HP advertising Pre 2 online, plans ad and distribution campaign for Europe 32
Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:05 am EST
We’ve been getting reports (and seen ourselves) for a few weeks now of HP’s online advertising for the Palm Pre 2. The ads have popped up all across the interwebs, and just recently HP launched a series of YouTube videos advertising the Pre 2 as the “effortless smartphone.” The videos feature a worldly young girl, a jazz pianist with a Touchstone-equipped Steinway (yes, we know, it's upside down; Steinways have a nice finish), and a guy wearing a tie showing off webOS multitasking, Just Type search, and Synergy.
Separately, HP seems to be planning for their future webOS product launches to be more global in scale. They recently partnered with Brightstar Europe for distribution of product across Europe, with Data Select handling distribution in the UK. Additionally, according to Mobile News Online, HP plans to spend at least $160 million on a global advertising campaign for the recently-announced HP Veer, Pre 3, and TouchPad. $80 million of that is said to be headed to mainland Europe, and another $30 million to the UK. Richard Turner, Brightstar Europe’s managing director for the British Isles said that they “see HP Palm products as [a] growth vendor. These devices appeal to kids, twenty-somethings, the business sector. And for us committing to a long-term relationship, the roadmap is so strong, it was a no brainer.”
HP’s hope is that these new distribution partnerships will result in better penetration and sales in Europe, an area where both HP and Palm have both struggled. Here’s hoping that that $160 million is just the start - the competition’s spending some serious cash to sell products that are available right now; HP’s going to be playing catch-up to a degree, and doing so while trying to sell a platform most customers aren’t familiar with.
Source: YouTube, Mobile News Online; Thanks to everybody who sent all of these in!
32 Comments
"These devices appeal to kids, twenty-somethings, the business sector. "
If they are serious about the business sector the PIM software that ships on these devices needs to be an order of magnitude better than what we have now.
HP really needs to step their game up in a whole series of fields. First and foremost, they need more hardware options. Android has really passed them by in terms of hardware. The Pre 3 was a step in the right direction, but not enough of a step, in my opinion. The Veer, to me, was one of those "WTF are they thinking?" moments.
Secondly, they need more software. Desperately. There's no excuse for being as far behind as they are with the WebOS App Catalog. They need to reach out to developers in a big way and get them on board. I think putting WebOS out there as a dual-boot option for PCs is an interesting start, but unless they get a lot more applications on the platform, a desktop incarnation of WebOS isn't going to be any more appealing than the mobile one.
At first I was the same way about the Veer "WTF? Are they marketing this to kids?" But I've been surprised by how many businessmen I've heard express an interest in the Veer. Commenting specifically on how it's small size is the main selling point. These are people who already use a blackberry and haven't quite made the leap to 4" bricks.
One analyst from ZDNet had a great take on the whole software debate for webOS: It's not as much about how much software they have in the catalog as it is about the out of the box experience. If HP can continue to refine the core items people use day to day (Phone, E-mail, Messaging, Video, Music, Photos, Web, etc.,.) then the emotional experience of first use will keep people with the tablet long enough for developers to port or create the needed supplementary content and grow the platform.
I've gone back and forth on that position a couple of times. Part of me says "They MUST have the 3rd party software first" but then I remember that Apple iPhone started with NOTHING but the core out of box experience and you couldn't download apps (without jailbreaking) for about a year.
I agree, but I think their first priority should be getting the basics right. Make the software we already have work like it's supposed to and add more user customization options in preferences. It seems to me like HP is reaching for the stars, but they forgot to zip their pants.
I think hp can really push thier products the right way but with phones like pre 3 and veer, I mean come on! Pre 3 is only bringing a .4 different in proc speed, and a .6 different in size. really is that big enough or versitile enough for the masses.... and the veer I mean 2.what???? why would they make a smart phone in 2011 2.anything really. I guess we shall see.lol I did buy the pre 2 yesterday though. in my opinion it is the best option for what they are releasing for cell phones. If they dont include webos3.0 when pre3 comes out... Im done with hp. ialready made good on my threat to leave sprint.... they should know we are serious customers!
Yeah, but there's not enough of you to be of any real concern to Sprint. They probably wish you all would go to other carriers that way they don't have to deal with the headache call the Pre.
true, but from what i see.. Sprint is already struggling.. they need all the customers they can get. The bottom line fact is that hpwebos is the most reliable, and best os out on the market right now so in terms of repeat customers, one would have to figure that hp is doing just what it needs to do to turn a profit in the cell phone game. Case in point. They have really saved a lot of money making this pre2 because no verizon store has this item... its a ship only thing, so you would have to figure that whenever someone orders it it is proccessed through verizon but shipped from hp, thus allowing verizon to minimize a loss in profits by purchasing something no one will buy. Why didnt sprint do the same thing?? i might be missing something here...
