Pivot is HP's App Catalog magazine 84
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:49 am EDT 
Remember that HP Pivot trademark we uncovered a while back? Today we learned what that is: essentially it’s a magazine for the App Catalog, designed to highlight developers and their apps. Pivot will be what users see when they first launch the App Catalog, and will be filled with both entertaining and informative editorial pieces. HP’s intent with Pivot is to enhance app discoverability, in essence to highlight apps that aren’t in that dominating top 10%.
Pivot will contain original content from journalists and photographers from major publications, ranging from editorial pieces to guest columns on digital culture. Pivot will be published monthly, with each new issue automatically downloaded to the App Catalog on webOS 3.0 devices. The magazine will be published in English, French, German, and Spanish, and each edition will be tailored to the region in which it’s being distributed. Check out the HP Pivot press release after the break for more details.
HP Announces webOS Pivot for HP TouchPad
Company enhances webOS Developer Program with new updates
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 23, 2011 – HP today announced HP webOS Pivot, providing users an entertaining and informative editorial resource for discovering webOS 3.0 applications for the HP TouchPad, which launches July 1.
Designed to complement the HP webOS App Catalog, Pivot will showcase a broad range of applications – and the developers who create them – by providing customers the freedom to explore based on their interests and lifestyles. It’s just one of the new ways HP is enhancing the webOS Developer Program and investing further in the success of the growing ecosystem.
“Pivot brings app discovery to a new level for customers and developers alike,” said Richard Kerris, vice president, webOS Worldwide Developer Relations, HP. “We want our partners to experience webOS as the growing platform of opportunity, and we’re investing in new ways to help market their applications on our platform.”
Published on a monthly basis, Pivot is designed to broaden developer exposure and create a dynamic marketplace for the burgeoning webOS developer community. Consisting of original content by journalists and photographers affiliated with leading publications, Pivot will include visually driven editorial pieces, columns from notable guest writers sharing their perspectives on digital culture, feature stories focused on applications around specific topics, and in-depth reviews – all accompanied by vibrant photos and illustrations on HP TouchPad’s brilliant screen. Content will be catered to the specific interests and requirements of a given region, appealing to a wide range of international customers.
Pivot will publish initially for English, French, German and Spanish languages and will be updated over the air directly to all HP TouchPad customers.
“Pivot has the right focus,” said Joe Simon, chief technology officer, Conde Nast. “It provides an enriching experience for customers and is a great environment for developers considering the platform.”
Investing in webOS developer success
The webOS Developer Program enhancements also include a new discount structure. Developers will have access to this pricing model based on their years in the Palm developer program and active applications in the webOS App Catalog.
“Working with HP and the webOS ecosystem has been fantastic,” said Haden Blackman, co-president and chief creative officer of Fearless Studios, a game company recently started by Blackman and fellow LucasArts alum, Cedrick Collomb. “It’s a perfect fit with our core values as a company – creative risks mitigated by smart technology choices.
Because the platform is so accessible and developer-friendly, we’ve been able to build the game we want to build.”
“We love the TouchPad and the webOS platform for game development,” added Collomb, chief technology officer, Fearless Studios. “It’s built from the ground up for seamless connectivity between devices and it’s an open platform, which makes development that much easier.”
HP TouchPad availability
The Wi-Fi version of HP TouchPad(1) will be available in stores and online in the United States on July 1 with the option of either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage(2) for $499.99 and $599.99, respectively.(3) HP TouchPad will be available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany on July 2 and in Canada on July 15, with availability scheduled to follow later this year in Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore and Spain.
More information about HP TouchPad is available at www.hp.com/touchpad.
HP webOS Developer Program
Complete details about the updated developer programs will be available on the HP webOS Developer Portal beginning July 1.
About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.
84 Comments
App catalog magazine
Seems like an innovative idea, will be more useful once Webos gets 50,000+ apps.
yep. but right time to introduce the magazine is NOW. So that the magazine can grow along with with the app count.
imagine apple trying to highlight one or two of 500 **** apps.. its ridiculous.
I agree it's a great move now.
you know i think the untapped market of people who are new to smartphones will love this. Anytime there are huge catalogs or even small ones in this case, it's time consuming to find the app that you want. Regardless, it seems like HP is continuing to make steps in the right direction.
