HP Manages Quietest Launch in webOS History With Pre 3

HP Pre 3

HP has released the Pre 3. You might not have known about it, since there were no press releases or fanfare outside of the huge HP event six months ago. The Pre 3 is apparently available for pre-order from Palm’s Euro Store and several third party retailers. From what we are hearing, Palm’s own store is lagging shipments, while third parties shipped out yesterday. In fact, it shouldn’t be much longer before we see a few Pre 3 unboxings on YouTube. That left most wondering when the US would see the Pre 3. HP reached out to responded to an inquiry from PreCentral, to let us know the following:

HP is excited to begin its regional rollout of Pre3, the only phone today that offers users a slide-out keyboard coupled with a large touchscreen and the fastest speed (1.4GHz processor – the fastest on the market). We expect to share additional information for U.S. customers soon.

No carrier announcements in the US. No reviews. Just a few users who paid full price at random third party retailers in Europe. If the plan was to keep the Pre 3 under the radar, then job well done.

You have to wonder if US carriers have agreed to carry the Pre 3 and what happens to webOS if they are no longer interested in the platform? The Pre 3 is looking more and more like the Pre 2. Yet another stopgap device with minimal marketing and minimal release plans. Last night’s report that Best Buy is having trouble selling the HP TouchPad just adds to the pain.

Source: PreCentral, Palm Euro Store

Report: Best Buy Having Trouble Moving TouchPads

According to a report from All Things D, Best Buy is having a tough time selling the HP TouchPad. Multiple sources reports have told the publication that internal HP reports show Best Buy selling 25,000 TouchPads or about roughly ten percent of their initial inventory of 270,000. Worse yet, there are reports that Best Buy is unwilling to pay for the current inventory and would like to send them back to HP.

HP is scheduled to report quarterly earnings tomorrow, so hopefully they’ll provide more clarity as to actual numbers. With the recent price drop and door-buster sales, this report would not be surprising. Don’t be surprised if we see yet another sale on the HP TouchPad, this time at Best Buy.

You have to wonder if there would have been a different outcome if HP waiting until 3.0.2 was completed and had the HP TouchPad pricing start at $399.

Source: All Things D

Staples 20% Off Coupon Drops TouchPad to $320

A new Staples coupon (download here), offers 20% off any one single item. There are a few exclusions, but the HP TouchPad is not one of them. Prior to the $100 off HP TouchPad coupon, Staples appeared to have limited stock of the 16GB model. Sorry, it appears that tablets are excluded. False alarm.

The new list price for the HP TouchPad is $399 for the 16GB model, so this coupon drops you down to $320. That’s the best price we’ve seen, if you can find one in stock. Other options include taking this coupon to a competitor like OfficeMax or Office Depot.

Staples

Did you miss the original deal? Are you jumping back in at $320 or waiting for the price to go lower?

Source: Slickdeals

HP TouchPad 4G Available for pre-order, priced at $700

Fresh off a weekend of amazing deals on the WiFi only HP TouchPad, today we find Amazon offering a pre-order on the new HP TouchPad 4G. Priced at $700, we still don’t have a firm release date, but this is a further sign that the 4G version will be available soon.

HP TouchPad 4G

The HP TouchPad 4G will see a minor processor update to 1.5Ghz and will come in a 32GB model. You can pre-order the HP TouchPad 4G today for $699 from Amazon. It appears the WiFi siblings are still heavily discounted, with the 16GB TouchPad priced at $399.

Source: Amazon via Engadget , Netbook News

HP Makes It Right Part Deux, $50 Credit for Early Adopters

For those of you who took advantage of HP’s $50 “make it right” rebate on the TouchPad, you might feel some sting from the recent deals on the HP TouchPad. HP has not forgotten about you and they are making things right yet again. Those who purchased the HP TouchPad between July 1st and August 4th will receive a $50 credit for the App Catalog. Details will be forthcoming in an email next week.

Source: Palm’s Blog

HP TouchPad for $350 Shipped

If you are outside of the NY area, you can score a 16GB HP TouchPad from DataVis via eBay for only $349.99. Those of you in the NY area, will be subject to tax. This price also includes free shipping. The best deal is still using the Staples $100 off coupon at either Office Max or Office Depot, bringing the price down to $299. As we reported on Thursday, Staples has been out of stock of the 16GB model previous to the coupon offering. For about $25 more, you don’t have to leave your house or bother with any hassles that come with price matching.This price is even less than the Woot deal.

HP TouchPad deal

Source: GottaDeal

Editorial: HP running out of second chances with webOS

It’s August 5th, a little over one month since the release of the HP TouchPad. Announced in February, there has been a slow march of hype surrounding the first tablet with webOS. We’ve seen this before with the original Pre launch. This time was going to be different. It was also an opportunity for HP to flex their marketing muscle beyond that of the cash-strapped Palm. Despite their best efforts, it hasn’t translated into an acceptable sales number. In what can be seen only as a last ditch effort, today we have seen a plethora of deep discounts. Woot, normally reserved for products that are on their way out, is one of many including HP themselves offering $100 plus off the HP TouchPad. Surely, this isn’t what HP management meant when they said the TouchPad would be number 1 plus. What’s happened since the February introduction of these new products and where do they take webOS from here?

HP webOS second chances

Continue Reading …

Save $100 Off HP TouchPad at Staple’s

If you missed the boat on the “making it right” discount, Staple’s has a coupon that offers $100 of any HP TouchPad. That means you can use the $100 of the 16GB HP TouchPad. You might have trouble finding one in store. A quick check of stores in Long Island showed the TouchPad out of stock at all ten stores. I’ve seen reports of people using the coupon at Office Depot, but your mileage may vary.

UPDATE: HP is promoting a limited time offer of $100 off the TouchPad from August 5 through August 7th.

HP TouchPad $100 off

Anyone jumping of the fence at that price? Early adopters not feeling so great about the deep price cuts less than a month after the release?

Source: @DeadTechnology

 

HP TouchPad Update Rolling Out This Morning

According to a tweet from HP”s Richard Kerris, TouchPad owners can expect a software update sometime early today. No word yet on what’s included in the update. We’re hoping that HP addresses the lag issue plaguing webOS owners since its infancy and one of the main issues we touched upon in our HP TouchPad review. We’ll keep on eye on the changelog once it’s release to see if they’ve managed to rewrite the CSS3 to be GPU accelerated in webOS update 3.0.2.

Multitasking

Simply the best implementation of multitasking on any platform

Own a TouchPad? Receive the update? Let us know how it’s working for you.

Source: @richardkerris via @joshuatopolsky

HP TouchPad Gets Kindle, MovieStore Updates

HP is starting to deliver updates to apps that appeared as placeholders on the TouchPad. This has made for a busy week with both Kindle and MovieStore apps going live. Users in the US can now purchase and download books for Kindle on the TouchPad. HP promises that a future update will allow for Kindle purchases outside of the US. Also new today is the HP MovieStore, that is powered by RoxioNow.

 

For those early adopters, these releases should provide you with plenty of good media options. Download a book or movie? Let us know in the comments.

via webOSRoundup