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HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

blog.palm.com

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Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#51

Post by Killah911 »

megaman821 wrote: post #34
Killah911 wrote: post #21

"Touch to Share capability for sharing web addresses between HP TouchPad and compatible webOS phones" I'm sure all 5 people who still have the palm pre can barely contain their excitement... Seriously, what's HP thinking? I think the Palm Pre came out with more fanfare, and that didn't turn out that great. If all that really differrentiates HP's tablet from the iPad is the OS, well, quite frankly, it's been done befo…

Palm made the mistake of not realizing fanfare isn't the same as distribution. Touchpads are going to be available at Amazon.com, HP.com, BestBuy, Walmart, Sam's Club, OfficeMax and several others within two weeks of launch, not to mention the international push. The Pre was stuck on the nation's 3rd largest network for like 6 months. It really had no chance of competing with current offerings on AT&T and Verizon bei…

That's a valid point. It'll be an interesting case study, if it does indeed meet with some success. However, there are already other Android based tablets out there (Best Buy/CompUSA) which have had lackluster sales. Are they really banking on distribution channel being the key differrentiator? (yes, I know... WebOS too)

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#52

Post by viraptor »

dstein wrote: post #35

I think HP's marketing is wrong, they shouldn't be touting the WebOS operating system so much because ordinary people don't care. The operating system is irrelevant in this type of device. In fact, I think something along the lines of Google's ChromeOS is the right operating system for a tablet -- an ultralight web-browsing only device with cloud-connected filesystem for downloads/photos/movies etc. It's the only typ…

It might be relevant because it's going to run on desktops too. That means you get webos in both places - it's a word people will have to remember.

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#53

Post by r00fus »

dstein wrote: post #35

I think HP's marketing is wrong, they shouldn't be touting the WebOS operating system so much because ordinary people don't care. The operating system is irrelevant in this type of device. In fact, I think something along the lines of Google's ChromeOS is the right operating system for a tablet -- an ultralight web-browsing only device with cloud-connected filesystem for downloads/photos/movies etc. It's the only typ…

It's important if one of the goals of the TouchPad is to rejuvenate the WebOS brand so they can market it for notebooks and other non-tablet/phone devices in the future.

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#54

Post by sleight42 »

Just once, I'd like to hear an electronics developer, in HP/Palm's situation, humbly concede, "We realize that we're entering a crowded market. We realize that we're entering late. However, our strategy is simple: ply the development community with incentives which, over time, should help us flesh out our platform into an engaging and useful product."

I've read little but boasting from HP about the new round of WebOS devices. Let's be honest: they have a very tough road ahead if they want to get any market share. They need all of the help and good will that they can get.

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#55

Post by msbarnett »

mgkimsal wrote: post #50
marklabedz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In principle I agree, however, much has been made of Apple's buying power when it comes to key components (displays, solid state storage, etc). Apple may well have the lowest actual component cost.

Could HP not just sell below cost for a while to grab some market share? Instead of $100 million in marketing, drop the price by $100 and sell a million devices. It's a more direct benefit.

It's not as easy as you'd think to sell a $399 tablet with no marketing budget.

See: The surprise in this thread being expressed that Asus' tablet has been available for sale for months.

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#56

Post by WiseWeasel »

tsieling wrote: post #42
desigooner wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the fact about Apple's buying power. But when someone is trying to compete with an established product, you gotta offer something more at some price less to get people to even look at it! It's going to be interesting to see how the HP Touchpad & Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 do in the next few months. However, the real competition will start when Amazon jumps into the market with their rumored Kal-El tablets l…

>When trying to compete with an established product you gotta offering something more at some price less... Like the iPhone and it's $600 starting price?

Apple created the market for touch-friendly pocket computers. There were no established products in that market.

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#57

Post by shaggy »

Aside from the the hardware and the OS, the most exciting part of the announcement is how HP is using their sizable scale and distribution channels to get the touchpad into the 4 of the top brick and mortar retailers. It will make it far more accessible to the average consumer than the iPad. I wish the price was lower, but sadly if they didn't match the pricing of the iPad then too many people (or worse media outlets) would automatically assume that it was priced cheaper because it's an inferior product (which it isn't).

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#58

Post by trafficlight »

martingordon wrote: post #14
desigooner wrote: post #10

I still fail to understand on why companies prefer to price their products at the same level as iPad?! Spec for spec, there are not many things that put HP TouchPad to an advantage. No extendable memory, no extra ports, a weak app ecosystem, etc. Ever since the ASUS Transformer was released at 399$ for a 16GB model, that pretty much became the price to beat for a tablet which wanted to compete with the iPad2

I was going to post a snarky comment about how the Transformer can't compete with the iPad because its not actually shipping yet, blah blah, but I did a search first and found out that it shipped over a month ago. Which can only mean that ASUS really botched the PR on this one. Neither Engadget nor Gizmodo (arguably the two largest gadget sites) have reviewed it, but the few reviews I did find were generally positive…

I just got my 32GB Transformer from Newegg on Monday.

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#59

Post by dman »

WiseWeasel wrote: post #56
tsieling wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>When trying to compete with an established product you gotta offering something more at some price less... Like the iPhone and it's $600 starting price?

Apple created the market for touch-friendly pocket computers. There were no established products in that market.

Yes the Newton was a great product.

Re: HP TouchPad: Shipping July 1

#60

Post by r00fus »

smackfu wrote: post #47
martingordon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to post a snarky comment about how the Transformer can't compete with the iPad because its not actually shipping yet, blah blah, but I did a search first and found out that it shipped over a month ago. Which can only mean that ASUS really botched the PR on this one. Neither Engadget nor Gizmodo (arguably the two largest gadget sites) have reviewed it, but the few reviews I did find were generally positive…

I have heard a lot of actual talk on tech forums about the Transformer and people trying to find it and excited to buy it. Way more than the other tablets. I wonder if Asus just didn't send review units to Engadget and Gizmodo. OTOH, isn't the press supposed to be covering things on their own??

Your comment only strengthens the case against Asus' product marketing execution.
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