Here you go, webOSzine is spreading it's wings. A few flutters will cause a tsunami of webOSchatters !
I like this! Innovation in a market that is driven by apps.
Pretty good idea. And innovative. By the looks of things, HP's App catalogue should be better in terms of functionality than the Apple App store!
Yeah, too bad everyone cares about number of apps instead.
This is the right implementation of the "featured apps" app Palm made like a year ago.
More importantly, this seems very much like the 'New in the App Catalogue' feature that Precentral used to run until they stop the feeds. That was how I learned about just about every app I downloaded.
Great, should be a really short read....
LOL
Quality vs quanity....umm i'll take quality all day...btw way I was wondering what they call your kind? Is it a fanboy or troll?
Unfortunately it's not a quantity vs quality situation.
Pretty said, WebOSRoundup has been beating Precentral to these posts. Here are two more "The HP TouchPad made an appearance at the NYC Digital Experience" and ROVIO: Angry Birds webOS Updates Waiting for “Newer Devices
I did a search on WebOSRoundup, my security software flaged it as a caution site for trying to load spyware on your computer.
I think the way PreCentral and WebOSRoundup work more or less compliment each other, sometimes WebOSRoundup gets the exclusives other times it's PreCentral. I'm just thankful as I imagine many users are that both websites exists and the WebOSRoundup app is fantastic but I wish PreCentral would make their own app, I am sure we would be willing to pay a quid for it!
Yeah, but lately webOS Roundup has been on top of its game and Precentral has been lagging. I guess Dieter leaving was bad for Precentral.
Just be glad that you have these two great sites to get great WebOS coverage and more.
Honestly....I LOVE it. Seriously. This is the sort of differentiating idea WebOS needs not only WAY more of, but also to promote way more.
But it needs to be flashy, well-designed, and should probably be accessible on the Web too. HTML 5 and all.....
Depends on how they want to use Enyo: look it down to webOS devices or allow it to spread cross-platform.
Yep, seriously its a great touch. Makes the name app catalog more appropriate. One of the few highlights over the course.
I like the idea... one question: will this be a magazine like if one was to subscribe to TIME on the TP? I think that would be awesome! can't wait to get my TP - I preordered it on June 19 from HP with FREE overnight shipping!
You are going to be disappointed come July 1st when everyone else has their touchpad purchased from the big box stores and you have to wait 3 days to get yours and that is assuming they actually ship the thing on Friday the 1st. Hey, but think of it this way - you'll have read all the reviews and hands-on experiences by the following Monday and you'll know all the little ins and outs before you even open the box!
Who peed on your TouchPad?
I'm going to reveal something here.
I think more and more developers are beginning to realize that being one of 700,000 apps in a catalog is a lonely existence if you're not a blockbuster app.
Perhaps the best way to highlight their apps on iOS or Android is to build something on webOS and have it featured. Of course HP will allow you to say you're also available in Apple App Store and Android Market.
HP is being very smart about this, some of the offhand dismissals will look pretty funny two years from now. There will also be a time soon when Pivot is on 30-60 million PCs a month.
Playing a little fast and loose with the numbers, aren't you? I don't think HP makes 60 million PCs every 6 month, much less every month.
I like this idea, but I couldn't name a single piece of HP software on my Win 7 laptop currently, and I use it daily.
Not sure how you do math. It's a monthly publication. The moment HP cumulatively ships more than 60 million machines that run webOS, the condition is met.
Let's break it down to 6th Grade Math:
Can HP sell 100 million or more webOS enabled PCs in the next 3 years?
Can a magazine that's produced once a month come out 12 times a year?
Can it be pushed to all those devices that have webOS App Catalogs.
If the answer to these three questions is yes, then all the necessary and sufficient conditions for my statement hold.
HP will ship 45-48 million notebooks in 2011.
I still hope and expect to be able to install the PC version on existing PC's as well.
I believe Leo said 100 million DEVICES, not 100 million PCs. Just a little 3rd grade reading.
Of the desktop and notebook PCs that have it, a huge chunk will have it erased by a system admin for a stock company build with XP and tons of custom security bloatware. A larger number will never open the icon, just as I never open the HP software on my machine now. And way larger number won't have touchscreens or GPS or accelerometers on their desktops and laptops, and simply won't care.
