Just Think Tech

RIP, Carbon for webOS.

Today marks a sad and disappointing day for the webOS faithful. The popular Twitter client, Carbon, has announced via their blog and Twitter pages that they will discontinue support for the webOS platform. This cancellation will also include Graphite, which was the tablet version of Carbon built for the HP TouchPad. The developer, Dots n’ Lines, sites the dwindling user base for webOS, and lack of a hardware road-map as their main reasons of discontinuing the project. 

As much as I hate to see a well-known developer leave webOS, one cannot blame them for moving on to greener pastures. Even for the hardcore fan like myself, it is evident that the platform is stagnant from hardware perspective, and, in-turn, has halted pretty much all app development. Dots n’ Lines have already released Carbon for Windows Phone 7 and are currently finishing up an Android version.

Developers have a right to earn a return for their time and energy spent on the work behind a good application, and I wish the Dots n’ Lines team the best of look in their future projects. Also, I would like to commend them for making a public announcement of the cancellation of webOS development, and removal of both of their apps for the HP App Catalog. This is a nice move to not have future webOS users disappointed by an abandoned application download. Lastly, I would like to thank them for supporting the webOS community as long as they did and the great work they have done with Carbon and Graphite.

Google’s Project Glass Could Make Augmented Reality Very Real.

Google officially announced, it’s much rumored, augmented reality glasses this past week. Project Glass was revealed on a new Google+ page of the same name. The test hardware shown in the photo above is coming from research done inside Google’s highly touted Google X labs team that specializes in long-term, and very forward thinking prototypes.

In a short video ad, Project Glass is shown walking an anonymous user through a daily scenario of tasks and appointments. The demo shows the New Yorker performing these tasks using heavy integration of the Google ecosystem. Google maps, Google+, and even Gtalk video chat are all showcased by the faceless individual.

Although the sleek glasses are considered to be in the prototype stages, Google co-founder Sergey Brin was photoed wearing a version of the lenses shortly after the announcement. He was quoted as taking very few questions surrounding the glasses, and to “Give us time” to show the full potential of what Google has planned for the devices.

Now, the idea behind Project Glass is one of where the glasses become an extension of the devices we use everyday, and, in a way, of ourselves. Staying constantly connected has it advantages at times, but one has to wonder of the true value of this to the average consumer. One also has to be concerned with a growing society full of distractions and safety hazards caused by technology. Either way, I am highly excited by the first big announcement from the “secret” Google X labs, and can’t wait to see how this prototype unfolds.

HP, Bring Back Palm.

The new Motorola RAZR commercials are really starting to bug me. No, not for the overly masculine nature of the production, but for the simple fact that this could be the same thing that webOS needs to return from the grave, yet again. HP, could you please bring back the Palm brand.

Now, all of this hinges on the hope that new HP CEO, Meg Whitman, is willing to keep webOS and reverse the destruction of the platform by former CEO, Leo Apotheker. Either way, I think bringing back the Palm brand could be the shot in the arm HP needs to regain traction in the mobile market.  

Motorola has shown that using an old favorite naming scheme can cause a positive stir around your product. The RAZR was a fan favorite and real turning point for Motorola in the early years of the 2000’s. The Palm brand could do the same for HP. Granted, that Palm has had their fair share of failures, but none like the debacle facing HP. Much like Compaq has been a success for HP as a budget friendly, low-end PC line, Palm could become the branding surrounding their true mobile products. Palm was a true pioneer of the mobile market, and despite the woes of the company, most people found an underdog charm when the name was mentioned.

The tablet market is desperately trying to play catch-up with Apple, and the iPad. Despite the fact that HP has tripped up at every turn surrounding webOS, the TouchPad has officially claimed the number 2 spot for tablet sales. However, Leo Apotheker tarnished this fact with discontinuing the TouchPad only 48 days after being released. The TouchPad brand now has mud on it’s face as well. So why stop with just the branding of the mobile division? How about bringing back the true O.G. of the mobile space, and rebrand the TouchPad line with the Palm Pilot moniker. 

