Staples super excited about tablets, lists TouchPad as 'coming soon;' Update: they're guessing $499 25
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 4:12 pm EDT
We all know that the webOS-powered HP TouchPad tablet is unlikely to land before June, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t excited for that time come summer. Similarly, Staples is excited, and it’s not just because they’re finally getting into the tablet sales market. Staples’ details on the tablet are pretty light, and they’re looking forward to the release merely as “coming soon.” We supposed 2-3 months is soon in the cosmic sense.
Once the TouchPad lands it’ll have plenty of company on the shelves at Staples. The office supply super store already has the Motorola Xoom available, and expects to have the 7-inch Dell Streak and BlackBerry PlayBook available in the next month. The only other “coming soon” tablet is the very descriptively-named Toshiba Tablet. So that’s three Android tablets, one that runs Android apps, and the TouchPad. Sounds like the makings of a bad sitcom to us, though we have to wonder how the Apple iPad didn’t find its way onto Staples’ shelves...
Update: John emailed in to let us know he hit up the source code on the source link below and found some commented out code in an HTML span called "z_product_price" with a price of $499.98. Thanks!
Source: Staples; Via: Tablets Planet; Thanks to atikayo for the tip!
25 Comments
There's been a lot of discussion on the boards about whether HP should be messing with tablets when there's so much that needs to happen on the phone front.
But something about this Staples listing made me think that there's a lot of wisdom going into the tablet world in terms of getting WebOS in front of a lot of people.
If the tech people at a place like Staples (who seem to have time enough to mess with various devices and to develop opinions on them as a result) find WebOS easy and/or fun to demo, it presents an opportunity for lots of consumers who never bothered with Sprint phones to get their very first look at the OS in a large, shiny form factor.
Then if the rep drops in, "Yeah, their phones use the exact same thing . . . and you can tap them together to share . . . and . . . "
I think this is going to mean a lot of exposure for the OS.
I can definitely see that happening. Hopefully they release the Pre 3 at the same time, but then the Veer should do it as well. Hopefully they release the Veer this spring...
HP needs to put more resources into webOS if they want it to really be successful. I know there are a lot of fans of the smaller form factor but small is out, big is in. That's not an opinion, it was reported by a couple of news sites. I think HP went in the right direction with the Pre 3 but stepped backward with the Veer.
They need to focus on gaining mindshare rather than quick analysis of the market. There is a market for small smartphones so they make the Veer? They should do better analysis of the market and realize that larger smartphones are the new trend. Instead of the Veer they should have made a 4+ inch phone along with the Pre 3. Jon is a good visionary but not a good market analyst.
http://www.webpronews.com/large-screen-phones-preferred-by-more-consumer...
You are so right on in your analysis. A slate 4inch phone is needed. That would make webOS stand out in, a nice phone that one can manage.
Would it, or would it just make the webOS slab phone just more static in a market flooded with slab phones?
Is the rise in sales of 4in phones an effect on consumer demand, or an effect of phone manufacturers only selling phones of that size? We'll see when the Veer lands.
I won't buy a 4 inch slate phone. I want small.
Congrats, then you already have an option. HP putting out a 4" slate will not take away your option to buy a smaller form factor.
What the **** is your point?
What was the point of saying HP needs a slab phone in a tablet article?
Good question Homer. You are the one that brought up phones in the first place. I was just responding to your comment. Doh!!!
And just so you know, manufacturers ARE making smaller phones, they just aren't selling as well as bigger ones. Doh!!!
Dee-dee Dee
Tablets are, correction IS, the next craze in computing platforms and webOS needs to get in it ASAP before Google floods it to death.
One thing for sure just looking at the picture, the TouchPad looks so much more appealing than the other two devices.
I just couldn't help myself from laughing when Staples is described as "Super excited". Lame man.
If you go back over the last decade you would know that Staples has carried the majority of Palm's product. Hell, I bought my Palm m515 back in 2002 there and my Tungsten T3 there as well in 2004. Good times.
They also love carrying HP products as well, be they laptops, desktops, or printers.
Still waiting, waiting, waiting......
Sweet, they updated the post with my finding of the price.
Yeah if anyone wants to take a look at the source and see for themselves, it's about halfway down, and right above it is a big text paragraph with the TouchPad's description. Then the next line is this:
$499.98 -->
(changed it up a bit so this site wouldn't interpret it as code)
And that's right above where the "Coming Soon" icon currently is.
Okay, can't get it to display properly without the site thinking I'm inserting code, but just take a look at the source if you want to see it.
Are the original launch day Pre- owners going to spend money on this? I wont. I want a phone. If I get a tablet, (big if here) it wont be until after at least another year for the tech to work itself out.
Weird, I was just in there earlier today. They were setting up a Xoom.
And I was the only one in the store, at 5:30pm... Now I know where to go if I don't want to wait in line for my TP! *sarcasm*
Not really any new news. Coming soon is just as equivalent as "Planned Availability".
But the $499.98 commented out does offer more confirmation of the baseline price.
its still worthless as it has no apps.....
Keep coding. You can help fix that.
I'm sure Staples would get "super excited" about anything it can sell to make a profit.....
On the Staples page for the Touchpad, it mentions Instant-on access. I hope that means we get really fast boot times from the Touchpad, and hopefully they can improve boot times for the Pre 3 as well.
OMG, watching HP launch these products is like watching a train wrek in slow motion. It's all going wrong and the carnage is inevitable.
A large part of the Ipad success was because the iphone that came before it (huge following), and to that extent the iphone was successfull becuase of the ipod (again, huge customer base).
HP appears to be heading the opposite route. Get WebOS on as many devices as possible, and then "hope" developers come into the fold. Just because it's out there, doesn't mean people are going to use. I would venture to bet that more people have phones than tablets (I know, big assumption). Wouldn't it make MORE SENSE to get more/better phones out there? Tablets are fun and all, but common, everyone has a cell phone.