Hasta La Gadget!

We’d heard the HP Slate finally had a date with destiny (and corporate pocketbooks) sometime this fall, and it’s looking like the device is nigh — a number of boutique online retailers are taking orders for an HP Slate 500, which purportedly comes with an Intel Atom Z540 CPU, 8.9-inch WSVGA LED-backlit screen, 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 64GB solid state drive, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a webcam, a two-cell battery and Windows 7 Professional installed, all for somewhere around the vicinity of $800 to $900. What’s more, CNET‘s just stumbled upon a document that apparently details the same, plus an HP Slate Digital Pen (no doubt for those who abhor sausages) and a rear-facing 3 megapixel camera. We’d chalk up the CNET leaks to old prototype documentation and the e-tailer product listings to wishful thinking if either appeared on their own, but together we have to imagine there’s some sort of wind a’ blowing.

HP Slate 500 unicorns its way into e-tailers with product code, leaked documents originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Google Shopping, CNET  | Email this | Comments

After much speculation regarding the fate of Palm in the wake of the company’s $1.2 billion purchase by HP, the handset manufacturer today unveiled the latest evolution in its smartphone platform–the Palm Pre 2 and webOS 2. Because everyone loves a sequel, right?

The Pre 2 isn’t really a huge departure from its predecessor. In fact, as our mobile analyst Sascha Segan put it, “the Pre 2 is a curiously low-key upgrade for a Palm line that needs to aggressively expand to stay in the game.”

The new handset is pretty much a souped up version of the original Pre. Some of the improved specs include: 5MP camera, 16GB of storage, 512MB of RAM, and a 320-by-480 display.

The phone is arriving in the next few months, courtesy of Verizon. An unlocked version that’s compatible with AT&T will be arriving right around then, as well.

The new webOS, meanwhile, will be available on the new device and will be rolling out to existing customers. The operating system features Adobe Flash 10.1, Skype integration, support for social networks like Facebook, and a general smoothing of the UI.

And just like that, the rumor mill smirks. HP has just come clean with a device that we’ve been hearing more and more about over the past few weeks, and with it will come the next generation of webOS that we’ve been hearing about for even longer. The Palm Pre 2 will be the first device to ship with HP webOS 2.0, with the revamped and renamed (presumably to use on more than just Palm smartphones) mobile OS promising “true multitasking,” Stacks (for organizing apps) Just Type, HP Synergy (links your email and social networking accounts), Exhibition (enabling users to run apps designed specifically for the Palm Touchstone Charging Dock) and support for Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1 Beta. It’s also bringing along a new Favorites tagging option, Skype Mobile (on the Verizon version only), text assist, integrated Quickoffice, VPN support, a redesigned launcher and full support for Bluetooth keyboards and SPP peripherals.

As for Pre 2 itself? Little is being revealed at the moment, but we’re told to expect a 1GHz CPU, a five megapixel camera (LED flash, extended depth of field, geotagging, and video capture), glass display and a “sleeker, streamlined design” that still combines a touchpanel with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. In other words, it’s a faster, slimmer Pre, and some would argue it’s what the Pre Plus should’ve been. At any rate, SFR customers in France will get first dibs on Friday, with Verizon and an undisclosed carrier in Canada scheduled to get it “in the coming months.” Oh, and as for US-based developers? They’ll be able to purchase unlocked UMTS versions of the Pre 2 (!) in their homeland, though pricing remains elusive.

Update: The Pre 2 portal is now live, showcasing a 3.1-inch 480 x 320 (HVGA) multitouch display, a black enclosure, Exchange support, built-in GPS, ambient light / proximity sensors, an accelerometer, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 16GB of inbuilt storage space, a battery good for around 5.5 hours of talking and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Continue reading Palm gets official with webOS 2.0 and Pre 2: hitting France on Friday, Verizon ‘in the coming months’

Palm gets official with webOS 2.0 and Pre 2: hitting France on Friday, Verizon ‘in the coming months’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  HP, Palm  | Email this | Comments

Okay, now that we’ve got a bigger shot of this thing, we can definitely say that it’s neither a Pre nor a Pre Plus… so assuming it’s not some sophisticated fake, you’re feasting your eyes on Palm’s next-gen model here. Given how close it is to the model it’ll presumably be replacing, we can’t help but feel like the Pre 2 should’ve actually been the phone we call the Pre Plus today — and it should’ve launched six (or more) months ago — but in the event webOS 2.0 doesn’t come to older devices, we suppose that alone will be the impetus some current owners need to upgrade. ‘Course, the 1GHz processor should be nice, too. Hit up the source link for a few more shots of it slinking around the wild; meanwhile, we await Palm’s move on an official announce.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Palm Pre 2 in the wild? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PreCentral  |  MobiFrance  | Email this | Comments

The HP/Oracle soap opera continues. It’s a tale that’s been marked by sex, intrigue, lying, creepy billboards, bad direct-to-video movies, lawsuits name calling, and a very angry Larry Ellison.

To recap:

CEO Mark Hurd gets booted from/leaves HP over some accounting irregularities, the discovery of which occur suspiciously close to the leak of sexual harassment allegations levied against the exec by Jodie Fisher, the actress/model you may know from such films as Body of Influence 2.

HP shareholders file a “derivative lawsuit” against the company, stating that Hurd’s resignation was bad for HP’s stock price.

Oracle head Larry Ellison immediately comes to Hurd’s defense, stating that the move was, “the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs many years ago.” Soon after, Ellison hires Hurd to replace Charles Phillips, the former Oracle co-president whose own tenure at the company was marred by another sex scandal featuring the exec and an alleged former mistress plastered on giant billboards.

HP responded to Hurd’s hiring with a lawsuit against Oracle stating,

Mark Hurd agreed to and signed agreements designed to protect H.P.’s trade secrets and confidential information,” the company argued. “H.P. intends to enforce those agreements.

Ellison issued a statement on the matter calling the whole thing “vindictive.”

HP, meanwhile, finds a replacement for Hurd in the form of Léo Apotheker, a squeaky clean, sex-free former exec that no one had ever heard of, due largely to the fact that he had only been the CEO of German software company SAP AG for seven months. HP’s stock price took a sharp turn downward at the news.

So, is it time to let bygones be bygones and move on with the business of, well, doing business? Not yet. There’s plenty more executive name-calling where that came from. Ray Lane, HP’s new chairman (himself a former Oracle employee), had some harsh words for Hurd.

The accusations came in a letter that Lane sent to The New York Times aimed at defending Apotheker, calling the new CEO a “principled leader”–a stark contrast, in his eyes, to Hurd who violated the trust of the board by repeatedly lying to them in the course of an investigation into his conduct,” according to Lane.

The letter was Lane’s response to a Times column that called Hurd’s transgressions “”minor expense account shenanigans.”