Hasta La Gadget!

HP announced it will no longer produce hardware running its webOS mobile operating system, discontinuing operations on future TouchPad tablets and the Pre smartphone devices.

“HP plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones,” the company said in a statement. “HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.”

“Our WebOS devices have not gained enough traction in the marketplace with consumers,” said HP CEO Leo Apotheker in a conference call on Thursday. “Continuing to execute our current device approach in this space is no longer in the interest of HP or its shareholders.”

In its first major push into mobile in years, HP launched its TouchPad tablet in June. The tablet runs the webOS mobile operating system. The company also launched its Veer smartphone earlier this year.

But HP’s proprietary mobile platform, acquired from Palm just over a year ago for $1.2 billion, hasn’t taken off. Major competitors Apple and Google dominate the smartphone arena with their respective iOS and Android platforms, while RIM’s BlackBerry OS and Nokia’s Symbian round out the competition. Along with Microsoft’s puny Windows Phone OS, HP trails behind all the other leading platforms in market share.

“It’s obvious that they were using the TouchPad as a make or break event for webOS devices,” said Ben Galbraith, former director of developer relations for webOS, in an interview.

The news comes in the wake of a huge announcement from Google earlier this week, when the Mountain View company announced its acquisition of hardware company Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion. Traditionally a software-only company, Google is making its first foray into the hardware business. (The company did test the waters slightly with recent partnerships with Samsung and Acer, which both make the Chrome OS-powered Chromebook.)

The news of the Motorola acquisition set the technology world abuzz, with pundits speculating that Google would alienate its other hardware partners — HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson. The new relationship between Google and Motorola could make Google’s partners wary that competitor Motorola may be privy to inside information on Android, cutting others out of the loop.

Tech pundits speculated that rivals HP and Microsoft could potentially capitalize on Google’s acquisition by licensing webOS and Windows Mobile OS out to these manufacturers.

“OEM’s like Samsung, HTC, and LG are looking to hedge their smartphone strategy in the wake of Google’s Motorola acqusition,” said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps in an interview. “They’re looking at Windows, but potentially webOS is now in the mix.”

HP CEO Leo Apotheker said recently that the company had plans to license its software to third-party manufacturers.

“We’re looking at all business models, from licensing to any other possibility for webOS,” Apotheker said in a conference call on Thursday.

HP’s TouchPad tablet arrived DOA, despite an extensive TV ad campaign that features actor and comedian Russell Brand and Glee star Leah Michele (seen below). Best Buy retailers offering the tablet for sale are reportedly sitting on hundreds of thousands of unsold units, according to AllThingsD.

It’s also possible that HP could follow in Motorola’s footsteps, putting its patent portfolio on the market for a hefty sale. Google claimed multiple times that its acquisition was important for Motorola’s valuable trove of software patents, which would help protect Google from the deluge of lawsuits the company is currently facing.

“They made the first official mass-consumer smartphone. I’m sure they hold some very valuable patents,” said Galbraith.

In the wake of this week’s news, all eyes are now on key mobile players Microsoft, Nokia and RIM — the three major companies trailing clear mobile industry leaders Apple and Google — to see which OS will take on iOS and Android.

“There’s absolutely room for three operating systems out there,” said Rotman Epps. “The question was whether there was room for a fourth or a fifth. HP just answered that question.”

HP just announced that it’s killing off its line of webOS devices. Updated More »

Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we’re leaning back with our tablets — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the month we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here!

