5 ms·

HP to Re-Enter Smartphone Market With “Phablets” in India

22 points by zwieback 13y ago

abduhl 13y ago
This is rather disappointing. These smartphones will run Android rather than some version of webOS. I really enjoy my TouchPad still.
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  I really wish I had bought one of them when it went on a firesale in 2011. Was it $99 or $79? Either way, it was pretty spectacular!
  - freehunter 13y ago
    They don't hold up terribly well anymore, but the one I have is still pretty reliable. I ditched WebOS years ago due to the complete lack of support and installed Android. It's running 4.2 I believe. Slow, to be sure, but it works. My SO uses it to watch Netflix. I still use the HP Touchpad bluetooth keyboard that was sold as an accessory though. Nice keyboard, even if it's missing a lot of keys I wish it had (such as home, end, pgup, pgdn, delete).
officemonkey 13y ago
I've been very happy with my Nexus 7. So much so that I wish it had a phone. I know it's crazy, because it's huge, but if you can get beyond the oddness of it (cf: people usings iPads as cameras,) I think the "Phablets" are a form factor so practical that fashion will have to embrace it.
- cstejerean 13y ago
  You actually wish you could hold it up to your ear? Or are you thinking more along the lines of a Bluetooth headset or speakerphone? Using an iPad as a camera for the occasional picture is not too bad, but I can't imagine holding a 7" device to your ear for any call exceeding 30 seconds.
  - bluedino 13y ago
    It'd work fine for headphones + mic. Plus in the car it plays through the audio system as well. I just wouldn't want to lug around an iPad Mini or other ~ 7" tablet everywhere I go.
    - officemonkey 13y ago
      The nice thing about the Nexus 7 is it fits in my coat and jacket pockets easily. Oh, and in my cargo shorts (my non-work summer attire.) The iPad mini doesn't. So the only time it would feel like lugging is in the summer. And it's not that big a deal carrying it to/from work.
  - officemonkey 13y ago
    I have big hands, so I actually wish I could hold it up to my ear.
- blisterpeanuts 13y ago
  Not crazy. A Bluetooth headset for around the house or out and about, and a hands-free bluetooth system in the car, and you have a perfectly usable phone. Less portable versus better screen - that's the only tradeoff.
- jasonostrander 13y ago
  If you use Google Voice, there are a couple of apps that let you make VOIP calls using it. Not sure how much longer that will work.
ihsw 13y ago
If they're going to be anything like their desktops and laptops, the software will be filled with crapware and the hardware will be impossibly difficult to service. > The devices will run Android 4.2, a.k.a. Jelly Bean. Sounds like a cash grab to me -- yet another vendor charging for OS upgrades. Very depressing.
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  I remember reading a couple years ago that the Touchpad (their tablet that went on a firesale after a lackluster launch) was actually one of the most serviceable tablets out there, built very much like a PC, for better or for worse. Can't speak for the software side though.
  - freehunter 13y ago
    WebOS devices were great for software tinkering because they were able to boot a kernel over USB. If you "bricked" the device and it wouldn't boot, you didn't really brick it. You could load the kernel over USB and flash the proper software back to it. Loved those things.
cygwin98 13y ago
HP has no vision, otherwise, TouchPad and WebOS could have been huge now. They were way ahead of the time on Node.js/Javascript stuff.
- blisterpeanuts 13y ago
  Wretched leadership. In my opinion, they should have kept the tablet on the market for a year at least. As I recall, they pulled it after just a couple of months. Then they decided to get out of the desktop computer business which while maybe not the most booming market today, they were still the leaders and could have gone after the high end netbook/touchbook market.
  - sirkneeland 13y ago
    "A couple of months" would have been an improvement. They had it on the market for 48 days. I was working there at the time. What happened with Apothekar is insane and borderline criminal destruction of value.
- ZeroGravitas 13y ago
  I think its more accurate to say they had two competing visions. The devices got dumped when the other vision briefly triumphed.
AdmiralAsshat 13y ago
It's a pity how much their standards have sunk. The HP Touchpad was a decent tablet (a little late to the party with iPad 1 specs after the iPad 2 hit the market), but it was serviceable for the time, and I thought the build quality was excellent. It felt like a high-end tablet. The Wireless Bluetooth keyboard tablet, as well, I still find excellent. Then they release the Slate two years later, and it feels like a cheap POS. The fact that they're aiming these for India with sub-standard display suggests they're trying to tap the budget/third-world market again. What a waste.

