have hardware (and function) that not only meets "the new set standards" - it must exceed it. Going toe-to-toe with their competition - simply won't get it done at this stage. EVO drew excitement via pre-promoting it's awesome specs - nothing more. Nothing about user interfaces, information integration, ease of use, etc.
When Palm/HP puts some $ into advertising the awesomeness of WebOS - in chorus with their next phone's quality hardware with specs that meet (or hopefully surpass) what's out there- you will see a lot of demand.
Once the acquisition is finalized - they had better be ready to announce something lightening fast in terms of new phones or face loosing even more momentum. They can't sit back and start from square one. In essence they had better be ready to pump out new phones or you will probably see a lot more current/potential Pre owners looking at EVO's/Iphones. Clock is ticking. PR on massive sales will then drive massive AP development.
Well, sort of makes sense, assuming it is not too late already, and I hope it is you, not me (see my next post) who is right about the future!
Cheers :)
Hello guys,
As much as I love webOS/Pre (much less it's build quality...), let's be honest - recently, it doesn't paint a rosy picture for the future, at all. Facts:
1. HP is not sending any clear message that would boost even a slightest bit of confidence in the future of the webOS PHONES. Actually, that silly CEO slip up, that "we don't buy Palm to be in Smartphones", says loud & clear the opposite. If you read carefully, that too-little, too-late press release that is meant to calm down the outrage of webOS phones users, is pretty much a no-message at all, just crafted carefully to SOUND like an ensuring statement, that "yes, we are into Smartphones, indeed, and will release further webOS phones, and will invest as much as it gets to stay competitive in this ultra-aggresive market". No such a message, at all, not even close to that. And believe me, it is not another slip-up this time, they are getting paid way too much in the relationships departments to allow such a slip-up second time in a row. They just don't have anything ensuring to say, if they don't want to plainly lie.
2. Palm's top-end designers, architects, managers are abandoning the ship as fast as they can. Surely, they do know a thing or two more about the future prospects of webOS' development after the buyout, than a general public does. And I bet they are not even a slight bit more interested in implementing webOS on toasters, fridges and printers, than you are in buying such a wonder, to replace your Pre. Food for thoughts for everyone, why are they abandoning the ship en masse right now, supposedly being "backed by financial strength and a global reach of HP, planning to double-down on webOS", if they haven't done so when Palm was in a void and on extremely rocky waters just a few months ago??
3. webOS is still desperately lacking ANY SERIOUS productivity apps. I mean Outlook sync (stand-alone, not Exchange sync), documents to go, some proper VoIP application/s, some decent navigation, some OFFLINE todo/tasks lists. You name it, and it will be lacking there. Why? Steve Ballmer's "Developers, developers, developers!!!" comes immediately to my mind. And I can bet my last pair of pants on that - the recent revelations from HP will not see any serious mobile software house wanting to jump aboard. Rather the opposite direction, if they are thinking reasonably at all. Planning to sell your Apps for toasters, rather than smartphones? That's the place to be in, my fellow developer!
4. Android, Android, Android. Apps, some killer apps, mind boggling hardware development speed, customers & developers confidence. Form factors, specifications, prices to anyone's likings. Shall I say more?
5. webOS desperately needs a ramped up hardware. They need a hype, they need a confidence boost that such a hype would create. They need to be on the headlines again. Will not happen with another Pre+/Pixi+ review, for a new carrier. C'mon, who cares?!
6. Another significant release of webOS would not harm, either. webOs needs to keep up with the software updates. They also need to keep a close look at Homebrew, and bring MANY (like in: tens of) patches in! They cannot expect end users to do so by themselves, and basically, most of it is given back to them as an Open Source! Just integrate/test the things, and release, please.
I've said it Nov last year: Palm needs to do something, and FAST, to get more customers onboard webOS, and get more developers onboard webOS, to stay competitive and carve a sustainable slice of pie for themselves. Otherwise, as much of a great potential as webOS have, it will become irrelevant, and the potential will never materialize.
It has not happened then, I can't see it happening now - rather the opposite is happening as the HP buyout unveils.
Best Regards,
i got the exact same letter back
and yes i want new hardware but same form factor as the pre...aka pre second gen.
...and yes apple and steve jobs can suck it.
I think some of us are missing the point. Where do you think Palm would be without this buyout. They were at the point of no return and this kind of a buyout was the only way out. And as far as HP vs the other suitors I think HP was the best match. I mean what do you think Cisco would have done with it, sure they have a lot of money to throw around but they are not much for consumer products. As far as Palms top designers jumping ship, I kinda don't blame them. Because Palm is in such a vulnerable state right now why not go to a guaranteed success company like Apple or Android. Clearly both Apple and Android are trying to recruit people from Palm to try and guarantee failure. But I think what is also apparent is that Apple and Android are acknowledging that WebOS has potential to be a competitor with HP backing. Imagine someone from Palm smoothing out the Android OS, making it cleaner and more user friendly. Or someone from Palm at Apple helping I phone/I pad become multitasking phenoms like Pre plus. And even thought thats the scary truth we should be focusing on the positive. I think we may be underestimating some of the designers HP already has on board, along with the remainder of the Palm team. As far as app development HP is not dumb when it comes to this and I'm sure they will work out a solution. They do have the money and resources to have an app development team to drastically speed up development. And considering that they want to put WebOS on everything known to man they are going to want a lot of good apps. Also HP has existing relationships with lots of the biggest game and software company's which means more 3D games and productivity apps. So all of you Palm die hards please just weight until HP actually owns Palm to make a decision on staying or going. Because I'm staying and if there are no more Palm fanboys oh and girls, that is just more of a reason for HP to drop out of the smartphone division.