[ilovedessert]

HI all,

FYI. Please use the link to read the balance of this article.

Take care,

Jay

HP TouchPad: Last stand for iPad competitors?
By James Kendrick | June 20, 2011, 6:09am PDT

HP TouchPad: Last stand for iPad competitors? | ZDNet

Apple shook up the mobile space with the introduction of the original iPad. The futuristic slate design coupled with Apple’s masterful marketing captured the imagination of consumers in the millions. The sheer number of units sold by Apple shows the iPad is not just selling to the Apple faithful, it has crossed the mainstream consumer boundary by appealing to a broad cross-spectrum of buyers. Many tablets based on the Android platform have appeared with none of them grabbing even a small fraction of the appeal of the iPad. The HP TouchPad hitting retailers in a few days may very well be the last stand for competitors for the iPad.

I have written in the past that I have seen no proof that a tablet market exists outside of the iPad, and having witnessed the dismal launch of big-name Android tablets nothing has changed my view. Android tablets are not selling well by anyone’s standard, and RIM has not set sales records with the BlackBerry PlayBook. Apple keeps selling millions of iPads, and a big bank of competitors keeps releasing tablets that few are buying.

[pogeypre]

It is very likely that the TouchPad will do much better than it's Android counterparts seeing that webOS was virtually built for tablets. That being said, if HP's goal and vision is to challenge Apple for the top spot in tablets, I think they have aimed too high.

The point is to make a platform that customers can get behind which will drag sorry developers such as myself into creating apps.

I think webOS is the best competitor for iOS.

[ilovedessert]

It is very likely that the TouchPad will do much better than it's Android counterparts seeing that webOS was virtually built for tablets. That being said, if HP's goal and vision is to challenge Apple for the top spot in tablets, I think they have aimed too high.

The point is to make a platform that customers can get behind which will drag sorry developers such as myself into creating apps.

I think webOS is the best competitor for iOS.

Hi all,

Your comments are right on the money... thanks, Take care, Jay

[kevr1990]

I think patience and a long-term strategy are key. The Touchpad will not be a success in it's first year, maybe not in it's second. It will take a couple of years for the tablet market to mature and HP and WebOS have an ideal opportunity here to really make their mark.

Android tablets have suffered from percieved 'panic' when deviced havent sold. How many revisions of the Galaxy Tab have Samsung released now? Totally devalued the brand, not to mention confusing it.

HP need to stand strong when sales are low, marketting has to be long-term and really focussed on building the 'Touchpad' brand.

The market will mature, and HP can and maybe even should be there waiting in prime position to capitalise.

[Vij]

I think patience and a long-term strategy are key. The Touchpad will not be a success in it's first year, maybe not in it's second. It will take a couple of years for the tablet market to mature and HP and WebOS have an ideal opportunity here to really make their mark.

Android tablets have suffered from percieved 'panic' when deviced havent sold. How many revisions of the Galaxy Tab have Samsung released now? Totally devalued the brand, not to mention confusing it.

I agree with you. That also made me think: I don't think independent Palm would have ever been able to "stay the course" without having the patience (and deep pockets) of HP.

I love the Palm brand, and would love to get a 'Palm" sticker on my Pre 3 and/or Touchpad :-) , but I'm glad HP were the ones who ended up with Palm.

[shingi_70]

It is very likely that the TouchPad will do much better than it's Android counterparts seeing that webOS was virtually built for tablets. That being said, if HP's goal and vision is to challenge Apple for the top spot in tablets, I think they have aimed too high.

The point is to make a platform that customers can get behind which will drag sorry developers such as myself into creating apps.

I think webOS is the best competitor for iOS.

But QNX and Honeycomb were virtually built for tablets too so your point is being. Ironic how the top selling tablet is the only one that didn't make anything better. The Playbook and Galaxy tab 10 seem to be doing pretty well for themselves.

[pogeypre]

The thing is webOS didn't really have to be tweaked very much to be on a tablet, whereas Android and Blackeberry had to create pretty much a new OS do accomidate tablets.

This is a huge advantage to webOS. Android may eventually get their tablet OS right, but by then I think that webOS would be the better competitor to iOS.

[RandomStrayThought]

"The TouchPad uses HP’s webOS which has the most polished user interface on any tablet. The demonstrations I have seen of the TouchPad in action show a simple interface that is extremely attractive and polished in appearance. It is the first tablet interface that looks better than the iPad’s, and has better features presented in an intuitive package."

This is some very high praise from someone who isn't a webOS ******. I just hope the market feels the same way and we're able to claim the #2 tablet position.

