It’s hard to say right now whether or not we’re fond of the HP Veer 4G’s price tag of $99.99, but thankfully though, we’re sure that it’s going to get a much needed price chop by some retailers.

Rightfully so, Best Buy appears content to offer pre-orders for the beloved and cute looking webOS powered device, but more importantly, they’re going to sell the handset for free with a contract when it comes out. Apparently it seems that only the white version of the handset will be sold at stores, while both the black and white models will be sold online. Obviously, if you intend on picking up the handset, you can plunk down $50 to get yourself situated with a pre-order – which is then refunded to you in the form of a $50 gift card.

So when the 15th comes along, you can stroll right into your local Best Buy store and pick up your prized possession – and then use that $50 on something else to tastefully complement your new purchase.

source: PreCentral

At the brink of a near death experience, it seemed that Palm was nearing an untimely death seeing that its lineup of webOS devices were unable to achieve that mass stardom needed to keep it competing healthily. Fortunately for them, they’re now part of a much larger company in HP, and with their mighty presence in the consumer electronics market, they’re hoping to experience smooth sailing with webOS once again.

As we near its expected May 15th launch date, the $99.99 on-contract HP Veer 4G is shaping up to be a decent entry to showcase the relevance that’s surrounding webOS once again. Taking a look at its retail packaging, with its familiar white and orange theme, it’s more than evident that it’s an HP product – and not something from Palm. On the front, an accurate image of the diminutive device is splashed right on there to really give a telling of how compact this handset really is. Inside, we’re presented with the usual set of documentation, SIM card, proprietary USB cable, wall charger, and 3.5mm headset adapter. Sadly though, it’s rather a shame to see it side with a proprietary data/power port – as opposed to using the usual microUSB connection. Moreover, you’ll need to be careful to not lose that 3.5mm headset adapter, which engineers could not integrate with the handset itself…

Read the whole story at PhoneArena.com!

The last time we saw the HP Pre 3, the handset was lying on a table with the QWERTY keyboard exposed, with the Verizon branding on the top left of the phone. With a launch expected sometime in the first half of the year, we would expect to hear more about the model, but so far HP has been fairly quiet about the webOS flagship model.

HP’s Richard Kerris took the shot below directly from the 5MP camera that adorns the back of the HP Pre 3. If you’re wondering where the reflection is coming from, it is off the head of a bass drum. And while we’re sure that HP would like to bang the drum for the Pre 3, it will take much more than a picture like this to interrupt the constant attention that the Apple iPhone and Android handsets have been receiving. We would imagine that once we have a firm launch date for the device, the HP Pre 3 will get the amount of headlines that the webOS community would like to see it receive.

source: Precentral

Reflected in this bass drum head is the upcoming HP Pre 3

The model is expected to launch this summer

There are many GPS solutions for your mobile device. There are carrier-specific ones, like VZ Navigator, or the free Google Maps Navigation for Android devices. But, until last week, webOS 2.0 has lacked a data-less solution. The ‘nDrive’ data-less solution is good because it stores all the maps on your device, so you only need GPS signal to receive route guidance.

If you’ve ever used data-derived GPS on your device, you know that the data connection can sometimes wane, and you’re left wondering what to do next. But a data-less solution doesn’t have that problem. When you are connected to your network, ‘nDrive’ offers weather alerts, route sharing, and support for Facebook Places and Foursquare.

Also, you can take the ‘nDrive’ GPS solution with you internationally, without needing to purchase data service. But international maps will cost you extra, above the already daunting US$49 pricetag. But if this is in lieu of a standalone unit, you’re still getting a pretty good deal.

So what are the disadvantages? For one thing, ‘nDrive’ allows favorites, but it won’t let you search directly from your contacts application. Secondly, the U.S. map alone takes up 2.3GB. And finally, additional maps are expensive, e.g. the Mexico map costs US$37.

source: PreCentral

The red carpet was rolled out in Washington D.C. for the HP TouchPad as the webOS flavored tablet got the thumbs up from the FCC. The TouchPad has been flying under the radar, so the specs are not as well-known as those on some of the other tablets that have been launched or will be rolled out soon. So to further educate you on this device, the TouchPad features a 9.7 inch screen with resolution of  768 x 1024. Under the hood is a 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor and up front is a 1.3MP camera. There is no rear camera on the device. There will be a 16GB and 32GB model available and audio is handled by the Beats by Dre system.

HP has added some interesting features to the tablet so that it can interact with the Palm HP Pre and other webOS handsets. For example, if your Pre 3 is ringing, you can pick up the call on your TouchPad. There also will be a way to take data and swap it back and forth between your webOS phone and your TouchPad with a tap of the screen.

So far, there is no word on price or possible launch date, but having met the hot shots at the FCC, things should progress quickly from here on out. In the meantime, if you can’t wait for a webOS style tablet, check out the BlackBerry PlayBook. The first “professional tablet” features an OS from QNX that has some webOS-esque (card-like) functions including certain gestures such as swiping up on a window to close an application as it moves up off the screen. For those who must have the real thing, we could see the HP TouchPad launch sometime this summer.

source: FCC via Engadget

A precentral reader happened to be on the freeway in Los Angeles when he noticed a trailer loaded up with two Mini Coopers. That alone might be enough to excite some, but more exciting for this gentleman was the ad along the side of the cars for the HP Veer 4G. That’s right, we said HP Veer 4G. The 4G tag makes sense since the phone is expected to be launched on AT&T where HSPA+ is 4G.

