webOS Weekly August 21st, 2011
by Tim Stiffler-Dean on 8/21/2011 | Filed Under: News; Tags: news, touchpad, Veer, HP, Pre 3, videos, webOS Weekly, community | 39 comments
by Tim Stiffler-Dean on 8/21/2011 | Filed Under: News; Tags: news, touchpad, Veer, HP, Pre 3, videos, webOS Weekly, community | 39 comments
It's time for another session of webOS Weekly news from your friends here at PreCentral. This week we talk about the sad story of HP discontinuing webOS devices like the TouchPad and Pre 3, celebrate Preware's 2nd birthday with a fundraiser for WebOS Internals, and watch some fun videos from our readers around the world. Hit the break below to see all of the stories and links from around the web, and don't forget to send an email to tim@precentral.net if you have your own stories to share for next week.
Latest News
- If you thought last week's insane price cuts on the HP TouchPad were intense, wait until you hear what's happened this week. Not only has HP cut the price the TouchPad down to $100/$149 for the 16GB/32GB models, but the company has also decided to stop production of all webOS hardware immediately (read our full recap here). What does that mean? To put it simply: The HP Veer, TouchPad, Pre 3 and all future devices will no longer be developed by the company. Say Good-Bye to any hopes for a Sprint Pre 3 or a 4G capable TouchPad or the Touchstone Audio Dock that was just passed through the FCC.
- Even while Stephen DeWitt and Richard Kerris make their statements to encourage developers and users to stick by the platform, people aren't too thrilled about the option as HP's shares drop 20% in the first day after the announcements. HP might say they aren't walking away from webOS, but so far, even with statements that Could there be a suitor for webOS?, it certainly feels like it.
- All of this comes as a huge shock to webOS users, though, who have been waiting for more companies (like Evernote) to bring their apps to the platform. HP TouchPad sales might have been low, but they were certainly enough to make the device #2 in the minds of those interested in buying the device. That doesn't matter now, though, and the HP TouchPad and Veer can peacefully join other webOS devices in that big data-cloud in the sky.
Around the Web
- Before we share anymore news about what's happening with HP's decision to liquidate their webOS devices, we wanted to say Happy Birthday to Preware, the amazing homebrew app catalog that lets you install and manage all of your apps, patches, themes and kernels right on your device. Don't forget to donate to WebOS Internals to support their work, too - they don't seem to be going anywhere any time soon, even if webOS devices aren't in circulation any longer.
- HP might be dropping webOS hardware like it's some cheap toy, but Microsoft's Brandon Watson can see the pain that webOS developers are feeling and has extended a hand to help them move over to thei growing WP7 platform that has plans to be around for a long time to come. With over 500 webOS developers already contacting the Windows Phone 7 team, it looks like there's more than a little bit of interest for our app developers to start expanding their apps into other mobile OS app catalogs.
- If you've already moved passed the stages of anger, sadness and bitterness about HP's decision and are already trying to find a way to work with the community to try and save the platform, you should join HethFilms as they try to #savewebOS and spread the word about the development team and community through an outstanding tribute video (below).
- In a comic-strip from Nitrozac & Snaggy, the TouchPad has found itself at the Pearly Gates waiting for that final judgement of its life. Unfortunately, the TouchPad hardly had a chance to live, so there isn't much to say; and that makes the whole situation much more interesting.
- If you're like us and trying to wrap your mind around why HP might have made the decision to cut webOS hardware like they did, this blog post by Gruber on his blog Daring Fireball (sent in to us from James Harris) might have some answers for you. It's called, "A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm and Is Getting Out of the PC Business", and is, in fact, simply good to read.
- Of course, maybe HP had planned this whole "liquidation" thing from the very beginning? As was shared by Bryan Leasot on Twitter, the HP TouchPad is now sitting at the #1 and #2 spots on Amazon and nearly every store in the US is already sold out of the tablet device. With hundreds of thousands of more TouchPad owners out there in the wild overnight, now might be the perfect time to get in on the webOS action.
- It should be pretty clear by now that the webOS community is not completely evaporating just because of this news, and Christian Moe re-iterated that on his blog where he is getting ready to take his whole life onto the TouchPad for 60 days. HP might say this is the end for hardware, but for some of us, this is only the beginning.
- We're still giving away two TouchPad protective skins to our readers! Head over to the official giveaway blog post to read more and enter to win.
