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HP Discontinues webOS (Widespread $100 TouchPad sales)

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It'll live on in my Palm Pre. . . for the remaining two years of my contract. :( I don't regret getting it though, good OS and I get a substantial monthly discount for having it (plus I have it overclocked, which makes it relatively speedy).
 
BTW, like someone mentioned I am not shocked about what just happened to webOS. While I thought it was great, you could tell HP was struggling to sell webOS devices.

HP trying to get rid of their PC bizniz though? That's huge to me.
 
Sadly, I saw it coming. I loved my Pre, but the hardware was just awful. I didn't have the oreo effect, but I had to fix the power button with some paper, and the keyboard keys weren't nearly as responsive by the end of the time I used it. WebOS was great, but no support hurt it, a lot. Glad I used it for a year, but like I said, not surprised.
 
venne said:
These devices are out of date in a year and obsolete in two. My eyes are wide open to that fact and why I am willing to purchase a greatly reduced modern device over something that is already outdated. I hold zero hope that a first gen iPad will get anything beyond this next upgrade. The old tech is simply an anchor on the OS.

I have a 3GS phone and an iPad 1. They both hold up really well. I think the 3G was a bit of an aberration — did they not just flip CPU tech at that point? — but the rest have been quite good.I am very pleased to get iOS5 on my two devices, I had a slight worry that they wouldn't be fully supported, but they are.

Apple is typically very good about long term support. But you shouldn't confuse "useless" with "not state of the art". When you learn about. new technology, despite the flexibility of digital informatio, some of it is inevitably tied to hardware improvements. We all know this. You jump into the river that is moving at a speed you are comfortable with. Yes, I like the Apple river, it moves quickly but the scenery is sublime. We make our choices.

As it is right now, I've been around long enough to see a similarity between BeOS 1996 and WebOS 2011, and I was a big supporter of BeOS, but in hindsight for not the greatest reasons. I tend to like the underdog.
 
I'm not sure the web is even worth anything anymore now that you can't access it properly through the perfect portal.
 
venne said:
Yeah, I love how my wife's 3G was unusable when it was 'upgraded' to iOS 4.

I still have a 3G. It's my only phone. It's hardly unusable. It slows down in and out of search on the maps app, and takes like three seconds for the search entry box to pop up, and it stutters when you type into it. Other than that app, everything else I use works fine, and quick enough.

I am ready to upgrade though. This time I really mean it.
 
PortTwo said:
I have a 3GS phone and an iPad 1. They both hold up really well. I think the 3G was a bit of an aberration — did they not just flip CPU tech at that point? — but the rest have been quite good.I am very pleased to get iOS5 on my two devices, I had a slight worry that they wouldn't be fully supported, but they are.

Apple is typically very good about long term support. But you shouldn't confuse "useless" with "not state of the art". When you learn about. new technology, despite the flexibility of digital informatio, some of it is inevitably tied to hardware improvements. We all know this. You jump into the river that is moving at a speed you are comfortable with. Yes, I like the Apple river, it moves quickly but the scenery is sublime. We make our choices.

As it is right now, I've been around long enough to see a similarity between BeOS 1996 and WebOS 2011, and I was a big supporter of BeOS, but in hindsight for not the greatest reasons. I tend to like the underdog.


The 3GS is still being sold however and it seems its getting one of the longest lifes out of the iphones.

The real problem isn't just the OS itself but its with future games .


I had a samsung moment that released in nov 2009 that couldn't play angry birds which released in oct of 2010.

My samsung epic is already having problems with new games , it stutters with angry birds rio.

The same thing happens on the iphone too. Developers are goin to want to target the newer devices because there are more of them. With apple releasing yearly upgrades by year 3 devices are largely out dated and newer software barely runs well on them.

Your ipad might be fine now but when the ipad 4 comes out your going to want to upgrade due to performance.
 
R2D4 said:
Next up? WP7



You had better hope not. We need at least 3 viable smartphone large company backed options IMO. More would be nice, but no less than three. I love the way shit is moving so fast in smartphones right now, competition tends to do that.
 
eastmen said:
The 3GS is still being sold however and it seems its getting one of the longest lifes out of the iphones.

The real problem isn't just the OS itself but its with future games .


I had a samsung moment that released in nov 2009 that couldn't play angry birds which released in oct of 2010.

My samsung epic is already having problems with new games , it stutters with angry birds rio.

The same thing happens on the iphone too. Developers are goin to want to target the newer devices because there are more of them. With apple releasing yearly upgrades by year 3 devices are largely out dated and newer software barely runs well on them.

Your ipad might be fine now but when the ipad 4 comes out your going to want to upgrade due to performance.

Yeah, generational leaps are always problematic for any industry. We PC gamers had to struggle with that for years, even now to a certain extent.
 
