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Sunday, September 4, 2011

HP Pushes for PC Spin Off, Bills Itself as $40 Billion Start-Up

Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday confirmed that it wants to spin off its PC business, positioning the division as a "$40 billion start-up."

HP announced the effort in a series of ads posted to its blog that claim the company "would be a $40 billion business with the agility and freedom of a start-up." One of those ads touted HP's status as the "number-one PC maker on the planet," which it says it achieved by staying focused on consumers. A spin-off, therefore, would create "a more agile organization to help us better anticipate change and quickly respond to customers."

The post comes the same week that Todd Bradley, head of HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG), championed the idea of a spin-off in an interview with Reuters, and said he's lobbying to head it up. "My intention would be to lead it through this transaction ... and if it's a standalone public company, to lead that," he said. Bradley is featured heavily on a Web site set up to promote this idea. HP stressed, however, that "nothing has been confirmed except HP’s preference for spinning off the business."

This effort, of course, is on the heels of HP's August 18 announcement that it would acquire U.K.-based Autonomy and was looking to ditch its PC assets. The HP board authorized "the exploration of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group (PSG)" including "a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction."

For more, see HP is Too Big to Build Stuff and HP's Stunning Moves Bode Ill for the PC Industry, as well as Should HP Sell Its PC Group? And check out the slideshow below for more thoughts on which company might be best-suited to buy HP's PC business.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392206,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

Thursday, September 1, 2011

HP Touchpad returns for a final push to meet incredible demand

The HP TouchPad is due for a comeback – well, sort of. HP will produce “one last run of TouchPads” to meet the unfulfilled demand.

gsmarena 001 HP Touchpad returns for a final push to meet incredible demand

Since HP introduced the price drop of the 16GB and 32GB version to $99 and $149 respectively the interest in the tablet has risen so much that it actually scored second spot as the hottest slate around after the Apple’s iPad.

Sadly, the prerequisites that led to this high-ranking spot in global sales were the official announcement of the discontinuation of WebOS hardware (Pre 3, Veer, TouchPad) and the slashing of its prices. Some presume that the cost to build just one TouchPad circles around the $300 mark so HP is actually losing a heap of cash, despite the great sales figures and the added hype. I hope they make up part of the losses with the increased WebOS app sales – reports suggest a 3-to-5-fold increase in app downloads.

And it’s not like HP has forsaken its TouchPad altogether – they’ve actually just recently announced they will issue an OTA updated for the TouchPad that would increase functionality and the number of apps. HP is determined to continue supporting activated TouchPad’s and serve to their owners needs.

According to HP spokesman Mark Budgell the last batch of HP TouchPads will be available for purchase in a couple of weeks. The price however may not be $100 dead but more, depending on retailers.

Source:http://blog.gsmarena.com/hp-touchpad-returns-for-a-final-push-to-meet-incredible-demand/

Saturday, August 27, 2011

HP Dumping PCs, Adding Software in Seismic Business Shift

Hewlett-Packard on Thursday confirmed that it will acquire U.K.-based Autonomy for $10.2 billion and is looking to spin off its PC assets.

Together with its plans to stop supporting webOS devices, the announcements mark a major change for HP. They appear to represent a seismic shift in how the Silicon Valley computing giant, the world's largest tech company in terms of annual revenue, plans to conduct business going forward.

The HP board's authorization of "the exploration of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group (PSG)" includes "a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction." Unlike the dumping of recently acquired Palm, slipping badly in a market dominated by Apple and devices running Google's Android OS, a spin-off of the PSG means HP would be parting with a long-standing investment that has turned into the biggest PC maker in the world.

HP acquired Compaq for $25 billion in 2002 following an acrimonious proxy battle that saw HP co-founder Walter Hewlett line up against the deal. With the addition of Compaq, one of the largest PC makers in the world at the time, HP's Personal Systems Group has led the industry in global PC market share for four years running, reaching a height of 19.3 percent of the market in 2009.

UPDATE: As pointed out in comments below, Walter Hewlett is not a co-founder of HP but rather the son of William "Bill" Hewlett, who co-founded the company with David Packard in 1938.

