Hasta La Gadget!

It’s the same old story of genius recognized only after death, and thus is the fate of webOS. If you were amongst the opportunistic hordes scavenging the interwebs for last night’s bargain bin $99 HP TouchPad announcement, chances are you’re fresh outta luck. The L.A. Times is reporting widespread online store sell outs for the recently abandoned and heavily discounted 16GB and 32GB slates. While HP’s own site and the biggie online retail outfits, like Circuit City and Walmart, have all but sold out of their web inventory, Amazon’s third party sellers still have the tablets on offer — just at non-discounted prices. Of course, you could always leave the hypnotic glow of your monitor and venture out into the real world where actual, physical stores are purported to have the tabs currently in stock. Try your luck, and let us know how things go in the comments below.

HP TouchPad fire sale spurs online sell out, brick-and-mortars may still carry stock originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tempted by the promise of a $99 TouchPad, in spite of its imminent demise? Well, it looks like American Best Buys won’t be enjoying the same liquidation sale as our neighbors to the north. A couple of tipsters have reported that the big box electronics retailer has pulled the webOS tablets from its shelves and is shipping them back to HP. The slates have also disappeared from Best Buy’s website, though you can buy $30 screen protectors for one. You can still try to score one on the cheap straight from HP, but both the 16GB and 32GB models are currently listed as out of stock. Don’t get upset if you already plunked down $400 for 10-inches of webOS goodness — HP will refund you the difference. Call up the company or the retail partner you purchased it from, and ask. Just be prepared to sit on hold with all the rest of the folks trying to get their cash back.

[Thanks, Alex and David]

Best Buy stops selling the TouchPad, HP offers refunds to owners originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time we spoke with Stephen DeWitt, the head of HP’s webOS global business unit was on the defensive about the TouchPad. In spite of — or perhaps because of — the anticipation of the device, the first webOS tablet received a lukewarm reception at hands of reviewers. DeWitt vigorously defended the slate against the critics, suggesting that technology writers had been approaching the product the wrong way. A lot has happened since that conversation, of course, including reports of unmoved stock and, more significantly, yesterday’s news that HP would effectively be discontinuing production on its webOS devices, the TouchPad included.

There’s been a good deal of confusion around precisely what yesterday’s announcement means for both the company and the mobile operating system that it picked up with its purchase of Palm back in April of last year. In spite of his understandably packed schedule, DeWitt sat down with us to set the record straight and shed some light on the future of webOS — a future both he and the company remain rather optimistic about.

Read on for the full interview.

Continue reading The Engadget Interview: HP’s Stephen DeWitt discusses the state of webOS

The Engadget Interview: HP’s Stephen DeWitt discusses the state of webOS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WebOS, where did things go wrong? One moment you’re worth a “double-down” investment by HP valued at $1.2 billion, and the OS of choice for future tablets, computers and even printers; the next, you’re discarded like yesterday’s crusty old oatmeal. Today, HP announced — among other things — that it’s chosen to discontinue operations for its webOS lineup, and that the company “will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.” So what does this all mean for the future of webOS? Have we seen the last of webOS? Join us past the break for our thoughts.

Continue reading Editorial: Engadget on the death of HP’s webOS devices

Editorial: Engadget on the death of HP’s webOS devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP has officially killed webOS. Offed it with two dinky sentences in a dinky little press release. It’s sad, sure. But what about everyone who bought the $500 (then $450, then $400) hunk of now-scrap metal that’s called TouchPad? Updated. More »