Believe me when I say that reverting the mobile devices back to the Palm name is not the cure all for HP, but I think it might be a good start. It could be the chance for Palm to show what it could do with the financial backing it always needed. Palm is an innovative company that has amazing people working within its walls, and has the potential to rival the products of the Google and Apple regimes. So, what do you think? Is the Palm name capable of saving webOS? Would you by a new tablet by Palm? Maybe the Palm Pilot?

Calling All Smartphone Manufacturers

After using the new Droid Bionic for over a month to only seek out another webOS device, it has got me wondering what it is that has me enamoured with Palm’s pride and joy. It’s not that other platforms aren’t serviceable. I enjoyed the app selection and certain features of Android. So, what it is that I can’t live without?

Many features of webOS are poorly imitated on other platforms. Synergy and multi-tasking with cards is yet to be implemented as well by another smartphone company. Just Type is another one that only Android rivals with the hardware search button that they are going away from in Ice Cream Sandwich. Then it hit me. It’s one of the most under-appreciated pieces of the most under-appreciated smartphones, the Touchstone!

Palm’s inductive charger is a unique charging solution that is brutally simple, but very effective and useful. Every time I try to change platforms and use a different device I am troubled and annoyed by the bulky charging solutions provided. There are many different cradles that involve cable setups and suction cups and hinged levers to keep them mounted inside the charger.

With everything moving toward being free of wires and cables, the Touchstone seems ahead of it’s time. Sure, it needs power, but you simply plug your existing Palm micro-usb into the back and you are good to go. No lining up the port on the phone with the docking station or cradle. Just set it on the Touchstone and electro-magnetic magic takes care of the rest. These wonderful magnets also take care of having to secure the phone due to magnetically holding the phone in place, but still having the ability to pull the phone off with ease when needing to take a call or respond to messages.

Other manufacturers seem to be finally taking notice with the Qi based inductive systems that keep being promised to be released, but they already seem less useful than the Touchstone. Much like Powermat before them, they revolve around rather large, flat pads for the docking solution as the charging connection. At least the Qi systems did get rid of Powermat’s funky adapters in favor of just optional OEM back-plates for the phone connection.

It’s sad that this is one of the many things that HP seemed to have plans to expand on before the utter madness of destroying their consumer hardware division. Leaked documents have shown that they had a second iteration of the Touchstone with GPS tagging to assign the dock a location for home, work, car, etc. They also had plans to have integrated bluetooth technology to be used for wireless speakers, as well as wireless video streaming for a Touchstone video dock.

To clarify, the Touchstone is not my only reason for continuously returning to webOS. The operating system is the most well-rounded and intuitive for my needs when compared to the competition. All I’m asking is that the rest of the industry step up their accessory game since HP may have killed theirs.

Dear Meg Whitman

Once again the state of webOS is hanging by a thread of some new take-over. However, this time it is a change in CEO, and not a buyout of Palm. HP has hired you, Mrs. Whitman, as their 3rd CEO in just under 18 months. You are coming into a huge company at a crucial time of transition, and I would just like to voice my feelings of how this effects my favorite mobile platform.

WebOS was ultimately sent to the back burner by your predecessor, Leo Apotheker, with the decision to stop making webOS hardware. You have the chance to do a great thing and try to regain mind-share in the ever growing mobile space. To do this you NEED webOS! I feel with a few resurgent moves, you can bring webOS back into the game.

First, make the announcement that the Personal Systems Group(PSG) is not spinning off from HP. Enterprise is a solid revenue for you, but the PSG is the HP that the general public knows and associates with your logo. You need this image to go forward and stop the downward spiral Apotheker started back in August.