22 points by zwieback 13y ago

This is rather disappointing. These smartphones will run Android rather than some version of webOS. I really enjoy my TouchPad still.

hkmurakami 13y ago
I really wish I had bought one of them when it went on a firesale in 2011. Was it $99 or $79? Either way, it was pretty spectacular!
- freehunter 13y ago
  They don't hold up terribly well anymore, but the one I have is still pretty reliable. I ditched WebOS years ago due to the complete lack of support and installed Android. It's running 4.2 I believe. Slow, to be sure, but it works. My SO uses it to watch Netflix. I still use the HP Touchpad bluetooth keyboard that was sold as an accessory though. Nice keyboard, even if it's missing a lot of keys I wish it had (such as home, end, pgup, pgdn, delete).

officemonkey 13y ago

I've been very happy with my Nexus 7. So much so that I wish it had a phone. I know it's crazy, because it's huge, but if you can get beyond the oddness of it (cf: people usings iPads as cameras,) I think the "Phablets" are a form factor so practical that fashion will have to embrace it.

cstejerean 13y ago
You actually wish you could hold it up to your ear? Or are you thinking more along the lines of a Bluetooth headset or speakerphone? Using an iPad as a camera for the occasional picture is not too bad, but I can't imagine holding a 7" device to your ear for any call exceeding 30 seconds.
- bluedino 13y ago
  It'd work fine for headphones + mic. Plus in the car it plays through the audio system as well. I just wouldn't want to lug around an iPad Mini or other ~ 7" tablet everywhere I go.
  - officemonkey 13y ago
    The nice thing about the Nexus 7 is it fits in my coat and jacket pockets easily. Oh, and in my cargo shorts (my non-work summer attire.) The iPad mini doesn't. So the only time it would feel like lugging is in the summer. And it's not that big a deal carrying it to/from work.
- officemonkey 13y ago
  I have big hands, so I actually wish I could hold it up to my ear.
blisterpeanuts 13y ago
Not crazy. A Bluetooth headset for around the house or out and about, and a hands-free bluetooth system in the car, and you have a perfectly usable phone. Less portable versus better screen - that's the only tradeoff.
jasonostrander 13y ago
If you use Google Voice, there are a couple of apps that let you make VOIP calls using it. Not sure how much longer that will work.

ihsw 13y ago

If they're going to be anything like their desktops and laptops, the software will be filled with crapware and the hardware will be impossibly difficult to service. > The devices will run Android 4.2, a.k.a. Jelly Bean. Sounds like a cash grab to me -- yet another vendor charging for OS upgrades. Very depressing.

hkmurakami 13y ago
I remember reading a couple years ago that the Touchpad (their tablet that went on a firesale after a lackluster launch) was actually one of the most serviceable tablets out there, built very much like a PC, for better or for worse. Can't speak for the software side though.
- freehunter 13y ago
  WebOS devices were great for software tinkering because they were able to boot a kernel over USB. If you "bricked" the device and it wouldn't boot, you didn't really brick it. You could load the kernel over USB and flash the proper software back to it. Loved those things.

cygwin98 13y ago

HP has no vision, otherwise, TouchPad and WebOS could have been huge now. They were way ahead of the time on Node.js/Javascript stuff.

blisterpeanuts 13y ago
Wretched leadership. In my opinion, they should have kept the tablet on the market for a year at least. As I recall, they pulled it after just a couple of months. Then they decided to get out of the desktop computer business which while maybe not the most booming market today, they were still the leaders and could have gone after the high end netbook/touchbook market.
- sirkneeland 13y ago
  "A couple of months" would have been an improvement. They had it on the market for 48 days. I was working there at the time. What happened with Apothekar is insane and borderline criminal destruction of value.
ZeroGravitas 13y ago
I think its more accurate to say they had two competing visions. The devices got dumped when the other vision briefly triumphed.

AdmiralAsshat 13y ago

It's a pity how much their standards have sunk. The HP Touchpad was a decent tablet (a little late to the party with iPad 1 specs after the iPad 2 hit the market), but it was serviceable for the time, and I thought the build quality was excellent. It felt like a high-end tablet. The Wireless Bluetooth keyboard tablet, as well, I still find excellent. Then they release the Slate two years later, and it feels like a cheap POS. The fact that they're aiming these for India with sub-standard display suggests they're trying to tap the budget/third-world market again. What a waste.