The Personal Systems Group currently accounts for about a third of HP's quarterly revenue—the company is set to announce total sales of $31.2 billion for the second quarter of 2011 in an earnings call after the closing bell Thursday—but margins for the business unit have slipped even as the profitability of HP's enterprise-focused services, software, server, and networking businesses has grown.

The acquisition of Autonomy, a developer of database search applications and the U.K.'s second-largest software maker, would further push HP along the enterprise-focused track the company has been pursuing since its $13.9-billion deal for Electronic Data Systems (EDS)—now HP Enterprise Services—in 2008.

Combined, today's announcements will bring HP in step with rival tech giants IBM and Cisco, which in recent times have similarly taken a hatchet to corporate components deemed ancillary to a core business mission.

IBM acquired PWC Consulting from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2002 and then sold its PC Company Division to Lenovo in 2005—two major moves HP appears to be aping, albeit years later, with its own deal for EDS and proposed spin-off of PSG.

More recently, Cisco decided to rid itself of consumer-targeted units like its Flip camera division and retrench with a renewed focus on its core networking infrastructure business. Again, the parallels with HP's proposed restructuring seem obvious.

Ahead of Thursday's earnings call, analysts generally felt a leaner HP would be a healthier HP—though even such a major restructuring wasn't necessarily a cure-all for a company that's struggled to meet investor expectations in recent quarters.

HP management has apparently concluded that they need to break up the company to better demonstrate the growth of its individual parts, said Jean Bozman, a vice president and analyst in IDC's enterprise computing group.

"Quite frankly, they've had this problem before," Bozman said. "It's why they spun off Agilent. If this were to happen and they were to spin [the PC business] off, it [would be a way] to show the Street how you're growing your new businesses."

"Look at the Fortune 500. How many companies are bigger? Not many, and most of them are oil companies," she said.

Brian J. White, a senior research analyst with Ticonderoga Securities, called the news "long-term positive" for HP.

"We believe the potential divestiture or spin off of HP's PC business and the shutdown of webOS is a long-term positive, however, this will not change the near-term challenges for HP," White wrote in a research note.

The decision to discontinue webOS devices, meanwhile, is the only one of the three seemingly set in stone. "HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward," HP said, but last year's $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm and its smartphone and mobile OS business now appears to have been a major mistake on the part of HP.

For more, see HP is Too Big to Build Stuff and HP's Stunning Moves Bode Ill for the PC Industry as well as 6 Ways to Get Rid of Your HP TouchPad.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391379,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000762

Thursday, August 25, 2011

HP Pre 3 Cancelled in U.S., Will Sell for $75 In Europe

Update, 4:44 PM ET August 23: HP's Palm Euro Store is now reporting, "We have temporarily stopped taking orders against this SKU. A price reduction is expected to be announced in the next 18 to 24 hours. This price reduction will apply to a Pre 3 Bundle which will include a number of accessories. This is a limited time offer while stocks last."

Original story, 2:23 PM ET August 22: The $99 HP TouchPad isn't the only amazing deal coming out of HP's fire sale on WebOS devices. The unlocked HP Pre 3 smartphone will go on sale "shortly" in both France and the U.K. for a mere $75 unlocked, according to HP.

As of this writing, the Pre 3 costs 349 euros ($505) in France and 299 pounds ($490) in the U.K., making the $75 sale a dramatic drop.

The phone is already sold out in Germany, HP said.

The Pre 3 was to be the latest flagship webOS smartphone from HP, a sliding phone with a similar form factor to the existing Pre and Pre 2. Introduced at the same time as the TouchPad, it features the largest keyboard of any of the Pre line.

It includes a 3.6-inch, 480x800 display that is 2.5x the resolution of the Pre. The 5-megapixel camera includes image stabilization, autofocus, and LED flash; there is also a forward-facing camera for video calling. The Pre 3 runs on a 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor.

The phone will not go on sale in the U.S. at all, HP said. But the unlocked device will work to some extent on AT&T's and T-Mobile's networks. The Pre 3 can hit both carriers' 2.5G EDGE networks. For 3G bands, though, it has 900, 1900, and 2100 Mhz. AT&T users need 850 and 1900 for full coverage, so they'll get limited 3G. T-Mobile users need 1700 Mhz, so they'll be stuck on EDGE.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391519,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000762

HP is Too Big to Build Stuff

When Russell Brand got that tap to be the HP TouchPad spokesperson, I was concerned. When HP cut the price of the TouchPad by $100, I was worried, but I thought it might have been a bold move to grab market share. When Best Buy said it wanted to return its current inventory of TouchPads, I knew something was terribly wrong. But even if the death of the TouchPad could have been predicted, I didn't see this coming. HP, the number one manufacturer of PCs worldwide, is quitting the PC business. In fact, it doesn't seem like it wants to build ANYTHING anymore.

