webOS phones to be branded HP? 118
The man you see at right is Richard Gerstein, SVP of Worldwide Strategy and Marketing for HP's Personal Systems Group.
In other words, he's the point man for answering a question that's been on our mind ever since HP acquired Palm: what's going to happen to the Palm Brand?
Fittingly, Brandweek brings us Gerstein's answer to this question:
BW: Speaking of which, are you going to keep the Palm name?
RG: Clearly, what we’ve announced is that it will be branded HP. It will HP computers and phones. We are still working through the role of the the Palm name after that.
We think we speak for Palm fans everywhere when we say "Ruh-roh Raggy." Although it's fallen on hard times more than once in its long life, the Palm brand still says "smartphone" to us and, well, we're fond of it. We had been hoping that phones and slates would get "Palm" and netbooks and printers would get "HP," but if Gerstein is speaking accurately then, well, we suspect that the Palm brand is going to go to the same limbo zone that Voodoo brand did: there, but not as prominent as old school hardware fanatics might like.
Also, not to pick nits, but we're been keeping a darn close eye on on what HP/Palm has announced and to say that "Clearly, what we've announced is that it will be branded HP" um, "clearly" isn't true.
Gerstein also reiterated that HP will bring a "Web OS-based [sic] Slate device for the consumer side" next year. Finally, in terms of players who can offer total "ecosystems," Gerstein believes there's only room for two-to-four players. One of those players is Apple, Gerstein clearly thinks HP is going to be on that list as well.
118 Comments
not cool
I think the world would benefit if H/P would make webOS tablets and phones and brand them as H/P and give multiple tablets and phones a year. While Palm can make superphone and supertablets and Brand them as H/P's Palm. Palm make one device a year, while H/P make multiple devices or spec bumps and keep both names with H/P on them.
H/P also need to distinguish themselves by giving people free cloud storage and seemless integration btw phones and other webOS gadgets. This is only thing that would help H/P. Better bring webOS TV out soon rather than late.
HP should buyout Boxee and combine it with WebOS for WebOSTV.
Not cool is right. So basically what Gerstein just said is "Ding Dong, Palm Is Dead". I don't think it has the same ring to tell someone that you have an HP Pre. Now I don't feel so bad about leaving Palm for Apple. At least I can tell myself that Palm died so I had no other choice but to move on.
Two to four players means that HP has to knock off: 1)Android, 2)RIM, 3)Microsoft, or all of the above.
So much for Palm running as an independent company within HP. Perhaps the moderators of the PreCentral forum should go through all posts after the merger and auto-replace "Palm" with "HP" so that they will all display the correct terminology.
I'm pretty sure the hole almost insurmountable, following November 8th when WP7 launches. The list of players is, to my mind, best described as:
#1: Symbian -- Getting poor reviews for being outdated, but undoubtedly gaining some steam. Even though it is sure to loose market share, it is equally surely getting better. Symbian^3 is now out, and ain't awful, and Symbian^4 will be out early next year, and will probably be pretty good. Plus, there's finally some good kit at every price point to look forward to in 2010-2011, like the N8, E7, C7, and C6-01.
#2: Blackberry -- Like Symbian, it may be on the way down in terms of market share, but the Torch is a bona fide step up from any other Blackberry to date, and RIM is still posting record quarters.
#3 iPhone -- iPhone may be stagnating, but Apple continues to do well and make advancements on its bread and butter product.
#4 Android -- Fast on the rise and backed by the #2 player in cloud-based technologies, and probably the #1 player in the consumer facing cloud.
#5 Windows Mobile -- Although 6.5 is being retired for a ground-up rewrite, MS has been in the phone business for years. They have the associations with 3rd party manufacturers, and MS has far and away the best and largest development community on the planet, and is leading the march into the cloud with a gusto not seen from this company in...decades?!? MS is clearly playing to win, and still has a lot of ways to lock people into their platform.
#6 webOS -- Great OS with innovations others still haven't matched, but HP does not have a lot of consumer brand power outside of their printers and PCs. Will that translate somehow to the smartphone space?
If there's room for 4, Palm has climb over at least two, not one, of those guys. Not. Gonna. Happen.