Hammer24 said:
Can you flash Android (like CM7) on a TouchPad? I´d pick one up for cheap if so.

Well as soon as the TouchPad is flashable its price will go up, so you have to gamble on it...
 
3x3vN.png


Falling off a cliff.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
In the history of iOS updates, 4.0 was the only one that had performance problems. That one problem was fixed with the very next update (4.1).
No it fucking wasn't.

Of course, you can inflate that and attempt to suggest that shows a pattern of "real life examples of downright degradation in performance" if you like, but that actual fact of the matter is that was the exception, not the standard.
Actually, we don't know that because the pattern hasn't had time to come out. I'm not saying there's a pattern either, but people are cautious because they HAVE been burned.

I think also think a $500 device should give you more than two years of usage. Did your wife's 3G stop working at the 2 year mark? If you buy a playbook, you're guaranteed to not receive any updates to the OS. So how does that make any sense?
Wait what? The PlayBook has had monthly updates adding minor functionality since launch. Why do you think it's "guaranteed not to receive any updates to the OS"? Or do you mean TouchPad?
 
Hammer24 said:
Well, this probably depends, if there is even someone working on it.
I m sure somebody in XDA is working on it, I rather see they work on running iOS on HD2 though. ;)
 
as someone who found the iphone 4 to be an oasis in a desert after my 3G, i'm not really seeing anywhere close to the same thing with my ipad 1. the only thing that'll get me to upgrade are hardware features, like retina display or something - i could use more space, but i could've got that in the first model.

i think each model will last a pretty long time for anyone without irrational gadget lust - which i'm actually pretty guilty of, a lot of the time.
 
345triangle said:
as someone who found the iphone 4 to be an oasis in a desert after my 3G, i'm not really seeing anywhere close to the same thing with my ipad 1. the only thing that'll get me to upgrade are hardware features, like retina display or something - i could use more space, but i could've got that in the first model.

i think each model will last a pretty long time for anyone without irrational gadget lust - which i'm actually pretty guilty of, a lot of the time.
Really? I think the first iPad is awful, when it comes to performance and multitasking. I can't wait for the iPad 3 to come out.
 
So now it's a problem that Apple Supports it older phones with OS updates for at least 2 versions?


brotkasten said:
Really? I think the first iPad is awful, when it comes to performance and multitasking. I can't wait for the iPad 3 to come out.

I've never actually written this before, but joke post? It's RAM limited but by no means bad.
 
Saw this and thought I would post it...


http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/...ebos-hardware-here’s-how-it-really-went-down/

I had the original Palm Pre but gave up on webOS when there was nothing to upgrade to on Sprint a year later...ended up getting a Samsung Epic.

I transitioned ok but I think I always had a soft spot for webOS. Decided to buy a Touchpad when it came out...yeah.

notsol337 said:
Now all you silly touchpad buyers can return your crappy tablet for the glorious Asus EEE Pad!

DO IT

Already did (purchased before the Touchpad actually). The Touchpad is a much better tablet IMHO. I have to agree with Apple in that the 4:3 aspect ratio is better for web browsing, the speakers are MUCH better on the Touchpad, and the software keyboard on the Touchpad is way better than the stock keyboard on the Transformer.

Browser on the Transformer is faster but crashier. The hardware keyboard dock is great but what the hell did they do in the latest update...it's so bad that I am going to flash it back to 3.1...
 
giga said:
3x3vN.png


Falling off a cliff.

I am honestly surprised. My understanding was PSG was a low margin department and so getting rid of it might increase shareholder value. and WebOS was a failure so ditching that wouldn't really hurt their bottom line.

Do you think this is more of a comment about how shareholders are mad at the waste of WebOS? the loss of money for the initial sale and the loss of potential future revenue when HP killed it so quickly?
 
LCfiner said:
I am honestly surprised. My understanding was PSG was a low margin department and so getting rid of it might increase shareholder value. and WebOS was a failure so ditching that wouldn't really hurt their bottom line.

Do you think this is more of a comment about how shareholders are mad at the waste of WebOS? the loss of money for the initial sale and the loss of potential future revenue when HP killed it so quickly?
This could be part of it: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/19/world-markets.html
 
brotkasten said:
Really? I think the first iPad is awful, when it comes to performance and multitasking. I can't wait for the iPad 3 to come out.
Awful seems a little hyperbolic. Well, a lot hyperbolic actually.
 
Greyface said:
Isn't iOS supposed to do that for him?
It does. I haven't noticed any performance issues with my iPad 1, it's still smooth, snappy and responsive. I actually agree with the post that started this convo...

