Rumor: HP Hurricane webOS tablet to hit Q3 2010? 124
by Dieter Bohn Sat, 08 May 2010 5:00 pm EDT
We were hoping for an aggressive timeline for new products once the HP buyout of Palm goes through - but this seems crazy aggressive. The Examiner is suggesting that we could see a webOS Tablet - codenamed 'Hurricane' - as early as the third quarter of this year. We knew that HP was excited to put webOS on a tablet, but we didn't think that it seemed realistic that we'd see such a device this year. Hopefully Palm has been preparing for this already and if this rumor pans out we'll have something well-integrated and full featured.
via webosroundup
124 Comments
Drool.....
trool
where can I sign up to help make a pad that would freeze the competitions biz with one product I got the plans already if one of the dev's wanna talk hit me a mail
smove187@gmail.com
I'd hope that the Docs editing issue (or better said, the lack of) would get resolved first (Yeah, I looking at you Dataviz) since a tablet without some sort of docs editing would be for sure a turn down/off for a lot of buyers...maybe the Super heroes at webos internals will have the Open Office via X term smoothed and available for that tablet...that would be a solution as well as a slap in the face to Dataviz...
Yeah, doc editing. Big deal. People need to quit complaining about it. Documents to go is on the other OSes and I'm sure it will be on Palm's soon enough. The better thing that needs to happen is a better music player and video player, as well as an e-book reader, because that's what it looks like people are wanting on their tablets, rather than the ability to edit a spreadsheet file.
The days of dealing w/ Palm's crappy music app are quickly coming to an end...Thank God!
Been beta testing NaNplayer for about a week now and it's the real deal! Once it's released Palm will have one of the premier music players running on WebOS. Hopefully Palm can do it's part w/ the video player, slick flash implementation, and an improved youtube app, to really make WebOS a great multimedia platform!
I'll tell you what though, it does feel good to know that at the very least the music player is covered! Can't wait till the whole community can enjoy it!
I like the Music (Remix) player. Showing the lyrics for my songs is awesome. When you show it to anyone using an ipod they are impressed.
Yeah the Music(Remix) Player is good...DanPLC is the man!
But NaNplayer's on another level...It's blazing fast, shows lyrics, downloads album art, integrates w/ twitter, allows you to create sophisticated playlists(Dynalists) from filtering things like Album name, Artist name, or Song name...it's just that awesome!
actually what ppl really want over anythng, doc- editing yea! E-reader so cool, better music player? It plays music what more do you want? And video player? do I really have to say it......what everyone needs since I speak for all pre owners and not "davim" is FLASH!!! The rest is just needless upgrades, were missing a major function of the web....next time davin clear your posts with me for approval thank you....Dompeezzeeeee out!
Screw DataViz- they had their chance to provide a WebOS version of Docs-to-go. Now they can just s(h)it out there with their 'Android' friends and watch while HPalm tells them to piss off!
Nah man, the more the merrier.
I don't know if I would buy Docs2Go when there are likely to soon be free and capable open-source solutions, however...
Google Docs and spreadsheets might work well since it will be on a larger screen.
If this is true then we should hopfully also see a push in app development by palm.
This does seem too good to be true.
Here's to hoping!
this sounds real good and all, but I hope that this does take the focus off the up coming smartphones. I hope that this also mean that palm is hiring developers and software engineers to work quickly on webos.i also hope that hp can get content support like movies and music from studios and record labels for the app catalouge and maybe a book store app with publishing support if they are doing the whole e reader thing. I think hp can put webos in apretty competitive position if it can pull these things off.
Coming out soon is cool, but I hope it is not rushed to much. I think it is more important that it is solid hardware and WebOS integration.
I need to change my pants.
Unless it turns out to suck for some reason, I'm going to be one of the 178 people buying it on the first day while the day's newspapers are full of speculation pieces about what the author thinks the revolutionary 2011 iPad might look like. Sigh.
Make that 179, I'll be right there on line with you. In fact I'll buy 2, so call it 180.
Make it 1000180. Steve Jobs just gave me money.He wants to buy a million of these.
Any body knows if it is tegra 2 powered? and how much RAM? Wonder if my pre plus will sync with it
try web search for HP tablet/s & guess which one will have WebOS....
The one Microsoft showed (HP Slate) had an Atom x86 chip and last time I checked my Pre had an Arm Cortex...
A Slate with an ARM (maybe Tegra 2) would make much more sense for such a mobile device.
Why can't we get a new Phone? I'm on my 4th Pre with the 5th on the way to the Sprint store ready for swapout on Tues.
The whole tablet thing would be cool though. I wonder what the price point will be.
preach it! Push out a new phone that doesn't crash, has better memory, better speed, and that doesn't have oreo affect. and please keep a physical portrait keyboard.
I hate when companies rush products. It usually doesn't turn out good. I'd rather wait and see them release something that's going to be solid.
I'm not saying they are or aren't rushing anything... but think about what Palm, such a small company and literally no budget did with the webOS and two beautiful phones... Can you imagine what it must be to have a 10 fold of resouces?... I pretty sure they can pump something out that is wonderful in the next few mnts, probably more in line for the holidays though...
thats exactly what i was thinking
The experience I have had (2 years) with the Examiner on EP forums is that they are not a reliable source. They usually do this kind of news to take the attetion, but always what they write does not happen.
I really hope a webos HP/Palm tablet as all of you and I will be the first to buy one.
