02/10, 3:50pm
USA Today breaks down mobile app ratios
An escaped USA Today presentation has uncovered some of the real results of mobile news app downloads. GeekWire's copy showed a wide gap between downloads for the iPad and Android tablets: at over 2.9 million downloads, the iPad version had more than seven times the downloads of Android, which had 390,000 combined. The ratio on Android was heavily skewed by the Kindle Fire, which at 260,000 downloads had managed twice as much interest as every other Android tablet combined.
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02/08, 6:20pm
May have been working on Android-based TouchPad
HP has provided the developer community a software kernel that could enable its now discontinued TouchPad to run the Android OS. The kernel and some other GPL components evidently had been used by the company to adapt some of the tablets to run Android on the device's hardware. RootzWiki has posted the officially blessed code for download.
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01/30, 9:45pm
HP sees Brian Hernacki continue webOS exodus
A quick leak Monday has uncovered that webOS chief architect Brian Hernacki has left HP. Details were short from The Verge's source, but the webOS team member had come in during 2009. There weren't indications as to where he was going next.
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01/27, 1:45pm
HP exec explains why he left
HP's newly departed Jon Rubinstein has explained his reasons for going in an interview Friday. He clarified to The Verge that he had planned to leave not long after HP bought Palm and agreed to stay one to two years, both to help transition webOS to HP and out of affinity with Personal Systems Group head Todd Bradley. Whether or not the TouchPad succeeded was incidental, as Rubinstein had already decided beforehand that he wouldn't stay permanently.
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01/27, 12:35pm
Rubinstein HP exit closes major webOS chapter
HP has confirmed that former Palm CEO and one-time Apple executive Jon Rubinstein was leaving the company. Representative Mylene Mangalindan explained to AllThingsD that Rubinstein had "fulfilled his commitment" to stay for one to two years after HP's acquisition of Palm. He wasn't leaving for another company and isn't believed to have some other specific goal.
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01/27, 12:15pm
HP TouchPad up for sale again for 220 at Woot
Despite being discontinued, HP's TouchPad tablet is up for sale again, at Woot. It's a refurbished 32GB model, priced at $220, or about $70 more than the last refurbished 32GB TouchPads sold on eBay. Shipping is a much more manageable $5 for the new sale, however.
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01/25, 3:15pm
HP Open webOS ready by September with common Linux
HP has acted on its promise to open-source webOS with an important change that could affect the devices that use it. Now called Open webOS, it's moving to a common Linux kernel that will let hardware makers use much more typical drivers and bring it to hardware beyond what HP originally intended. The OS will sit under an Apache 2 license, which will let others copy code as long as they include the license and attribution.
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01/23, 3:35pm
36 percent upgrading from other platforms
About 21 percent of iPhone 4S buyers are opting for the top-end 64GB model, despite a $399 US pricetag, a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners survey suggests. The group recently surveyed 365 people who bought a 4S during the December quarter, narrowing down candidates from an initial range of 6,316 respondents. The 4S is the first iPhone to have a 64GB option instead of just 8, 16, or 32GB.
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01/17, 6:20pm
HP promotes Bill Veghte to CSO
HP reshuffled its leadership again on Tuesday with the decision to promote Bill Veghte to Chief Strategy Officer. The step up, which will still give him responsibilities as VP of Software, will see him head not just the company's more recent cloud initiatives but the operation of open-sourcing webOS. Veghte has the "knowledge and vision" to keep the company on top, CEO Meg Whitman said.
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01/13, 5:30pm
Will be more functional and stable than past tries
HP TouchPad owners finally may soon be able to run Android 4.0 on their tablet. The CyanogenMod team has released a preview (below) of their upcoming CM9 build for the device. The upcoming version is much more fully featured than previous renditions of the Android port, and will incorporate almost all functionality except the camera and video playback.
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01/12, 6:40pm
Also releases webOS 2.2.4 for Pre phone owners
HP has posted updates for webOS. It now has webOS 3.0.5 available for owners of the TouchPad, which the company initially launched and then quickly shelved last summer. It's also making a separate release, webOS 2.2.4, available to Pre 2 and Pre 3 smartphone owners.