That said, I'll stick around for one more device cycle, assuming the cycle starts very, very soon. Unfortunately, it looks like the next cycle may still be half a year away!!!
You're forgetting Meego, which is soon to be another platform wanting attention. But it's really not anywhere at all. But for that matter, Symbian isn't either, at least not in the US.
Actually, I'd lump Meego and Symbian together, since they will share a corporate backer, their cloud infrastructure, and their app catalog. As for Symbian not having a large US presence, who cares, the market is the world.
Pretty good analysis actually. I think that your assessment is fairly spot on. I hope the best for HPalm (since I love the platform), but we'll see. He has a good point about "complete ecosystem". Just about the only two that have done that even remotely properly are Apple and RIM. I'll go into it below:
Apple is still King of the Hill here. I don't really need to go into why and what Palm needs to do.
As far as RIM, Torch is good and PlayBook looks intriguing, but nothing they've done so far seems insurmountable from HP's POV, I think -- especially if the timetable that HP has presented for their new rollouts actually pan out as they have said -- such as the WebTab (my personal name for it) coming out at about the same time as PlayBook.
Google is moving there (and fast, especially once Gingergread -- or whichever one they design for tablets -- drops), but still don't have as much control over their ecosystem, which is their MO, but I wonder if HP can surpass them by providing more tightly controlled integration and user experience. Relatedly, Google is also still hamstrung by the issue that, for lack of a better word, I'll call fragmentation -- which, again is due to their lack of control over their ecosystem.
Nokia is NOT there at all (Ovi Store blows chunks in comparison to just about every other store out there) and Meego is still a ways away from public launch. There is a lot of inertia in their app developer ecosystem, so it comes down to how fast they can get people to embrace developing Qt apps. Also, I haven't seen any concrete plans for a proper tablet (or anything other than a phone) at all, but I may be just ignorant on that front.
WP7 is pretty nascent, though I'm sure that MS has the muscle and drive this time around to fix that fast enough. I will say that Tying in with XBox/Zune is pretty powerful. Very tight integration with Windows and Office is also important and it looks like they're going to be heading in that direction that well enough. Palm and HP have something of a head start here, though.
So, I think that it's definitely doable, but HP has to move fast. They have the opportunity to put WebOS in front of users in a controlled, integrated way at almost all levels of computing from pocket to couch to backpack/suitcase to desktop (well, this is mainly printers, but still, mocking aside, it could be awesome to have WebOS on a multi-function printer) and that kind of integration is nothing to sneeze at. This half-year window of new releases tying into their WebOS strategy that they've given is VERY key. They have to hit their marks.
google tried their hand at making hardware (sorta) and fell flat, microsoft does not make phones either.
in order to provide the full ecosystem, one must be in control of both hardware, software, and the marketplace.
RIM and Apple currently offer this in US, and RIM kinda sucks at it.
Palm by HP.. It's as simple as that
+1
+100
Now your talking! +1000
That's what I was going to say...
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agree
Wait... wait.. so that means that "New Palm Pre 2" shots weve seen lately are fake?... Cause they are branded "Palm"?!!
no, because for fucks sakes, its been mentioned 1000 times already, that the Palm Pre 2 was developed by Palm BEFORE the merger.
How many times does this need to be mentioned?
It doesn't matter when the Pre 2 was developed, Palm/HP can still "brand" it as the HP Pre 2. There's nothing that forces them to stay with the Palm name, it's all ink on the packaging.
It has to be mentioned at least one more time, apparently, because you still don't have it right.
The Pre II was IN development before the merger. The silence and the delay since suggests it was still being worked on. It's a simple thing to swap out a logo, so why didn't they? It's a valid comment.
Before you correct someone, make sure you first have it right. And above all else, be polite.
Who said it? Palm/HP? Point me to an official statement...?
I hope so then that only confirms more phones... If they have to 'explain' new Pre...
I don't think HP wants their DEBUT webos phone to be the Palm Pre 2 because they know it isn't going to sell. I think they are only releasing it for the die hard Palm fans that have been screaming for a new device. They are hoping the Pre 2 will shut them up long enough for the HP super phone to debut mid 2011.