I'll bet that Palm and HP were collaborating long before the buyout. In fact, HP may have seen the buyout as one way to make sure they didn't launch a product with an OS from such a small and cash-poor company. Rather than taking an equity position, they just bought the whole thing.
Maybe HP was already working on being the hardware mfr for the next WebOS phones, too! I'd be down with that.
I'm sure the two companies had been working very closely before the acquisition, so there isn't much left to do but close the deal...
Off course Palm and HP were a long time working together before they officially announced the merger. Remember 2005? When Palm announced they would put Windows Mobile on their Treo line? There have been interviews on the web where is being said there were collaborating for more than 2 years before they announced it (Microsoft and Palm)
Still can't see that much value in a tablet, but I suppose as a nice web browsing and reading machine, something that could multitask and was as touchscreen oriented as webOS is would be worth paying for. Without a keyboard, I've got no interest in Windows, and without real serious multitasking, the iPad is useless to me.
Should be nice, and nicer still when Palm can get that next rev of WebKit I've been hearing about with the multithreading beef-up ported over to Luna and running on that thing. That could make ChromeOS look like complete vaporware.
How are we even speculating something with a Q3 release when the buyout hasn't even happened yet, and won't happen until this summer?
Maybe Palm has something already? You can't honestly think that HP wouldn't want to test the hell out of it for some time before letting a product they had no work in be released. Look how long they were working on the Slate. Granted they had to write a lot of software for it, but it was still in development for some time. The closest release date I'd see would be Q4, like Christmas. Even that may be pushing it. HP isn't going to want to go in easy like the failed release of the Pre. They'll want to pump a lot of R&D into their "iPad killer" before releasing a half-assed product (see HP Slate).
Dumb speculation IMO. And don't get your hopes up, I just honestly don't see this happening so soon when the acquisition won't happen for some time.
I want one!!
Too soon. And the Palm brand cannot suffer another flop. If I were HP I'd take my time and get it right out of the gate.
You are assuming that they haven't been working on something for the past year... How do you think HP got the idea to buy Palm?
I doubt Palm has been working with HP on a non-phone. Rubenstein took great pains to say (numerous times) that they were focusing on their two devices -- the Pre and the Pixi. I'm sure HP had other plans for WebOS, but that doesn't mean that Palm was going in that direction before the buyout.
While Palm can't afford another flop they also don't have unlimited time. Android is fast causing WebOS to become irrelevant. Blackberry is coming out with a much more user friendly interface with way better eye candy. Windows Mobile has finally gotten its **** together, and Apple...well Apple is Apple. Same crap, different date with minor updates.
If Palm waits another 6-8 months...really. The only people who care about Palm at this point are hardcore fans and geeks. I'm getting plenty of people who thought that Palm went out of business years ago and no one I know, knows of the Pre.
oops, meant to reply to kkhanmd...
Unless HP changes Palm's strategy in a major way - and I don't think they will - I don't think that either your Pre or any webOS tablet will sync with anything other than the cloud. Since all other major smart device OS still favors the old-fashioned "plug a cable into it and use your computer" approach, using an entirely cloud-based approach like Palm has tried to seems like the best way to set yourself apart from the competition. Palm alone didn't have the assets to make it work perfectly in the first year. Then again, nothing ever really does in its first year. With HP's backing, the idea might just come to full fruition pretty soon.
So, if you're signed into the same Palm profile and (for example) google account on both your webOS phone and tablet, I guess you could say they're synced. But I'm not expecting them to take a step back and reintroduce cables to do that. I hope the few old-fashioned voices clamoring for cable-bound syncing now (the same types that required a guy with a red flag to walk in front of new-fangled, probably dangerous so-called "motorcars") don't cause Palm to stop the innovation that they are on the bleeding edge of. Or cause HP to make their Palm division stop it.
This sounds great. Download something on tablet, sync to cloud, sync pre and voila its on pre as well. What we do need is ability to look into cloud and have multiple back up points in the cloud.
... and not require a Palm/HP-made device to access it.
Surely Palm had a webOS tablet in development already, just not the funds to run with it. Melding theirs and HP's R&D in anticipation of the merger would seem logical so HP can hit the ground running to carve out a share of the tablet market now that Apple has opened the door. With AT&T getting the Pre Plus to appeal to the anti-Mac crowd, and if they market it better than Verizon did, who knows but that a webOS tablet using Mobile Hotspot from Pre's could make it a better and more affordable choice for the masses than the iPad. One question though: Is lack of Flash going to continue to be an issue?
I say there is only room for one major tablet, just like there has been only room for one major MP3 player and one major smartphone.
Frankly, while I love Palm's work today, I don't have much confidence in their ability to make a popular product. So, a flop seems inevitable, be it in 2010 or 2015.
That doesn't mean I won't buy it, and own the best tablet in the world, niche or otherwise ^_^
it's coming time for Apple to finally start losing it's ground. It's customers are starting to lose interest in the brand and their gestapo attitudes when it comes to how they run things. The only problem is they need a decent company to release smething. It may be coming soon with HP.
what I find ironic is Apple made this huge splash in the 80s with this commercial that played during the superbowl. It was a mock up of a scene out of the movie "1984". The commercial focused on the point at the time this company IBM was the main power in the computer world. How IBM called the shots and pretty much set the pace for the computing world. Everyone listened to IBM, did what they said and based their products around IBMs vision of the computing world.
in that commercial everyone was dressed in the same drab gray clothes and some lone person dressed in brighter colors was running through the crowd and set free everyone from IBM.. That person represented Apple.
at the time they were a small company no one thought anything about. Your classic david and goliath story but they were wanting to set everyone free from IBMs grip.
