If you haven’t noticed yet, the HP TouchPad’s presence in Best Buys stores across the nation is remarkably prevalent with various signs and stands being used to show off the tablet’s capabilities to wandering customers. Of course, you can also see other major retailers like Walmart and Carphone Warehouse doing the same as it’s clearly evident that HP is doing their best in advertising their webOS 3.0 powered tablet.

Interestingly enough, HP is continuing to bring its TouchPad to other smaller regional retailers around the country in the hopes of spurring some interest with the tablet – and not to mention much needed sales as well! Regional retailers like P.C. Richard & Son in New York and Micro Center from Cincinnati are beginning to sell the HP TouchPad, which goes to show the kind of scale that HP is willing to put themselves in to match their competitors.

Considering that HP is a major player in the industry as a whole, it’s not surprising to see them striking deals to show off their tablet in these stores. But more importantly, it allows the HP TouchPad to gain some visibility alongside some of the more well-known tablets on the market. Still, it’ll be interesting to see how successful they’re at with their aggressive push.
source: P.C. Richard & Son, Micro Center via PreCentral

Great news for all HP TouchPad owners out there – the webOS-powered tablet is about to be treated to a software update this week. That is, of course, if the rumors that are circulating on the web turn out to be true.

According to the said rumors, the HP TouchPad will be receiving an OTA update to webOS 3.0.2, and  the improvements that it is expected to bring are anything but merely superficial. First of all, users will be able to get movies and music straight to their TouchPads via the HP Movie Store and HP Music Store apps that are about to be added. The Amazon Kindle and Amazon MP3 apps are also said to be arriving to the tablet at some point this month. Besides that, the email app will be tweaked so that it handles scrolling and image rendering better while the operating system will get better support for file folders. Also, if the poor audio and video performance of the webOS Skype client has been bothering you, fear not as that is getting fixed as well.

The complete changelog goes even further with lesser bug fixes, app updates, and general system tweaks. If your HP TouchPad gets updated to webOS 3.0.2, feel free to share your experience by dropping a comment for us below.

source: PreCentral.net

We are getting reports that the HP App Catalog for the HP TouchPad has been quietly updated to version 3.0.4700, so all you TouchPad owners might want to go ahead and check it out, if you have not done so already. From what we hear so far, the update brings some extra speed and smoothness to the HP App Catalog, but there don’t seem to be any major changes to HP’s software marketplace so do not expect to see anything groundbreaking once you install it.

The HP App Catalog is the place to go to when you want to load your new and shiny HP TouchPad with all the latest and coolest apps. Our first hand experience with the software marketplace left a good impression in our minds as HP has done a pretty good job at making sure there is plenty of apps to choose from – something that the Honeycomb-powered Motorola XOOM, for example, couldn’t brag with when it launched. For more information, feel free to check out our HP TouchPad review.

Be aware that some users seem to be experiencing difficulties getting or installing the update. However,. giving it another try reportedly solves the issue so do not give up if it fails the first time you try to download it.

via PreCentral forums

The HP TouchPad has been selling for nearly two weeks now, but initial reception has been lukewarm. Amazon and BestBuy have quickly slashed prices of the tablet, but if that’s not enough, HP has confirmed that AT&T will be getting a 21Mbps HSPA+ version of the tablet – the HP TouchPad 4G. Not only will it support AT&T’s mobile data network, but it will also feature a more powerful dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, up from 1.2GHz on the current models. The battery is expected to remain the same, but with the added strain of HSPA+ connectivity, this will probably mean that you get less battery life.

The AT&T HP TouchPad 4G will come with 32 gigs of memory and an integrated GPS unit. It has changed slightly to a couple of grams bulkier than the original TouchPad, but except for that minor change it’s largely the same. Unfortunately, there are no details on pricing and an exact release date just yet, but HP promises to make the tablet available off contract and in time for back to school through retailers, the carrier and HP’s channels.

source: The Official HP Palm Blog via Engadget

HP’s TouchPad has been out for less than two weeks, but first Amazon and then Best Buy have already slashed the price of the tablet giving you an additional incentive for the purchase of the webOS 3.0 slate.

The price on Amazon has been cut by $10 to $489.99 for the 16GB TouchPad and by 5% to $572.65 for the 32GB model. Best Buy offers the same discount for the 16GB tablet, while for the 32GB model you end up with $20 off, translating into a price of $579.99. Those who have exercised the virtue of patience can now save a couple of bucks, but even more importantly at such a price the TouchPad becomes more competitive when compared to the iPad 2.

But will this be enough for users to overlook some of its flaws? HP has promised an update addressing most software issues, but while that’s still a thing of the future, why don’t you check out our review of the HP TouchPad, which can answer your questions about the webOS 3.0 tablet now.

source: Amazon, Best Buy via PreCentralForums

Prince William and Kate Middleton were in Los Angeles over the weekend, as part of their world tour, where they took part in the Variety Venture Capital & New Media Summit at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in order to promote London’s new initiative to become a technology hub.

The royal couple stopped at the HP booth, where they were presented with the HP TouchPad’s capabilities and demonstrated how the tablet handles Flash. Prince William used Just Type to search for the name of his favorite Premier League club Aston Villa.