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01/02, 11:30am
Von Rospach blames both Apotheker, Palm legacy
Recently departed webOS Community Manager Chuq von Rospach has added to the explanations for why webOS was failing with new details of his own. While careful not to blame HP solely or even primarily for the platform's decline, von Rospach noted that the culture fostered under ousted CEO Leo Apotheker only exacerbated what's cast as a revolving-door culture. He likened it to the nadir of Apple's leadership under Michael Spindler, who preceded Gil Amelio and was well before the clarity and lean organization that defined Steve Jobs' return.
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01/01, 6:55pm
WebOS may have been fated to struggle
New scoops both public and private have suggested that Palm, and later HP, may have ultimately had hurdles at the corporate level, not just technical, to ever challenging Apple or Google. WebOS didn't have either the needed management or engineers to bring it to completion, a New York Times source said, and there were few WebKit-savvy developers weren't already working on iOS or Android. This was compounded by a rush to finish the OS in nine months, which required taking shortcuts such as skipping proper APIs (app programming interfaces) until later, hurting the ability for third-party developers to sign on.
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12/29, 10:40am
Hurd letter over HP firing must be made public
(Update: the letter is posted) Ousted HP chief Mark Hurd late Wednesday lost an appeal against a ruling that will make an accusation letter public. The Delaware court determined that the contents discussing the Jodie Fisher involvement were only "mildly embarrassing" and weren't protected the same way genuine trade secrets might. It wouldn't violate California privacy rights, and many of the details had been leaked to the public and weren't overly detailed, the court argued.
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12/28, 3:30pm
HP may have shopped around webOS before change
HP had tried to sell webOS before it settled on open-sourcing the platform, according to a rumor on Wednesday. Sources for VentureBeat claimed that HP had supposedly been asking for the same $1.2 billion that it paid for Palm in 2010 to avoid taking a loss. If it had been talking to Amazon and other companies, they may have balked given that HP was charging the same price for a division whose hardware had since been taken off the market.
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12/27, 11:00pm
HP TouchPad Go may have had better shot at iPad
HP's stillborn TouchPad Go has been given its first and possibly only review on Tuesday in a sign that it might have been the tablet HP should have launched first. The seven-inch tablet handled by webOS Nation has the same 1024x768 display as before and the faster dual-core 1.5GHz chip from the 64GB TouchPad, making it not only as capable but giving it a much sharper screen. While the cameras weren't high quality, it had a five-megapixel rear camera and was much more useful than the front-only camera on the 9.7-inch TouchPad.
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12/21, 12:55pm
Microsoft takes Apple cue to control its own event
Microsoft confirmed late rumors and said it would make 2012 its last CES keynote. Company Corporate Communications VP Frank Shaw said the company's launch windows "generally don’t align" with the January show and that it didn't make sense to have a keynote or booth in the future. Shaw indirectly admitted that the company was increasingly keynoting CES because it was "the way we've always done it" rather than for actual product launches, which were often months after the show.
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12/16, 7:35pm
Stable release brings Gingerbread to HP tablet
HP TouchPad owners who snapped up the tablet during August's fire sale or this week's eBay auction of refurbished units may soon be able to run a fully functional version of Android on the device. A preliminary version of a MIUI ROM for the tablet, which normally runs webOS, has been posted on the XDA Developers' site. The alpha version of the ROM is reported to be relatively stable and offers most of the core functionality of Android 2.3.
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12/16, 3:40pm
HP will not be adopting the new logo from 2008
The Wednesday report about HP considering a change of its logo and philosophy won't result in any changes, Brand New learned from an HP spokesperson. Marketing agency Moving Brands was asked by HP in 2008 to propose new ideas for a number of brand identity elements, including fonts, graphics, and logos. The company used of the these designs, but told the source it has no plans to adopt the new logo Moving Brands made.