What I find ironic is fast forward some Twenty-some years later and now it's Apple that is playing the role of IBM from the 80s. We need a new lone runner to set the majority of these people free from the grips of a technology dictatorship. Will it be Palm, HP, Dell or some other company? Only time will tell. However a good WebOS tablet under HPs company might be a good start to wake people up to Palm and HP and away from the Apple Gestapo...
I'm just saying...
Surely Palm had a webOS tablet in development already, just not the funds to run with it. Melding theirs and HP's R&D in anticipation of the merger would seem logical so HP can hit the ground running to carve out a share of the tablet market now that Apple has opened the door. With AT&T getting the Pre Plus to appeal to the anti-Mac crowd, and if they market it better than Verizon did, who knows but that a webOS tablet using Mobile Hotspot from Pre's could make it a better and more affordable choice for the masses than the iPad. One question though: Is lack of Flash going to continue to be an issue?
Palm is a small company, I don't think they would have had much in tablet development other than pre-planning stages maybe. They needed to focus on getting WebOS up to par honestly, and something better than the Pre. If they don't have new smartphone hardware by years end, they will lose ground no matter how much HP helps them along.
Another possible thought is they had x86 code running alongside ARM development, or at least started it. Again, Palm's small size would indicate otherwise.
Best guess, Palm and HP are going to announce something Q3 based on what they hope to bring to the table. Hopefully it's a new phone design Palm was working on, aka "C40" and HP will pump manufacturing. And at the same time, confirm HP is looking to swap Slate to an ARM system for now.
I don't believe it. That way I won't get dissapointed when it doesn't come. After CES 2011 is more believable. I also think that a webos powered tablet would make webos a more recognizable OS, which in turn would make more people look into buying Webos powered phones.
imagine using a total google based tablet with no royalties, viruses or malware.
hello serious chromeos competitor as well!!
let's just wait and hope they get it right first time...
I may be overly optimistic, but if HP already had the hardware, I think it's entirely possible. According to what I heard in one of the dev day presentations and what I've seen of the code myself, almost all the user interface is handled by webkit. I think the statement was that only the launch bar is not rendered by the browser. We all know that webkit and v8 run just fine on a variety of hardware, so my guess is that the technical issues with porting it would be fairly limited. Perhaps most notably around whatever 3D chip is in the new hardware.
The bigger issues might be what happens to existing apps when shown on a bigger screen, and what UI adjustments might they want to make to better leverage the bigger screen. But that's decision making, not problem solving.
I'm looking forward to it--not because I necessarily think tablets are fundamentally more useful than the alternatives, but because it sounds way cool to have WebOS on a bigger screen!
ok people lets think about this. First off months ago Rubi made loose comments about a tablet. Then Palm started a mobile division.. Not phone but mobile. Now this guy used to work where? Oh ya the kings of secrecy unless someone leaves a test unit on a barstool..Apple. Palm probally has some things in the pipeline that Rubi has kept Apple type tight lipped about.. C40 anyone? It would not surprise me if they already had a prototype of a tablet made and being tested by R&D dept. They were probally in the last phase of testing but lacked the funds to actually mass produce. HP comes in sees this machine plus WebOS and probally about messed themselves. Hence the outta left field purchase and no explanation killing of the Slate. When is anyone around here going to think business politics? And in this field of mobile technology secrets are of up most importance. Like why would Palm release info about a new smartphone a couple months early? First it would mess up the AT&T debut. Second it would give Apple time to do last minute tweaks to the new iphone to counter what their ex-employees at Palm were up to. Not to mention gives HTC a heads up on what to counter with the EVO and last second adjustments. That was one of the things that hurt the Palm Pre being announced at CES. Doesn't anyone remember when the release came Apple held off on an update to the iphone and any announcements of the 3GS? They were waiting to see what was up with the Pre first seeing Palm was not letting anyone unsupervised with the phone before release date. In this crazy mobile technology time last minute suprises are what's going to get you ahead because of how fast things are going. It's like a good o fashioned street race. You see the shiny sports car with all the options and frilly b.s... Outta nowhere you see this decent looking car that looks really nice but also looks like a stock 4cylinder dodge neon come up to the line to race him. The flag drops and at first the shiny fancy car takes off halfway down the track you hear the engine in the decent car make some kind of weird noise the wheels squeel and the decent car out of nowhere blows right past the fancy car like it's sitting still. At the finish line that normal car is waiting for Mr. Fancy to cross and that's when we look under the hood of the decent car and find out that guy was running twin turbos with NOS injection. He won cause he didn't brag what he had. He kept it secret and caught his competition with his pants down. That's a street sleeper.. And that's what kind of business it looks like Rubi is doing. Cause he looks too damn calm and confident like he knows he has somethings that's going to catch Apple and Android with their pants down pass them up like they were sitting still and wait for them at the finish line with that smirk of his and tell them "wow that was a fun race". But hey I'm just saying...
Usually I don't read really long comments, but this one left me wanting more! Nice writing style with smart insight.
hey thanks rlopin. I used to write articles for a online web fan page. Sometimes I get wordy but in cases like this you have to be to make a point otherwise it's a back and forth convo explaining things.. So get it all out at one drop in a fun style that's gonna keep peoples attention.. I use humor mixed in. And you get your point across in one swoop.