When HP bought Palm, it knew the risks. The company was floundering, but for a small firm with a promising platform, some loyal users, and a host of nice patents, the $1.2 billion price was right. If you were going to be a player in the PC market, you needed to have a mobile and tablet position. Buy the company, retrench, and launch new and improved products. Makes total sense.

After all, the technology is pretty damn good. PCMag gave webOS a Technical Excellence award in 2009. Palm Pre has consistently tested well, if not great. And even the HP TouchPad, although no iPad killer, was as good as most of the Android tablets on the market. Everyone knew there was potential there. The question was how to seize it.

View Slideshow See all (10) slides

The TouchPad launched on July 1. HP killed it on August 18. This tablet lived for 49 days. That is a record that makes the Microsoft Kin look like a success. I have had flus that lasted longer than that. Make no mistake, HP's high-tech abortion of the TouchPad and webOS platform will go down as one of the greatest wastes of time, technical resources, and customer good will ever.

But wait, it gets worse.

HP helped found Silicon Valley. Who were those archetypal geeks playing around in a garage, building cool stuff the world didn't know it needed? You probably think their names were Steve and Woz. Copycats. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard were doing it back in 1938! They started off building an audio oscillator and ended up building the world's largest technology company with 300,000 employees and the distinction of being the world's largest PC manufacturer.

They did it by building a corporate culture that was described as The HP Way. It encouraged honesty, teamwork, and innovation. More than anything it was about building stuff.

HP has been the number one PC vendor for the last four years, its market share peaking at 19.3 percent in 2009. The company just announced sales of $31.2 billion in the second quarter of 2011, about a third of which were generated by its Personal Systems Group (PSG). Margins on PCs are tight, but that is a pretty big pile of cash to work with, right? Evidently not big enough.

No, HP doesn't want to build stuff anymore. It wants to provide "services." Where does it want to focus its attention? It is going to buy Autonomy, the U.K.'s second largest software company, a firm that develops database search software. Higher margin on stuff that you don't have to manufacture, ship, and sell, I guess.

There is a great precedent for this. IBM followed this same path just a few years ago. It bought PWC Consulting in 2002 and sold its PC division to Lenovo in 2005. Now IBM is a consulting and services company and Lenovo is stewarding the venerable ThinkPad brand. This works out well for both companies; both are making more money and that is what their corporate leaders are paid to do. Even so, it seems to me we are losing something significant here.

There is something wrong with the PC business when the market leader just walks away from the business. There is something wrong about promising to invest in a platform and then pulling the plug on your flagship product after just 29 days on the market.

There is also something wrong when one of the world's biggest builders of great things is content to merely provide service.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391388,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

HP is Too Big to Build Stuff

View Slideshow See all (10) slides

But wait, it gets worse.

They did it by building a corporate culture that was described as The HP Way. It encouraged honesty, teamwork, and innovation. More than anything it was about building stuff.

There is also something wrong when one of the world's biggest builders of great things is content to merely provide service.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391388,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

HP's Greatest Hits

HP has made clear this week that it has every intention of getting itself out of the consumer electronics market. Itâ€™s killed its webOS products, which included the TouchPad and various cell phones, like the Veer and the not-yet-released Pre 3. HP also acquired software maker Autonomy for $10.2 billion, and plans to spin off its PC business. In one fell swoop, HP went from being one of the worldâ€™s largest manufacturers of consumer electronics to a company with a clear focus on business and software, with barely even a passing interest in the consumer side of things.

Such a shift is surprising, because HP has a long track record of making excellent consumer products, from desktops and laptops to printers and even tablets. Thereâ€™s a reason, after all, that the company has led the industry in global market share four years in a row, owning as much as 19.3 percent of the global PC market. HPâ€™s been the recipient of numerous Editorsâ€™ Choice awards from PCMag, and even the TouchPad, killed after all of 48 days, had real potential to be great. HPâ€™s future making these products is unknown: HP says it is â€œexploring optionsâ€ and that little is final, but the writing is on the wall for its consumer business. If HP really does get out of the consumer game, itâ€™s a serious loss to buyers.