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12/15, 10:30pm
IDC sees Amazon denting iPad in fall
Amazon's Kindle Fire could cut Apple's share of the tablet market to under 60 percent for the first time, IDC estimated Thursday. Android would climb from 32.4 percent to get a collective 40.3 percent through the Fire which, along with some help from the Nook Tablet, would push the iPad down from 61.5 percent this summer to 59 percent of tablets. The BlackBerry PlayBook would lose some ground as well, down from 1.1 percent to 0.7 percent, while the HP TouchPad's final exit would give up five percent.
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12/14, 10:40am
HP considers fresh device logos in new strategy
HP contractor Moving Brands has proposed a remake of the company's signature logo that would be as much a change of philosophy as image. Its remake would go to four angled lines that imply the logo and would be more modern than the current design, which is still closer to the icon from the company's early days. The angle would not only dictate the theme of promo material but even integrate into products, such as the capacity on inkjet printers.
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12/13, 5:00pm
Von Rospach leaves HP after webOS open-source
HP saw one of its former Apple hires leave Tuesday after Chuq von Rospach revealed he was leaving the company. The webOS Developer Relations Community Manager confirmed that it was to leave for a position at another company that he "had to pursue." While not naming the company, he stressed that it didn't have anything to do with the decision to open-source webOS.
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12/13, 10:00am
NPD shows Android did not dampen iPhone in 2011
An NPD Group look back at most of 2011 has shown the sheer change in the smartphone business in the past year. Android was now the majority, having climbed from 42 percent in all of 2010 to 53 percent from the start of 2011 through October. Despite the pressure, though, Apple too grew share the entire year and actually grew at a faster relative rate, bouncing back from a dip to 21 percent in 2010 to a new high of 29 percent by this October.
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12/12, 11:55am
HP offered just 7,850 refurbished TouchPads
This weekend's eBay TouchPad sale saw 7,850 of the refurbished devices find buyers, which is all the stock HP had on hand. The 16GB eBay listing saw 2,316 sales, priced at $99, while the 32GB model sold 5,534 units at $149. All were sold in less than 25 minutes, making eBay and PayPal work much slower and return a number of errors and unsuccessful transactions.
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12/09, 4:55pm
HP hints webOS tablet revival after all
HP chief Meg Whitman and key board member Marc Andreessen in an interview Friday revived talk of webOS tablets following a decision to open-source the code. Despite quashing any near-term hopes, Andreessen explained to TechCrunch that HP saw not only other companies making webOS tablets but also HP itself. There might not be any hardware in 2012, Whitman added, but it would certainly happen by 2013.
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12/09, 1:55pm
HP to open-source webOS code
HP at its all-hands meeting Friday said it was open-sourcing webOS. Both the Enyo app framework and the OS itself would be published under a license. The company expected to "continue to be active" in making and supporting webOS, but mobile hardware would have to come from others.
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12/08, 11:05pm
HP all-hands on webOS fate to finally come
HP's definitive answer on webOS should come at an all-hands meeting on Friday. Leaked details from staff to PreCentral have CEO Meg Whitman briefing the webOS Global Business Unit at 1:30PM Eastern. The outcome itself isn't known and will likely be a secret until Whitman's presentation.
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12/03, 2:45pm
HP TouchPad Go goes up for very rare auction
HP's unreleased TouchPad Go has surfaced in a very rare eBay auction. The 32GB, 3G model is being sold from China and may have been one of the few if any devices that was fully completed but didn't reach stores. Apart from cosmetic wear, it's fully functional and is running a version of webOS optimized for the seven-inch screen.
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12/03, 2:30pm
UK courts use discontinued TouchPads for trial run
The UK's Crown Prosecution Service made an unusual decision for a test pilot with tablets for its attorneys, officials said Friday. A Norwich crown court told The Guardian it will give prosecutors 35 HP TouchPads, supposedly worth up to £1,000 ($1,560) each, to keep court documents digitally during cases. Police would send information directly to lawyers with the goal of ultimately saving as much as £50 million ($78 million) by the next UK parliament.