Release the Pre 3. I have been using this device as my daily driver for over a week, and, by far, this is the best webOS phone ever produced. It is fast, and has the larger screen everyone has been dying for. The build quality of the phone is superb. Maybe the Pre 3 can’t go head-to-head with some of the newer Android phones with outrageous specs, but it is on par with the iPhone when it comes to user experience. This phone should make it to the hands of the consumers who were waiting for it.

Go forward with Touchpad Go. A 7-inch device has a chance in the growing tablet market. It gives a strong alternative to the larger screens and could compete nicely with the Amazon Fire and Nook Color as an e-reader. The compact design and rumored built in GPS could offer consumers a great on the Go tablet device.

Last, get a smartphone on Sprint. This is where your die-hard webOS users have championed the platform from the beginning. They waited, and waited, and waited for a device to replace the original Pre, and they are still waiting. It would be outstanding to get the often rumored 4-inch slab phone we’ve all heard was in the pipeline in the hands of Dan Hesse. The evangelists of the webOS community deserve to have this made right as promised. I don’t care if you just sell an unlocked CDMA model of the Pre 3 that could be activated on Sprint’s network, but it needs to happen.

So, there you are Mrs. Whitman. I hope you are paying attention to the outcries of your slimming community. People are moving on with this uncertain future. Your window to rebound is closing, and you need to move quickly. All we ask is that you don’t give up on webOS and Palm. HP saw a 1.6 billion dollar value in them for a reason. I hope you can see it too.

My HP Touchpad Review

Despite all the disarray over at HP headquarters these days, and the complete failure of webOS, I have decided to journey on with my review of the HP Touchpad. Now, this is my first review so bear with me. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the time I spent with the Touchpad. However, that doesn’t mean that HP’s first try at the tablet market (and now last) was without it’s flaws.

Since there is already gloom on the horizon for the pure survival of the Touchpad and webOS, lets start with the positive. The multi-tasking use of the cards metaphor is still unmatched in the mobile space. Hitting the home button on the device to launch card-view, and effortlessly swipe back and forth between apps, is outstanding. You feel very productive to just minimize a running application and launch another knowing the previous program is still available in the background at a moments notice.

Also familiar to webOS fans, is the use of Synergy. It is alive and well on the Touchpad, and taken a few steps forward in some features. The photos application can tie into online accounts with likes of Flickr and Facebook and integrate into the pictures stored on the device itself. Skype also taps into Synergy allowing for messaging and phone services to be utilized with the VOIP client. I would like to see the music app also take a similar approach as the photos to take advantage of online streaming such as Rdio, Pandora, and Spotify. It would be nice to log-in to any of these services and have all your music available under one unified application.

Next, the on-screen keyboard is very good. It has a dedicated numbers row on the top, which saves a few taps to hit a symbol button or some similar action in other virtual keyboards. There is also a shift key on both side of the keyboard much like on a physical keyboard for a PC. Lastly, there is an option to re-size the layout from extra-small, small, medium, and large. These small customizations make it arguably the best software keyboard available on any tablet.

The UI in particular is something that HP did a very nice job on throughout the feel of webOS 3.0. The panels view in most applications is intuitive and just makes since to use. For example, the email application starts in default to a 3 panels view with your folders on the far left, followed by the articles in the folder, and then a preview of the highlighted text on the far right. Now, say you want to make the preview take up the entire screen. Easy. You just tap and hold the icon that looks like 3 vertical lines below that panel and simply slide it to the left to expand the view.

One of the most appealing aspects of the HP Touchpad is its ability to play Adobe Flash content right out the box. This is a huge advantage over the iPad and Apple’s decision not the support Flash on iOS. Flash content plays very well on the Touchpad with little lag or shutter. Links inside websites open fast and play just like on a desktop browser.

Now, as much as I like where HP was moving with the Touchpad, there are certain things that make it seem rushed and half-baked. Screen response to touch input is slow and downright unresponsive at times. Launched applications can freeze and take over 10 seconds to load as well. Customization and settings is lacking some of the key features from previous versions of the OS. You cannot rename or move tabs from the application launcher, and applications can’t be set to perform custom operations.