Did you ever learn how to use paragraphs? I can't even begin to read that...
yes normally I do but I was typing that out and never even realized I rambled on and made it that long. Sorry
There's an edit button. Just looking at that undefined mass of text gives me a headache.
Yeah, lack of paragraph spacing really bothers me too. But I found that the content and flow more than made up for it.
The street racing thing killed it for me. You don't put twin turbos on a 4 cylinder, and NOS is a brand name, not a gas. Sorry to piss on your snowcone, but drag racing is my other hobby ;P
Speaking as someone who knows absolutely nothing about cars or racing, it totally sounded like the perfect analogy to me! :-)
ok badhairguy this makes me chuckle.. Because I work in the highperformance car industry. Not my first job of choice but it's work. I don't believe I'm saying this in a tech forum... But what kind of drag racing are you into? NHRA? Are you an arm chair drag guy?
sorry to piss on your snowcone here but there's a few people putting twin turbs on Mitsubishi Evolution engines oh and have juiced them too. I used the brand name NOS because that's the short version for nitrous oxide. Not to mention most people are more familiar with name NOS thanks to "Fast and Furious" craptaculor movie series.
As for saying NOS injected. I wasn't saying injected like fuel injected. If you really were into drag racing you would know Nitrous doesn't "mysteriously" get into the engine. You have to have these things to put it in their... Yup you need nitrous jets to INJECT nitrous into the system. Which would mean the car would technacally be nitrous (NOS) injected.
if you doubt the twin turbos on a 4cyl go check out A.M.S. (Auto Moto Sports) they quite lierally make the fastest 4CYL in the business. And yes with twin turbos! They made an Evo X Mitsu car that pumps out an astounding 1300+HP...out of a 4cyl. It's interesting how they do it. There's a turbo in each corner of the front of the car almost right in the bumper area.
sorry to piss in your bigblock snowcone..
As a former product manager, I can assure everyone that this is a very agressive development schedule for a large corporation like HP. Fortunately, Palm probably doesn't yet have all of the hangups of the larger corporation. Also, I suspect they may have been working on this with HP before the link-up. Perhaps this is even part of the reason for HPs interest in Palm.
Hopefully, this one is true and also the app development teams get on board quickly to provide some truly awsome software!
I'm not believing this myself.
The buyout won't even be complete until July.
Also, rushing this out the door would be a bad idea.
Hi, All,
HP doesn't have to OWN Palm to have this released in Q3, after all it could be a license arrangement. I find this great news and it really is not a surprise to any of us!
Take care, Jay
Excellent point.
idk, cool idea but the sources track record is suspect and the time line seems impossible. Cool news though....
quoting the Examiner as a source? Especially that guy??
It's WebOS on a slate... It's not like they have to create a new OS. If Webos was made to scale all you need is hardware that kicks ass and you have a tablet.
I am pretty sure Palm already had a roadmap in place to develop a webOS tablet somewhere down the line, may be even prototype, which could have been one of the reasons that convinced HP to buy Palm. May be it's wishful thinking but I'm excited nonetheless at the prospect of a webOS tablet. I would most certainly buy it.
My only concern is that I hope it doesn't get rushed. Any webOS tablet needs to make a great first impression if it's going to compete with the iFad. As good as the webOS is, the hardware also needs to slick, solid and trump the iFad in every way possible, like including front facing camera for video conferencing, microSD slot, full cloud connectivity with the Pre/Pixi and so on. You bet the next iFad will have a camera. Hell Apple probably excluded it just so they can release another miniscule upgrade in six months to sell a shit ton more of units. So HP/Palm must anticipate any such move by Apple.
As far as I know, webOS does not support any type of office suite software.
To have a tablet without any form of word processing or spreadsheet capabilites would seem strange to me.
I'm thinking this rumor is garbage.
You are right. A big company like HP could never write a program in four months. It takes 5-10 years to write a program. A program is something that big companies aren't used to doing.
WebOS doesn't support any kind of office software at the moment, but that could change quickly. The WebOS-Internals crowd's already got OpenOffice running on WebOS. With a little bit of work, it could serve as the WebOS office suite just fine. And it makes a lot of sense for it to happen on a tablet.
Am I the only one who thinks that (if done well) this might be the big break for webOS? If people see how intuitive and wonderful this is, people will go for webOS phones as well!
I am nothing but excited about this!
I doubt we will see a tablet anytime soon webos is still way to young the fact that there's no office doc support or even a virtual keyboard for that matter and the fact that the app catalog is a joke filled with paid homebrew apps and a few iphone ported games that cost more or even geting the screen to scroll while you type makes me wonder why anyone would even think about buying a big ass headach like that.Maybe next year but deff not this year
I doubt we will see a tablet anytime soon webos is still way to young the fact that there's no office doc support or even a virtual keyboard for that matter and the fact that the app catalog is a joke filled with paid homebrew apps and a few iphone ported games that cost more or even geting the screen to scroll while you type makes me wonder why anyone would even think about buying a big ass headach like that.Maybe next year but deff not this year
we can all thank data viz for the lack of doc app. Which is like a slap in the face of Palm because they were the ones that put Data Viz on the map. Now they are too busy being concerned with making stuff for Android and Apple. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple gave DataViz an ultimatum... Not like Steve Jobs hasn't done dictator stuff like that in the past.. Oh wait he's doing it now and being investigated under antitrust laws.