345triangle said:
as someone who found the iphone 4 to be an oasis in a desert after my 3G, i'm not really seeing anywhere close to the same thing with my ipad 1. the only thing that'll get me to upgrade are hardware features, like retina display or something - i could use more space, but i could've got that in the first model.

i think each model will last a pretty long time for anyone without irrational gadget lust - which i'm actually pretty guilty of, a lot of the time.
Totally agree. I expected to jump on the iPad 2 as soon as it was released but then cooler heads prevailed as the iPad 1 still fits my needs 100%.
 
Posted?

http://9to5mac.com/2011/08/19/ipad-...red-to-touchpad-internal-hp-testing-revealed/

Hewlett-Packard engineers did dare pull unthinkable: They hacked iPad to install webOS only to find out Apple’s hardware runs their mobile operating system more than twice as fast compared to their own TouchPad hardware, a source “close to the subject” told The Next Web. The finding had devastating effects on the team’s moral:

The hardware reportedly stopped the team from innovating beyond certain points because it was slow and imposed constraints, which was highlighted when webOS was loaded on to Apple’s iPad device and found to run the platform significantly faster than the device for which it was originally developed.

It should be pointed out that webOS  runs on single core Qualcomm ARM chips while iPad 2 runs on dual core Samsung silicon. This little nugget is even more revealing:

With a focus on web technologies, webOS could be deployed in the iPad’s Mobile Safari browser as a web-app; this produced similar results, with it running many times faster in the browser than it did on the TouchPad.
In fact, the webOS team wanted HP’s TouchPad and Pre hardware “gone” even before the products hit the marketplace according to TNW.  With a hardware refresh a year off and similar issues with the Pre phones, this could have contributed to the decision to shutter the webOS and perhaps license it out to other companies (with better hardware).
 
LCfiner said:
I am honestly surprised. My understanding was PSG was a low margin department and so getting rid of it might increase shareholder value. and WebOS was a failure so ditching that wouldn't really hurt their bottom line.

Do you think this is more of a comment about how shareholders are mad at the waste of WebOS? the loss of money for the initial sale and the loss of potential future revenue when HP killed it so quickly?
It's because of the ridiculous Autonomy deal. Shareholders most likely realized the insane amount of annual synergies that are needed to justify the 78% premium paid to Autonomy. $11bn represents 10 times prospective earnings. To give some perspective, over the past five years,the average European software company has sold for 10 times EBITDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization).

Proof: Autonomy shares soar on $11bn HP deal
 
Relix said:
lol WebOS fanboys in GAF are dying. Such a catastrophe. WOW

MR PISKIN SUICIDE CONTROL!

If Resistance 3 ends up sucking I fear he may not have anything to live for anymore.
 
Andrex said:
Zune was out for like 4 years and had numerous iterations. Not quite the same.

Kin owners? Maybe, but TouchPad outlasted it by a day.

I wasn't making a direct comparison, I meant it as the Zune is (was?) a punchline for awhile there, is it TouchPad/webOS's turn?
 
Operations said:
It's because of the ridiculous Autonomy deal. Shareholders most likely realized the insane amount of annual synergies that are needed to justify the 78% premium paid to Autonomy. $11bn represents 10 times prospective earnings. To give some perspective, over the past five years,the average European software company has sold for 10 times EBITDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization).

Proof: Autonomy shares soar on $11bn HP deal

many thanks for this.

I did not realize that the autonomy stuff looked like such a stinker financially.

all the talk on gaf has been about the webOS and PC divisions and i was not looking at the bigger picture.
 
The Faceless Master said:
it's as dead as Vista...

and i really wish it were dead too, as a former WM lover, i have a real grudge against WP7 for everything it represented.
Jesus ... I'm glad that Microsoft took the less crappy and more user friendly approach. Windows Phone OS 7.0 was okay, but 7.1 is amazing. Nobody in their right mind would hate on it. WM lovers got Android.
 
brotkasten said:
Jesus ... I'm glad that Microsoft took the less crappy and more user friendly approach. Windows Phone OS 7.0 was okay, but 7.1 is amazing. Nobody in their right mind would hate on it. WM lovers got Android.
WP7 is garbage and Android still doesn't even have some basic features that WM6 had, like the screen timeout and lock being at different intervals. in WM6, i had a 15 minute setting for the lockscreen and 15 seconds for the screen. basic shit!
 
To be fair, this does make my next phone purchase a lot easier. I was considering the Pre3.

I can't believe HP thought WebOS would rule on just a tablet alone. I think the phone part is more important as people will get the phone first, then a Touchpad latter on down the road. If the Pre3 came out first, I think they would have seen better numbers.
 
The Faceless Master said:
WP7 is garbage and Android still doesn't even have some basic features that WM6 had, like the screen timeout and lock being at different intervals. in WM6, i had a 15 minute setting for the lockscreen and 15 seconds for the screen. basic shit!
WP7 is basically a less talented iOS.
 
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