HP’s had quite a 2011 and Jon Rubinstein, former Palm CEO and a top-level executive at HP after the giant acquired Palm in 2010, was along for the ride.
But according to a report out of AllThingsD, Rubinstein has officially left the company. → Read More
It seems like ages ago that HP announced that webOS would continue to live on as an open source project, probably because they’ve been awfully quiet on the subject since the big reveal in December.
Well, consider that silence officially broken. HP took to their webOS developer relations blog to tell what faithful users still remain all about how their open-source rollout is going to work, and the whole process has begun with the release of their Enyo application framework. → Read More
Ah, the Spectre. HP’s latest and greatest ultrabook is certainly no slouch when it comes to performance, but it’s definitely a looker to boot. You probably already know all about the thing (and here’s a quick refresher in case you don’t), so I’ll just shut up and let you look at this beauty. → Read More
HP has upped the ultrabook ante with a glass-backed HP laptop that looks a bit like a MacBook and a lot like the future of HP trade dress. The HD screen displays 1600×900 pixels and includes HDMI out, Ethernet, USB 3.0, and mini Displayport ports.
The glass on the back of the laptop is Gorilla Glass, which means it probably won’t break if you drop it. It includes a fat 128GB SSD drive for $1,400 and an optional 256GB upgrade. It runs a Core i5 or i7 processor and ships in February.
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Ultrabooks are all the rage for 2012, and we’ll probably see quite a few of them at CES next week. But there are still some of us who prefer a more robust computing experience, which is why HP has today announced the Omni 27-inch all-in-one and the Pavilion HPE h9 Phoenix, the most powerful Pavilion model to date. → Read More
Remember when researchers said a security vulnerability could allow hackers to remotely take over Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printers and even cause them to burst into flames? Fun times, for sure.
Of course, HP was quick to point out that the researchers had it all wrong, lamented the “sensational and inaccurate reporting” surrounding the supposed security flaw and said not a single customer had reported any instances of unauthorized access to its LaserJet printers. → Read More
If you were one of the lucky few that managed to snag a TouchPad during HP’s (maybe) final fire sale of TouchPad inventory two weeks ago, you might be receiving a little present soon via PayPal.
It seems that some people were charged quite a bit extra for shipping. It seems a bit fussy to complain about when you’re getting a device like this for such a ridiculous price, but hey, not everyone can spare ten bucks these days. Not only that, but there was chaos at eBay and PayPal during the promotion; many commenters complained of errors, lag, and lost orders. Fear not: you will be compensated for your troubles. → Read More
HP is currently a company without a strong identity. This comes after a decade of products and CEOs that each fumbled in one way or another. The company needs to make a sharp statement and emerge from the doldrums that has seemingly trapped the iconic Palo Alto company. The purposed logo and rebranding (videos below) shown here would be a great first start.
The story goes that the designs shown here were drawn up by Brand New and released a few months back (prior to the ousting of Apotheker.) The abstract four line logo is a clever play on the classic HP logo using a 13-degree slant, which is already a common feature in many HP products. As The Verge notes, it’s a bold design and perhaps one that’s too radical for the slow-moving corporate machine that is HP. But it’s hard to look at that logo and not dream of HP rising from the ashes with those four lines proudly displayed on its standards waving over the consumer electronics battlefield. → Read More
And like that they’re gone. $99 TouchPads hit ebay right on schedule and were gone within minutes. But that’s to be expected, really. It’s not often that a solid piece of hardware like the TouchPad is available for so cheap. And thanks to HP’s recent moves, the tablet’s operating system, webOS, will be around at least in some capacity for as long as there’s a demand (and developers).
The sale started at 7pm EST on HP’s ebay store like the memo we leaked indicated. Both the 16GB and 32GB models were available for $99 and $149, respectively. I watched the 16GB model disappear from ebay within 10 minutes. As of this post’s writing, 2 hours after the sale began, only one SKU of the $150 32GB TouchPads are still available although those will likely be gone soon as well. But good luck as ebay is still flaky hours after the sale started. Twitter and forums sites quickly relayed the troubles of many buyers shortly after 7. Ebay was crashing. PayPal was lagging. The whole thing was a mess. For a short moment in time, HP’s tablet was anything but an unwanted iPad clone. → Read More
HP just took to the wire and announced to the tech world that webOS will live on as an open source project. Shortly thereafter, Meg Whitman informed HP employees about the decision. The internal email I obtained, which is included in its entirely after the jump, gives a bit more insight than HP’s public press release including Meg’s feeling that webOS will continue to grow and this is a postive move for HP and webOS alike.
Whitman’s email indicates that the HP leadership team saw webOS could be “a platform that is both open and has a single integrated stack.” By making webOS open source, HP’s short-lived OS neatly fulfills this desire. However, like the company already stated, talk of new hardware is nearly absent from the email besides stating “hardware manufacturers” (read: HP is done) will be able to continue to “contribute” webOS. The TouchPad was likely the last of the HP-branded hardware — unless of course the open source community turns webOS into a magnificent creation worthy of new hardware.
Click through for Meg Whitman’s memo to HP regarding the recent announcement.