BOO!!! HP is going to screw it up! True, they have a more widely distributed brand than Palm, but Palm's brand, particularly for handheld computing and smartphones is MUCH stronger.
still palm webos at the core. Don't care what the name is honestly. Love palm products and I look forward to future smartphones and tablets.
+1
+1 as long as they keep improveing Webos and bring out kick a$$ hardware.. dont care what they call it..
PixieOS?
Hardware with WebOS that kicks ass.....
....or no hardware because Palm couldn't stay in business on their own?
hmmm..... I think i'd pick existence rather than obscurity.
Stop hanging on a name.
ok lets call the "Apple iPhone" the "Boogerbrain Awesomesauce Phonetastical."
Lets see how well it sells. Marketing is everything.
If the phones are labeled HP it could have an impact on sales and thus the existence of WebOS.
Yes, because the average person doesn't know hp makes phones unless you went to their website. They might be reluctant to get one because people equate hp with making computers/printers and not cellphones...then again its not like Palm has any real recognition with the masses.
news flash: the average person doesn't know that palm makes phones, either. and the average rep at VZW, Sprint, Best Buy, etc will tell you they went out of business.
I think there is value in the palm name, but the HP name has major recognition/value.
Sears sells Craftsman tools as Craftsman tools, or at least Sears Craftsman. Seriously, Dick?Richard? Can I call you Dick? You can brand Palm under HP; it's not only a viable move for this product, but also an action your previous marketing experience with Sears has shown to stay viable.
Dick, you're not grasping the loyalty concept here, sadly: HP has more corporate loyalists, and Palm has more consumer loyalists. You can't swip-swap them around all willy-nilly, Dick.
Your stubbornness on this issue, Dick, seems to be an evidence of your uncertainty of direction.
Given a few days, as this news spreads, the Palm community may well agree: you appear to be lost.
+1
Thanks for the laugh!
Craftsman Tools has an excellent product with an excellent reputation. What does Palm represent? A failed company. It will take a long time to change people's opinion of Palm and the failure of the Pre. No one likes these phones except people on Precentral. WebOS is dead to everyone else. No developers, hardly any quality apps and barely any users of WebOS. HP has a great OS in WebOS, let them run their company as HP and not Palm! Android and iOS are so far ahead of WebOS that they need a miracle to get back in it. Tagging the phone with Palm will only hold people back from buying it. Now the iPad is coming to Verizon (according to their website) which means the iPhone won't be long. Good luck HP, you have a tough road ahead.
and Craftsman are also sold at Kmart after Sears bought them... I guess I should throw out all my craftsman tools because Sears devalued the brand by letting Kmart sell it.
Craftsman is a great tool... For a hobbyist. Especially their power tools. Far from a great product, just a well marketted one.
I don't think the reason that people didn't buy the Pre was due to the Palm name. I think it had more to do with the phone. The screen and the keyboard were way to small for the majority of people who picked up the phone. The Pre came out right about the time that the screen sizes started to increase for gaming and movie/tv watching.
Clearly, Richard, you haven't been paying attention to what's actually been said, because nothing of that sort has been said. The last official anything of the sort was that it hadn't been decided.
If it's true that the already existing Touchstone backs will work with the Pre II, then that's what I'm going to throw onto the back of it. Viva le Palm!
+1
It's as clear as murky water on a moonless night. When and where was this announcement? Pictures or it didn't happen.
The Pre 2 where the back fits still say Palm on it.
I think they're referring to the devices that come after.
And if anything I don't mind it as long as it still carries the Palm badge. Maybe a nice subtle HP in it.
I think Richard Gerstein needs to make a decision to keep the Palm name. Looks like he already made one bad decision by getting his picture taken at Glamour Shots
*an*
It may be a good idea if it brings developers into the fold, especially on the enterprise side. People gravitate to Android because it is the "Google" OS. HP is larger than Google, so perhaps developers will pay more attention.
But as someone who first fell in love with Palm over my Palm III, I would hate to see the name disappear. Palm=great innovation, but also horrible business management.
the the - check your quote of RG
yea & wtf is " It will HP computers and phones."
I have always appreciate and love the name "Palm" but I will admit I have recently grown fond of the name "HPalm" that has been seen throughout forums.