One of my main complaints on the Touchpad, is the removal of a LED gesture area on the tablet. This is a feature that set webOS apart and made it innovative to use. I agree with HP that this can take a short learning curve to value it’s use, but once one has grown accustom to them, it makes them much more powerful of a user. The home button is a easier experience for a first time user, but I feel gestures could have been easily integrated into the LED that already presides inside the physical home button. This feature could be inactive at default, but should have been offered in the settings menu for advanced users.

Keeping the gesture LED also would have eliminated one of the other shortcoming of webOS 3.0, the legacy app emulator. Legacy apps are forced to run in a small emulator window due to the removal of the gesture area that it present on all the phones running lesser iterations of the OS. These applications were developed to perform specific tasks by using the gesture area, and without it, the emulator has to show an on-screen LED. Not allowing these applications access to these features, or to run in fullscreen, is a huge mistake on HP’s part. In a race for apps, they knowingly limited the use of the existing 10,000 plus applications already in the HP App Catalog.

Another misstep is the promise from HP at the annoucement of the Touchpad, in February, that it would launch with full document editing by Quick Office. I am not sure whether the blame for this is on the part of HP or the developers of the application, but if you can’t make it happen then don’t mention it at launch. This is a big feature to a tablet that you plan to push towards the enterprise market, and to not get this by the release date was embarrassing. However, this was finally available as of August 29th, two months after the Touchpad hit stores.

Speaking of apps not available at launch, Netflix was non-existent, despite much speculation to the contrary. Open gaps in the App Catalog for big names is very apparent with webOS and Netflix tops the list for most people on a tablet. Hulu was capable through the browser, but has since been blocked. It would be nice to see popular names such as DirecTV and Infinity,or even Madden 11, come to the tablet. There is an estimated 1 million Touchpads in circulation now, so hopefully some 1st party apps will be on the way.

My last knock on the Touchpad is with one part of the hardware. Many have voiced their opinion of the weight and thickness, but this didn’t bother me. However, the choice of shiny plastic materials for the back of the tablet is a finger-print magnet. It also makes the device slippery. I had more than one occasion where I nearly dropped the Touchpad. The soft-touch coating found on the Pre 2 and Veer would have been a nice subtle addition to the feel of the tablet.

So, those are my thoughts of the HP Touchpad. It has the potential to be a strong second in the growing tablet market. WebOS is still the best OS on a tablet despite its forthcomings. I feel much more productive and less laptop-needy on it compared to it’s competitors. With the recent decisions of the HP board to scrap the production of the device, they have left it’s future in a catch-twenty-two. HP has flooded the market with roughly a million tablets by selling them at a huge loss. However, mobile lives and dies by apps, and the storm inside HP has left the developer community wondering what’s next and trying to not get caught outside in the rain.

Steve Jobs Steps Down From Lead Role of Apple.

Today marks another huge moment in the PC and mobile world. Steve Jobs has announced that he will resign as CEO of Apple, Inc. Taking his place in the golden palace of tech will be current COO, Tim Cook. Cook has served as interim CEO during Job’s medical leaves over the last couple of years. In a letter to the company he stated his intentions of resignation and requested to stay on as Chairman of Apple’s board of directors.

August 24, 2011–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Regardless of whether you are an Apple fan or not, this is a huge shake up inside the tech world. Steve Jobs is directly responsible for the resurgence of Apple in the PC and, even more so, the mobile industry. Without his vision Apple would never have rebounded from it’s dark days of the 90’s. His innovation changed how people saw technology on a daily basis. He brought PC’s from the black box in a back room to the work of art in the home office, and he took smartphones out of the board room and into the minds of the consumer.

For that Mr. Jobs, we owe you the greatest gratitude, and your presence will be missed.

                                                                                                     Source: Apple, Engadget.

HP You Have Killed the Palm Legacy and Now Maybe webOS.

