Hasta La Gadget!

Whether it’s put off by Microsoft’s own push into tablets with Surface or just taking a wait-and-see approach, HP has now confirmed that it won’t be among those offering ARM-based Windows 8 (or RT) hardware when the OS makes its long-awaited debut later this year. That possibility was first reported by SemiAccurate earlier today and has now been backed up by Bloomberg, which has the official word straight from HP spokesperson Marlene Somsak. She noted that HP will instead be focusing solely on x86-based devices, a decision that she says was “influenced by input from our customers,” adding that the “robust and established ecosystem of x86 applications provides the best customer experience at this time and in the immediate future.” What’s more, Somsak went on to say that HP’s first Windows 8 tablet will focus on the business market, which certainly lines up with the leaked device pictured above that surfaced a few months back.

HP plans to hold off on building ARM-based Windows tablets, focus on x86 instead originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumors that HP will not build a Windows RT (for ARM processors) are swirling around the web, and making some noise this morning. As you may remember, Microsoft surprised a number of people, including their hardware partners, when it launched its Surface tablet (which is pretty awesome) earlier this month in Los Angeles. Interestingly, rumors don’t mention Intel-based tablets, so let’s assume for a moment that HP may still produce those. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: webOS hacked, offers swiping gesture to switch apps, HP offering one-year warranty extension to a few line of Pavilion desktop PCs,

Who knew giant multi-touch tables would trigger the next big speed race? Ideum clearly thinks that the PixelSense-based Samsung SUR40 is lagging with that AMD Athlon II X2, because it just rolled out a pair of speed demon 55-inch, 40-point touch surfaces (but not Surfaces) in the Platform and Pro. The Platform has a respectable dual 2.2GHz Core i7 and 8GB of RAM, but it also carries a pair of 256GB solid-state drives in case that museum exhibit app won’t load quickly enough. Hopping to the Pro switches to two not quite as speedy 500GB hard drives in standard trim. It more than makes up for this with a quad 3.4GHz Core i7 and NVIDIA’s Quadro 600 for the truly stressful projects — the combination can juggle multiple users and tasks even more smoothly than its MT55 Pro ancestor. Outside of raw speed, picking a table depends mostly on svelteness versus expansion: the Pro has a full-fledged HP tower inside that can drop in SSDs and other upgrades you might fancy, while the Platform is half as thick as a SUR40 (at two inches) and sleeker overall than its big brother. We’re working to get price quotes, but the early five-digit figures we’ve seen in the past likely rule out upgrading the family coffee table. You can convince yourself with a video after the break.

Continue reading Ideum unveils speedy Platform and Pro multi-touch tables, says PixelSense ain’t got nothin’ (video)

Ideum unveils speedy Platform and Pro multi-touch tables, says PixelSense ain’t got nothin’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In March this year, we talked about how HP has plans to release even more source code surrounding the now defunct webOS, and here we are halfway through the middle of the year and HP has just announced that they will be rolling out more of the source code for webOS Community Edition. The whole idea of this exercise is to make life a whole lot more easy for developers to tweak, make improvements as well as churn out more apps for the HP TouchPad as well as other devices. Of course, this is still a long way off from turning webOS into open source software from a proprietary operating system – which is where it is at the moment.

There are also plans in the pipeline by HP to release a spanking new version of the operating system later this September, where it will most probably be called Open webOS 1.0. Open webOS 1.0 is tipped to come with new technologies which will enable developers to port webOS in order to have them work on other devices.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: webOS 3.0.5: More source code to be released by HP, HP lightens webOS division by 275 employees,

Fears of Windows tablet manufacturer apathy spurred Microsoft’s Surface development, despite insistence that the slates are intended to support not compete with OEM efforts, according the latest batch of rumors. Observations of the extent to which Apple will go to secure the materials necessary to develop distinctive and unique products – and concerns that its own Windows OEMs were playing device strategy too safely – prompted Microsoft taking Surface into its own hands, a former executive told the NYT, burned too by the ill-fated HP Slate 500 project.

That tablet, demonstrated by Steve Ballmer back in 2010 as a poster-child of Windows 7 on touchscreen hardware, highlighted the shortcomings both of off-the-shelf components and Microsoft’s own platform. Components sufficient to run Windows 7 left the slate heavy, thick, hot and expensive, while the performance of the OS itself fell significantly short of the iPad’s usability. “It would be like driving a car, and the car not turning when you turn the wheel” a former HP executive who worked on the Slate 500 project said, blaming underwhelming finger-friendliness in Windows and the multitouch display for the issues.

HP went on to spend hugely on acquiring Palm for webOS, then dropped the platform into open-source vagueness after the initial HP TouchPad feedback proved subpar. According to insiders at the firm, HP was frustrated at the apparent lack of time and investment Microsoft appeared to be demonstrating in getting Windows 7 to the level where it could legitimately compete with iOS on the iPad. For its part, Microsoft was supposedly reluctant to free up engineers and developers from coding Windows 8, which is designed from the outset to accomodate touchscreen control.

Opinion is now divided as to whether Microsoft wants to continue with its own hardware range or if, after it has shamed OEMs into action, it will bow out. “I think once they jump-start it, they plan to make money the way they always have,” MIT management professor Michael A. Cusamano suggests, “from licensing software,” echoing similar comments recently from Acer’s founder.

The company itself, though, is playing its cards close. “Microsoft has tremendous respect for our hardware partners and the innovation they bring to the Windows ecosystem,” Microsoft corporate VP Steven Guggenheimer insisted in the aftermath of the Surface reveal last week. “We are looking forward to the incredible range of new devices they are bringing out for Windows 8.” No pricing or specific release dates for either the ARM-based Windows RT Surface or the more expensive Intel-based Windows 8 Surface Pro have been confirmed.

As of late-2010, the ex-Microsoft exec claims, it was still undecided internally whether Surface would be Microsoft-branded or licensed out as a hardware reference design. The added control of helming the project from drawing board to store shelves seems to have tipped Microsoft’s hand, however.

Surface spawned over timid OEMs tip ex-Microsofties is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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