Actually, when HP released an app for its retail sales reps last month called “Selling webOS”, it listed the small, credit card sized device as the Veer 4G (that app has been pulled). In this day and age of 4.3 inch screens, the 2.6 inch screen on the Veer 4G might end up being a hard sell. HP is hoping that there is a market for such a small handset as you can tell from their tagline, “Small is the new big”

For those who really want such a small smartphone, the good news would seem to be that once you see the handset that you’re dying for painted on the side of not one-but two Mini Coopers, a launch would seem to be imminent. As we reported, the HP Veer is due to launch overseas next month, apparently as a 3G device.

Thanks PB!

source: precentral

HP is using these Mini Coopers to let everyone in L.A. know that with the HP Veer 4G, small is the new big

HP recently launched a TouchPad sign-up page for users to learn more about the upcoming tablet. But we’ve now learned that the subscribers are getting more than mere pre-launch press releases. One PreCentral reader received a Powerpoint presentation with exciting information on webOS improvements.

In the Powerpoint document, HP talks about the HP Music Store, and the HP Movie Store. Between the mockup and discussion points, we know that HP’s webOS media stores could rival Apple’s iTunes.

The discussion slide says that the TouchPad will come with a syncing solution that uses cloud servers to back up your precious music. But that’s not even the best part. It will also include a so-called “smart algorithm” to assess your listening habits, and correspondingly cache web-stored music on your device.

The same document indicates that the service will become available for other HP smartphones, presumably when they’re upgraded to webOS 3.0. We were all a little skeptical of the HP/Palm combination, but the media stores bode very well for their future market share.

source: PreCentral

The smallest webOS device, the HP Veer, will be the guest of honor at a Launch Party in Anaheim on May 2nd. As we reported, the Veer is about the size of a credit card with a 2.6 inch display coming in with a resolution of 320 x 400 pixels. The Qualcomm 7230 Snapdragon, clocked at 800MHz, will power the handset which is so small that both a headphone jack and a micro-USB port will not fit on the model.

Despite its munchkin-esque stature, the Veer is equipped with a slide-out portrait QWERTY keyboard while a 5MP camera is on the back. The phone offers 8GB of storage along with 512MB of RAM. Powering the device will be webOS 2.2.

While the original introduction of the HP Veer failed to mention a specific carrier that the handset will be on, one person signing up for the Launch Event was told to bring an AT&T or Best Buy business card. This would seem to imply that the HP Veer will be released on AT&T, and with this party coming the first week of May, the actual launch shouldn’t be too long afterward.

source: PreCentral

The HP Veer Launch Party will take place May 2nd in Anaheim

webOS 3.0 is far from its final stages, but even in an early build it shows its unique character. Folks from PreCentral obtained the webOS 3.0 SDK and took their time to run an emulator of the “Beta 1” version, which might look close to the final one, but seemed to fail in a number of apps suggesting it needs an extra coat of polish.

Some bugs are inevitable in a beta verseion, but the card-based system might turn out to be a unique selling point in this uniform world of iPads and Honeycomb tablets. If it manages to work better than the very similar QNX-based BlackBerry Tablet OS, that is. The BlackBerry PlayBook has already been released in some markets, while the HP TouchPad is still months ahead of its launch.

When it comes to HP’s platform, it seems that the feel and behavior of webOS’ cards haven’t changed much; HP has added some flexibility in areas like icon arrangement. Has HP hidden something else up its sleeve with webOS 3.0? You can try to find the answer to that question in the video walkthrough below.

source: PreCentral

Thanks, Philip!

Gartner is a well-trusted tech oracle, but when it comes to predicting events in a 5-year timeframe, predictions become largely equivalent to palm-reading. Well, there might be one exception – tablets. Apple has basically created the tablet market with the original iPad and Gartner’s latest prognosis says that Cupertino is to remain the dominant company. But even Steve Jobs won’t be able to sustain the overwhelming popularity that the iPad is enjoying nowadays – the tablet’s share will slip to some 69% this year and continue falling to around 47% in 2015.

Google’s Android Honeycomb has the support of pretty much every other manufacturer out there, but this – in Gartner’s views – won’t prove enough for a quick start. Honeycomb tablets are to conquer the market gradually, starting from a 14% share in 2010, to reach nearly 20% this year and sprinting to the finish to close the gap with almost 39% in 2015.

The other major contender out there seems to be RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook. The 7-inch tablet holds ground with its business allure and QNX-based platform, but it will encounter one major obstacle on its way – apps. Nevertheless, Gartner forecasts bright future for the tablet which will supposedly occupy 5.6 of the market this year, only to reach the healthy 10% in 2015. But finally, HP’s TouchPad will face the most difficulties. Gartner’s predictions speak for a slow start for the tablet which will finish 2015 with a weak 3% presence.

Just last week, the analysts from Gartner presented us with their 5-year perspective on the cell phone market, but it was a whole different story with Android on top of the charts and Windows Phone picking up pace. Microsoft’s OS, somewhat surprisingly, is not even in the forecast here, which makes us think that we might see a whole new model to reflect the three-horse race that Redmond wants to stage. Whatever the future brings, one thing is certain – the market will be a very competitive one and this is always good for the end-user.

source: Gartner via mocoNews