If HP has no future plans with WebOS they should opensource it entirely. This would give the community a chance to main decent OPEN system for the portable market. Much like other closed projects that have reverted to public in the past it would have better chance of getting big than by being left forgotten somewhere on R&D's backup tapes.
Considering that they were able to run WebOS on an iPad2... and it ran twice as fast on that hardware, shows (A) there are hardware issues with the Touchpad more than the WebOS itself. (B) Porting this mini-OSes is very easy.
Would be fantastic if this was all a bluff and just a clever (though maybe slightly costly way) ruse to suddenly get several hundered thousand WebOS devices out into the wild in a matter of days.
Then at the end you have an ecosystem that otherwise would never have happend at $400 a time.
Then you can sell the Mk2 at full price.
I look forward to picking up a cheap Pre 3. WebOS really is fantastic.
Well I bought one. At that price, it's worth it purely as a media consumption device. I'm not planning on investing significantly in the app ecosystem, what apps there are, since it wouldn't make sense to spend on apps a large portion of the hardware cost of a dead end device. I hope HP will still try to honor the warranty if anything goes wrong with the hardware and try to at least offer security updates and critical bug fixes even if no more features are added.
And even if Android gets ported to Touchpad, I'm guessing all the Google proprietary parts like Google Market, and some of the apps and services expected in a pre-built Android device wouldn't work since it's not a Google certified device?
"At that price, it's worth it purely as a media consumption device."
ASSUMING you can get media onto it. Certainly there were many complaints that the Mac client for getting media onto it was pretty awful and routinely crashed. I don't know if the Windows client suffered the same problems.
"what client are you talking about? You just plug it in to a USB port and copy stuff to it. "
He has a Mac, therefore isnt technically inclined.
Apple devices rely on itunes to sync, loading things as its own USB drive like the rest of the planet isnt assumed (even though it makes sense to the rest of us).
Anyhow, back to point, its a great multimedia device if future apps arent a concern. I would ahve gotten one topday if it wasnt sold out everywhere I went.
Thanks dude. I guess I wasn't "technically inclined" when I wrote or optimized, among other things, Apple's MPEG software, AAC software, and H264 software. Tell us what equivalent "technically inclined" things you have done.
HP ships a product called HP Play that is supposed to perform the job of syncing media with the device. They (HP) appear to see a need for such an app. The POINT of such an app is NOT that people don't understand how to move files through a USB connection, it is that such an app can (a) validate files as working on the device (and warning you if they will not) and (b) in the optimal case transcoding them so that they WILL work on the device.
Of course it is nice that they also handle such issues as keeping playcounts in sync, maintaining playlists, remembering your position --- the niceties that are the reason people buy one particular brand of device rather than another.
But heck, if you think that spending $99 on a crappy UI for organizing media on the device, along with muddy audio, is a great deal, be my guest. Or you could buy a 2nd hand iPad1 16GB on eBay. Those are going for around $250 to $300, which perhaps tells you something about relative desirability.
Its a snapdragon internally, just like the nexus one and a bunch of other android phones. Once they crack a way to flash anything it should be pretty well supported.
lets hope it ship, it has moved from the verifying stage to the processing stage. My credit card has been billed but I have not recieved a confirmation e-mail.
Total before taxes is $155.98 for 32gb+Case (used a $30 dollar off coupon code)
Was all they had in stock but it seems pretty neat. I hope they don't scrap it completely. I think this OS would be great for a phone too. If they license the OS that would be best case scenario. Anyone have App recomendations?
Can't wait to see the hacks people who picked these up for 99$ come up with.
HP should open WebOS to make it truly open source and no strings attached mobile OS.
Hell will freeze over if Apple ever does something like this, and Google is still holding Android users by the balls with theirs not-so open source Android and completely closed source Honeycomb.
"Hell will freeze over if Apple ever does something like this,"
You mean WebKit? Darwin? Clang? Cups?
I don't understand what the mindset is here?You seem angry at the world that Apple will not give away EVERYTHING they have of value to you for free. Do you harbor that same anger to your neighbor?
Webkit was based on the existing KHTML rendering engine originally written for Konqueror under LGPL. No choice about releasing the code for that. Clang grew out of the open source LLVM research project. Cups was developed independently under GPL/LGPL licenses before Apple bought it.
Used the guide on Slickdeals to set up an EPP account (NOT the one that uses the 2727 Army Code) and applied the 30 dollar off coupon code.
