Oct 27

Richard Kerris moves from HP to Nokia, becomes Global Head of Developer Relations

Posted in: HP, mobilepostcross, nokia, palm, Today's Chili, webos
Well, that certainly didn’t take long. Just a couple of days after leaving HP to “pursue an opportunity outside of the company,” ex-VP of Worldwide Developer Relations for webOS Richard Kerris has now turned up at Nokia, where he’ll be serving as the company’s Global Head of Developer Relations. As you may recall, Kerris only took on the HP job at the beginning of this year, having previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Lucasfilm. He’s also not the first individual to chart this particular course — designer Peter Skillman also left Palm / HP last year to take on a similar gig at Nokia, where he’s since had a hand in the N9 and the company’s new Lumia 800.

Richard Kerris moves from HP to Nokia, becomes Global Head of Developer Relations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcewebOS Roundup  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Oct 24

Richard Kerris leaves HP, ventures off into the land of outside opportunity

Posted in: hewlett-packard, HewlettPackard, HP, palm, Today's Chili, webos

Lucasfilm’s former chief technology officer just became HP’s former VP of worldwide developer relations — Richard Kerris is calling it quits. HP confirmed Kerris’ departure, stating that he “has decided to leave HP to pursue an opportunity outside of the company, effective immediately.” Kerris joined HP in February 2011 as the outfit’s webOS frontman for the development community, vowing to work hard to win its favor before the firm discontinued operations for the platform’s devices earlier this year. Kerris isn’t the first employee to go since the webOS cut, and sadly, he probably won’t be the last either.

Richard Kerris leaves HP, ventures off into the land of outside opportunity originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcewebOSroundup  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Oct 18

HP TouchPad gets webOS 3.0.4 update, now able to answer calls from non-webOS phones

Posted in: HP, palm, software update, SoftwareUpdate, Today's Chili, touchpad, update, webos

It may not have resulted in much of a numerical bump, but the just-released webOS 3.0.4 software update for the HP TouchPad is a fairly significant one. The big new addition is the ability to pair non-webOS phones, which will let you answer calls on your TouchPad (pairing with third-party Bluetooth keyboards is also said to be “streamlined”). It also adds a new Camera app for photos and videos, plus support for Ogg Vorbis music files, and online / offline messaging status support. Perhaps just as notably, HP is also promising “better performance” and “user interface improvements,” as well as a number of other enhancements and “more robust Skype video calling.” We’ll be giving it a go ourselves, but feel free to share your own impressions in the comments below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We’ve since spent a bit of time with a TouchPad running webOS 3.0.4, and it is indeed noticeably snappier and more responsive. Receiving phone calls via a non-webOS phone also works as promised (although you can’t make phone calls from the TouchPad), and the new Camera app is simple and gets the job done — though the TouchPad’s camera itself is still decidedly lackluster. Another somewhat minor but important change is the scrolling behavior in the web browser — it now requires a far more deliberate swipe left or right to move the page horizontally, which results in far less accidental jumping around than before.

HP TouchPad gets webOS 3.0.4 update, now able to answer calls from non-webOS phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceOfficial HP Palm Blog  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Oct 17

webOS brick-and-mortar stores close forever, may they rest in peace

Posted in: hewlett-packard, HP, mobilepostcross, palm, Today's Chili, webos

It’s with broken heart that we announce that the doors have officially shut for good on all remaining webOS retail stores. The news likely won’t come as a shock to many, given HP’s intent to scrap the operating system from its future plans. This isn’t the first physical manifestation of the company’s announcement, when factoring in the plethora of layoffs taking place; nonetheless, anyone affected or touched by a Palm device over the last 19 years may likely mourn the loss. That said, at least the stores went out with a bang: Veers were cleared out for $50 each, the Pixi was sold for $25 ($15 if you purchased four or more) and the Touchstone could be had for a cool $2.50. The retail outlets may now be a thing of the past, but the memories of the products sold in them will hopefully live on forever. Never forget.

webOS brick-and-mortar stores close forever, may they rest in peace originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMobileMag  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Sep 24

Pre 3 for AT&T review

Posted in: att, HP, mobilepostcross, palm, pre, review, smartphone, Today's Chili, video, webos

This is a review of a phone that was never actually released to the public on AT&T. Despite the unfortunateness of the prior statement, we felt obligated to run this device through the wringer as a final farewell to Palm, the Pre line and webOS on consumer devices.

Man, what a weird, labyrinthine life this device has had. European carriers didn’t even want the Pre 2, and for whatever reason, those folks were the only ones to even get the Pre 3. Excluding this guy, of course. This guy, as you’ve probably gleaned, is one of only a handful of AT&T Pre 3 handsets to make it out of the factory unscathed, and we couldn’t be happier to be putting it through the paces. Well… we could be happier, but that would require Meg Whitman undoing Leo’s departing shot through the webOS heart.

All that aside, it’s been a strange few days with the final webOS-based phone, and in a sense, the final phone that’ll ever have Palm’s DNA running through its circuitry. Not even two months ago, HP was telling developers to get their Pre 3 app submissions in for approval, and a mere four weeks ago, the same company affirmed that this very phone wouldn’t ever arrive on US shores. You know, despite that whole “being announced for AT&T” thing. Turns out, a few of those units actually did pass the requisite QA tests, and if you’ve got the right connections (or a quick enough trigger finger on eBay), you too can land yourself what’ll undoubtedly go down as one of the most highly sought after pieces of Palm / webOS history. But should you? Find out after the break.