Weâ€™ve rounded up 10 of the best products HP has made over the last few years, as we wait to see the future of these products and the company that made them.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391434,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

HP Touchpad Sells Out Overnight

Within no time, all the HP Touchpads, boring bricks until this week, sold out almost instantly once the price dropped to $99 from $499.99.

We all remembered an old but important lesson: price makes a difference. And consider the fact that it is an orphan product with no future. Still, shazam, all gone.

I love to study the effects of price on products and have claimed for years that a $99 price point for a tablet would rocket any such device into instant popularity. This sure proves it. We must now consider whether anyone can actually produce a real high-quality pad machine for $99. I ask: why not?

Right now, the touch screen ties up the parts cost of a tablet. How many screens must be made before companies can crank them out for a few dollars each? Screen-centric phones will also head to ridiculously low prices.

I think any company could make hay with a $99 tablet and a $49 iPhone clone.

In the golden age of desktop computing, from 1982-2000, hard disk companies did something interesting. They all priced their products as loss leaders on what they called the learning curve. The learning curve was the predicted future price, which would always be lower than what the current price should be.

So when someone wanted to price a new hard disk, they figured it would get cheaper and cheaper over the next few years. So, they sold drives for what they might, or what they should, sell for two years hence. The concept in play appeared maddening, but it seems to have paid off with higher sales creating lower and lower component costs.

Problematically, by the time the companies caught up with the curve (at the point where they would make serious money), they jumped forward once again with still lower prices. They could never catch the moment where profits were maximized.

The idea resembles a death match strategy in which one hopes every other opponent dies off and the last man standing reaps all the rewards. In the hard disk game, the competition has dwindled down to Seagate and Western Digital. There is no death match with laptops since nobody has the nerve to wage this war any more.

View Slideshow See all (17) slides

The whole idea of a laptop death match, based on learning curve pricing, may be the reason Apple sits on $75 billion. Deterred by the massive resource reserve, no other company could outlast Apple if someone staged this stunt. Thus, until further notice, Apple will continue to own the smartphone and the tablet business—the two market segments where learning curve pricing could possibly appear.

We know by the instant sell-out of all HP tablet inventory that at some point, these devices will take over. The public will buy nothing but them once the price gets to $99. Unfortunately, this may take more than five years, based on the slow price evolution.

It took well over a decade for the PC itself to fall below $1000. When these PC machines first appeared, a fully equipped unit ran between $2500-3500. Not until Compaq pushed its $999 machine did the pricing fall apart. Now consumers can purchase a fairly loaded, albeit less powerful, PC for $500—one-fifth the original and typical price. The same one-fifth math, when applied to the tablet, results in $99 for the low-end models. Perfect!

Sadly, we still have years to wait for the tablet at this price. But with this fire sale we just witnessed, we can confidently say these machines are here to stay. What took so long?

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391650,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

HP Elitebook 2560p

VIEW SLIDESHOW

Pros
Sleek silver design. DVD burner built-in. Dual pointing devices. Very good battery life. eSATA equipped. Extensive security and wireless feature set. Powerful Intel Core i5 processor.
Cons
Pointing stick is stiff. Lacks USB 3.0 technology.
Bottom Line
The HP Elitebook 2560p is one of the most complete business ultraportables, as it's packed with essential features and plenty of horsepower.

Buy it now

Price Range

$1,175.00 - $1,264.99

Buy it Now

PCConnection Express $1,261.07
TigerDirect.com $1,249.99
CompUSA.com $1,249.99

A business ultraportable, one small enough to be tucked under your arm or into a small tote, is invaluable to a road warrior. It's even more desirable when it performs like a desktop replacement. The HP Elitebook 2560p ($1,299.99 direct) is incredibly fast and full-featured for a pint-sized business laptop. It boasts a speedy Core i5 processor and multiple battery options that can yield up to 9 hours on the road. Add to that a modern look, thanks to a new aluminum design, and you can safely say that this business ultraportable is worth looking into.