There are certain back to school purchases we could never talk you out of. A laptop? Vital. A smartphone? Highly recommended. A printer? Necessary — if you’re the kind of person who finishes papers minutes with minutes to spare, leaving no time to swing by the computer lab on the way to class. But a tablet? We’ll be honest: we can’t think of a good reason why you need one, but we can more than sympathize if you’re dead-set. We’ve picked a few noteworthy choices for each budget, though if you’re really lucky you’ll win one of 15 Samsung Galaxy Tabs and won’t have to pay a dime. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details. So wipe off the glasses, grab your clicker, and get ready to jump past the break for this year’s tablet picks for back to school.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2011: tablets

Engadget’s back to school guide 2011: tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a lot to be said for timing. Earlier today, HP quietly rolled a permanent price drop on the first generation TouchPad, and now it seems that the 4G version of the webOS slate has paid a visit to the folks at the FCC. The filing has “TouchPad” written all over it — literally — plus a few labels sporting “HSPA+ AT&T.”

Continue reading HP TouchPad 4G hits FCC on the way to AT&T

HP TouchPad 4G hits FCC on the way to AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you can’t beat ‘em, undercut ‘em.

It’s the new slogan of tablet and smartphone manufacturers trying to push products into an already packed space.

Companies are attempting to compete in today’s crowded tablet market by slashing product prices to undercut rivals. The iPad, the front-runner in the field, set the entry-level price for tablets at $500. It’s the price to beat.

And many companies are trying hard to beat Apple. Toshiba’s recently debuted Thrive tablet starts at $430, while Acer’s Iconia Tab A500 costs $450. As recently as last week, HP announced steep discounts on its TouchPad tablet, which was originally priced at $500. TV manufacturer Vizio announced a new tablet today priced at $300, one of the cheapest Android tablet options to hit the market.

It’s the latest attempt by Android tablet manufacturers to combat the problem that essentially all of them face: differentiation. With some exceptions, many of today’s Android tablets offer microSD card slots, HDMI output, 3G connectivity and other common attributes. Essentially, they all do the same thing. And beyond customizing the user interface to make the tablet’s operating system look different than others, there’s not much the manufacturers can do.

“As the devices become more and more alike, manufacturers will do anything they can to differentiate themselves,” Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told Wired.com in June.

Ports, UI tweaks and connectivity options aren’t enough. Now they want to lure you in with a bargain-bin price tag.

It’s a similar story for smartphones. Samsung recently debuted the Conquer 4G, one of the first low-end Android phones to run on Sprint’s WiMax network. ZDNet reporter Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft may be working on its own low-end Windows Phone operating system, codenamed “Tango.” And of course, we’ve had feature phones available to consumers for a long time, made specifically for those who don’t want to shell out wads of cash on the latest and greatest mobile device.

Despite the growing adoption of smartphones, most of the global population still thinks cheaper is better — for phones, at least. Nielsen research claims over 55 percent of U.S. mobile phone owners have low-end phones.

Tango isn’t much more than a rumor circulating in tech circles at this point. Yet in the wake of Nokia announcing it would move away from pushing its low-end Symbian operating system on North American low-end phones (as reported earlier today by AllThingsD), the Tango rumors begin to make a certain amount of sense. Especially considering Nokia’s big bet on Windows-based phones this year.

But there’s a difference the smartphone and tablet markets that manufacturers aren’t yet taking into account. Phones are an integral part of how our society functions today. We use cellular devices on a daily basis, relying on them more and more as they’ve grown “smarter.”

Tablets are a different story.

“The tablet market, though growing, is not mass-market yet,” Gartner analyst Phillip Redman said. “Buyers today are still early adopters and are less concerned about cost versus functionality.”

Few manufacturers outside of Apple are broadcasting tablet sales widely, which suggests sales of non-Apple tablets aren’t as high as manufacturers would like. And yet, as Redman said, it’s an emerging market, one that is still forming with each new tablet release. It’s far too early to tell whether or not the low price strategy will pan out.

But one thing is certain: Even with all the discount tablet options currently available, many people are willing to pony up $500 for Apple’s tablet. In the company’s last earnings report, Apple announced it sold close to 10 million iPads over the past three months alone. Compare that to the 440,000 Xoom tablets Motorola shipped — not sold, but shipped to retailers — last quarter, and the picture becomes pretty clear.