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11/30, 12:05pm
Sony Ericsson Xperias to get 50GB of Box storage
Sony Ericsson early this week revealed that Xperia owners will get the same 50GB of cloud storage space as their iOS counterparts. It has now clarified that announcement, stating that the Box for Android mobile app isn't quite ready for release. Sony Ericsson would only say the company is in the middle of finalizing the promotion and that it's coming soon.
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11/30, 11:25am
HP sees Apple with chance of becoming tops
Apple could overtake HP in the computing space in 2012, HP chief Meg Whitman said in a new interview late Tuesday. Referring to a Canalys estimate that had Apple as the top computer builder next year if the iPad was included, she told France's Le Figaro that it was possible. The company would try to get back to the top spot in 2013, but Whitman herself was so recent that her impact wouldn't be felt for some time.
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11/29, 3:20pm
Nielsen breaks down US share from Q3 2011
Android's share of the US smartphone market started leveling off in the summer, Nielsen said Tuesday. With Android at 42.8 percent, its overall summer share was the same as what it managed in August. Apple was also unaffected and held the iPhone firm at 28.3 percent.
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11/22, 11:45am
HP webOS deal may be held up on printer promise
A rumor emerging from HP's prospective sale of its webOS group has identified a new buyer as well as the possible reasons for HP's indecision on the subject. The VentureBeat tip claimed that Intel has just started discussing the prospect of a deal. Qualcomm, best known for its Snapdragon chips, was allegedly still in discussions in spite of public denials.
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11/22, 9:05am
NPD shows HP leading US tablets for most of 2011
HP, not Samsung, was the ruler of non-iPad tablets in the US for the first ten months of the year, the NPD Group said in a new study. With just 1.2 million tablets sold at retail across every company outside of Apple, HP was the leader in the country at 17 percent, or 204,000, sold between its launch and October. The low count suggests that the fire sale $99 TouchPad, not HP's Windows range, was the sales leader by going on clearance.
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11/14, 4:25pm
Images of ill-fated 7-inch slate surface
When HP launched its ill-fated ten-inch TouchPad tablet, it had a smaller seven-inch slate, the TouchPad Go, following in the wings. Although that smaller tablet never made it to market, Palmjoy has posted some images of the ill-fated device. It appears to be a near-literal shrinking of the regular TouchPad with a 4:3 ratio display.
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11/08, 8:10pm
HP puts back webOS fate another month
HP's webOS decision meeting has led to a delay. New slips from the all-hands meeting to The Verge had CEO Meg Whitman saying that a final decision would come in three to four weeks. She saw the decision as an all-or-nothing proposition, where it might do little with webOS or commit to it in a "very significant way over a multi-year period," according to an account of the meeting.
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11/08, 3:15pm
HP may decide Tuesday on webOS outcome
HP may have a conclusion on the fate of the webOS group Tuesday night, a leak may have uncovered. An "all-hands meeting" is supposedly happening in the evening where webOS' outcome would "likely" be made public, The Verge heard. CEO Meg Whitman would head up the meeting, which would wait until around 7:30PM Eastern and past the market close.
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11/07, 7:20pm
HP taps bank to consider exiting webOS for good
HP is seriously exploring the possibility of selling the webOS division outright, four insiders said Monday night. The company has brought on Bank of America Merrill Lynch to decide whether or not it makes sense to sell the group, the sources told Reuters. An asking price might run into the "hundreds of millions" of dollars, which would see HP take a loss on its $1.2 billion Palm buyout but still command significant interest.
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11/03, 12:25pm
Tweets, tests reveal webOS 3.0.5 due with Synergy
The discontinued HP TouchPad may soon receive an OS update to webOS 3.0.5, webOS France found. A user shared his Lithium Benchmark Program score over Twitter for a TouchPad running on 3.0.5. Developers are also otherwise tweeting using webOS Synergy, suggesting Twitter integration will be part of the updated OS.
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10/29, 7:40pm
HP PSG head says webOS group very much alive
HP's Personal Systems Group head Todd Bradley in an interview (auto-playing video below) shot down rumors the company would end its webOS division entirely. The executive told Bloomberg it was an "unfounded rumor" and that the company was swinging its evaluation to the OS after deciding to keep PCs. There was "phenomenal software and phenomenal talent" that just needed to be put to the right purposes, he said.