Design
The Elitebook 2560p is redesigned from the ground up, taking a few design cuesfrom the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (Thunderbolt) ($1,499 direct, 3.5 stars) in terms of color selection and its aluminum exterior. The clean lines, minimal indicator lights, and silver tone are very similar to that of a MacBook Pro, though the large battery that sticks out from its back seemed like a hurried after-thought. Young professionals will find it more aesthetically appealing than the black-clad Lenovo ThinkPad X220 ($1299 direct, 4 stars). The 2560p is also military-grade sturdy, having undergone vigorous testing based on the MIL-SPEC 810G spec, which entails testing in damp, dusty, shaky, and extremely hot and cold environments. These are the same modified tests that the Lenovo X220 and Dell Latitude E6420 were subjected to. At 4.3 pounds, the 2560p is the lightest business ultraportable with a built-in DVD burner. The 4-pound Lenovo X220 and 2.5-pound Sony VAIO VPC-Z214GX ($2,499.99 list, 3 stars) are lighter, but lack this legacy drive IT managers often look for.

View Slideshow See all (6) slides

The 12.5-inch widescreen is consistent in size with that of the X220. This particular screen size is actually rare these days, as most business ultraportables are opting for a 13-inch display. Its 1,366-by-768 resolution is boilerplate for a 12-inch ultraportable compared with the 1,600-by-900 one found in the 13-inch Sony Z214GX and Sony VAIO VPC-SA2FGX/BI ($1,199.99 list, 3.5 stars). You can't find a higher resolution than this on a 12-inch ultraportable. The interior of the laptop is overhauled as well. Instead of a traditional keyboard, the flat-top keys are more in line with the Envys and Pavilions—HP's consumer line. They lack backlights, though, a feature that comes standard with the Sony Z214GX and Sony SA2FGX/BI. The 2560p has a very stiff pointing stick, undersized touchpad, and four large mouse buttons; the navigating experience, with the similar pointing devices, is noticeably better on the Lenovo X220.

Features
The 2560p's feature set is arguably the most complete in a business ultraportable. It has a built-in DVD burner, a feature that the Sony Z214GX and Lenovo X220 lack. There are three USB 2.0 ports, one of which is actually a combo USB/eSATA port, which, with a compatible peripheral, can expand storage beyond the included 320GB drive, without sacrificing speeds. Despite its compact chassis, HP also made room for VGA, an ExpressCard slot, RJ11 modem jack, and Ethernet. Security features such as a SmartCard and fingerprint reader are also present. A DisplayPort on the right side of the laptop can stream both audio and video to an external flat panel. It has an impressive array of wireless connections, including 3G, 802.11n, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but the Lenovo X220 integrates them as well, along with optional WiMAX.

Specifications

Type: Ultraportable, Business, Small Business
Processor Name: Intel Core i5-2520M
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
RAM: 4 GB
Weight: 4.3 lb
Screen Size: 12.5 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Storage Capacity (as Tested): 320 GB
Networking Options: 802.11n
Primary Optical Drive: DVD+R DL

Performance
The 2560p ships with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M—a dual-core processor capable of taking on any app or task. It's the same CPU found in the Lenovo X220, which explains why their Photoshop CS5 and Cinebench R11.5 scores were similar. It powered ferociously through an overall gauge like PCMark 7 (2,640), though it fell short of the Sony Z214GX (3,328) because the latter ran a more powerful Core i7 processor. Its graphics chip is an integrated one from Intel, which isn't as powerful as the discrete AMD graphics chip found in the Sony SA2FGX/BI. Still, its 3DMark 06 (5,141) and Crysis (14.4 fps) scores indicate that it can handle some gaming, as long as you refrain from dialing up the quality settings.

If there's one thing a business ultraportable is known for, it's that battery options usually come in flavors of two—big and really big. The 2560p ships with a standard 62WH battery, which lasted 7 hours 40 minutes in MobileMark 2007 tests. With a similar battery (63WH), the Lenovo X220 (8:40) trumped the 2560p by an hour. You can swap the 2560p's standard 62WH battery for a bigger 90WH battery ($139.99). In contrast, the Lenovo X220 and Sony Z214GX have extended battery slices that work in tandem with their standard batteries. Thus, it's no surprise that while the 2560p's optional 90WH battery lasted 9:09, the combined batteries of the Sony Z214GX (15:23) and Lenovo X220 (12:45) lasted significantly longer.