Tomorrow we will get a press release saying that his remarks were taken out of context and that Palm is one of the most well-known brands in mobile computing and that it will certainly be used extensively along with the HP name going forward.
Dang it untidyguy, you beat me to it. I am sure that there will be a "correction" tomorrow.
That's the problem with HP -- just too darn big, no one knows what other parts of the organization are doing. This does not sound like a plan for success.
It is this simple, this is an advertising guy. He is not in the loop with branding. He only says what he is told to say. I sure he was told something else, and either put his own spin on it or, he did not understand what he was being told and repeated what he thought he heard.
I hope.
As I was reading your post I was wondering if you would add the last 2 words... "I hope"
You know branding goes hand it hand with advertising, right? Marketing, too. All the same group and he runs it.
I knew HP were lying. "Clearly"? Really?
Seriously. Factual inaccuracies and disputes of context aside, what an asinine thing to say!
RIP, Agilent Technologies, Compaq, EDS, Voodoo, 3Com... Now Palm, Melodeo, and 3PAR
They still sell computers that are branded with the Compaq name. So why wouldn't they sell phones that are branded with the PALM name.
It is very simple. Palm by HP, like someone in this post said earlier. HP can use Palm's name like Verizon/ Google use the Droid trademark. Very simple really. Just don't lose the Palm name, and I don't think they will since the tablet is obviously going to be Palmpad.
saw this coming when they started calling it HP webOS, instead of Palm webOS...
Ciya Palm
I prefer HP over Palm...
I recognize the irrationality of this but ... un-branding Palm phones will decrease my 17-year loyalty. No question.
so I should have dumped my Saab when they were bought by GM because all the parts and documents had GM on them?
or maybe I should dump it now because GM spun it off after damaging the Saab brand?
nah, i'll just keep it because I like driving it.
(irony alert: I am typing this at an auto repair center...)
Wow, somebody actually drives a Saab!
yes, and I actually like it. too bad GM didn't know what to do with the gem they had when they bought Saab.
But, Saab is a great example of a brand that has had many cycles of up and down.
Im not a SAAB owner but the 900s and early 9-3s are very solid rides. I don't think GM necessarily messed them up. They just inserted administrative overhead into a car company that was producing just fine on it's own. I suppose the lesson is that no large business buys a smaller one for the sake of strengthening the smaller. The entire end game revolves around stripping out the valuable parts and trying to fit them into the operations of the larger for the sake of profit. Obviously, the name Palm is of little value to the decision makers of HP. If I'm not too far off track here then it is possible that HP could sell the Palm name, license the os, and give an actual smartphone manufacturer the potential to build the next Palm device.
We had hoped that HP capital assets would provide a stronger operational cashflow for Palm to manufacture devices. Naive.
to be clear, GM didn't ruin the car, the just failed to continue development so they are the same cars they were 5-8 years ago. you can almost get a BMW 3 for the price of a 9-3.
and, they took away the unique (quirky) looks and hatchback - making them look like every japanese car.
Mine is basically a german platform with a saab engine and body, so it drives like a german car. I like it, but I wish it had a hatchback.
So basically HP= Hungry Parasite?
I vote for PalmHP for the name to truly converge them.
The HP Pre? I dont like the sound of that.
I've long suspected that the Palm name will be used like they did names like 'Pavillion' and 'deskjet'
most of us hate the Pre and Pixi names. I think it would be smart to start using Palmas the priduct name, and HP as the brand.
that's sort of what we are seeing in other smartphone makers.
we all know who RIM is, but anything they make is called a blackberry.
I could go for Palm Slider, Palm Glass (i e no keyboard), and even my favorite Palm Pilot.
makes sense to me.
I like that. PalmSlider (Pre), PalmGlass, PalmPad, PalmCandy (Pixi).
Simple, pleasing to the ear, and gets the point across - unlike Apple, HP/Palm give you options.
oh, I also forgot to add the "Palm Jornada"... doh!
In the world of tech, the Palm name isn't simply old, it practically defined a category. I agree that Palm (by HP) is the best approach. Throwing out the Palm name would be a huge loss.