Kinster, I've never read anything positive about you and webOS devices ever. Can I ask, whyn yu even bother to post doom and gloom all the time here if most of your posts are to mock webOS enthusiasts?
Wasn't impressed by the ads, but it's not the end of the world.
What does this mean (if anything) in terms of carriers ?
If they are talking about global, Asia should be in scope. We have heard no news for Asia launch at all. Very disappointing.......
And on a related note apparently HP has no plans to "take care" of their current installed base as it has been over 30 days since their new products announcement and not 1 word for Pre- owners. I am beginning to give up on them.
I gave up officially yesterday. I left sprint. I am waiting on my new pre 2 from verizon to come now. i dont know who to blame... hp, or sprint, but that whole free thing caught my eye!!! waited waay too long. sprint doesnt even have inventory on the pre - anymore... sprint sucks!!
I second the comment about why no Asia plans. I saw the youtube video of someone getting 2.x on a Pre minus and Chinese was a language option on what was said to be an "offical" ROM. I can see the veer working here. My wife says my Pre is too big, so the Veer'd be perfect...and if she could get it in pink....game over!
LOL, well obviously that's not only in Asia how the things work. My girlfriend here in Germany is exactly the same ;)
barthman36 makes the main point here.... The apps ! I have had an unlocked Pre2 since December in the Netherlands, have been loving webOS, but been grabbing my iPod Touch for quick info and productivity. Naturally have loaded preware and have admired Jason R s patches... But in the way of non-US local stuff there is NOTHING ! Open up the app store to all countries NOW, or Europe is not going to be convinced !!!
Not to be a **** BUT I will! WebOS has been out for nearly 2 years! HP is trying to push their products out?!?!? Give me a break! Thats a pathetic excuse for not truly improving the software as well; yes its getting better. BUT WebOS 2.0 could have improved on useful features.
Anyone notice that Touchstone appears to be upside down..... At first I was wondering if it was the new HP Touchstones as the USB cable appears to attach to the top of the charger as opposed to the bottom on the existing Palm Touchstones..... But if you look real close, you'll notice the little silver circle that IS on the existing Touchstones, right above the USB port.... Meaningless, but funny IMHO
even the quasi-glossy trim ring thats around the top, is around the bottom in that picture. OOPS.
Palm DID take care of their Sprint Pre- customers. SPRINT won't release an update, there's nothing HP can directly do about that without damaging their relationship with carriers. They knew what the HB community would do once a new Doctor was released though so they did.
I'm now running 2.1 at 1gHz on my Sprint Pre- beautifully... and without having to deal with VZW's exorbitant prices. If you don't think HP/Palm didn't have this exact solution in mind when they released the Doc, you ought to know that the guy who developed the scripts to streamline the Doc merge and install had a Dev phone donated to him by HP after the release.
It's the best solution available without hurting carrier relationships.
That's conjecture at best. If that was really HPs plan to make things right how come Sprint Pre metadoctored phones must fake being a 1.4.5 OS version. If HP really intended on making things right they would change their backend App Catalog servers to accept Sprint Pre phone as 2.1 and allow download of WebOS 2 apps. This would be a simple mod to HPs servers and allow Metadoctor users full WebOS 2 citizenship.
Besides saying HP doesn't have the clout to stand up for their users against the carriers in even this small way, in my mind, indicates an HP product isn't a wise consumer choice. Enough with the excuses HP hasn't done a thing to make things right.
The Sprint Pre 2.1 does NOT fake 1.4.5. It shows 2.1 AND can see webOS 2 apps.
Yes, we understand that... But, I think what they mean by "fake", is the webos 2.1 was never meant to be released on the older devices, therefore the hardware doesnt give the user experience of a phone (pre2,3) that was meant to handle this software. so with that being said they did kind of figure a way to trick the server into believing that it talking to a newer updateddevice... certainly not a preminus... But I love it... Im glad webos internalz, homebrew, preware, etc exists, if not I would have been gone a long time ago...
I was referring to the Palm Profile having to be set to 1.4.5 in order to use the App Catalog after applying a metadoctored 2.1. This prevents purchasing application that require 2.0 even though 2.1 is running on the phone.
I see that WebOsInternals have recently fixed this problem for several carriers (including Sprint my carrier) but not all. WebOsInternals deserves tremendous credit. Because of latest fix, UberKernal and unofficial fixes for the Sprint Nav App I'm considering moving to 2.1.
But, I still plan on abandoning HP/Palm when my contract is up. I knew I was taking a risk in getting a Pre but I wanted to support Palm and was lured in by the WebOS 2.0 promise. One sacrifice was too many and I will not buy another WebOS device unless HP actually delivers a quality product, quality support (non existent now), no more missed production cycles, delivered OS updates and a much more expansive App Catalog. I won't buy another phone based on flashy promises that might never be kept.
