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HP says TouchPad will be 'better than number one' tablet

by Hugo Jobling on 23 May 2011, 13:20

Tags: Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ)

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Going a touch too far?

HP is optimistic about its as yet un-launched TouchPad tablet's chances, but not quietly so. Speaking at a press conference in Cannes, Eric Cador, SVP of HP's EMEA Personal Systems Group, claimed of his company's device: "in the tablet world we're going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus."

For a company with one of the least popular smartphone platforms of the current generation, those are strong words. The TouchPad will run the same WebOS operating system that powers the Palm Pre phone, and as such will have to encourage app makers to adopt yet another development platform if the TouchPad is to see any success.

Unlike Apple, which was able to pull from a huge number of iOS developers already working on its mobile phones, HP has no such pool to draw from. Despite this, however, an HP spokesperson said that there will be "thousands" of apps available on the TouchPad at its launch; with flagships will include Last.fm, Sky and the Guardian - not exactly attention-grabbing.

Where HP may have the right idea, however, is in the way it needs to position itself in the market. Unlike the PC market where technology and specs tend to be the go-to, Cador says that: "the way the user is going to look at tablets means it's about experience." As such in selling the TouchPad to consumers "it's about marketing and branding."

Ideally for HP the TouchPad would be a great product in its own right, but as the success of the iPad and iPhone have shown, with the right marketing it's very easy to convince consumers that they shouldn't worry about the limitations of your device, and focus only on its strengths. Whether HP can work the same spell with the TouchPad, however, remains to be seen.

 

HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Posted by crossy - Mon 23 May 2011 14:51
Eric Cador, SVP of HP's EMEA Personal Systems Group, claimed of his company's device: “in the tablet world we're going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus.”
Just what I like to hear - wild optimism .. :stupid: Can't see Apple being knocked off the top slot anytime soon.
Despite this, however, an HP spokesperson said that there will be “thousands” of apps available on the TouchPad at its launch; with flagships will include Last.fm, Sky and the Guardian - not exactly attention-grabbing.
What? No “Angry Birds” :o Actually a couple of decent browsers, a half decent office suite and Kindle app and I'll be happy.
Cador says that: “the way the user is going to look at tablets means it's about experience.” As such in selling the TouchPad to consumers “it's about marketing and branding.” Ideally for HP the TouchPad would be a great product in its own right, but as the success of the iPad and iPhone have shown, with the right marketing it's very easy to convince consumers that they shouldn't worry about the limitations of your device, and focus only on its strengths.
No, no, no, no, …. you can't put a marketing “Band Aid” on a mediocre product. With the amount of development time they've had, the TouchPad should be a technical tour-de-force. Anything less and I'm left wondering what the ‘eck they’ve been doing all this time! Oh, and don't be silly bu66ers with the price - no Xoom-like £500+, aim for £300 or less to gain the market share. Especially as the Android tablets at this prices are getting better, even if the TouchPad demo at CES did look pretty neat.

(Disclaimer: yes, I do work for HP, but not in the area referred to. So opinions expressed are my own.)
Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH - Mon 23 May 2011 15:03
I like WebOS myself but it has been hamstrung by relatively uninspired hardware IMHO.
Posted by shaffaaf27 - Mon 23 May 2011 15:51
webos any other os. shame th apps and hardware is crap
Posted by saltyzip - Mon 23 May 2011 23:57
I do hope it lives up to expectations, it has to be a game changer to succeed and the only way its going to do that is to push Apple into position 2. That way it will get noticed, and I see the marketing is already setting the scene.

From what I understand WebOS is a cracker, it just needs the bells n whistles to provide a sexy interface with complimentary hardware. It doesn't sound that difficult to do really.

The consumer doesn't really care what OS they have on a portable device, as long as it does everything they need and has received a good review, so all still to play for.

One issue is the lack of WebOs apps, no doubt that will be mentioned in every Cons section of every review.

But how many apps do you actually need, most on android market are just variations of each other anyway.

Biggest problem could be in the games section though, to me that is the biggest draw for consumers to one of these family friendly home usage devices. WebOS has to be extremely family friendly and be supported by the games developers to succeed, otherwise it could turn out to be its Achilles heal.
Posted by crossy - Tue 24 May 2011 09:11
shaffaaf27
webos any other os. shame th apps and hardware is crap
There's not many apps granted, especially against Android or iOS. But the bundled environment looks pretty sweet - especially if you're into TwitBook or have more than one mail account. I'd like to understand what you've got against the hardware - certainly the specs I looked at seemed pretty “up with the hunt”, and PCPro, Cnet etc all give it a thumbs up (dual core, plus dedicated GPU).
saltyzip
The consumer doesn't really care what OS they have on a portable device, as long as it does everything they need and has received a good review, so all still to play for.
:thumbsup: And that's where I think the TP could do well - the interface has a shedload of "gee wow“ factor - with due kudos to Apple, WebOS might actually be ”nicer" to use. :)
Get a nice demo going showing the multitasking and perhaps some flash web and video playing. Stuff you can't do with iPad2, and the front end looks better than Honeycomb does at the moment.
saltyzip
One issue is the lack of WebOs apps, no doubt that will be mentioned in every Cons section of every review.But how many apps do you actually need, most on android market are just variations of each other anyway.
Ditto with the Apple App Store - many “Angry Bird” respins last time I looked. :(
saltyzip
Biggest problem could be in the games section though, to me that is the biggest draw for consumers to one of these family friendly home usage devices. WebOS has to be extremely family friendly and be supported by the games developers to succeed, otherwise it could turn out to be its Achilles heal.
:thumbsup: (again) Couldn't agree more - especially as the hardware should be good enough for some pretty good action games. Downside is that I think HP management are still kind of keen to sell this as a business companion. Doing the Enyo framework (common dev library etc for phones and tablets) for free was a smart move - better still if they open the developer program to all-comers, some killer home-brewed apps?