The couple accepted a charitable donation of two HP TouchPads for the Inner-City Arts non-profit organization, which deals primarily with disadvantaged Skid Row youth, an area in LA with one of the highest concentration of homeless people in the US. William and Kate visited the Inner-City Arts center the next day, and did some painting with the kids, but there is no word what the TouchPads will be used for in the arts center. There’s your Monday dosage of “celebrity meets gadget” gossip.

source: HP via WebOSRoundup

Wow, how things change quickly. When the original Palm Pre was launched in June 2009, it was seen as the beginning of a major turnaround not just for Palm, but also for Sprint. After all, the carrier had just announced a $1.6 billion loss. The webOS powered phone was supposed to challenge the Apple iPhone and even knock it down a peg. Things didn’t go as planned, of course, and now that HP is about to release the Pre 3, it looks like Sprint will not be offering the device.

A trusted source for This is my next says that the HP Pre 3 will not be joining the Sprint lineup and HP is not working on any other product for the nation’s third largest carrier. And actually, Sprint might not even care. The original Pre was a major disappointment for them despite setting a record at the time, for first day and first weekend sales. Even with the 6 month exclusive that the carrier had, Sprint soon became enamored with Google’s open source OS and the recent launch of the HTC EVO 3D reconfirms Sprint’s focus on Android.

Those Sprint customers who are hooked on webOS are going to have to switch carriers if they plan on moving up to the new Pre 3. And there are many reasons why current Pre owner should want to update to the new model. From the larger 3.6 inch screen to the 1.4GHz Qualcomm single-core processor and the front facing camera, the latest iteration of the HP Pre is a big improvement over previous builds of the phone. Pre fans out there-and they do exist-are going to want this new model, the first major update in the Pre since its initial launch, and if this source is correct, they are not going to find it at Sprint.

source: Thisismynext via everythingPre

The team over at iSuppli has taken a further look into the production costs of the 16GB and 32GB HP TouchPad and determined that each device runs at approximately $306 and $328 respectively after all parts and labor.

When looking at the total list of supplies, it should not be surprising that the most expensive part on the first WebOS tablet is the 9.7-inch, 1024×768 LG display. This display was estimated to cost $69. Coming in at second was another display related part, as the capacitive touch screen costs $63.50.

Every item costs the same between the two models of the HP TouchPad with the exception of the NAND Flash memory. The difference in cost for the 16GB and 32GB flash memory is $22 as the former is priced at $23 while the latter runs at $45. It is estimated that the cost of labor for each device is $10.

If you are interesting in seeing the full the teardown, check out the iSuppli link at the bottom of this page. Tell us what you think in the comments below.

source: iSuppli via Engadget

Introduction:

As it stands right now, there are 5 major players in the tablet platform space with each one vying to get its piece of the pie – and as we all know, webOS is the latest member to the join the crew in this increasingly competitive market. We’ve already gone through the webOS 3.0 powered HP TouchPad in detail with our review, but despite its shortcomings, we’re curious to see how webOS 3.0 presents itself as an actual tablet operating system. Although it isn’t necessarily a new platform built from the ground up, it carries along some of the more popular foundational principles of the mobile platform – but more importantly, how does it compare to the crowded competition?

Design aesthetics & Functionality:

Some would probably dare to be brash about pointing out webOS 3.0’s deliberate similar appearance to webOS for smartphones, but in all honesty, it’s not the first time we’ve seen it happen since the iPad mimics the iPhone’s look and feel. Granted that some might be disappointed by its unchanged presentation, webOS 3.0 still caters to the tablet medium very well with its careful and simplistic approach. In fact, we like that the status bar is visible at all times to give us quick access to some information and basic functions without the need to run some sort of app. And despite the fact that the sliding launcher bar is now gone, we’re not all too disappointed with the decision because you can always bring it up by pressing the TouchPad’s physical home button, or simply executing a swipe up gesture from the bottom bezel…

See the full article at PhoneArena

A confidential HP roadmap was obtained by Precentral and it offers some interesting insight into what the future holds for the recently released webOS tablet, the HP TouchPad. A white variant of the HP TouchPad is expected to be launched next month with a nice increase in specs. 64GB of storage will be on board the “glossy” white TouchPad and there is speculation that under the hood will be a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. According to the leaked info, these specs will be available only on the white version of the tablet.

Also in August, the AT&T cellular version of the HP TouchPad is due. The device will be known as the HP TouchPad 4G thanks to the support for the carrier’s HSPA+ network. The tablet will offer 32GB of storage and outside of supporting a cellular signal, it will be the same device as the current 32GB Wi-Fi model.

It looks like the U.S. launch of the HP Pre3 is now happening this fall. It was hoped that a summer launch of the handset could be achieved, and it just might be, but in Europe, not the U.S. Still, for HP’s sake, just as long as the phone makes it out in the States in time for Back-to-School sales and the 2011 holiday shopping season, it will be considered a success as far as timing is concerned. Also planned for a fall release is the HP Opal, which is the Palo Alto based firm’s 7 inch tablet. Details are sketchy, but the name of the device could be the HP TouchPad7.

HP has a retailer embargo on ads for the recently released TouchPad which means until July 17th, the only ads you will see for the tablet will be from HP. The manufacturer also says that supplies of the 16GB model of the webOS tablet are running low and they are telling retailers to try to push customers toward the higher priced 32GB model which has more inventory available. TouchPad accessories are also considered to be in short supply. Is this a sign of heavy demand for a webOS tablet, or did HP err to the conservative side when making production plans?

source: Precentral

This confidential HP roadmap says the HP Pre3 will have a fall launch in the U.S.