I know, we're selling the dream here, but come on.....
HP can simply make webOS part of the tools interface that manage the device and non-deletable if you need manufacturer updates.
Remember, HP is Microsoft's largest worldwide OEM and can pretty much dictate what must go on its manufactured hardware. In fact I believe it will. So you'll be able to get away with never using it, but you may not be able to get rid of it altogether.
I'm sorry, but that's just silly. If WebOS was folded into the rather annoying HP auto-update maintenance utility, most people would never see it. That thing makes a window pop up for a minute, is easily clicked away with an X, and then goes away for another month or so.
And remember, most HP enterprise machines (which far outnumber their consumer sales) are not run with the image from the factory.
You're hinging the success of this platform on it becoming the software equivalent of AOL install CDs from 90s. Spamming people mercilessly sure worked out there, eh?
If webOS is also going to become the interface that runs printers,servers, networking and storage, believe me you will see it on many screens, and you will need it to run stuff and it wont be spam. Once you see it enough, and it becomes the primary way you interact and get feedback from both enterprise and consumer class devices made by HP, you'll ask yourself how to make it more useful. What new functionality can I add to my printer with an app, etc..
You may be negative now, but HP is going a long way to making this OS part of its DNA as a unifying thread and they'll keep at it until it delivers. If you think this is about Christmas sales at Best Buy, you're mistaken.
If HP was determined to keep at anything until it delivered, we'd be seeing version 3 of their Android tablet and Slate Windows PC. Oh, and let's not forget their failure in digital cameras or MP3 players. They've tried alternate OSes on their machines before including a custom Linux distro.
HP can, and will, drop any project or product line like a bad habit should it prove non-yielding.
I'm not being negative. Merely pragmatic. You assume that anything they stick on their 100 gazillion PCs without so much as a specific detail is ASSURED success and developer interest. That's not the case. The same developers drawn to smartphones and tablets for their wares are not looking to a platform where most sales are with networking, storage, and server devices that may or may not ever be able to see the app catalog.
Don't agree.
Most people do click that HP update button.
And let's say for the sake of argument, 50% of people do.
Those are still vary large numbers.
Ok...you update your PC. And that compels me to boot WebOS instead of getting back to what I was doing in Windows because....?
And of those supposed 50%, how many of them give any thought to the tech employed by that update button?
I always reinstall windows without the bloat.
Probably because you have anti-bloatware programs to remove junk like this that is involuntarily preinstalled or pushed to your desktop.
What's bloatware? I thought everybody loved the software that came with their laptop or phone, and just used that? Isn't that the behavior we're counting on here for WebOS on PCs to be a success?
Yes, I agree. Network TV is so saturated with good performers and stars that I am going to go the Cable Access route and make my name there!
I'll be a big as Wyane's world!
"I think more and more developers are beginning to realize that being one of 700,000 apps in a catalog is a lonely existence if you're not a blockbuster app."
Sigh. Let's see.
There are hundreds of thousands of business in the US only. It doesn't seem to stop people from starting new business.
There are hundreds of thousands of movies available today. It doesn't seem to stop people from making new movies.
There are hundreds of thousands of books written. It doesn't seem to stop people from writing new books.
There are hundreds of products yet people still keep coming up with more.
Yet, somehow, (despite the fact that it is still growing rapidly and the fact that this has been said when it was 100K, 200K, 300K, 500K and was never true) the existence of hundreds of thousand of apps is going to stop developers from creating new apps for that platform? Those developers must first pick the platform that almost no one pays attention to as a launching point for their apps in the hopes of then jumping into the grown-up swimming pools? All this while HP is actively pursuing developers from the other popular platforms and even offering to help them port their apps to the underdog OS?
Amazing.
Not a bad idea, however, app preferences are pretty individual. This is like a general interest magazine - it may have sufficed, in the past, when you were bored on a plane or in a waiting room. However, most people, especially tech savvy people, have learned to expect more customized content. This is especially true of an electronic magazine.
There are certainly people who don't mind reading the in-flight magazine to browse articles about "10 Great Napa Valley Winery Tours". However, the point of getting a tablet isn't to browse through general interest magazines.