Bought the 32GB version and the Touchstone charging dock. It was stuck at "verifying order" for a good 10-11 hours before it finally confirmed the order was being prepared.
Its a dead path product. I wouldn't bother buying it. For the frugalites out there though that dont need much or too cheap to buy something good I guess its a good deal. Its a throw away product though. If it goes dead don't expect a refund. Just toss it and get something else.
Its not for everyone but at $92 shipped it is worth it as a media device. This is a tablet and for browsing, its perfect. Especially perfect for ppl that have trouble using a desktop (my parents).
I was standing in line Saturday morning at 9:30AM with about 6-7 other guys and a parking lot with about 3-4 other people in their cars. We asked a couple of employees coming in to check and see if this deal was happening. A male that looked like a manager or supervisor came out and told us that all the HP TouchPads had already been sent back to HP and they didn't have any. There was a kid in line with me from the Best Buy in Ahwatukee and I asked him straight up if they might lie to us just to get rid of us. He hesitated a moment and said probably not. He also left disappointed and I just discovered this morning that Best Buy sold them at Noon for the reduced price. At the very least they lied to us about having sent these items back. I wish I had some recourse, but in the meantime I will console myself with the fact that it is a crap product anyway )-:
they weren't lying to you, best buy corporate had forbidden them from selling them to anyone and had removed the part numbers from the computers to make sure they couldn't. They were all being sent back to hp... The fact that they hadn't technically left the building makes it a lie only for the purpose of simplification, not deception.
later in the day best buy changed the policy and re-instated the part numbers, probably at the begging of hp. I read this happened later than noon though, but maybe some locations got the word earlier than others.
feel free to console yourself about what a crap product it is... I'm using mine right now, and genuinely do not understand 90% of the criticism it has received. It's fast, intuitive and a joy to use.
Its both... At that time, Best Buy was in the process of shipping them back. If they TOLD you they were in the store and you asked them to sell it to you, they COULDn'T. And if they did, it would have been at the $400 price!
Then BB changed their minds. There a good reason to change their minds... the cost of shipping them back would have cost money to both HP and Best Buy (time and costs).
A couple of weeks ago, I bought the Touchpad 16G from the HP online store for ~$300 after rebate and other discounts. Yesterday morning, when I learned that they were now selling for $99, I immediately called HP to returned this unit but, HP offered me to refund the difference, so kept it. At that moment I wanted to get a second one for my wife but they were all sold out.
This morning, I checked the HP SMB store and I saw the TouchPad 32G in stock. While struggling with the SMB online store that kept crashing (OMG! Classic ASP website), I called few relatives and friends and we were able to buy 4 units.
Do you know if it's classic ASP inside? I know a few sites that operated for years with a URL rewrite layer to keep from breaking external links even though they were using a newer platform internally.
1 - Warranty. Since its a discontinued product, expect the device to have a refurbish warranty - which is usually 30 days. This should be common sense - imagine thousands of these things dying in 3-5 months, then demanding people wanting HP to repair or replace defective units.
2 - Imagine if HP debuted this product at $400 with 32GB storage... that would have helped sales... the only major brand tablet at $400! With its cheap feeling back and lack of 2nd camera (Hey, my iPad doesn't have ANY cameras) - it would have been competitive.
3 - Today, on the 22nd early morning - I saw a TV AD for the All NEW TouchPad for $399... LOL!!
4 - At $100~150, its a good deal. Its a chance for people to try out a tablet who might have never bought one, or at least yet. The funny thing is.... HP will most likely convert these 500,000+ TouchPad users into a million+ iPad and Android users. As family and friends play with these devices and decide they want to get one... well, those are the remaining choices.
5 - I think most TouchPad owners will keep the WebOS. Hackers will expand on it, maybe fix some bugs. I doubt HP is going to release their $1.2+ Billion dollar purchase go away for free. Who knows, its most likely a complete loss for the WebOS platform. At best, Google buys it for a few hundred million... The FUBAR handling by HP totally devalued WebOS and the Palm devices.
6 - Quality. Talking to a Pre Owner... who in the past 4-5 months, is on her 3rd Pre... the Touch function of the screens keep dying. This is a defect issue. A lot of people are having problems with hardware failures - not so much WebOS itself.
