It has been up in the air on what the future of webOS was going to be, but today, HP has announced the platform will be open sourced. What this means is, webOS will be able to be installed on different hardware and other vendors will be able to do what they want with it.

HP will actively support webOS and push the development for the public to try and help make the platform successful, without putting in to much more money. Also, the patents for webOS will stay in control of HP to protect developers. There is no official word on whether HP will produce any more hardware for webOS or if they will leave it completely up to 3rd party vendors. We would not rule out the possibility though.

This is a pretty bold move, but it is really the only sensible move that HP could make, besides just killing the platform off completely. Maybe this won’t help webOS and it will eventually die completely, but hopefully some will use it and we will finally see the software and hardware progress.

(Via The Verge)

HP purchased webOS and everyone expected them to take the company and turn it around, because they had the funding. Well, that did not happen. HP had their Q4 Earnings Report and it shows that they lost a little more than was probably expected.

HP bought Palm for 1.2 billion this year, took the company and readjusted it for their needs. After it was all said and done at the point it is now, they have spent a total of 3.3 billion over the course of purchase and almost dead point. Even though HP is still doing good finically, it has to hurt to loose a couple of billion over an experiment.

As of right now CEO Meg Whitman has not announced the final decisions for webOS but says that if they decide to keep it alive, they will do something very significant with it. Whitman is saying we should hear something in the next couple of weeks, so who knows, webOS might be dead soon. Should they go ahead and kill it?

(via The Verge)

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To find our answers we must look to the past. Lets rewind the clock a bit a take a look at 2004. IBM had a thriving PC business that it just sold to Lenovo. Why did they sell? They were losing money; a ton of it. The reason being, the consumer PC business was yielding low profits due to lower profit margins. This was in 2004, when there were no tablets (iPad)  and no netbooks competing in the space.

Lets move ahead a bit to 2010, specifically August. HP just released their third quarter results, they also just purchased Palm for $1.2 Billion. Their profits and revenues were up in their personal systems group division which contains PCs and the recently purchased Palm with it’s webOS.

Things were looking good for webOS and it’s fans. HP had the resources, Palm had the skills; then HP’s CEO said something that pretty much explains their motives for spinning off their Personal Systems Group.

“We didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business. And I tell people that, but it doesn’t seem to resonate well. We bought it for the IP. The WebOS is one of the two ground-up pieces of software that is built as a web operating environment…We have tens of millions of HP small form factor web-connected devices…Now imagine that being a web-connected environment where now you can get a common look and feel and a common set of services laid against that environment. That is a very value proposition.”

They never cared about getting webOS into the consumer device race. They wanted to take webOS and assimilate it into a piece of enterprise software. Something adaptable and pliable to the needs of their business customers. Something that could “scale” along with their broad reach of products. HP PR came out and tried to smooth things over, but looking at the Veer, Touchpad and the non-launch of the Pre3, we can clearly see HP knew they didn’t have a chance in this market. These devices were just promises to the Palm group, they were already in the cards (no pun intended) before the acquisition, but HP had no real desire to create webOS hardware. Then why? Software. Specifically business software.

IBM made a similar move at the beginning of this tale. Their move came slightly to late and they had already started to lose money. HP sees the writing on the wall, they see the “tablet affect” eating away personal computer sales. So they decided to make a decision: stick with what you know and HP knows business software and printers. In the same breath they axed webOS devices, consumer PCs, and purchased Autonomy Corp for $10 Billion. The saying is “Put your money where your mouth is” and $10 billion is a hell of a lot more money than the $1.2 billion spent on Palm.

HP’s plan is to turn it’s risky, manufacturing and large overhead style business into a software provider business with higher profits. They want to take their millions of dollars in revenue (for software) and turn into billions of dollars like IBM.

Unfortunately, webOS devices were just collateral damage in this fight for relevancy by HP.

Yes, you heard it right people, HP has discontinued all the hardware running webOS and has no future plans to make hardware for the devices. This comes as a huge surprise being that the HP Touchpad was just released and the Pre 3 was on it’s way.

HP is saying the company is not succeeding in making hardware that is competitive in the market and they do not want keep putting money into it over the next 2 years to be successful (even that being a gamble). However, they did say that they are not abandoning webOS entirely. They have mentioned plans to license the software to other manufacturers.