Tech savvy people are the people on forums like this one, the majority of consumers are not actually "tech savvy"
I don't know about you, but I like these kinds of things that allow me to discover new apps. It was one of my favorite Precentral features (before the feeds got killed).
Speaking of feeds, anyone think this may have had something to do with that? Just wondering.
I hope not. I don't see how open feeds would've prevented Pivot.
Damn i thought for sure Pivot was going to be webOS in my Air Jordans. Oh well.
This is a good idea though and looks like its well put together. I can't wait to download episode one next friday.. SO FREAKIN EXCITED!!!!!
"Palm Pivot" would sound SO much better.... :)
Probably because its only 1 letter removed from a product they used to sell
Who is the bejeweled, tattooed dude with the TP? Russell Brand, maybe?
Not unless Russel is rocking dreadlocks now...
Look at his forehead, the guy is black. L o l
Magazines also act like mini billboards in magazine and shopping stores. Now, that's what I'm talkin' about! Who's running HP's marketing campaign department?! These guys are awesome! Keep it going guys!
Really, they are awesome, are they? Comparing to which competitor, you would say?
So where did you saw all this webOS & it's marketing "awesomeness", if you don't mind to share?
I love this idea! HP is a huge and slow moving machine but now that it's starting to move great and unstoppable things are happening. Finally, maybe won't be alone touting the virtues of WebOS; the company that makes it is also pushing it, what a concept!
Pivot.....Do you think that HP is expecting large volume of apps to flood the store?
Also, looks like Fearless Studios has an app or a game in development for WebOS.
“Working with HP and the webOS ecosystem has been fantastic,” said Haden Blackman, co-president and chief creative officer of Fearless Studios, a game company recently started by Blackman and fellow LucasArts alum, Cedrick Collomb. “It’s a perfect fit with our core values as a company – creative risks mitigated by smart technology choices. Because the platform is so accessible and developer-friendly, we’ve been able to build the game we want to build.”
Pretty cool and I like it, good job HP. I still have to wait for new styles of phones to come out and see if WebOs takes off before I come back.
I'd like to see Pivot in some form on my webOS 2.x device. Something this cool shouldn't be limited only to the TouchPad.
Hi all, sounds like a smart move to me! ....take care, Jay
The more that HP promotes magazines the less one should expect of the apps.
Someone did not ready the article and has no idea what Pivot is.
It's about time HP did something exciting. This, this is exciting. Knowing they had no way to compete with a traditional catalog scores of times their size, they go the high-value route. Show that their apps matter, or at least the good ones do, rather than casting people into the sea. Be user-friendly by catering to those who don't want to scour lists, which is most people.
My reaction to the TouchPad was lukewarm. This, for whatever reason, is actually making me more interested in this device. I want to see how this works. Nice move, HP -- elegance to match elegance. Stand out however you can, whenever you can.
If they have salespeople open the Pivot on all Touchpad demo machines, I could see people getting interested. Instead of just having a bland homescreen or whatever game the last person was playing, you have something engaging and inviting drawing you to the Touchpad, and it then informs you of the good apps and what you can do with them on the Touchpad.
Hope they included this in their training material!
This is one of the first signs I've seen that someone at HP actually does get mobile computing and is moving things in an intelligent direction. Other companies (not gonna use the "A" word, I'm just not gonna!) have figured out that mobile phones and apps are as much or more about community and culture as they are about technical capabilities or getting things done. People buy them in part to feel hip, cool, smart, with-it, whatever, and to send that signal to others.
By making the app catalog magazine-like (and hopefully social-media-style open, interactive and multithreaded) HP is trying to expand and leverage the "interests and lifestyles" aspect of mobile culture. This is a chance to dodge, at least partially, the "how many apps in the catalog" issue; though Pivot will go nowhere, as others have stated above, if the apps ain't there.
If -- and this is a big if -- HP can create an actual popular community culture through Pivot, and not simply push out a slick corporate shopping mall (Sony Style, anyone? anyone? Bueller?), then they're really onto something that can differentiate WebOS in a ruthless market.
WebOS IS a community -- **** why do you think we all still show up here and **** at each other after the last 2 years? -- and Pivot may be the means to expand the community beyond the dedicated geek faithful to mainstream consumers.
This is awesome. Android and iOS get a lot of app coverage from tech sites (app of the week/month etc.) I'm glad HP is taking the lead on their own and hopefully it leads to more future coverage.