7 - Too bad RIM didn't buy WebOS/Palm back when it was up for sale. WebOS on RIM hardware... would have been yummy and a bit faster to market. The weakness of RIM's Playbook is the software, but RIM can be trusted to fix the problems as time goes on (maybe). HP's Touchpad weakness is the hardware. But it had some software issues like the mostly useless CAM.
8 - Wonder how long it takes Best Buy to sell out. Anyone guessing about 5 days? I saw 5 people buying TouchPads in Walmart back to back... sold out.
9 - Check out the review here on the TouchPad: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4508/hp-touchpad-rev... I totally 100% agree, WebOS has the BEST, hands down - tablet on-screen keyboard. I wish and HOPE both Android and Apple will do the same.... after all, a keyboard is a keyboard. (The keys are not quite as tall and there is the NUMBER row added - Do you know HOW MUCH of a pain it is to enter passwords that are Alpha-numeric?!)
10 - For those who like the TouchPad, launching apps and functions are usually much faster on Android tablet and iPad devices.... like 3 times. Battery life on Touch pad is horrible. (Read review above) - these things will most likely never ever be fixed by HP... but who knows what HP will do to WebOS. Still, for $100 - you can't beat the price and the next generation tablets in 2012 will be even faster than todays current units.
What about WebOS smart phone prices? Any "deep discounts" available for these? Current price @ HP: $449.99 Google search showing a few "brand new" prices between ~$194 & ~$240.
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Arnulf - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
If HP has no future plans with WebOS they should opensource it entirely. This would give the community a chance to main decent OPEN system for the portable market. Much like other closed projects that have reverted to public in the past it would have better chance of getting big than by being left forgotten somewhere on R&D's backup tapes.iwod - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
I think Android 3.0 could be there faster then we think. The only problem is getting one of these. Ebay are already reselling these for 100% profits.Belard - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
Considering that they were able to run WebOS on an iPad2... and it ran twice as fast on that hardware, shows (A) there are hardware issues with the Touchpad more than the WebOS itself. (B) Porting this mini-OSes is very easy.tipoo - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link
I read about that...Wonder what caused it. On paper, the Touchpad should be faster, and even more so for the OS it was made to run.jabber - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
Would be fantastic if this was all a bluff and just a clever (though maybe slightly costly way) ruse to suddenly get several hundered thousand WebOS devices out into the wild in a matter of days.Then at the end you have an ecosystem that otherwise would never have happend at $400 a time.
Then you can sell the Mk2 at full price.
I look forward to picking up a cheap Pre 3. WebOS really is fantastic.
ltcommanderdata - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
Well I bought one. At that price, it's worth it purely as a media consumption device. I'm not planning on investing significantly in the app ecosystem, what apps there are, since it wouldn't make sense to spend on apps a large portion of the hardware cost of a dead end device. I hope HP will still try to honor the warranty if anything goes wrong with the hardware and try to at least offer security updates and critical bug fixes even if no more features are added.And even if Android gets ported to Touchpad, I'm guessing all the Google proprietary parts like Google Market, and some of the apps and services expected in a pre-built Android device wouldn't work since it's not a Google certified device?
name99 - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
"At that price, it's worth it purely as a media consumption device."ASSUMING you can get media onto it. Certainly there were many complaints that the Mac client for getting media onto it was pretty awful and routinely crashed. I don't know if the Windows client suffered the same problems.
johnsonx - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
what client are you talking about? You just plug it in to a USB port and copy stuff to it.retrospooty - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
"what client are you talking about? You just plug it in to a USB port and copy stuff to it. "He has a Mac, therefore isnt technically inclined.
Apple devices rely on itunes to sync, loading things as its own USB drive like the rest of the planet isnt assumed (even though it makes sense to the rest of us).
Anyhow, back to point, its a great multimedia device if future apps arent a concern. I would ahve gotten one topday if it wasnt sold out everywhere I went.
DanNeely - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Slick deals currently has a few places selling it. Keep checking the thread, they're popping in and out periodically.http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3220...
name99 - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Thanks dude. I guess I wasn't "technically inclined" when I wrote or optimized, among other things, Apple's MPEG software, AAC software, and H264 software. Tell us what equivalent "technically inclined" things you have done.HP ships a product called HP Play that is supposed to perform the job of syncing media with the device. They (HP) appear to see a need for such an app. The POINT of such an app is NOT that people don't understand how to move files through a USB connection, it is that such an app can
(a) validate files as working on the device (and warning you if they will not) and
(b) in the optimal case transcoding them so that they WILL work on the device.