as for a virtual keyboard well there is one in the patch catalog that just needs some bugs worked out of it. If Palm has already been working on a tablet and already made a test unit they probally already been working on de-bugging the various onscreen keyboards avaiable in both the app catalog and the homebrew patch network.
and as for the app catalog being a joke.. Have you looked at Android or Apples app catalog? I wanna say 3/4 of both their catalogs are jokes... Come on an app to put a beer mug on your screen and empties out as you tip your phone... Oh wait the best is the Zippo app where you flip open the Zippo and flick the screen to light the flame.. We need that app. Flick the phone open to open the zippo and then flick the screen.. Ha ha
bottom line every OS has it's flaws.. From Apples lack of true multitasking and super propietary gestapo stuff, Androids awesome fragmented OS that's making developers worried to designing apps for cause what will work on 1 or 2 phones might not work on the other Android devices which gives them bad reviews, RIMs nothing but business OS whos browser stinks like my socks after a hot summers afternoon working to Palms young OS that's still maturing has some little bugs and a weird learning curve because it does so much at the same time, lack of exchange email and doc editing.. It's all about what is best for you and what you need a smartphone for. Apps don't mean squat.. Don't be an App zombie.. Just because a company may have 20,000, 200,000 or even 2,000,000 apps doesn't mean squat if all you ever download and ACTUALLY use more then a couple times is like a dozen apps. Great I got wordy again... Gotta lay off the coffee
I look at the webOS catalog and I think what a joke also. The more apps a platform has the better chance it will have quality apps. Still only 2100 apps for webOS. We need more apps.
you have been hyptnotized by the app bug. Lol are you old enough to drink? Odds are the more apps the more quality but come on Androids counting their widgets and misc garbage as apps in their numbers. Apple was making apps before the iphone was even released.
what apps are you wanting besides a doc editor? I bet whatever productive app your looking for is there or in homebrew final testing phase awaiting app catalog aproval. Wait your jelous of the zippo app.. So am I... That's a good quality app!
what I've been saying all along. With HP we'll see a tablet before a new phone which will then be GSM.
Epic, you know the rest ):
Everyone has been wringing their hands about new hardware (me too!) There is no phone rumor. Pre+ & Pixi+ are new on AT&T and some foreign carriers.
The new carriers would not have taken those models without a guarantee that Palm wouldn't trump them with a new handset right away. ex-ATT launches P+'s. 1 month later a new handset comes out on Sprint.
AT&T would have made damn sure that would not happen before they signed the contract.
I think C40 is the tablet. It has been near completion but no budget to release it. Palm hasn't been sitting on their hands for the last year. I think they were finishing up the tablet and working on a new handset. Probably getting some kind of office suite finished for the tablet.
I think HP saw a C40 tablet and tested it. That is why "tablet" slipped out repeatedly when the purchase was announced. It is why HP said they have seen WebOS scaled up and tested it.
HP is giving Palm the confidence to go ahead and spend their remaining cash and launch their already finished C40 tablet. HP already saw it and loved it, so they were confident in their purchase of Palm and in canceling the Slate.
This leak bolsters my theory. I want one whatever it is - new phone or tablet.
If C40 is a tablet, then it is not in competition with the slate. C40 is a carrier-based device on Sprint. The Slate is more of a WiFi.
see someone gets it! Sfhandymman I think your right about 90% of what you said. However the C40 probally is a phone because that was listed on Sprints computers. And various rumors from Sprint people and others keep saying 4G Palm phone. With that said yes you can indeed get AT&T to agree to picking up your device if you don't plan on releasing a new device that will compete with the one you just released on their network... The wording was probally don't release a new "3G" device.. The new Palm would be a "4G" device which technically is not a "direct" competitor to the AT&T device because AT&T will not have 4G capabilities until a while after Sprint does. And the Sprint 4G phones will not be a huge concern for AT&T because the WiMax that Sprints using may be starting months before LTE (my guess LTE will be ready 6mths later)but still the 4G will only be available to limited areas. Which means only those areas will be able to access the WiMax phones like HTC EVO or a 4G Palm device so no big worry on losing Palm sales to new hardware. Because if 4G was the reason AT&T loses customers it will happen anyways even if Palm doesn't have a 4G device released and there is nothing AT&T can do about it... They don't have 4G...yet. So it's of no relivence to AT&T or any other global provider if Palm releases new hardware on Sprints WiMax 4G network. It would be different if Palm was releasing a new 3G phone.. Then there would be a conflict. Yet AT&T and Palm probally also agreed to wait at least 3weeks to a month before they announce a 4G Palm phone completely re-designed hardware as so not to overshadow the AT&T launch which would make a hella lot of sense.
edit: somehow, triple post.
edit: somehow, triple post.
The Pre took so long to be released so they could test the OS. The hardware was already designed.
This tablet is already designed. So what's the big deal about slapping on a matured operating system on and sell it in four months?
And what's the big deal of HP pulling strings to get word processing on WebOS? They know it's the weak link on WebOS.
And why would Palm be hiring so much, so quickly if they weren't on a time table?
C40 has been in inventory way to long to be a device.
It's a demo or something along those lines.
Why would Sprint have an unreleased phone in inventory for this long?
Makes no sense at all to me at least.
Hope I'm wrong at we get something killer.
You're right. If it is a real device, it's gotta be old technology by now.