There's a lot to be said about an ultraportable that crams in the gamut of essential business features, while performing at a very high level. The HP Elitebook 2560p is the only 12-inch ultraportable left that comes with a built-in optical drive and loads a powerful Core i5 processor. Its battery scores and typing experience didn't quite measure up to the Lenovo ThinkPad X220, but it's a solid business ultraportable nonetheless and worth its weight (or what little there is) on the road.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391428,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

HP, Dell: Stop Tweeting, Start Executing

If you missed the brief but acerbic war of words between Hewlett-Packard and Michael Dell over the past few days, you're excused.

After all, there was enough news already: Google's proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility; HP's decision to possibly spin off its PC group, and pull out of WebOS hardware; and, finally, the TouchPad fire sale that went on over the weekend. Oh, and the supposed lull before things really heat up during the third and fourth quarters.

But, suddenly, fellow Texan and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apparently hijacked Michael Dell's Twitter account and started popping off about HP's decision to exit the PC business.

Dell's bon mots:

"If HP spins off their PC business....maybe they will call it Compaq?"

"HP.... They are calling it a separation but it feels like a divorce"

"Goodbye HP, Sorry you don't want to be in PCs anymore..But we do more than ever. How would you say goodbye to HP?"

Don't get me wrong. I like trash talking. It sells ads. It takes players out of the game. I played baseball through college, and did very well as the typical lefty pitcher who relies on junk, control, and smarts to get outs. There was nothing quite like pulling the string in a tough situation, making eye contact, and grinning. Frustration can be a powerful demotivating force.

But the sports arena isn't the PC market. LeBron James may be the best player in the league today, but Dirk Nowitski has a ring on his finger.

Michael, you're still number two in the PC market, both worldwide and in the United States. Remember that. HP may have celebrated passing Dell in April 2009, crowning itself the U.S. PC leader as well as the number-one vendor worldwide, a position it had held since 2006. But it certainly wasn't as public.

HP, You're Not Helping

"Not so fast @MichaelDell," HP tweeted in response. "We are still the #1 PC manufacturer in the world. Our team remains 100% committed"

Well said. But HP then linked to a blog post where HP social media strategist Mark Budgell chipped in with a post titled "A Toast to Opportunity." "Our competitors might say to send us flowers. I say bring on the champagne," he wrote. "I am proud of our successes to date, and bullish about the future. In the meantime, it's all systems go for us."

Oh, dear god. I understand that Hewlett-Packard is essentially considering ditching a low-margin business (PCs) for a high-margin one (enterprise services) but you can't celebrate the end of a market-leading PC business at the same time mumbling that you still might keep it.

HP's PR team, meanwhile, is anything but "all systems go." HP has botched two earnings releases in a row; in May, the company was forced to release its results early after a memo from CEO Leo Apotheker was leaked. This time around, HP's PSG news also found its way into the papers early.

HP, a once great company, has had its image rent into shreds in a year's time. A year ago, Mark Hurd resigned, replaced with Apotheker, a software guy that PCMag mobile analyst Sascha Segan never trusted. In April 2010, HP said that it was doubling down on WebOS, before killing off the hardware little more than a year later. Books will be written about this; business courses will use this as a case study. Annus horribilis, indeed.

Who Will Fill the HP Niche?

Meanwhile, Michael Dell has just put himself on the firing line. It's almost certain that HP's boneheaded PSG move will cost it market share. Dell, like other PC OEMs, is preparing cloud services to help take on Apple's iCloud and create an ecosystem. None had the potential for synergy like HP, though, which had set itself up to tie PCs, tablets, phones and printers together through the magic of WebOS, plus the cloud.

You'd better gain market share, Michael. You should be embarrassed if you don't.

In the meantime, Apple continues to climb. They're now the third-largest U.S. PC vendor, by the way. Acer stumbled; Apple passed them. Dell killed the Streak 5, while Apple continues to sell billions of iPhones and iPod touches. Apple's a safe bet. And it's a rare day when Steve Jobs or Tim Cook issues a statement as public as this one from Dell:

"@HP PC business 100% committed to ownership change to new unknown owner(s) w/unknown strategy, on an unknown time frame," he tweeted on Saturday.