Of course it is nice that they also handle such issues as keeping playcounts in sync, maintaining playlists, remembering your position --- the niceties that are the reason people buy one particular brand of device rather than another.
But heck, if you think that spending $99 on a crappy UI for organizing media on the device, along with muddy audio, is a great deal, be my guest.
Or you could buy a 2nd hand iPad1 16GB on eBay. Those are going for around $250 to $300, which perhaps tells you something about relative desirability.
Silenux - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
There is always a workaround for the market.The big problem is porting Android first.
ilkhan - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Its a snapdragon internally, just like the nexus one and a bunch of other android phones. Once they crack a way to flash anything it should be pretty well supported.Roland00Address - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
lets hope it ship, it has moved from the verifying stage to the processing stage. My credit card has been billed but I have not recieved a confirmation e-mail.Total before taxes is $155.98 for 32gb+Case (used a $30 dollar off coupon code)
*fingers crossed*
teng029 - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
@99 bucks, how bad can this be?superxero044 - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
Was all they had in stock but it seems pretty neat. I hope they don't scrap it completely. I think this OS would be great for a phone too. If they license the OS that would be best case scenario. Anyone have App recomendations?Can't wait to see the hacks people who picked these up for 99$ come up with.
gevorg - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
HP should open WebOS to make it truly open source and no strings attached mobile OS.Hell will freeze over if Apple ever does something like this, and Google is still holding Android users by the balls with theirs not-so open source Android and completely closed source Honeycomb.
name99 - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
"Hell will freeze over if Apple ever does something like this,"You mean WebKit? Darwin? Clang? Cups?
I don't understand what the mindset is here?You seem angry at the world that Apple will not give away EVERYTHING they have of value to you for free. Do you harbor that same anger to your neighbor?
DanNeely - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
Webkit was based on the existing KHTML rendering engine originally written for Konqueror under LGPL. No choice about releasing the code for that. Clang grew out of the open source LLVM research project. Cups was developed independently under GPL/LGPL licenses before Apple bought it.Solidstate89 - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
Used the guide on Slickdeals to set up an EPP account (NOT the one that uses the 2727 Army Code) and applied the 30 dollar off coupon code.Bought the 32GB version and the Touchstone charging dock. It was stuck at "verifying order" for a good 10-11 hours before it finally confirmed the order was being prepared.
happening6 - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
I called bestbuy, walmart, radioshack.. none of them are sell it.Where can i find one tomorrow to get it @ 99???
happening6 - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
Where can i find hp touchpad @ 99 tomorrow in usa.Which retail stores might have that?
DanNeely - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
HP lists a number of online vendors. Currently they're all either sold out, or haven't dropped their prices yet.http://h41112.www4.hp.com/promo/webos/us/en/shoppi...
Skott - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Its a dead path product. I wouldn't bother buying it. For the frugalites out there though that dont need much or too cheap to buy something good I guess its a good deal. Its a throw away product though. If it goes dead don't expect a refund. Just toss it and get something else.tekzor - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Its not for everyone but at $92 shipped it is worth it as a media device. This is a tablet and for browsing, its perfect. Especially perfect for ppl that have trouble using a desktop (my parents).mi1stormilst - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
I was standing in line Saturday morning at 9:30AM with about 6-7 other guys and a parking lot with about 3-4 other people in their cars. We asked a couple of employees coming in to check and see if this deal was happening. A male that looked like a manager or supervisor came out and told us that all the HP TouchPads had already been sent back to HP and they didn't have any. There was a kid in line with me from the Best Buy in Ahwatukee and I asked him straight up if they might lie to us just to get rid of us. He hesitated a moment and said probably not. He also left disappointed and I just discovered this morning that Best Buy sold them at Noon for the reduced price. At the very least they lied to us about having sent these items back. I wish I had some recourse, but in the meantime I will console myself with the fact that it is a crap product anyway )-:johnsonx - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
they weren't lying to you, best buy corporate had forbidden them from selling them to anyone and had removed the part numbers from the computers to make sure they couldn't. They were all being sent back to hp... The fact that they hadn't technically left the building makes it a lie only for the purpose of simplification, not deception.later in the day best buy changed the policy and re-instated the part numbers, probably at the begging of hp. I read this happened later than noon though, but maybe some locations got the word earlier than others.
feel free to console yourself about what a crap product it is... I'm using mine right now, and genuinely do not understand 90% of the criticism it has received. It's fast, intuitive and a joy to use.
mi1stormilst - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
A lie is a lie bro they had them in the store they had not sent them back.Belard - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
Its both... At that time, Best Buy was in the process of shipping them back. If they TOLD you they were in the store and you asked them to sell it to you, they COULDn'T. And if they did, it would have been at the $400 price!Then BB changed their minds.