Sprint doesn't have it in inventory yet. It just listed in the database. You have to go through proper channels to release a cell phone in the states. FCC b.s. And all that United States legal stuff. There probally is a legal reason it had to be listed before Sprint gets even a test phone. And it's probally a clever marketing reason it was listed out in the open like that... Once again I said it before Rubi is ex-apple he knows a thing or two about hype. He's not dumb he knows the tech geeks look for things like a "mysterious" add of an even more "mysterious" device on a service providers computer system. And it's working he doesn't have to announce a new device we are doing all the hype for him on rumors, talk and speculations.... And that kind of hype is free! I heard an Apple fan boy even mutter the letters C40 when discussing Palms fate being really curious what it was and kind of excited to see what the big secret is around this number. That's smart if that was made public on purpose. Keeps tech geeks from all platforms peeking at Palm and waiting for the news of what C40 is. And obviously peaked HPs attention enough to see what Palm was up to and make a outta left field purchase before someone like I dunno Cisco or another competitor bought Palm leaving HP in the dust. I'll wait... I just have a sneaky feeling it's gonna be worth waiting for..
prime example.. We knew the release dates within a day or two for Verizon and now we have a strong guess May16 is the AT&T release date.. Hows that? Cause tech guys went looking as far as FCC documents for dates. Palm knows this they are not blind cause they're employees are tech geeks probally reading this stuff for entertainment to see what their fans are speculating. They're letting us do most the work for them in the hype department. And it's obvious we have a strong community after we shown support and won the Laptop magazines march madness competition.
Wow! I have absolutely no need for this device, but I'll still have a preorder in as soon as it's available.
I think it'd be worth it just to show the few people I know with an iPad how useless and dumb of a device it really is.
i think thatd be friggin yes.
palm+hp=ftw!
Ugh, do not want a giant iPod Touch...
but itd truly be more than that. itd me able to multitask, itll truly be a useful tablet..
REALITY CHECK - What, exactly, is the HP/Palm webOS tablet going to do significantly better than the iPad? Tablets like the Joo Joo, HP Slate, and MS Courier are dropping left and right because they can't answer this question in a definitive way. The webOS UI isn't going to be any more of an advantage on a tablet than it is on a smartphone. The iPad will be multitasking by this Fall with iPhone OS 4. Moreover, there isn't going to be any carrier preference from people tied to contracts. The iPad already has twice as many custom apps as the exist for webOS.
Unless a webOS tablet can come in significantly faster, responsive, more capable or cheaper than an iPad, why would anyone choose it? A webOS tablet is going to have to find a niche separate from the general consumer market of the iPad. That means finding some major capabilities real quick.
Totally x-treme truth.
iPhone OS 4.0 STILL doesn't have real multitasking.
reality check that new apple os is not multitasking at all.. All it is simply is a new menu added showing the last few programs you have used and allows you to jump back to them. When you leave one program to goto another it still shuts down the program and saves your spot instead of having it run in the background. Just like it does now.
it just makes it easier to find your last couple apps run so you don't have to fip through your for pages of app icons like your zippo app to find the app you want to go back to.
Reality check. NOBODY CARES!!
Over 85 million iPhone and iPod touch users, and over 1 million iPad users and counting do not care that there is no true multitasking.
When the new iPhone OS comes out that does allow Apple's version on multitasking, it will be good enough and people will like it. Why? Because as Apple always does, they make sure it will work seamlessly, while at the same time not destroying battery life.
Lets step into the real world. You're setting there using your Palm Pre and I'm setting there using my iPhone with the new version that allows multitasking. Were both doing whatever on our phones going back and forth using different apps, etc. Do you really think the difference between both our experiences is going to be so mind altering that I'm going to get so upset that I'm going to run to a Palm Pre because the Palm Pre has TRUE multitasking, versus the way Apple did it? No. And you know what? 99.9% of consumers will not care either.
But, I will tell you what they will care about. That awesome iPhone ecosystem. Like being able to go into Best Buy and seeing the huge selection of cases available for the iPhone vs Pre. They will care about when they go to Target and see all the different clock radios that have the dock for the iPhone vs the Pre. No matter what car they drive, they know that there is a car kit for their iPhone vs the Pre. If they need to find any app for their iPhone, they know in that huge App store, they can find it vs the Pre. If they buy home gym equipment they know they can find products that will have a dock for the iPhone vs the Pre. If they fly on an airline that has a dock, guess which product it is for vs. the Pre. That's what CONSUMERS care about.
Come up with something else that the Pre does better than the iPhone and does it in a way that anybody without a doubt will know that the Pre really does do it better than the iPhone.
Bottom line, dude, in the real world no one cares that the Pre has true multitasking vs. the iPhone. The dismal sales results show that through and through.
steve jobs subliminally told you to say that.. Hey if there was an apple logo on a small car would you buy it and defend how awesome it is? If so my buddy I'd trying to sell his ford pinto with a apple sticker in the back window.... Have fun in your apple socialist party with your propietary software.... I will enjoy my freedom!
Most people don't want 10000 apps... But they do want a few good apps they can use. WEBOS is getting there quickly with usabe apps that people want..... WebOS doesn't want "I-Whiners".... So they will settle for a component of the remaining 150 million users looking for Real Multitasking & Real Synergy apps.. Just you wait & see.. No hurry now as we have lots of $$ and resources behind Palm...YES!
mmmmm.... Reality Check this.... OS4 doen't multi task !!!!
iPad is not the focus as hard as that is to understand for a lot of people.... Strong OS Tablets are the future which doesn't include any offering from Apple at this point !