I think people are missing an important point. HP is big and powerful enough in tech that pretty much all top 100 apps on iOS and Android (that aren't made by Apple or exclusive to Google, like turn-by-turn Google Maps)will be on webOS eventually.
It's what happens to the non-top 100 apps that creates the long tail. Many of these developers get next to nothing for their work because the biggest apps really dominate.
I think you're missing an important point, actually. The "eventual" promise of apps/ecosystem/whatever has been the bane of this platform's existence from the beginning. Customers don't buy a product now because of what they hope it will be upgraded to later, hence the abysmal sales of most Android tablets.
HP's "power" should've had those apps here and now for the launch and all-important first impression of the tablet. It should made McArthur's "we'll have tens of thousands of apps ready for TouchPad launch" a reality. But that's not the case at all. They haven't demoed new ones to excite customers because they are not there.
Assuming it ever happens, there will be a quite different "top 100" by then, and this whole ridiculous "catch up" cycle will start from the beginning.
I guess Epocrates begs to differ. Perhaps they didn't realize how big and powerful HP is.
Is HP going to write a check to Bank of America, Chase, or USAA to get them to write an app for their 1.5% market share devices?
What do you need an app for when you can go to their websites directly?!
Every tablet has a browser, and every non-Apple one has Flash. Why on earth do people keep picking iPad? Hmmmm......
Most non-iPad tablets suck. Hopefully the Touchpad will give it some real competition.
Heh, yeah, seriously the Wells Fargo app is exactly like their website, and I'm sure the other banks will do this as well (with a few app features, like the whole check with the camera thing, to persuade you to download).
The USAA app on my Nexus S is great, can take a pic of the check and deposit it right away. When I had my Pre my girlfriend had a Android and used to tease me all the time because I had to use my PC and scanner to deposit checks to USAA.
What do you need an app for if you can run ePocrates and several enterprise class medical order management systems, directly through the TouchPad without needing a specialized developer team to maintain them and iTunes (last I checked was not HIPAA certified) to distribute them. The medical market loves Apple, but they want stuff that's built from the ground up to support their processes and legal realities.
Most consumer people understand so little about how enterprises work that they naively translate their Best Buy knowledge into CIO decision making. It's utter nonsense. ePocrates' decision to leave webOS is a business decision that can be corrected with the right incentives, not an emotional one. They will sit down and talk to HP again when the business case works. If HP had to go off and develop a new framework for its OS and understand how to bring it to market, you can't expect a small company like ePocrates to sit around and bleed while HP figures stuff out.
Bank of America and HP have a multi-billion dollar relationship where HP runs most of the bank's IT. If an app is really needed, it will be written, but the webOS browser will run everything, including live chat with a bank support representative. It's clear you know very little about how enterprise relationships work.
It's clear that "enterprise leverage" has done very little for this platform thus far.
If you want to dismiss optimized apps in favor of using the tablet browser for everything...have at it. Consumers aren't buying that line of thinking, and thus far, businesses aren't either.
Is HP slow, yes. But that doesn't mean it doesn't know what it's doing. Reorganizing and rationalizing Palm business and getting their HW roadmap right took a cycle off the market.
Getting the giant divisions in the company all aligned around a roadmap that includes webOS also took some time. There's alot already going on to bolt on something new. If you're measuring them on Apple's timetable, go ahead.
All that hard, invisible preparation starts paying off at some point. Stop conflating very tactical things, like developing a Bank of America app, with the ambitions HP has for a unified software roadmap. RIM had the PlayBook all figured out for launch, but they didn't bother to fix internal architectural limitations (the invisible enterprise stuff) that couldn't allow more than one device on a profile. Result? No email on the Playbook.
Anyway, being correct is overrated. You're right, you win and good night.
I could use an USAA app :-)
Only seven days until BBY calls me to tell me my Touchpad is in store and to come by on 7/1 to pick it up!
Only thing I gotta do then it figure out how to keep my kid off it!
Easy, get him his own Touchpad. :P
I think that they should release a Web version for promote WebOS between the people that doesn't have a Touchpad YET.
Hi,
I think that they should make an HTML version for attract people that don't have an TouchPad yet.
JD
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