If the Pre2 had a front-facing camera I would get it over any other device. The Veer is great being so small, but the fact that it's too small to include these extras is the only reason I have no interest in it. I don't care for a phone larger than my Pre-, so if I could get this same form (or more so the Pre2's form) then that will be a great phone for me. Maybe they won't be able to make it as thin as the Pre3 since that one is longer, but if it was a bit thinner than this Pre- then there's no way I could resist that.
I mean, would be great if such a thing was on Sprint.
Also, HP is walking the path of Apple's model. No device runs iOS if it isn't an Apple device. HP has been doing the same thing with WebOS, I doubt they will change that any time soon. I believe they will attempt this same thing with their computers if they can manage to make an acceptable OS for them. Otherwise, Apple really doesn't have competitors.
"anyone notice that Touchstone appears to be upside down?" ummm.. Yeah.. The writer of the article. Do people actually read these articles or just skip right to the bitching and moaning about HP, Palm, Sprint, *insert target of the day here*?
qljbear must be a verizon user. Not a shot at you, just saying.. Sprint did kinda leave us hanging. I mean just imagine there were no preware/homebrew... It would be 10 times worse. sprint hasnt had a new hp anything and now cant even replace a warrantied device... so why wouldnt they moan and groan??? verizon=solution=happy now!
Understood. But in your case, you made a decision and did something. Congratulations for taking control.
No sir. Sprint since 1999 and Pre since day 1 at 8am... 7th in the line that morning. And, drumroll please.. Original! No replacements needed and none of the hardward issues.
And I didn't take your comment as a shot. I too have dealt with the frustrations of Palm, HP, and Sprint's lame handling of Palm and HP. My main issue is the plethora of completely unconstructive complaints from people who just need to leave WebOS and/or Sprint for the imaginary wonderland that is iOS and Android and Non-Sprint carriers. Believe me, if it weren't for the great discounts on my Sprint bill, I would consider WebOS on Verizon.
Moaning and groaning without constructive input is useless. I am, of course, not referring to moaning and groaning with constructive input that Sprint and HP will actually read and hopefully learn from.
point well taken. Well what I actually did was make myself happy by going to verizon, so now I can be a official webos 2.0 (legit) customer, and left my 2 sprint lines on for my wife and my daughter (droid lovers) so i guess it was a win win. But as far as Sprint... and HP.... They need to get thier act together.. HP has a killer os, but seems like they dont know how to introduce it to the masses. All I can say is, Im here for he ride and I will be here untill someone can prove to be better than webos which hasnt happened thus far..... Im a fan of webos not the marketing strategy that hp, sprint...ect is using. Ill be here till the end though.....lol
I was on the Android side of the fence for 4 long frustrating months on an Epic "superphone". When the ONE OS update finally came out, it broke more than it fixed. The front-facing cam was useless because video phone apps didn't work. Except for big-vendor apps, (3) medical apps were no better than WebOS, Or not as good. So I came back to my trusty Pre.
I LOVE BEING BACK ON MY SPRINT PRE!
It is nice to have Synergy snd GPS and Bluetooth and SMS that actually WORK.
So yeah, when I see the HP ad for a Pre3, I'll be first in line to get it, from this calm, WORKING side of the smartphone fence!
but I have a Samsung Epic with crappy OS and crappy reliabilty that plays games well for someone who just wants a feature-rich Android toy to show off- just don't expect it to work as ADVERTISED by Samsung and Sprint... Lol
input this URL:
( http://www.chic-goods.com/ )
you can find many cheap and high stuff
WE ACCEPT PAY PAL PAYMENT
YOU MUST NOT MISS IT!!!
===== http://www.chic-goods.com/ =====
===== http://www.chic-goods.com/ =====
http://www.aoomall.net/
you can find many cheap and fashion stuff
30—39 USD jordan air max oakland raiders;
20USD Ed Hardy AF JUICY POLO Bikini
30USD Handbags (Coach lv fendi d&g) $30
12USD T shirts (Polo ,edhardy,lacoste) $12
30USD Jean(True Religion,edhardy,co ogi) $30
12USD Sunglasses (Oakey,coach,gucci,Armaini) $12
12USD New era cap $15
16USD Bikini (Ed hardy,polo) $16
WE ACCEPT P Y A P A L PAYMENT
DELIVERY TO YOU DOOR TO DOOR
http://www.aoomall.net/
http://www.aoomall.net/
http://www.aoomall.net/
http://www.aoomall.net/
http://www.aoomall.net/
http://www.aoomall.net/
http://www.aoomall.net/
http://www.aoomall.net/