HP you just took a dive in the battle for success in the mobile market. This is a sad day for the webOS community. HP you failed to rise to the challenge of acquiring Palm and bringing its brilliant mobile operating system to the forefront in the mind of consumers. The promise of “in the coming months” have led to a slow death of webOS.

Yesterday, while in the midst of starting to write out notes on my HP Touchpad review, the proverbial rug was pulled out from under the webOS community. HP announced yesterday that they will discontinue the production of all webOS devices, including the Pre 2, Veer, and, yes, the 48 days young, Touchpad. The future of webOS phones and tablets with a HP logo are officially dead. HP later had a conference call concerning their quarter 3 financial status that “explained” the decision. According to Cathie Lesjak HP CFO,

“To make this investment a financial success would require significant investments over the next one to two years, creating risk without clear returns. Therefore we have decided to shut down operations around webOS devices and will be exploring strategic alternatives to optimize the value of the software platform and development capability.”

This statement is truly troubling to read. HP, did you have no idea what it would take to get webOS to market success? Shouldn’t these numbers have been considered before the purchase of Palm? And what happened to this is a marathon, not a foot race? This has been the moniker of HP when asked of the challenge of taking on Apple and Google for the last 6 months.

Plain and simple, HP, you tucked your tail between your legs at the first sign of faltering of the Touchpad launch. You couldn’t handle the pressure of the market to achieve the perceived goal. How do you gauge a success or failure of a device in less than 7 weeks? You don’t but in the last year, HP has indeed failed on multiple levels pertaining to webOS.

First You Failed Palm

Palm, while a small company, was a huge reason smartphones are where they are today. They were a proud company with a great portfolio of patents and innovation. Unfortunately, they never could achieve the success they wanted due to lack of finances and resources. HP, you offered them an out on the pretense that you would give the backing to achieve this dream, and after absorbing the company you leave them and their employees in complete limbo.

You Failed webOS

webOS is one of the best and brightest of the mobile operating systems. It it clean, easy to use, and innovative in it’s UI. When Palm announced it 2009 it was a runaway hit. Now with webOS 3.0 and the Touchpad it would seem that the OS was finally getting the attention it needed to move forward. The addition of the Panels while viewing content in apps, being able to answer text and phone calls, and the new changes to notifications were small changes that had people interested in the tablet version of the OS, and had them talking again. Now that roadmap has came to a screeching halt. Again, webOS is stuck waiting for another resurrection by being bought or licensed.

You Failed Every Launch of Devices

Let’s start with the Veer. Although I like the concept, nothing in the current market shows that a tiny smartphone is what consumers want. If fact, Microsoft killed a very similar idea with the KIn, in less than 2 months earlier this year. You made your first HP webOS device a bet on something you knew wasn’t there. Next, the Touchpad release was just ridiculous. You had some bravado agenda on being hell bent on releasing it on the 1 year anniversary of the official acquisition of Palm, even though it wasn’t ready. The Touchpad never should have been released without the webOS 3.02 update. Yes, it would have hurt to have missed another launch deadline, but you could have avoided all the negative reviews from critics and disappointed buyers during that first month and most likely sold more units. Either way the Touchpad should not have been released before the Pre 3 and you never launched a full slab smartphone. You can’t sell the Touchpad without having phones in people’s hands so that they are already using, and loving, webOS. Tablets are a niche market that people will never adopt without being a part of that manufacturers ecosystem already. The iPad would never have been the hit it is without the success of the iPhone. You can say what you want about, “an iPad is just a big iPhone”, but the truth is that’s why it’s successful. iOS has proven it is a really good operating system with the iPhone and that people like, and want, to use it. The iPad is successful because it is an extension of the iPhone.

