HP has also announced the new HP ENVY Ultrabook and HP ENVY Sleekbook – both models coming in 14-inch and 15.6-inch display sizes. Both include the latest Core processors and offer high battery life of eight or nine hours, and again bring thinness with these laptops reportedly being only 19.8mm thin.
HP has announced some new updates to its ENVY ultrabook lineup, with a new addition called the ENVY Spectre XT. It promises to combine extraordinary design and, since it is an ultrabook, thinness without sacrificing on performance – being powered by latest Intel Core processors and Beats Audio support.
Shown off at CES 2012, HP’s ENVY 14 Spectre Ultrabook has a release date in Australia. The laptop, touted as merging a stunning glass design and performance, is expected to hit stores at the end of the month with a hefty price tag of $1899.
In December 2011 HP announced that webOS, the OS featured on their failed HP TouchPad and HP Veer and Pre3, would be open sourced. Well today HP has revealed a timeline of when developers and people who want the OS will be able to get their hands on it.
HP’s new unannounced Ultrabook looks like it has been leaked, with Engadget recieving an official-looking teaser for a HP Ultrabook, called the HP Spectre, from a trusted source at HP.Their source didn’t leave many details around, apart from saying that an official portal will be online tomorrow. Strangely, the device in the video doesn’t have keyboard, so hopefully tomorrow brings clearer news and possibly an explanation.
The HP Touchpad – the product that killed webOS (Image: HP)
With the news of webOS being open sourced on Sunday, let me tell you that, in my opinion and as a previously firm supporter of webOS, the platform is dead. And it cannot be revived no matter how hard HP tries either. Their damage to the platform and devices has been done and cannot be repaired until some amazing product is made, which knowing HP’s history with webOS is an unreachable dream.
It seems like forever but HP has finally decided the fate of webOS and the internet is blowing up with mixed reactions of the deal. The company, which only bought Palm and with it webOS in April 2010, has already thrown it into the too hard pile, even after spending US$1.2 billion on the acquisition.
Your number two tablet – the HP TouchPad (Image: HP)
Yes, turns out HP is the new second-place winner in the tablet market, beating Samsiung with a small margin. This is according to a new NPD report for US non-iPad tablets sales between January and October, which saw 1.2 million non-iPad tablets sold.
UPDATE: Rumours are intensifying after Meg Whitman, current CEO of HP, told a room of HP and Palm employees that a final decision to continue or not continue to support the fledgling webOS will come in three to four weeks.
Remember when HP bought Palm in 2010? And remember when HP killed webOS little over a year later in August? Ah, good times.
Well, it turns out that HP is looking to close the chapter that is Palm and webOS for good, with a report from Reuters saying that they are looking to sell the webOS unit for “hundreds of millions of dollars,” which isn’t surprising given the recent events.
Amazon appears to be the front-runner amongst a number of companies that are in talks with HP over buying Palm and it struggling webOS business, after acquiring the company in April 2010, according to a report published last night.
Palm's hardware and software is on life support (Image: Palm)
A rumour is now circulating that HP could now cancel its planned PC spin-off after former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has now been announced as the new CEO of the company. This could also mean that Palm has a chance to continue to live on, if Whitman doesn’t decide to spin or axe webOS’ hardware division.
Not a good sign for the US economy, but nevertheless HP has decided to add more people to the number of the unemployed. The company will axe as many as 525 jobs from the webOS division, following plans of its shutdown.
HTC has said that it is considering buying a mobile operating system. HTC have noted that the company has discussed this internally but will not act “on impulse”.
Now that HP’s WebOS device production has been discontinued, HP have been seeking licensees to purchase the OS and use it on their own hardware. It is speculated that HTC and Samsung are concerned about Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility and may wish to seek over operating systems to keep their competitive edge.
Well, Samsung is out. The CEO, Choi Gee Sung, has said while attending the IFA electronics expo that the company is not looking to purchase the WebOS system from HP, despite speculation that they were looking to boost its software assets.