If they do it, P|C will need to print up a bunch of "Palm" labels that we can stick over the "HP" on our phones. That will teach them.
what the hell difference does it make what name is on the device. I am not impressed with Palm. I love WebOS, but they fucked up by putting this phone on cheap hardware and running an ad campaign that was like a cartoon next to Android and Apple ads. Are you folks serious? If HP doesn't get a single one of the Palm faithful to buy their new phone, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to their leverage and potential to woo new customers. The WebOS community gives itself too much credit. By and far, you have pissed and moaned since the inception of the Pre, and you will continue to piss and moan afterwards. And, honestly, how mant times have you told some one you have a Palm Pre and they ask "who makes that phone." LOL! It's happened to me nearly every single time I say "i have a Palm Pre." Palm has nada, zero, zilch name recognition with the masses. So, HP is being smart and cutting out an advertising step. They only have to push WebOS now. They don't have to push HP!
I think it's an excellent move! Most people will remember HP when the ad ends, but they won't even acknowledge Palm in the ad, let alone remember it when the ad fades!!
+1
Another example of your typical corporate douche bag! That's if the final decision is to brand webOS Smartphones 100% HP. I say if you can fit a webOS device in the palm of your hand, you keep palm as the brand. Something about holding a Hewlett Packard device in my hand just doesn't sound right lol It gives me the image of holding a desk top computer or de printer lol
Did anyone seriously expect HP to keep the Palm name? HP is a much stronger brand worldwide.
Maybe I'm a dinosaur - I still view the HP name with cheaper, less dependable machines (PCs, laptops & printers). Because that's what they were for a time. They may have improved but that's a stigma that still exists.
When I see the Palm name, I think more of innovation, advanced technology and focus on user interface.
Maybe that's just me.... maybe not.
whoa chillywill.
Pretty intense with the response. I can't really disagree with you other than the fact that Palm is still a valuable name that means different things than HP. I don't know if it is best for HP to associate their brand (everything from low end printers and cheap netbooks, to envy laptops and enterprise servers) with the cutting edge OS they just purchased with Palm. Palm may not be known by your friends, but there is just so much heritage with the Palm brand, product history, patent portfolio, and culture that makes me want to resist a total loss of the brand. Just the name alone is a great one for smartphones and is a clear and obvious product line. Even the PalmPad should own that name. Leave HP for their current product line-up until the lines begin to blur between webOS and windows sized devices. To me, anything mobile with webOS should have some sort of Palm branding (this leaves out printers).
I guess I am just a Palm fan, but I have some sense of fear of HP tearing down the brand and integrating with their products. Like you said, if it means webOS becomes a well known and popular platform, I guess I don't really care.
+1
I was typing somthing similar to geekpalm's post just above.
Good riddance. The Palm brand cannot rise again. It's dead. Give it up already and let it rest in peace.
Using the HP brand will create distance between Palm and its recent (ongoing?) failure.
Deja Vu all over again. As a former Helio Ocean owner, I am sickened by the parallels between both Helio and Palm and we all know what happened to Helio. Maybe my next phone should be an iPhone and with my luck, I will bring down Apple so they get acquired by T-mobile. After waiting forever for a new Helio flag-ship to surface (delayed probably because of Helio getting acquired by Virgin Mobile and then eventually Sprint), out came the Ocean 2 which was a phone almost identical to the original Ocean that I couldn't justify getting an 'upgrade'.
"Aich Pee Pre" sounds dreadful.
But beyond that the HP brand just does not speak mobile phone
to me, smart or not. Maybe their intention is to brute
force their name into the mobile phone market this way
but that makes me like the idea even less.
I'd hate to see the Palm brand die this way.
HP has more corporate loyalists, and Palm has more consumer loyalists I thing this is a bad move HP is going to screw it up!!
I think they'll keep the palm name. The exact quote was "Clearly, what we
Why do most HP execs just seem to be able to produce dumb statements... And, sadly enough, more than statements hasn't been seen about their integrated strategy... Other companies act (MS, Nokia, etc). Good luck HP. But it's getting late.
Nothing says smartphone like HP......errr.....ummm.....Yeah right!