No iPhone interface will even compete with the power of HP's experience with Microsoft or Palms Web OS
iPad is a nice toy....
What ever HPalm bring to the table will be a buisness device with high sex appeal ! The apple goo will always be around...
Meh. iPhone OS will multitask in the same way Windows Phone 7 does it. Its not multitasking in the sense that you can have your GPS app running while you bring up your browser.
The tablet still has to go on a phone network. I'm sure it won't be WiFi only. The carriers know we can hack tethering onto the Pre pretty easily. If they are going to supply data for the tablet they will want to be paid separately.
They don't have to list it on a separate sheet of paper. There probably isn't even a code in carrier's software to indicate tablet (well maybe now). It would just show up listed with the phones.
It better be Sprint 4G capable!
just wanted to point out, that the version of webos running on the emulator is in fact compiled against x86, so the processors architecture woultn
My guess is that we are going to be surprised by any product that'll be coming out with webOS if the deal with HP will go through.
It seems that they know the potential of the system and now it is only about to be wise in how to use it to get into the top 3 systems on the market.
We have seen ONE year of the system of a TEN year cycle...so let's be patient.
If Hard-and software will work closely tight...it'll be alright. 3G, 4G, tablet, slider, no keyboard...and apps all over the place...front facing camera and all the mojo...
If you look at this from Palm's side, it does not make sense. But from HP's point of view, it does. HP has been working on Tablets for years. They have the hardware ready to go. They have the resources to get WebOS working on their existing hardware or making changes on the spot to get it ready. The tablets will start rolling off the line soon after the buyout goes through. If HP is going to spend the money they want to get a return on their investment ASAP. Plus what better way to hype the buyout then to blow the iPad out of the water the first day.
I would like to see a HP Hurricane (WebOS-Tablet with WiFi, SD-Card, Office Editing and Flash, just to name a few essentials) as well as a Palm Pad (WebOS-Tablet as described before). From my point of view cellular function would not be necessary as one could use WiFi, especially over the Palm Mobile Hotspot. And how about a Palm Phoenix (aka C40 with some high end hardware specifications as faster processor, larger screen estate and 4G) and a Palm Classic (Palm Pre without cellular).
palm classic?, so it would be kinda like an ipod touch but will include palm os classic with all the old apps no cellular but will include skype just in case, front facing camera for video chat, 64gb for music, videos & apps! Sweet idea!
if palm doesnt release a 4g phone soon i will be so pist
As a poster noted above, what will this do differently from the MaxiPad? What's more what does a MaxiPad or any tablet, do better than a netbook? Answer: Nothing. I wish HPalm the best in this, but I simply don't see the tablet market really going anywhere other than as a small niche.
It won't replace smartphones, they're far too portable and you'll never get a tablet in your pocket, it wouldn't be a tablet then. If you're going to carry around a tablet, you may as well carry around a netbook which has exponentially more functionality.
ok I own a netbook and yes you are correct about it being more useful then a tablet.
however I had a chance to use a friends ipad and as retarded as I thought it was it worked great as a e-book reader, web browser and multimedia machine. Also would be easier to use in tight areas like trains, airplanes or waiting rooms.
you don't have to open it up, then power it up or wait for it to cycle out of hybernation mode. Wait for things to get booted up etc. By the time my netbook powered up and was ready to go my buddy was already using his ipad because he just tapped a button and it was ready.
I looked and thought "if only it was WebOS" so ya I can see a use for a tablet computing system with a mobile browser. Especially in the medical field such as hospitals. The possibilities are endless cause the doctor would carry one like he does file folders but instead of a whole pile of folders he can carry just a tablet because his tablet would just be linked to the hospitals network and he can pull down info on patients right there and have other apps running like an app with visuals so he can better explain to a patient what's going on while showing the patient where the pain is stemming from like muscles and tendants...
If you read my post (below). I think it'll go further than that. With WebOS is all about the "Cloud". HP will be able to make it so that all of the computers at a hospital/corporation will be running WebOS (aside for the few needed for specialized applications). Everything from the thin-client a receptionist uses for scheduling to the tablet a doctor uses for charts, to the smart phone in one's pocket. They will all have access to the same resources and (while interfaces will need some tweaking) the same applications; everything will be synced. It's a cool concept to think about especially when (I am a medical student so have experienced this) hospital IT can be quite fragmented.
What you're describing is still a device filling a small niche. I work in healthcare facility design and there is still HUGE resistance to the digitization of records every time it comes up. People simply don't trust that the data is secure or isn't going to get lost.
As for e-readers.... Two words... eye strain. Reading for hours off of a backlit screen is terrible for your eyes. That's what makes units like the kindle great.
i'm telling you my theory on these two companies is on the money....they've been talking for months prior to this merger and this was the plan all along !
Go Palm !
This TAB is gonna be the BIZ !
I don't think HP intends to go against Apple directly. While HP's consumer division does make money, HP has an even larger stake in the enterprise market. You can have HP come in, set up whatever servers (or use of ones remotely hosted by HP)/computers/networking equipment your corporation needs as well as well as manage whatever software your business requires (databases, collaborative tools, cloud computing, websites, etc.).