[Ulairi]

But QNX and Honeycomb were virtually built for tablets too so your point is being. Ironic how the top selling tablet is the only one that didn't make anything better. The Playbook and Galaxy tab 10 seem to be doing pretty well for themselves.

The Playbook just got raked over the coals from the RIM financial reports.

[ilovedessert]

Hi all,

My answers are in BLUE...

take care,

Jay

I think patience and a long-term strategy are key. The Touchpad will not be a success in it's first year, maybe not in it's second. It will take a couple of years for the tablet market to mature and HP and WebOS have an ideal opportunity here to really make their mark.

Android tablets have suffered from percieved 'panic' when deviced havent sold. How many revisions of the Galaxy Tab have Samsung released now? Totally devalued the brand, not to mention confusing it.

HP need to stand strong when sales are low, marketting has to be long-term and really focussed on building the 'Touchpad' brand.

The market will mature, and HP can and maybe even should be there waiting in prime position to capitalise.

Hi I agree with you 100%!

I agree with you. That also made me think: I don't think independent Palm would have ever been able to "stay the course" without having the patience (and deep pockets) of HP.

I love the Palm brand, and would love to get a 'Palm" sticker on my Pre 3 and/or Touchpad :-) , but I'm glad HP were the ones who ended up with Palm.

Hi, I also am glad that it was HP who ended up with Palm b/c they can afford to wait until the world discovers what we know...how great webOS truly is!

"The TouchPad uses HP’s webOS which has the most polished user interface on any tablet. The demonstrations I have seen of the TouchPad in action show a simple interface that is extremely attractive and polished in appearance. It is the first tablet interface that looks better than the iPad’s, and has better features presented in an intuitive package."

This is some very high praise from someone who isn't a webOS ******. I just hope the market feels the same way and we're able to claim the #2 tablet position.

Hi, from what I see, I feel the same...one of my dearest friends who has the first model of the Ipad wants to see the TouchPad and is strongly considering trading in his Ipad for a TouchPad.

The Playbook just got raked over the coals from the RIM financial reports.

Hi I agree with you on that one....the fact that the Playbook OS was so far from being finished is what is killed RIM now....(can't use it for email & address book unless yiou have a BB)....Palm pushed out the Pre/webOS before they were ready and look what happened....history is just repeating itself...

[Xadion]

Has anyone gone and used a playbook?

Its terribad - the multi tasking again, just like Android and iOS feels very tacked on- everything works fairly smooth BUT the cards- it is worse at dismissing cards/apps than my Pre- is, thats sad.

If the touchpad operates as fast/smooth as the Veer or Pre2 then it will be a heck of alot better than any android tablet I have used.

Have any of you used a "non top end" android tablet? like one of the 300 or 400$ 7 inchers from vizeo or whatever- turbble charles barkley turrbblee

[jimijames]

CNET has a little blurb on the TP and questions if it will be the one to finally chip away at ipad, yadda, yadda, yadda... CNET story

It's interesting to see a story by an obviously non webos user and his concerns. Figured I post this here in case anyone wants to add comments to the CNET story.

Enjoy!

[jimijames]

The thing is webOS didn't really have to be tweaked very much to be on a tablet, whereas Android and Blackeberry had to create pretty much a new OS do accomidate tablets.

This is a huge advantage to webOS. Android may eventually get their tablet OS right, but by then I think that webOS would be the better competitor to iOS.

I'm not a programmer, but isn't webos 3.0 significantly different from webos 2.0? Yes the UI looks similar, but you have a virtual keyboard (duh ), no gesture area, different notifications, and mojo vs enyo to name a few differences. Seems like HP also created a new OS for the tablet... granted most are changes for the better to take advantage of the tablet size.

[ilovedessert]

Has anyone gone and used a playbook?

Its terribad - the multi tasking again, just like Android and iOS feels very tacked on- everything works fairly smooth BUT the cards- it is worse at dismissing cards/apps than my Pre- is, thats sad.

If the touchpad operates as fast/smooth as the Veer or Pre2 then it will be a heck of alot better than any android tablet I have used.

Have any of you used a "non top end" android tablet? like one of the 300 or 400$ 7 inchers from vizeo or whatever- turbble charles barkley turrbblee

Hi all,

In other words, it wasn't just a rip off of webOS it was a very bad rip off of webOS!

take care,

jay

[FenrirWolf]

I'm not a programmer, but isn't webos 3.0 significantly different from webos 2.0? Yes the UI looks similar, but you have a virtual keyboard (duh ), no gesture area, different notifications, and mojo vs enyo to name a few differences. Seems like HP also created a new OS for the tablet... granted most are changes for the better to take advantage of the tablet size.

More or less. 3.0 has been reworked pretty substantially, but it's still webOS. The code was rewritten but the paradigm carries over.