Palm IS smartphones (bad English, I know). HP never got a foothold in this area, and people would likely associate their phones with a throw away item, much like their consumer printers. When I think iPaq, I still think Compaq first, not HP. Palm has a history in this area. The Pre "failed" because of 1) initial supplies too low, 2) initial hardware being poor in quality (the Pre Plus is much better, but could still be better yet), and 3) a lack of excellent marketing reaching a wide audience. Number 1 ties in with an inability to widely distribute the phones as well.
All HP needs to do is pump Palm full of cash and talent to make the phones solid, make numerous form factors, and market the heck out of it. Distribute worldwide and make sure you have the resources to ramp with demand. Do these things and selling 10 million phones would be a piece of cake, and would put Palm on the right path. Replacing the Palm brand with HP would force them to earn respect in a field that they never have had any.
"HP Pre" that sounds like something that Brett Favre would take a picture of and send it to his female friend du jour.
Seriously though, the Palm brand has been dragged through the mud with their hardware failures, terrible marketing, and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. I see why HP would want to take over and rebrand, the massive corporation behind HP would push people to it. Palm? People will still just think it is a wannabe minor player.
Let's face it, those of us who are loyal Palm lovers (those here on P|C) know it is Palm, but it is not us that HP needs to target with the new devices -- it is those that are unaware of webOS, they need to drive into that market not just cater to those of us who love Palm for Palms sake.
noone can kill the Palm brand. it's like trying to kill Kleenex.
i call my ipod touch a palm pilot.
and i just got an ipad, and we call that the "huge palm pilot"
I was extremely conflicted when HP bought Palm; elated that my beloved Palm Pre wasn't going to become an orphan, but extremely unhappy that its parent company is one that I hate without reservation. Their inferior hardware designs and abysmal customer service & technical support caused me the loss of use of my Pavilion notebook for almost its entire warranty period, after which time they refused to repair the same hardware failure for a fourth time. I basically paid $1800 to rent a computer for three months, and HP's insulting offer of $100 in gift certificates to make up for my loss was the last straw. I burned the gift certificates and ran over the notebook with my Jeep.
I will never purchase an HP-branded phone, plain and simple.
Time to start shopping for something that runs Droid, I guess.
Re: Running over the notebook with your Jeep: Pics or it didn't happen. (I totally believe you, I just want to see the carnage.)
I can do better than that: I've got a video of it. I'll post it online when I get home on Thursday.
People and their brand loyalty... Craziness. Same subsidiary of HP working on the hardware and software, but the name changes and people are up in arms.
Personally, I don't give a horse's ass what they brand their phones, as long as I get to use it. ^_^
Hello Rush!
What's up Cantaffordit.. ^_^
Will love webos regardless of the name.
I think I see the problem. Some of you actually bought into the non-sense that there was a merger. THERE WAS NO MERGER! HP when shopping for the blue light special. They didn't merge with an equal; they consumed a cheap snack.
Some of you seem to think that Palm didn't die, but is still alive and well, and Ruby has the same sized office as the HP CEO. Got to let it go.
Much as I prefer the Palm name, you can bet your ass that HP has done a lot of market research to see how much value the Palm name holds and whether branding their devices as Palm or as HP will be better for sales. It's not some off the cuff decision. Perhaps if the Palm Pre 2 can rebuild some mindshare and make the Palm brand an asset again HP will reconsider it's position. With a couple months between launches, they have that flexibility.
the only thing keeping me waiting for the next phone... and sticking with this cheapass hardware that I have now (Sprint Pre) is my loyalty to PALM. if its going to be "HP"WEBOS... on an "HP"PRE2... screw it... if they dont SURPRISE me with GREAT harware... im out
And how can we trust these corporate guys when they can't even get the name of the OS right? It's webOS. Lowercase 'w' and all one word. It's ALL over the Palm web site. How hard is it to check even once?
[EDIT: Actually, a more likely explanation is that it was the publication that got it wrong. I partially based this comment on Rahul Sood's once-confessed confusion about the same thing (Forgive me for not unearthing that link as it's buried in my Twitter feed a couple months back).]
You guys crack me up. Did you really think HP would brand things Palm?
HP= 8th most recognized global brand..
Palm= Are they in the top 250?
For people who say HP is not known as a phone manufacturer....who cares? Apple has been in the phone business for 3.5 years. Smart Phones are computers...and HP is the #1 computer manufacturer. An HP tablet with WebOS would outsell a Palm one 500 to 1.