So even if every consumer buys an iPad, Palm/HP can do just fine. Why? because Apple doesn't offer what HP does to the corporate world (Apple's non-education enterprise services are a bit of a joke, and only cover computers, not networking/cloud services). With this is the fact that WebOS is highly flexible. We already have a WebOS smart phone, will soon have a WebOS tablet, and there is no reason there cannot be WebOS thin-clients (remember that WebOS is all about the "cloud" as is HP) that could meet the demands of a large section of the corporate world (you don't need much other than document editing/email to do most jobs).
So in foreseeable future HP will be able to go to any medium/large company, set them up with cheap "cloud based" services and provide them with a whole range of computing devices that all run WebOS. Imagine how much easier it will be if every device runs the same OS/has a quasi integrated UI? No more will IT people have to deal with Blackberries/iPhones for phones, iPads for tablets, and windows for desktops. With this how awesome would it be to have all your devices tied into one account so that anything done on your tablet is immediately available on your smart phone or accessible from a think-client workstation? HP will offer complete integration that will be able to work for even the dimmest office drone.
If HP is smart they should be able to completely dominate the corporate use of tablets/smart phones as they are the only company really poised to offer a top to bottom solution. I can see hospitals being all over this as they really hate having to support multiple mobile devices as well as the various desktop OS's people like to use.
Given WebOS will need some improvements to make this happen. Most notably, document editing and VPN support, but, with HP's resources this should be hard to do. It'll be very interesting to see how on the ball HP is and if they can get things rolled out quickly.
See this link to get an idea what to get an idea what HP could do.
I work at a managed services provider who already rolls out thin-client solutions for businesses. We centralize servers in a data center and offer software as a service.
This approach is the future for businesses, and HP is a huge player in this space. The ability to use webOS as a cloud OS is going to be a huge advantage as they continue to streamline businesses' IT in the future.
On that note it it telling that palm is being integrated into the "Software and Solutions division" not Palm, not smartphone or anything else they could name it. While I am sure they'll make excellent smart phone, I do believe "solutions" in the form of cloud-based WebOS will be a big part of their strategy.
This actually has some merit. If properly fashioned this could kill those two birds (RIM and APPLE) with that proverbial stone (Pre2 anyone). All wrapped up in a nice functioning package.
I just want to see the Touchstone for this thing.
What great news! Oh, I hope they do a terrific job with this and get the press and purchases they deserve. I'd be in line for a well-executed webOS tablet!
Also, no matter what Palm/HP does next, whether it's a new WebOS tablet, phone, or toaster, it needs to be a solid product DAY 1. With the Pre, they had a bit of a rough start, although some of it wasn't Palm's fault, but at this point they need to execute well. In summation, DON'T RUSH A POORLY MADE PRODUCT OUT. TAKE YOUR TIME. I'll be here when you're finished.
HP has such a wide distribution network and its success will mainly depend on whether HP:
tweeks webOS and makes it ready for primetime (No Lag):
puts out a whole line of sexy, full-featured webOS products (Tablets, Netbooks, Phones, MP3 Players, TVs, etc) :
extends battery life for webOS:
strengthens and expands it's synergy feature:
includes USB 3.0/HDMI type connections
develops a propriety interface/portal with;
a fresh clean look for data/files syncing which makes use of it's further improved, unprecedented multitasking support
includes multimedia partnerships (Like Amazon books, music, and videos.)
adding social network profiles so that "members" can make media suggestions/recommendations and build (HP Palm) relationships (I call it webOSync)
a barrage of marketing campaigns.
Lastly, there is a market that HP will tap into which cannot be underestimated. As for developers, they will come to webOS because no company is content with how much business they currnetly have, they are always looking for growth and profits. However, HP cannot rest on this and must formulated a plan with a goal of 20,000 apps by the inception of their first product line. HP was and is well aware of what they need to go forth with in order to be a major player in the Digital Technology Business of the Future. And, the future will include webOS.
With HP backing it, I'd be inclined to seriously consider a tablet. It would be nice to have something you could use in the kitchen that would be more impervious to spills than a laptop. Would also like to see better battery life than a typical laptop/tablet.
Here is what would sell it for me.
1. Reasonable price vs. netbook...$250-$400.
2. Jack stand built in, so it can be propped up.
3. Capacitive screen.
4. 6-10 hour web surfing battery life.
5. User replaceable battery.
6. Works with flash websites. The less proprietary the better.
7. At least 1024 resolution. Websites need that nowadays.
Some other nice pluses would be...
1. Memory card expansion.
2. Available USB ports for plug-ins, like keyboard, external HD.
3. Bluetooth.
4. Rear facing camera for video conferencing.
5. Printer drivers
I'm actually not surpised. HP doesn't have time to wait till they own Palm or Apple will be too far ahead.
Palm and HP probably reached an agreement that HP pays Palm to begin or increase development of software/hardware for the HP tablet. Perhaps with some HP developers assisting. They probably decided on some kind of exit strategy regarding the developed technology in the slight chance this deal doesn't go through.
All I know is I want a tablet in the HP slate form factor so I can create a stand for the tablet. Mmmmm 7" GPS unit with Google Maps.
This is off the hook awesome! I agree with maxmin, they probably came up with an agreement to give some money to help them make a tablet.
Who knows how long HP has been talking to Palm? Maybe HP made their Windows tablet easily interchangeable with WebOS in case the deal went through. "We want Palm, so lets make sure that WebOS works with this tablet as well as with WinMo in case the deal doesn't go through". If they did this it would be smart because they're covering all bases.