I just recently bought an HP TouchPad and I really like it.  Now, I can’t believe what I’m hearing.  HP is DISCONTINUING the TouchPad as well as the Veer line of phones.  It came and stayed for merely a couple of months with much fanfare and push in the retail sector with lots of enthusiasm being generated in retail training….and now I’m watching the last nails go into the coffin.  I am really disappointed.  This device despite its excellent features has a hard to time competing against Android and Apple.  So HP is probably making the decision with the most business sense.  HP is restructuring through this and also has plans of spinning off its PC business.  As a consumer, I know HP made printers.  But the main thing I knew HP for was a computer manufacturer.  I’m sad to see that go too. 

The happiness and excitement of getting a new device – the HP Touchpad 16GB will be coming to the JAMM labs soon.  I’m be trading in my non-business use iPad to test out the HP Touchpad.  Very few can say no to a $350 WebOS device that’s brand new in the box which I just bought from Datavis.com through eBay.  Being an HP Gold Champion, I have already had the opportunity to briefly play with one at the various training events which HP sponsors.  My first impressions were nothing short of being impressed.  I think that WebOS truly can be a contender against iOS and Android.  To see the device truly be successful though will be developer support.  If you have that, you’ll make it big.  However if you don’t, you’ll be toast.  Stay tuned for our unboxing which should be sometime later this week or early next week!

HP announced the TouchPad tablet yesterday.  After watching the product announcement, I am totally amazed at how well thought out the concept of this tablet is.  With the ability to communicate with WebOS phones where you can talk and text wireless to your phone as well as transfer files, HP truly has vision of the future.  Is it better than Apple?  In my opinion, yes, as it can do more on a standalone basis.  Ultimately, it will be the software developers that will decide who will win the war as apps extend the functionality of a device.  Sadly, no pricing was mentioned and it is unclear of an exact time frame of an actual launch.  It has been said that historically, HP cancelled the slate and Palm the Foleo – what makes this time any different?  Well, HP cancelled the slate due to price constraints.  HP was not able to get the cost down low enough.  Perhaps this time they will be able to as it owns the operating system.  This would be the company’s third attempt…which is usually the successful one.  Good luck HP….I’m looking forward to the TouchPad.

For a commercial for the TouchPad check out Palm’s website.

For the full product announcement, goto YouTube.

Astraware® is excited to announce the release of 2 new titles for the Palm® Pre™ and Pre Plus.

“It’s great to be launching these extra titles for the Pre,” said David Oakley, CTO of Astraware, “and the great feedback and interest we’ve had from the webOS community makes it exciting to be so connected with our userbase and their requests.”

Astraware Casino, already Astraware’s best-seller across a range of smartphone platforms, features 11 of the most popular casino games in 1 easy-to-use pack including Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, Craps, Roulette, Slots, and Blackjack. The game includes instructions on how to play each game and has a fun awards system – the Souvenir Suitcase – with awards unlockable in each of the games!

Police Range is a fun target practice range where players can put their skill and accuracy to the test as they train on 2 different types of police practice range – Crime Alley and Target Practice. Online high score leaderboards add to the challenge as players compete against their friends and other players worldwide.

Both games, built using Palm’s PDK, require the 1.4.5 webOS upgrade to be able to run. Astraware Casino and Police Range are available now, priced $2.99, from Palm’s App Catalog on device.

I have to admit, when the HP-Palm merger was announced earlier this year, I was not optimistic.  Frankly, I have long thought that the card metaphor developed by Palm and used by the WebOS interface is pretty much the best thing to happen to mobile devices.  It just makes sense.  It may not be the best supported platform, but it was the most well designed and most user accessible mobile platform.  So, I was quite dismayed when HP and Palm merged, as I saw the end of the line for WebOS approaching like a speeding train.  I was, therefore, stunned yesterday, to learn that not only will HP continue to support WebOS devices, but that they have even been developing a major upgrade for all WebOS devices, the WebOS 2.0 firmware, which is expected to be available for over the air download by the end of this year.

Not a lot of consumer-level details are available right now, but there is quite a bit of developer information, which gives you a glimpse into what you might expect from the new WebOS.  Here is what we know:

• Stacks: Not only will you be able to create cards in the new interface, but you will also be able to stack or group related cards together, making it easier and more convenient to scroll through your open cards.
• Synergey: Palm’s Synergy Sync is one of my favorite features of WebOS.  It takes contacts from numerous accounts and merges them into a single list.  Now, developers will be able to access this Synergy information as well, allowing far more powerful synergy apps to be made available.
• Exhibition: This will allow information, including streaming stock tips, weather, or even RSS feeds to be displayed on the screen while the device is docked with the Touchstone charger.
• HTML 5 tools
• Node.js support, allowing enhanced Java-based apps
• and plenty more developer tools.

Frankly, I am really looking forward to this update, especially the stacked cards and integrated Synergy Sync.  If you are excited about this as I appear to be, head on over to Palm’s website for all the latest information.