Let's be honest here. Last week was an embarrassment for anyone who enjoys calling themselves a technologist. Google bought a struggling handset maker as a patent defense, and forced its partners to robotically parrot two common words in supporting it: "defending Android." Hewlett-Packard's management has taken a reputation for quality hardware, painstakingly built over decades, and tossed it away in an attempt to ape its chief rival. Business won last week. Technology lost.

Walk the walk, Michael and Leo. You don't build great products on words. You build them on great technology, designed by great people.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391523,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

HP Pre 3 cancelled in the US, drops price in Europe

It's been four days since HP announced they will discontinue the webOS phones and tablets. Since that day a lot has happened.

First, HP slashed the TouchPad price to $99 in the USA. Hours later most of the retailers were out of stock. The same thing is expected to happen in Europe any day now, but there is nothing official so far and no significant price cut has been witnessed on a large scale though some users report temporary price drops at some retailers.

Second, Microsoft has made a move to the webOS developers, offering them free Windows Phone tools, phones and training.

Thirdly, the Android community stepped up and founded a project that aims to port the open-source Android to the Touchpad in an attempt to breathe life into the otherwise nice-looking hardware.

Today HP went ahead and did the same thing with the just released HP Palm Pre 3. The US geeks might have been lucky to get cheap TouchPads, but they won’t be able to do the same with Pre 3. HP is cancelling the Pre 3 launch there before it's even happened.

The European HP Pre 3 however is already rolling out so HP now plans its next logical move - slashing the price of the phone down to $99 (SIM-free). The price cut is expected any moment now in France and in the UK. The Pre 3 is already out of stock in Germany so it won't get it is out of the promotion before it's ever happened.

If you live in the USA, your only chance is to get a Pre 3 from Europe. You just need to check if it will be compatible to your network (AT&T and T-Mobile). You can check the Pre 3 specs from here. If you live in the old continent, stay sharp, otherwise you'll miss the moment.

HP has announced it will continue to push updates for the webOS on TouchPad, Veer and Pre 3. The Pre 3 will be also released in "very selective areas". It won’t take HP long to empty its warehouses from the webOS devices, so watch over the internet retailers for promotions. We guess the Veer will soon go on sale too (if at all).

Source:http://www.gsmarena.com/hp_pre_3_cancelled_in_the_us_drops_price_in_europe-news-3035.php

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

HP officially discontinues webOS phones and TouchPad devices

We certainly hope you haven't just spent your hard earned money on a webOS device when reading this. In today's third quarter results report, the computer behemoth announced that it "will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones."

According to HP, "The devices have not met internal milestones and financial targets." To put it better in plain language,they did not sell enough webOS devices - hardly a surprise given the lack of developed apps for the webOS ecosystem.

The beautifully looking OS might just continue living on in printers or cars' entertainment/navigation systems, or get licensed to an interested party. However, as far as mobile devices are concerned, it is all over.

Hit the source link for the full PR from HP, and feel free to express your sorrow in the comments section below.

Source:http://www.gsmarena.com/hp_officially_discontinues_webos_phones_and_touchpad_devices-news-3022.php

HP drops TouchPad price to $99, suddenly everybody wants one

If you were wondering what would happen to all those TouchPads sitting in warehouses after HP decided to abandon webOS, you now have the answer. HP just announced a mouth-watering discount on the ill-fated tablet, with the base 16GB model now costing a mere $99 and the 32GB for $150.

gsmarena 001 HP drops TouchPad price to $99, suddenly everybody wants one

Of course this means that now everybody wants one. Most places that were accepting bookings for the device are now flashing the ‘Out of Stock’ sign and you would have to be lucky to get one. That’s just for the online stores though. Starting August 20, you can get the TouchPad at the new price in brick and mortar stores, but again, only if you get there in time cause I believe there will be quite a demand for these at those prices. But if you do get one it would be quite a steal. The TouchPad may not have done so well but it still is a decent tablet and for that price is terrific value.

Makes you wonder if HP had just sold the TouchPad at launch at a lower price, they wouldn’t be in this situation today. I’m not necessarily talking about selling it for $99 but even if they had sold it for something like $299 from the start the TouchPad would have had a lot more users today. Sure, they would have incurred some losses but it would have been a fair price to pay for decent user base and developer support. I hope the Android tablet manufacturers learn something from this.