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10/28, 6:45pm
Best Buy sells TouchPad at 150 when linked to PC
(Update: HP runs out) Best Buy in an unusual Friday deal brought back the HP TouchPad for a special and possibly final deal. Anyone who buys an HP or Compaq desktop or notebook can add the 32GB version of the webOS tablet for the same $150 it cost during the fire sale period. The sale starts November 1 and doesn't have a specified end date.
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10/27, 5:55pm
HP leans on Microsoft again for tablet strategy
HP during its conference call discussing a decision to keep its PC group dashed hopes of a webOS tablet revival. CEO Meg Whitman wanted HP to compete against the iPad, saying the company needed to "be in the tablet business," but put the hopes for the company's Personal Systems Group strategy back on Microsoft. The company was "certainly going to be there" when Windows 8 shipped sometime next year, she said.
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10/27, 4:10pm
HP keeps PC group after all
HP on Thursday reversed its decision to possibly jettison its PC division. The Personal Systems Group would stay after a study determined that it was "right" for customers, shareholders, and staff. It based the conclusion off of the level of integration across the company, including the supply chain, as well as the brand value; recreating all these outside of the company would have been more expensive, HP said.
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10/27, 11:30am
Richard Kerris now known leaving HP for Nokia
The company behind webOS developer relations VP Richard Kerris leaving HP has been identified on Thursday as Nokia. The firm's senior VP for Developer and Marketplace, Marco Argenti, confirmed that Kerris had jumped ship to become Nokia's Global Head of Developer Relations. His exact role wasn't outlined, although his focus will likely be on getting support for Nokia-specific Windows Phone apps.
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10/27, 5:30am
Sony to develop mobile phones solo
(Updated with end of basic phones) Sony has announced it has acquired Ericsson’s interest in what had been their ten-year old joint mobile phone venture. Previously rumored, the move ultimately came at a cost of €1.05 billion ($1.47 billion) as Sony bought Ericsson’s 50 percent stake in the company. The purchase also grants Sony access to what it calls a broad IP cross-licensing agreement and ownership of “five essential patent families.”
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10/24, 11:10pm
webOS developer relations head jumps ship
HP's decision to quit webOS hardware had another ripple effect after its webOS Worldwide Developer Relations head Richard Kerris left the company. The departure is immediate and doesn't have a known replacement. While amicable, HP said he had left to take an "opportunity outside of the company," according to a statement.
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10/20, 8:35pm
HP drops strategy head in first big shakeup
HP conducted the first big corporate shakeup since it fired Leo Apotheker on Thursday after it said its chief strategy and technology officer Shane Robison would retire as of November 1. While characterized as a graceful exit, it said Robison wouldn't be replaced. The move was to bring "strategy, research and development" more directly into HP, pointing to the restructuring as the primary incentive.
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10/18, 11:55am
webOS 3.0.4 includes support for non-HP phones
WebOS chief Ari Jaaksi said on his blog that an update is available for the HP Touchpad. Among the new features and improvements in version 3.0.4 of webOS are better camera support, connectivity for non-HP phones, improved messaging, and a tweaked UI. The over-the-air update is being applied automatically.
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10/11, 7:50pm
New HP CEO may keep PCs in-house after all
New HP CEO Meg Whitman's accelerated review of the fate of its PC business may see her change her mind, insiders detailed Tuesday. Advisors on the subject have told the new executive that the costs of breaking out the group into a separate company might be more than the cost savings, the WSJ heard. Shedding the PC business would hurt HP's ability to get low prices on its remaining hardware and would cut into the profits of what was left.
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10/10, 6:05pm
HP may settle fate of webOS group this week
HP may be choosing what to do with its webOS team this week, a rumor purported on Monday. A source within HP told an unusual choice for an outlet, AppleInsider, that the company would say whether it would sell off or spin out the webOS group. It's unclear if this was directly attached to HP's known plans to review its PC unit's future before the end of the month or if the two would head in separate directions.
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