You Failed the End-User

HP you screwed your current user base. You blew us full of smoke and optimism that you were going to bring this passionate community to where it knew webOS could be. You immediately botched this by cancelling webOS 2.x coming to legacy devices. But, promised multiple devices in the first year, and that you were in this for the long haul to see webOS prosper. So many of us bought the only device we could get for our carrier, the Pre 2, and anxiously waited for the Touchpad and Pre3. Then, you delivered on the Touchpad, but it was buggy and had lackluster performance, and we patiently waited for the fix with 3.02. With the update and the reduction of the pricing to $399 the buzz around the Touchpad was on the rise. People were content with the Touchpad as a daily tablet and they were purchasing apps and developers were starting to become interested again. Then after only 48 days, you pull the plug on all webOS devices including your new baby, the Touchpad! Again, the tablet market is a luxury market. Users who decided to buy the Touchpad took a huge financial risk that you were behind this product 100%. That is a multiple paycheck purchase for some, in a bad economy, and you just totally shot them in the face by killing the device just outside 7 weeks. Come on HP, that is absolutely absurd! Then to throw salt on the wounds of anyone outside the retailer return window, 2 days later you drop the price of the Touchpad to $99 and $149. So now, anybody that already bought a Touchpad, but wants to move on from webOS in it’s current limbo state, has no way of recovering even a fraction of the investment on their initial purchase. Thanks HP!

You Failed Developers

Congratulations HP, you finally sold out a  webOS developer event, and then you stopped making webOS devices 48 hours later. Nice! Other than Palm employees, this may be the group I feel for the most in all this. The developer base for webOS was full of passionate and very talented people who loved webOS and what it could be. Many of them have seen this all the way through from the orininal Pre to the Touchpad. They spend months on an app making sure it’s right and that it is a good experience for the user. Most were still working on or just released Touchpad apps. This is completely disheartening. They put their heart and soul in these applications, and now most will never see the light of day. HP, you wooed them into staying with this platform only to stab them in the back.

Lastly, You Failed The Annoucement of Moving On

In the hours following the announcement of discontinuing webOS hardware, you release that you will continue support and development of webOS software? I could swallow this and all the licensing or buyout talks, if you had announced who was taking over the hardware prior to killing your internal manufacturing. Continuing the software is null and void if no one is making hardeware for it. You can’t expect developers or users to go hang around for software with no announcement of the hardware it will be running. HP, you haven’t even laid out whether the currently released hardware will ever get another update. No developer in their right mind is going to pick-up webOS with no idea of where the platform is headed, but if you had waited and revealed that Samsung or HTC or whoever, was to start building the next generation of phones and tablets, webOS devs could continue to support current apps and build new ones. If that’s the plan anyways, this announcement shouldn’t have even happen.

I have ranted all I can. I will have to say, that webOS is still the best mobile OS, and I wish it well, but if you can’t give me anything else to hope for looking forward, then, HP, I’m done. You have to announce the roadmap of what is happening behind the scenes in the next week or this community will never recover.

Surprise! Google is buying Motorola Mobility.

  Google has made a bold move this morning by agreeing to terms with Motorola to purchase their mobile handset division for $12.5 billion. As a provider of an open OS, this is a huge and somewhat drastic move by Google. To purchase a current OEM partner and show preference over other existing manufacturers could strain relationships with the likes of Samsung, HTC, LG, etc. On the other hand, Motorola has a long list of patents under it’s portfolio and can only strengthen the main weakness in the Google armor.

After a Google conference call this morning, several OEM executives have released statements supporting the move by the home of Android. Despite this, from an outsider looking in, you have to think that the major OEMs in the Android scene can’t be thrilled about this move. Specifically, HTC must feel a bit shunned today. They are currently set to release the next Google blessed Nexus Prime to only wake up to news that Google has purchased one of their main competitors.

Considering this, does this open the door for HP to make a big boy move and cash in on their hints of licensing webOS? Could the Beats Audio partnership with HTC be foreshadowing a bigger, silent partner? Time will only tell whether this strategic move from Google solidifies their hold on the mobile market or opens new doors for a 3rd player in the game.