There a good reason to change their minds... the cost of shipping them back would have cost money to both HP and Best Buy (time and costs).
AllYourBaseAreBelong2Us - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
A couple of weeks ago, I bought the Touchpad 16G from the HP online store for ~$300 after rebate and other discounts. Yesterday morning, when I learned that they were now selling for $99, I immediately called HP to returned this unit but, HP offered me to refund the difference, so kept it. At that moment I wanted to get a second one for my wife but they were all sold out.This morning, I checked the HP SMB store and I saw the TouchPad 32G in stock. While struggling with the SMB online store that kept crashing (OMG! Classic ASP website), I called few relatives and friends and we were able to buy 4 units.
DanNeely - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Do you know if it's classic ASP inside? I know a few sites that operated for years with a URL rewrite layer to keep from breaking external links even though they were using a newer platform internally.BSMonitor - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
B&N online has 16GB version still for $99.geforce912 - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
Thanks BSMonitor, you are a lifesaver.Belard - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
Thoughts...1 - Warranty. Since its a discontinued product, expect the device to have a refurbish warranty - which is usually 30 days. This should be common sense - imagine thousands of these things dying in 3-5 months, then demanding people wanting HP to repair or replace defective units.
2 - Imagine if HP debuted this product at $400 with 32GB storage... that would have helped sales... the only major brand tablet at $400! With its cheap feeling back and lack of 2nd camera (Hey, my iPad doesn't have ANY cameras) - it would have been competitive.
3 - Today, on the 22nd early morning - I saw a TV AD for the All NEW TouchPad for $399... LOL!!
4 - At $100~150, its a good deal. Its a chance for people to try out a tablet who might have never bought one, or at least yet. The funny thing is.... HP will most likely convert these 500,000+ TouchPad users into a million+ iPad and Android users. As family and friends play with these devices and decide they want to get one... well, those are the remaining choices.
5 - I think most TouchPad owners will keep the WebOS. Hackers will expand on it, maybe fix some bugs. I doubt HP is going to release their $1.2+ Billion dollar purchase go away for free. Who knows, its most likely a complete loss for the WebOS platform. At best, Google buys it for a few hundred million... The FUBAR handling by HP totally devalued WebOS and the Palm devices.
6 - Quality. Talking to a Pre Owner... who in the past 4-5 months, is on her 3rd Pre... the Touch function of the screens keep dying. This is a defect issue. A lot of people are having problems with hardware failures - not so much WebOS itself.
7 - Too bad RIM didn't buy WebOS/Palm back when it was up for sale. WebOS on RIM hardware... would have been yummy and a bit faster to market. The weakness of RIM's Playbook is the software, but RIM can be trusted to fix the problems as time goes on (maybe). HP's Touchpad weakness is the hardware. But it had some software issues like the mostly useless CAM.
8 - Wonder how long it takes Best Buy to sell out. Anyone guessing about 5 days? I saw 5 people buying TouchPads in Walmart back to back... sold out.
9 - Check out the review here on the TouchPad: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4508/hp-touchpad-rev... I totally 100% agree, WebOS has the BEST, hands down - tablet on-screen keyboard. I wish and HOPE both Android and Apple will do the same.... after all, a keyboard is a keyboard.
(The keys are not quite as tall and there is the NUMBER row added - Do you know HOW MUCH of a pain it is to enter passwords that are Alpha-numeric?!)
10 - For those who like the TouchPad, launching apps and functions are usually much faster on Android tablet and iPad devices.... like 3 times. Battery life on Touch pad is horrible. (Read review above) - these things will most likely never ever be fixed by HP... but who knows what HP will do to WebOS. Still, for $100 - you can't beat the price and the next generation tablets in 2012 will be even faster than todays current units.
vailr - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
What about WebOS smart phone prices?Any "deep discounts" available for these?
Current price @ HP: $449.99
Google search showing a few "brand new" prices between ~$194 & ~$240.