All though there are no exact plans yet HP says, within the next 2 weeks the direction and plans for webOS should be a lot more clear. In the meantime, if you were a webOS fanboy you can morn the loss of that Palm hardware you have loved, but maybe now if they license the OS we might get a plethora of devices to pick from in the future so the platform can grow and be the successful OS that it should be.

(via Slashgear)

HP has announced the official street date for their upcoming entry into the tablet arena. The HP TouchPad will be available July 1st with pre-orders starting June 19th. Pricing will be set at $499 for the 16GB model and $599 for the 32GB model, right inline with the iPad. HP is swinging it’s distribution weight by releasing the TouchPad in several retail stores including Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Sam’s Club, OfficeMax, Amazon.com, Fry’s, Microcenter, as well as HP’s own online store. Although this first offering of webOS tablets will be WiFi only, HP also announced they are working with AT&T to bring a wirelessly connected model later this summer. For the full press release, hit the jump.

HP Announces HP TouchPad Availability for United States, Europe and Canada

Wi-Fi version of first HP webOS tablet also coming to Asia Pacific later this year

PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that the Wi-Fi version of HP TouchPad will be available in the United States on July 1.

“The platform’s unmatched features and flexibility will continue to differentiate HP products from the rest of the market for both personal and professional use. This is only the beginning of what HP’s scale can do with webOS.”

HP’s first webOS tablet will be available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany a few days later and in Canada in mid-July, with availability scheduled to follow later this year in Italy and Spain, as well as in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore.

HP TouchPad will be available from U.S. retailers, commercial resellers and direct from HP with the option of either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage(1) for $499.99 and $599.99, respectively.(2) Preorders in North America and Europe will begin June 19.

“What makes HP TouchPad a compelling alternative to competing products is webOS,” said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. “The platform’s unmatched features and flexibility will continue to differentiate HP products from the rest of the market for both personal and professional use. This is only the beginning of what HP’s scale can do with webOS.”

With webOS, HP TouchPad users have a next-level multitasking experience, access to the web, premium audio playback with stereo speakers and Beats Audio™ technology, the ability to find information on the device or in the cloud using the Just Type feature, integrated access to their information with HP Synergy, and HP’s exclusive Touch to Share capability for sharing web addresses between HP TouchPad and compatible webOS phones.(3)

Optional accessories for HP TouchPad include the HP Touchstone Charging Dock, the HP TouchPad Wireless Keyboard and the HP TouchPad Case (sold separately).

HP also announced it will be partnering with AT&T to introduce a connected version of HP TouchPad later this summer. More information will be available closer to availability.

U.S. retailers and commercial resellers for HP TouchPad will include Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Sam’s Club, OfficeMax, Amazon.com, Fry’s, Microcenter, other leading local and regional retailers, and HP’s online stores. Specific pricing and availability for HP TouchPad in Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom will be announced regionally. Details for Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore and Spain will be announced at a later date.

More information about HP TouchPad, including product features and specs, is available at www.hpwebos.com/us/products/pads/touchpad.

The Veer is HP’s latest entry into the mid end smartphone arena. It’s as tall as a credit card, and almost as thin across. The Veer doesn’t veer much (see what I did there?) from traditional Palm design and has a slide up porttrait keyboard just like the Pre and Pre 2. This little guy comes packed with HSPA+, 8GB of storage, 512mb of RAM and the new Snapdragon 7230 running at 800mhz.

Photos and Info Via [Engadget]

This week the Gurus cover Microsoft’s Kin phones, Palm being up for sale, Twitter developing official apps and Nic Ball shares his vanilla ice cream fantasies.

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]]> http://thegadgetgurus.net/2010/04/19/the-gadget-gurus-podcast-ep-57-you-in-vanilla-ice-cream/feed/ 2 http://thegadgetgurus.net/2010/04/18/join-the-gurus-live-tonight-at-8pm-est-4/ http://thegadgetgurus.net/2010/04/18/join-the-gurus-live-tonight-at-8pm-est-4/#comments Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:47:28 +0000 Mobile Mike http://thegadgetgurus.net/?p=1357 Posted in Gadget Gurus

Tonight we are going to talk about Microsoft’s Kin phones, Palm being up for sale, Twitter developing official apps and Nic Ball will teach us the meaning of life. Join us tonight LIVE at 8:00pm est!!!

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