The HP Event

Which, oddly enough, now has the same format and feel of an Apple event: lots of numbers ending in _illion.

First up is a new smartphone called the HP Veer:

This thing is about the same size as a credit card.

And the new Pre3:

Nice.

And the TouchPad:

New and shiny.

Running on Endgadget

Key to slides:

Top to Bottom:

1. Kin 1

2. Kin II

3.iPad

Yeh, Jobs looks good (think he stole the hands clasped look from Bill though)

@CKurt: Yes, I'm waiting for them to say, 'One more thing…'

But I'm quite liking what I'm seeing here. I can get the iPad, but with Flash support and proper multi-tasking if I want it.

The only question is, where are the apps?

2 minutes ago, CKurt wrote

Even there website has the Apple layout! http://www.palm.com/us/products/pads/touchpad/index.html

 

HP Sauce?

20 minutes ago, CKurt wrote

Even there website has the Apple layout! http://www.palm.com/us/products/pads/touchpad/index.html

 

Well, imitation is the highest form of flattey. I wonder how long before Apple buys HP... (after all, they do have a history together, remember the HP+iPod from 2004?)

I can see the screen size being a problem but I really like the idea of a tiny, tiny smartphone. If it lasts a few days on a single charge I'm sold.

Can't really feel any of the other stuff though. WebOS is undoubtedly good and the tablet is probably nice enough, but that's only half the story nowadays. I think they're in the same boat as Microsoft right now: decent, but why choose this if I can have Android or iOS?

Meh.

@PaoloM:

++

@Bas:There are some hands-on videos on Engadget now, but nothing that I've seen presents a compelling story or would make me consider buying.

@Bas:And when this is released, there will already be a new iPad on the market. And I reckon Jobs will cave this year and allow Flash onto his iStuff

And it appears that HP is now Apple2, which is hardly surprising given that a lot of Apple folk are now working for HP.

The company says it will bring WebOS to PCs later this year. In fact, it looks like HP are bringing WebOS to everything.

All in all, a pretty sound start. They had the numbers, they had the gadgets and they had the partners. We just need the devs.

@Ray7:Leaked specs for the iPad2 suggest not too much difference in the hardware. A little bit lighter, a little bit thinner, a slightly more powerful GPU and a forward-facing webcam... so the HP hardware will hold up against that.

@elmer: Yes, same screen resolution. No flash. Mmmm.

Still, HP is rehashing Apple's strategy, but extending it much much further.

Strange: Apple got a mention in the keynote; Microsoft didn't.

How times change.

I think the more interesting part is they plan on webOS as a desktop operating system. A major OEM like HP potentially switching off of Windows is a pretty big deal. I'm sure Microsoft is ringing their phone off the hook.

Fortunately for Microsoft since webOS is basically proprietary, they don't have to worry about Dell etc. jumping ship.