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Well, there we have it. After weeks of deliberation, HP CEO Meg Whitman has just announced to all of the company’s employees that HP will make webOS’s underlying code available under an open-source license.
Before I go any further, I’d like to take this chance to applaud HP on making the right decision: they managed to make some lemonade after all. → Read More
Hewlett-Packard has acquired a German company called HIFLEX, based in Aachen, which develops software that helps companies in the print and media industries automate their business and technical processes.
HIFLEX products include HIFLEX MIS (Management Information System), HIFLEX Print Support and an open web-to-print system dubbed HIFLEX Webshop.
Read more at TechCrunch Europe. → Read More
Cloud storage platform Box.net is announcing a major partnership with HP today to bring the startup’s offerings to select HP desktops.
Box, which has 8 million users and stores over 300 million documents, is a cloud storage platform for the enterprise that comes with collaboration, social and mobile functionality. Box has evolved into more than just a file storage platform, and has become a full-fledged collaborative application where businesses can actually communicate about document updates, sync files remotely, and even add features from Salesforce, Google Apps, NetSuite, Yammer and others. → Read More
“Yes. I think it’s possible if you integrate tablets,” said HP’s CEO, Meg Whitman in response to a question from French newspaper Le Figaro [translated] concerning Apple’s possible takeover as the world’s top PC maker. “Apple does a great job. We need to improve our game and our products to take over the leadership position. Apple could go past HP in 2012. We will try to become the champion in 2013. It takes time for the products on which I have come to influence the market.”
Whitman’s candid response echos a current debate: Should tablets, such as the iPad, be considered personal computers? If so, then Apple is on track to replace HP as the top PC maker. This comes after British research firm Canalys decided to include tablets in their analysis, basically crowning Apple as top dog. While Meg doesn’t dispute this technicality in the interview, she basically concedes all of 2012 and states to wait until 2013 for HP’s return to glory. After all, she says, that’s when the products she influenced would hit the market.
Wow. → Read More
We knew that HP’s gamble on webOS was an expensive one, but thanks to the company’s Q4 and full-year financials, we’re finally getting a feel for just how dearly the webOS experiment cost them. This past year, the company lost a staggering $3.3 billion thanks to their most recent foray into the mobile space.
I know I’m not the first to say this, nor will I be the last, but one word comes to mind: Ouch. → Read More
HP has just reported fourth quarter and fiscal year 2011 earnings today, with fourth quarter non-GAAP net revenue of $32.3 billion, down 3 percent from the same quarter in 2010. The company posted non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.17. Analysts expected HP to post earnings of $1.13 a share on revenue of $32.05 billion.
Full year fiscal 2011 GAAP net revenue for the fiscal year 2011 was $127.2 billion, up 1% compared with the prior year. Non-GAAP net revenue for the full fiscal year 2011 was $127.4 billion, up 1% compared with the prior year. → Read More
So I promised that Bag Week 2011 would be worth it. There were the naysayers, the no-no-never Nancies, the nattering nabobs of negativism, and the like but you stuck through Bag Week 2011 and now it’s nearly over. But before we go, we want to offer one final parting gift to you all – everyone except Adrian Scott, that is. Mr. Scott wrote, and I quote:
Worst. Techcrunch. Coverage/Idea. Ever… Please put this on another site… What’s next, soda reviews? Or how about articles about rare medical conditions and asbestos (for the adsense revenue).
While I admit we only do this for the millions it brings us in Adsense revenue (bag makers are rich, FYI), we also do this because people who use computers and read this site like to put those computers into bags when they transport them. Rather than pepper the site with bag reviews, we picked some of our favorites and wrote them up. If that’s wrong, then I don’t want to be right, Mr. Scott.
Anyway, here’s what everyone except Adrian Scott (unless he apologizes publicly) can win from Office Depot, the folks generously donating this final prize:
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The $99 TouchPad fire sale was the best way to close the book on webOS and the TouchPad itself. It got the TouchPad into the hands of the fans. Only those that cared about the product lined up outside of Best Buy to grab one of the cheap notebooks. It’s also probably safe to say that most of these people do not have any interest in HP’s crapware notebooks. These people just wanted a solid tablet for a great price.
HP, you should have taken your win and walked home. But you didn’t. You’ve screwed up. Again. → Read More
Back in June, HP announced something very unusual: a plan to shift production of business notebooks for the Japanese market from China to Japan. The company then actually started manufacturing these devices in its plant in Akishima near Tokyo, in August.
It appears the US company is seeing some potential in the move, as now Japan’s biggest business daily The Nikkei is reporting that HP will bring the production of notebooks for the consumer market in the country from China to Japan, too. The goal is to reduce delivery time, use the “made-in-Japan” moniker in marketing, and simplify logistics. → Read More
It looks like Best Buy managed to let a few of those 32GB TouchPads slip through their fingers, as TigerDirect has concocted a $279 bundle around HP’s stillborn tablet.
Yep, people looking to score a TouchPad on the cheap may need to look elsewhere (good luck, by the way). There always seems to be a catch when it comes to TouchPad deals, and TigerDirect is more than happy to oblige.
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