HP's recently installed webOS leader Stephen DeWitt on Monday said that the decision to drop webOS mobile devices hadn't affected plans to bring webOS to PCs. In an interview, he insisted that plans were still underway to dual-boot webOS and Windows. He added in the AllThingsD conversation that he saw webOS as a "popular platform" on multiple "connected devices," including printers.
HP's webOS developer relations VP Chuq von Rospach posted a letter Friday pledging support for the webOS App Catalog even in the face of the endof HP webOS hardware. The company would not only continue to support the app store but refine it as well. The company would "enhance [its] merchandising and presentation" of apps and build the ecosystem further, he wrote.
Sprint is quitting its one-time hope of a completely unique iPhone rival and dropping webOS from its lineup, contacts revealed Friday night. A reliable source for This is my next understood that the carrier was not only declining to carry the Pre3 but that HP doesn't have future hardware on the platform in the known schedule. It's not clear which side had quit the other.
A pair of logs from developer Thomas Perraudin have shown two previously unknown webOS devices. One, nicknamed Nova Dartfish, has the same 1024x768 resolution as the TouchPad but has a fixed, non-sliding keyboard. It could be a TouchPad with a Bluetooth keyboard, but it also shows the Touchstone dock mode enabled and doesn't have a familiar codename.
Two smartphones at the opposite ends of the size spectrum reached AT&T stores on Sunday. The Samsung Infuse 4G is the largest smartphone in the US and centers on its 4.5-inch, 480x800 Super AMOLED Plus screen along with a 1.2GHz processor, 21Mbps HSPA+ cellular data, an eight-megapixel rear camera, and a front 1.3-megapixel camera. In spite of the size, the Android 2.2 flagship costs the same $200 on contract as most high-end smartphones.
AT&T on Wednesday became the first US carrier to pick up the HP Veer. Badged as the Veer 4G, the extra-small webOS 2.1 phone can use its full 14.4Mbps HSPA access on the network and will support both hotspot creation and AT&T Navigator for those who like subscription GPS directions. The Veer 4G should ship on May 15 for $100 on a contract in black and white colors, though the hotspot will need the $45 monthly 4GB data plan.
The HP Veer has made an appearance in AT&T press shots dressed in white ahead of its rumored launch on May 2. This will mark the first time that a webOS device has been available in a color other than black, and it joins the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S as two other high-profile handsets in adopting the popular color.
Two Mini Coopers adorned with ads for the HP Veer were spotted recently in Los Angeles, and came with a surprise: labeling the Veer as a 4G handset. Introduced at the February 2011 webOS show, the Veer uses HSPA+ 3G for broadband connectivity and is expected to be available on the AT&T network. If the device has been renamed as the Veer 4G, it may suggest that the carrier is pushing to have HSPA+ considered as a 4G standard.
After first announcing the diminutive Veer webOS 2.1 smartphone in early February, a report suggests that HP is set to launch it on May 2. According to Pre Central, an invitation with the May 2 date has started circulating on the net. This aligns with recent rumors of a spring launch for the device, which is so small that it cannot even fit a headphone jack without a small peripheral.
HP on Friday helped developers get started on next-generation webOS hardware with the webOS 2.1 SDK. The kit gives access to Exhibition for Touchstone-based apps, Just Type searches and direct Synergy hooks. Much of the emphasis is on the Veer, HP said; the 320x400 resolution is the same as that for the Pixi, making it possible to port apps from the tiny phone over to the faster, more advanced slider.
Wireless provider O2 Germany, through a tweet, has confirmed it will begin offering the HP Veer. It has become the first to commit to the webOS device, which is the smallest to date and the first to ship with webOS 2.1. The Veer will sport an 800MHz CPU and support 7.2Mbps HSPA for 3G.
HP chief Leo Apotheker in his major strategy briefing on Monday outlined an aggressive plan for webOS. He expected that the TouchPad and smartphones like the Pre3 and Veer would all be shipping by June and would be part of "wave after wave" of releases. HP eventually hoped to ship 100 million webOS devices, although Apotheker didn't say when this would happen.
HP chief Leo Apotheker in an interview said webOS would be a regular feature of all HP computers in the future. Expanding on details from the webOS event, the executive promised that all 2012 HP computers would boot webOS as well as Windows. He told Bloomberg he hoped to spur on app creation that would make HP's PCs stand out from the generic crowd.
Shortly after HP officially unveiled two of its latest smartphones, the tiny Veer handset has already been met with criticism over its unique headset adapter. The compact slider housing is not interrupted by a Micro USB port or 3.5mm headphone jack, forcing users to carry an additional five-pin adapter accessory to charge the device or listen to music with standard headphones.
HP developer Ben Combee promised late Thursday that the TouchPad would run older webOS apps. The tablet and any other webOS 3.0 devices would run apps built in the old Mojo kit as-is, with an onscreen gesture space to make up for a small app running on the much larger screen. They won't scale up, however.
HP in the aftermath of its webOS event on Wednesday said it had scrapped plans to bring its webOS 2 update to older phones with a promise of some consolations. The Pre, Pre Plus, Pixi and Pixi Plus were all deemed too slow to run the major revision. Mobile division head Jon Rubinstein told Engadget that the company had "missed a product cycle" in the fiscal crisis that eventually led to the HP buyout.
HP as promised launched two new smartphones at its webOS event. The Veer is billed as one of the smallest smartphones ever and has the front surface area of a credit card; it tucks a slide-out keyboard underneath a 2.6-inch, 320x400 display. It still has an 800MHz processor fast enough to handle Flash and has HSPA+ 3G support for fast downloads on major networks.
HP is holding its webOS event in San Francisco today, where it promises to have both "something big" and "something small." It's expected to show the Veer, Pre3 and TouchPad, ranging from an extremely small phone to an iPad-rivaling tablet. Check into our live coverage page as we cover the event in person, starting from 1PM Eastern or 10AM Pacific.
A last-minute series of leaks on Wednesday has given away HP's plans for its special webOS event in an hour. The launch will include both the Topaz tablet, now believed to be but also a sometimes rumored "smallest" ever smartphone, the Veer. Robert Scoble didn't have many details but said it was the smallest he'd "ever seen" and looked like a "large pebble in your hand."
HP's and Palm's webOS tablet was given some of its first more tangible details through a leak of an accessory. Internally, the slate is now codenamed the Topaz and will have a companion Bluetooth keyboard. Details unearthed by Engadget suggested it would take cues from Apple's Wireless Keyboard with a numberpad-free, chiclet layout but also with special function keys that work both for a mobile OS and the desktop, in this case webOS and Windows.
HP today was found to have filed a trio of trademarks for devices that could represent of Palm's 2011 webOS lineup. The USPTO filings refer to the Gyst, Myte and Veer in generic terms but which could fit the description of a smartphone. PocketNow suggested the three could be the previously codenamed Mantaray, Stingray and Windsor, since the previously mentioned Broadway may be the Pixi 2.