No one knows anything about Palm outside of this community. Get over yourselves...its a brand. Be happy HP bought Palm and is continuing WebOS. If Apple bought it (as rumored), they would have killed it.
When HP releases WebOS phones, 99% of the people won't know it was Palm WebOS. HP is targeting them...not people who care that their phone says Palm.
BTW, Richard Gerstein has been with HP barely longer than Palm has. He came to HP from Sears, whom he joined in July of 2007. Before that he worked for Alberto Culver Beauty, maker of St. Ives, Nexxus and TreSemm
it's just wild that people associate HP with being low quality and cheap. As my friend said above, I too would purchase an HP TURD if it was badassss!!! I'm still ROTF@ at lostsole1970!!!!!!!!
Oops. I was going to hold out for the next Palm device. WebOS may have been hands down the finest mobile os. Oh well. Thank you Mr. Richard Gerstein, SVP of Worldwide Strategy and Marketing for HP's Personal Systems Group. Now I won't waste my time. Clearly, what the smartphone consumer base has announced with it's money is skepticism towards the entire platform. Perhaps, some congeniality lessons would have helped bring a few customers into the fold. Whenever HP decides to spin Palm back out on it's own let me know. I hope that the cost of your new mobile os wasn't too high. Being open source, you know that a ringer for WebOS will likely turn up on unlocked generic mobile devices complete with a "app" repository. Perhaps you were thinking that consumers were really itching to go buy a WebOS printer. Funny.
Look for profit in the dictionary. It's between polite and pushy.
strange, because they kept Compaq branding....
Least they could do is keep it around like AMD did the ATI name for four years to appease the previous user base.
I really don't care about the Palm name. I believe in what they created; webOS. Palm had their time, but the Pre2 is the end of their era. I'm guessing HP wants to start off with a fresh outlook with new devices all with the HP brand. I agree with them. It's a smart move. I think we might see some of the Palm name, but eventually it will phase out.
As long as they live up to their hpe, I'd buy an HP Turd smartphone if it was badass.
Ah come on, leave the Palm name alone!
The only people who know the Palm name are tech geeks and you people over 40 that had Palm Pilots. As one person already mentioned the word out on the streets for the average consumer is that Palm is dead. This is largely due to misinformation spread from ignorant phone sales reps like my brother who works for Verizon and told me that nonsense other day.
Anybody that is a die hard fan (like the whiners, complainers, and the rude assholes who seem to think manners and common courtesy do not apply on the internet) is going to buy the next webOS device if it was branded Hello Kitty.
Anybody under 30 has basically grown up with the HP name and can associate it with a previous product they have used. If they do the marketing right, the HP brand stands to do more for webOS than Palm ever would as the HP brand will continue to be a recognizable brand for this and younger demographics. I would think this would be a good thing.
FAIL!
There is a hospital here in northern Arundel County that re-branded itself as Baltimore/Washington Medical Center, though it is in neither city and not even directly between them. Everybody still calls it North Arundel Hospital.
There is a Mall in Annapolis that was bought by Westfield and rebranded as Westfield Shoppingtown. Nobody called it that, they half relented and renamed it Westfield. It hasn't been a "field" in decades, and is not in the Western part of town. Everybody still calls it Annapolis Mall, even tenants in their store ads.
If we old-timers want to call whatever HP makes by the Palm moniker, we can do so for 100 years, and no johnny-come-lately marketer of the month can stop us. Just make it awesome, whatever it is called, and then we'll buy it. Substance over marketing.
I agree on the poll. I disagree about the comments saying HP is a better name to move forward with. The palm name means innovation, the first pda, quality. HP means large, mass produced, and printers. I say leave the mobile products (smartphone and tablets) with the palm name. All the other crap they can label with HP. I don't think this blowhard exec understood what was being asked. Bradley is already calling the tablet the PalmPad. I will take his vomit over this guys.