Source:http://blog.gsmarena.com/hp-drops-touchpad-price-to-99-suddenly-everybody-wants-one/

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

HP Pre 3 silently gets a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU in the UK

Now here's a shocker for you - the upcoming HP Pre 3 will be packing a dual-core CPU at launch, rather than the single-core unit it was initially said to feature. HP has remained surprisingly quiet about the change, but the Pre 3 specs sheet on its website now say "Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2GHz".

If you have been paying attention you would know that this is the same chipset that powers the HP TouchPad tablet. And if the two 1.2 GHz cores are good enough to power a tablet, they should do wonders for a smartphone and its lower resolution. Of course, we will never be able to see how the 1.4 GHz single-core alternative does, but we are still confident that HP is giving us a good deal here.

What seems a bit suspicious is that none of the other specs of the HP Pre 3 have changed. Usually replacing the processor of a mobile phone involves changing the whole chipset and that might lead to a few other changes. So there's an outside chance that the CPU change was nothing, but a typo by whoever maintains the HP UK website.

The Pre 3 should be coming out any day now, so at least we won't have to wait for too long to find out.

Source:http://www.gsmarena.com/hp_pre_3_gets_a_12_ghz_dualcore_cpu_instead_of_a_14_ghz_singlecore_one-news-2894.php

Monday, July 18, 2011

IMO Segera Luncurkan Ponsel Proyektor TV

Sebuah bocoran dari IMO salah satu vendor ponsel lokal mengungkapkan perangkat baru yang dijuluki 'ponsel proyektor'. Seri terbaru ini kabarnya akan dilengkapi dengan layar 3,2 inci WQVGA, support fungsi proyektor, dual kamera dan TV analog.

Menurut sumber terpercaya, ponsel proyektor besutan IMO ini akan menjumpai publik pada bulan Agustus. Salah satu kelebihan ponsel berdesain candybar tersebut adalah bisa difungsikan sebagai proyektor yang mampu menampilkan view optimal hingga 42 inci.

Belum begitu banyak yang bisa digali dari perangkat terbaru IMO ini baik dari segi harga maupun nama serinya. Namun, beberapa detil lain yang berhasil dibongkar antara lain kelengkapan seperti Wi-fi, port audio 3,5 mm, perekam video, pemutar musik, radio FM, bluetoth, slot memori eksternal.

Soal internet, tak perlu kuatir karena ponsel ini sudah mendukung jalur data sekelas GPRS. Disinyalir, IMO bakal membenamkan pula beberapa fitur untuk mengakses situs jejaring sosial dan chatting. Antara lain aplikasi Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo Messenger hingga Opera Mini.(RedaksiPULSA)

Source: http://www.tabloidpulsa.co.id/news/48-news/1795-imo-segera-luncurkan-ponsel-proyektor-tv

Thursday, June 30, 2011

HP Pre 3, Ponsel WebOS Dengan Prosesor 1.4GHz

HP siap untuk meluncurkan smartphone berbasis webOS pada 8 Juli di Inggris. Smartphone tersebut adalah HP Pre3 yang sudah lama ditunggu-tunggu oleh konsumen.

HP Pre 3 ini memiliki eksterior yang tipis dan berlayar sentuh, keyboard slide-out, serta beterei Li-Ion 1230 mAh yang handal. Smartphone ini juga telah dilengkapi dengan layar sentuh kapasitif WVGA berukuran 3,58 inci dengan 16 juta warna dan resolusi 480×800 pixel, kamera 5 megapixel dengan autofocus dan LED flash, serta accelerometer sensor untuk UI auto-rotate dan sensor jarak untuk auto turn-off.

Hebatnya lagi, ponsel ini ternyata telah didukung dengan processor single core Qualcomm MSM8655 kecepatan clock hingga 1.4GHz dan disertai pula GPU (graphics processing unit) Adreno 205. Meskipun HP Pre 3 ini telah dikemas dengan keberadaan memori internal 16 GB dan RAM 512 MB, tapi ponsel ini tampaknya tidak memiliki slot kartu microSD untuk ekspansi memorinya. Harga untuk ponsel cerdas tersebut £349.99 atau sekitar 4,8 juta rupiah.