webOS Daily

AllThingsD’s John Paczowski on innovation at HP:

Hewlett-Packard CEO Léo Apotheker once said he hoped that “one day people will say ‘this is as cool as HP,’ not ‘as cool as Apple.’” But now that the company has abandoned its webOS hardware business and begun “exploring strategic alternatives” for its PC business, that day will never come.

Not that it would have ever come, anyway. Because HP is no longer the innovator it once was. In fact, some would argue that innovation at HP is dying — if it’s not dead already.

HP may have effectively killed any efforts and producing new hardware, but that hasn’t stopped the developer relations team from moving full steam ahead. In addition to the healthy $50 that was seeded to early adopters of the TouchPad,  the company has announced that it’s giving away a ‘6-pack’ of applications that add up to be worth around $30.     

They include: 

• Glimpse
• Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook
• Big Boss
• Sparkle HD
• Camera for TouchPad
• Audubon Birds 

Head on over to the Palm blog to get the promotion codes you’ll need to use to pick up your six pack.  Another 6-Pack of apps is slated to hit in early September. 

HPWebos Blog

HP is set to replenish the supply of TouchPads across the country after this weekend’s firesale created a massive spike in demand for the insanely priced $99 16GB and $149 32GB versions of the webOS-based tablet.  The firesale was launched because as many of you well know, HP had announced that it’s ceasing production of webOS hardware completely just days before.   

LATimes

Bloomberg, citing ”people familiar with the company’s plans”, is reporting that HP is set to spin off its PC division (in which the webOSGBU is contained) and acquire software company Autonomy Corp for around $10 Billion.  HP could announce these plans as early as tonight’s Q3 earnings call. 

Some suggest that, if the report is true, the name of the new company should be ‘Compaq’.  

We’ll have more details as they present themselves. 

Developing…

Bloomberg

While we wait, wait, and wait for the Pre 3 to finally be available Stateside, folks over in the Eurozone are starting to get their Pre3’s since the unlocked and SIM-free UMTS version went on sale there a few days ago.  One such lucky recipient pulled out the camcorder and documented the unboxing and initial setup of the mythical handset for your viewing pleasure.  The video is some 12 minutes long -and we’ll be honest in saying that it isn’t terribly exciting — but for those who have been holding out for the handset, it’s certainly a much needed piece of eye candy.

EverythingPre  

HP is set to announce its third quarter earning results today where it’s unlikely that actual sales numbers webOS devices will be disclosed, though any rumors of poor TouchPad sales and general webOS malaise may be affirmed or debunked.  You can expect coverage from the major webOS Community Sites like PreCentral and webOSroundup, as well as the larger tech press.  Check back here for  a breakdown of today’s HP financial news from across the ‘net.  

HP

For those unfamiliar, patches are created by an army of webOS enthusiasts and are pieces of software that allow the rest of us to tweak and tune the TouchPad to our hearts content.  There are patches that speed up card animations, patches that augment the swipe down menus, patches that increase performance by turning down logging, and many more.  In fact, if there’s something that you’ve been wanting to augment on your TouchPad, there’s a decent chance that there’s a patch for that.  

A quick note: most patch developers aren’t directly affiliated with the webOS-Internals group who develops and curates the Preware distribution mechanism.  If you’re enjoyed the fruits of this team’s labor, you may consider showing your thanks. 

So, with that said: what patches couldn’t you do without? 

AllThingsD is reporting that according to “trusted sources”, HP has only managed to sell 25,000 TouchPads out of a total stock of around 270,000 (or right around 10 percent of the total inventory) through BestBuy, and that the big box retailer is “sitting on a pile” of the unsold tablets:

Best Buy, sources tell us, is so unhappy that it has told HP it’s unwilling to pay for all the TouchPads it has taking up expensive space in its stores and warehouses and wants HP to take them back. HP, for its part, is pleading with Best Buy to be patient. We’re also told a senior HP executive, possibly executive VP Todd Bradley, is slated to travel to Minneapolis soon to discuss the matter with Best Buy executives.

What’s worse, BestBuy doesn’t appear to be alone.  Online super-sale site Woot only manged to move some 600 HP’s tablet in comparison to the recent sale of a competing offering, and other big box retailers are voicing the same sets complaints:

There’s more. TouchPad sales aren’t only failing to catch on at Best Buy, but at other retailers including Wal-Mart, Microcenter and Fry’s, says analyst Rich Doherty, head of the Envisioneering Group. Doherty says that spot interviews at stores on both coasts show that HP’s “wildcat pricing moves” on the TouchPad have prompted consumers to wait and see what happens in the next few months.

GigaOm’s Kevin Tofel opined recently that HP’s recent price cuts of the TouchPad don’t necessarily spell disaster, but analysts are suggesting otherwise: 

“After the initial surge of interest after the July release, all those price promotions have caused consumers interested in buying a TouchPad to pause because they think the price is going to fall further,” Doherty told me.

These apparent failures of the Touchpad in its early days on the market, coupled with the whisper-quiet launch of the Pre 3 in Europe have us scratching our collective heads over where HP is planning on taking webOS.

HP is set to report its earning results tomorrow, and hopefully any doubts of sales success can either be validated or put to rest.   

AllThingsD

The TouchPad came out of the gate with a healthy amount of apps, sporting more than what Android HoneyComb based tablets launched with.  But that number was  nowhere near that of the iPad. Some of the big players are there for sure - Kindle, an early beta of Citrix Receiver - but there are plenty of the key ones still missing.  

@Colinsmall has a nice list started of the apps that should be available to every TouchPad owner, including Google Maps, Netflix, Scrabble, and Linked in, and we’re inclined to agree.  What apps would you like to see come to the TouchPad?

HP has been leveraging it’s partnership with Beats Electronics to differentiate it’s products for some time now.  The premium Envy line of laptops, for example, have sported the audio enhancements for some time now. The recently launched TouchPad also mentions the technology heavily in its advertising.  

Starting this Fall, however, HP will no longer be the only major consumer electronics company featuring the technology in its products.  HTC has announced today that it will have exclusive rights to use Beats technology in its cell phones in a bid to strengthen its brand in the US.

AllThingsD