So, what you are saying is that if it is the same webOS software branded on a phone with topnotch hardware, labeled HP, you won't buy it? Seriously? WebOS is theee shit no matter who brands it. And, 2.0 promises to leapfrog most other OS's. They will be trying to figure out how to catch up for years! By then, webOS will have hundreds of thousands of apps and will have matured to most mobile devices as the powerful, simple to use OS of choice! I mean REALLY? You won't bite just because Palm's moniker is absent??? Palm ,sold about 3 million Pres total, Apple probably sold 3 million Iphones last week! As i said before, if all 3 million hard assed Palm fans didn't buy HP ever again, it would be a drop in the bucket to compared their current potential customer base and their abilty to woo new fans to HP smartphones. PALM as we knew it is dead! The quicker we can adapt to change, the more survival ready we will be. HP is going to bring it all to our fingertips, you can either sink with that old battle worn fighter, or hop on the brand new, shiny, technologically advanced behemoth! It's your choice. Just remember salt water won't quench your thirst!!! LOL!
I agree with your general point on the branding, but I doubt that 2.0 will "leapfrog most other OS's".
Unless there is a major change they haven't announced, the upcoming update will only put the system closer to being where the rest are. WebOS is the smoothest and most natural feeling OS I have used so far, but it is leaps and bounds behind where Android, iOS, and even Blackberry currently are, mainly due to the lack of proper APIs being released (IMHO).
No video integration with apps. No voice integration with apps. No bluetooth data transfer capable with other phones. Lack of native options in the email, calander, screenlock, and tasks. (Remember that most people who get smartphones, even Android phones, don't hack or patch; they expect the phones to be good out of the box, and WebOS lacks that)
The apps for WebOS also look more basic than the same ones on iOS or even Blackberry. Look at WeatherBerry on BB or the WeatherChannel app on iOS. Our comparable apps look like most other apps on WebOS, with the same rounded form buttons and fairly bland in nature. The apps lack the polish and small graphical details on other systems.
If HP wants WebOS to leave other OS's behind, they have to release ALL the APIs the developers need, then put some major $$$$ behind getting name-brand, official apps that can do the same functions as other OS (like streaming movies on netflix or Google Googles from Google Mobile).
Oh, and use some $$$ to stop the carriers (like Verizon) from Borking up the OS.
You need to remember that the masses really don't care too much about what youve mentioned above with the exception maybe of more polished apps. And, i agree that if we don't get more polished apps then the HP Pre will die . However, if I had voice recognition anything on my phone, it would rarely ever to never get used. And, i don't even know what you mean by video integration in apps. I have NFS and if i remember correcty, there is video in that app. The thing is, what people care about most is cool looking hardware that's durable and the Pre definitely suffers from durabilty and aged hardware. I do think that when HP releases a phone branded HP that it will have all the bells and whistles.
When I say the os leapfrogs other OS's, I'm mostly talking about the Pre's abiltiy to act like a desktop with it's abiltiy to multitask. It's funny because other OS's are so far behind Palm in this area, that their users place their phones ability to multitask at the bottom of their list as to what they consider important! You can't miss what you never had! If HP does not underscore the necessity of multitasking and how webOS shines, then they will not find their market niche and advantage!!! I have an Apple fanboy friend with an Iphone 4 and i was sowing him how the Pre lays out Multitasking and he was irritated at the fact that Apple hasn't created a better way to multitask in IOS4. He admits that webOS is way ahead in that respect! Also, he's hoping for an app to come along that will mimic webOS so that he can put it on his Iphone....GO FIGURE! If an Iphone fanboy is wishing his phone will mimic webOS, then our OS has leapfrogged theirs!!!!! And, Android users are just in their dark. Their OS is just clunky! Ive used it and i hate it!!
We should make a poll on this matter in the forum.. Lets see how much percent > Care > Dont care > Whichever... same webos.. ^_^
It wouldn't be smart for HP to kill the Palm name. HP never produced a Smartphone that anyone was interested in. They are as irrellevant in the Smartphone space as Microsoft became. And where did they "Clearly" announce doing away with the Palm name?
I agree about the apps. I hate to admit it, but iPhone apps do look more polished and there are far more iPhone apps than the paultry amount of apps available for WebOS. HP definitely needs to seed the developer channel with cash to inspire some interest, but with WP7 arriving, is it too little, too late for the great little OS that could've been (WebOS)?