Gallery: Palm Pre 3 for AT&T hands-on and unboxing

Continue reading Pre 3 for AT&T review

Pre 3 for AT&T review originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Sep 2011 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Sep 20

Layoffs underway at HP’s webOS division, hundreds of employees may be in jeopardy

Posted in: business, hewlett-packard, HP, industry, minipost, money, palm, Today's Chili, touchpad, webos

HP’s webOS-powered devices are riding off into the sunset and so too, apparently, are hundreds of jobs. Sources close to the company tell All Things Digital that upwards of 525 employees at HP’s Palm division are slated to lose their jobs in the near future, as part of a layoff process that began this week. In a statement, an HP spokesperson explained the decision thusly:

“As communicated on August 18, HP will discontinue the development of webOs devices within the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ends Oct 31 2011. As part of this decision, the webOS GBU is undergoing a reduction in workforce. Today’s actions are part of this initiative. During this time, we stand by our commitment to our webOS customers and will work to ensure that support and service for customers are not adversely affected.”

The company went on to say that it’s still “exploring ways to leverage webOS software,” but declined to specify the exact number of hardware-related jobs that would be cut.

Layoffs underway at HP’s webOS division, hundreds of employees may be in jeopardy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAll Things Digital  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , ,
Sep 19

Touchstone mod blesses Samsung Epic 4G Touch with inductive charging powers

Posted in: Android, charging, galaxy s ii, GalaxySIi, Google, hack, hewlett-packard, HP, mobilepostmini, mod, palm, samsung, Sprint, Today's Chili
The Touchstone’s future is just as unclear as any other webOS product at the moment, but it’s sure getting a fair share of love from the mod community. Not only did we witness the inductive-charging unit work on a modded Samsung Galaxy S Plus, a bold and daring AndroidCentral Forums member also accomplished the feat on his three-day-old Epic 4G Touch in a process that’s definitely not for the faint of heart. The modder (who goes by the name of “darrenf” on the forum) offers a full step-by-step guide on exactly how to do it, but advises that it’s “a pretty delicate mod” and attempting it will likely void any warranties or return policies that were attached to the phone when purchased. It also doesn’t result in the most aesthetically pleasing look since the charging coil had to be attached to the outside of the phone, but it’s gotta give you some massive street cred if you pull it off, right?

Touchstone mod blesses Samsung Epic 4G Touch with inductive charging powers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AndroidCentral  |  sourceAndroidCentral Forums  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
Sep 19

HP’s 7-inch TouchPad Go surfaces on a website that isn’t selling it

Posted in: 7-inch, HP, palm, tablet, Today's Chili, touchpad, webos

You’re still not any closer to being able to buy one, but HP’s mysterious 7-inch TouchPad has now gotten a bit less mysterious. After turning up at the FCC under the TouchPad Go moniker in August, the device has now shown up for some less-than-flattering pictures on the Chinese ZooPDA forums — you may have heard of some other complications that happened in the interim. As you can see, this model packs the same 4:3 aspect ratio as the standard TouchPad, as well as most of the same internals — the notable exceptions being both front and rear-facing cameras, and what appears to be an NFC chip (conveniently mentioned in a spec list printed on the back of the unit). This particular unit also has a removable back cover, which appears to provide access to the battery and a SIM card slot, although it’s possible that’s simply a result of its prototype status.

HP’s 7-inch TouchPad Go surfaces on a website that isn’t selling it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink This is my next  |  sourceZooPDA  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
Sep 12

HTC chairwoman Cher Wang: we might buy a mobile OS, if it feels right

Posted in: business, HP, HTC, industry, intel, meego, merger, mobile os, MobileOs, mobilepostcross, operating system, OperatingSystem, palm, sense, Software, Today's Chili, webos

Samsung seems to be the go-to company these days when it comes to mobile OS acquisition rumors, but now it looks like HTC’s on the proverbial hot seat. According to an interview by The Economic Observer in China, chairwoman Cher Wang has affirmed that HTC is at least mulling the idea: “We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse.” The report goes on to make strong mention of HP’s recently-backstabbed webOS platform, but stops short of suggesting that it’s the only OS in the running. Continuing on, Wang stated: “We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform. Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS.” Of course, that’s a cheerleading session surrounding the outfit’s polarizing Sense overlay, and we’re guessing that webOS would eventually look a heck of lot different under HTC’s control. On second thought, maybe Wang’s actually trying to acquire iOS — she sure seems to love those Apple stores!

HTC chairwoman Cher Wang: we might buy a mobile OS, if it feels right originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TheNextWeb, Focus Taiwan  |  sourceThe Economic Observer  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
Sep 04

How would you change HP’s Veer 4G?

Posted in: att, HP, mobilepostcross, palm, smartphone, Today's Chili, webos

We know, there isn’t much point, but folks who sank untold Jacksons on one of HP’s final webOS devices deserve a chance to vent. And that’s exactly what we’re giving them. Barring a total 180, there won’t actually be a second Veer to suggest changes for, but we’re still keenly interested in hearing how you’d change the smallest webOS to ever ship. Back in May, we confessed to having a less-than-enthralling experience with the bantam handset, and while we doubt the company sold a shocking quantity of these, there’s no doubt that some of you are pocketing one right now. If that’s you, the comments are calling. Would you up the resolution? Ditch the physical keyboard? Change the network? Rethink the form factor entirely? Let us know below, and look, it’s cool to cry.

How would you change HP’s Veer 4G? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: