Items tagged with touchpad
We’ve all grown accustomed to the use of TouchPads on notebook computers, and many of you have no doubt used a separate fingerprint scanner (usually embedded in the keyboard deck) on more business-oriented laptops. Well, Synaptics is looking to combine the two technologies with the announcement of its SecurePad solution. Notebooks will no longer need to feature two separate hardware interfaces, so Synaptics sees this as both a convenience perk for consumers and a cost savings measure for OEMs. In other words, it’s a win-win solution with little (if any downsides) for all parties involved. The SecurePad features an integrated 4mm x 10mm capacitive sensor (no swiping required) embedded into the...
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We recently had the opportunity to chat with Synaptics and get some hands-on time with an array of already-available and upcoming input technologies. The big announcement coming from Synaptics today is that the company’s ForcePad has been selected for the User Interface Software & Technology (UIST) Student Innovation Contest, which will take place in October in Cambridge, Massachusetts. UIST is a forum for innovations in the software and technology of human-computer interfaces, which is sponsored by ACM's (Association for Computing Machinery) special interest groups on computer-human interaction (SIGCHI) and computer graphics (SIGGRAPH). For the past three years, Microsoft hardware...
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HP CEO Meg Whitman is expected to announce a major shift in its business structure today. Henceforth, the Personal Systems Group (PSG), which includes consumer PC sales, and the Image and Printing Group (IPG) will be combined into a single business structure. The move is a curious one, given that it combines what's typically been one of HP's star earners (IPG) with the low-margin / huge volume PC group. As part of the deal, longtime HP executive Vyomesh Joshi is expected to seek more time with his family; the combined unit will be headed by HP vice president Todd Bradley. When HP announced its FY 2011 results last month, Whitman's tough talk telegraphed a move like this. "We've got to streamline...
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IDC suggests that worldwide tablet sales have skyrocketed over the past 12 months, up 264.5 percent in Q3 2011 as compared to the same period in 2010. Q3 results, strong as they were, didn't quite match up to the analyst firm's projections, but yearly sales are expected to hit 63.3 million units. Apple continues to dominate the market, with an estimated 11.1M iPads shipped in Q3. The company's market share is estimated at 61.5 percent—a two percent decline from Q2. HP's TouchPad sold remarkably well through this period, as did the Nook Color. Note that since these figures are from Q3, neither B&N's new Nook Tablet or Amazon's Kindle Fire are included. Samsung's sales are approximate...
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All hail the TouchPad, the second most popular tablet in the universe! Wait, what? Believe it or not (and we wouldn't blame you if you didn't), Hewlett-Packard has sold more tablets so far in 2011 than any other company, save for Apple, according to market research firm The NPD Group. Of course, HP unintentionally 'cheated' to get there by discontinuing its TouchPad and selling off remaining inventory in a $99 (16GB) and $149 (32GB) fire sale, but the fact that HP killed off its webOS hardware division only makes this all the more remarkable. "If you look at the tablet market without Apple there are a number of high-profile brands vying for that number two spot," said Stephen Baker, vice president...
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Turns out there's more than just the ways we mentioned earlier this week to get a cheap TouchPad. Yes, the webOS tablet that barely was. It's still hanging around, in one way or another, and there seems to be yet another option for grabbing one. In fact, it's becoming the zombie tablet. It's dead, and so it's webOS, but they just... won't... die! Not that we're complaining! Now, the TouchPad Device Purchase Program is returning for a limited time. Registered developers in the US, Canada, and Europe will be able to purchase up to two TouchPads at a discount while supplies last. The company is discontinuing the device loaner program, too. If you sign up, you'll get a 32GB TouchPad for $149.99,...
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Hewlett Packard created a lot of interest for its cancelled TouchPad tablet when it slashed the price to $99 for the 16GB model and $149 for the 32GB model, and it didn't take long for the OEM and its retail partners to run out of stock. That's old news. But did you know you can still buy a discounted TouchPad? You have two options for picking up a TouchPad on the cheap, and both come with caveats (and one with a time limit). Your first option is to head over to BestBuy.com and shop a bundle deal. Best Buy currently has stock of an untold number of 32GB TouchPad models, and the electronics chain is selling them on its website and in Best Buy mobile stores for $150 with the purchase of a qualifying...
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Welp, looks like this is the end of the line. For real this time. HP's TouchPad has been a tough item to get in recent months -- right after that price drop from $499 to $99. We suspected that all stock was already depleted, but evidently a few remain. But now there's a catch to getting one. HP and Best Buy have announced that starting on November 1st, the TouchPad can be purchased for $149.99 with the purchase of an HP or Compaq Laptop, Desktop or All-in-One computer. Customers can take advantage of this deal online at BestBuy.com, and at all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile standalone stores nationwide. Want a TouchPad bad enough to buy a new PC? Decisions, decisions... HP Drops Bundle of a Deal...
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Remember the HP TouchPad? That was arguably the last webOS consumer product to ever go out, neck-and-neck with the Pre 3 in select markets. HP decided to toss those on a fire sale in order to clear inventory, and now the company's just hoping we all forget that webOS ever existed. Or are they? In a move that could have only come directly from left field, HP has announced on their official blog that webOS 3.0.4 is now being pushed out to TouchPad devices. That's right: a software update for a deceased product. Things like this happen from time to time, but it's particularly strange on a product that died such a spectacularly fiery death. The new build is pretty important, too, adding the ability...
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Logitech introduced the Logitech Wireless Touchpad which brings multi-touch navigation and gesture-based controls to your computer. The Wireless Touchpad features a large 5-inch touch surface and utilizes a Logitech Unifying receiver. While surfing the web using the Wireless Touchpad, you'll be able to point, scroll, and swipe using your finger. The Wireless Touchpad multi-touch navigation offers up to four-finger gestures and swipes to scroll pages, jump tabs, and switch applications. The Logitech Wireless Touchpad is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe this month for about $50. New Logitech Wireless Touchpad Lets You Point, Scroll and Swipe with Ease Multi-Touch PC Device...
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Over the course of the past few weeks, since the company’s announcement that it would no longer produce tablets and smartphones based on webOS and that it planned to spin-off its PC business, HP has been the target of a lot of negative sentiment. HP claims, however, that much of the information it tried to convey has been misunderstood. In attempt to set the record straight, the company just posted up an article on its Small and Medium Business website titled, “HP's bold new direction. The facts.” In the article, HP tries to better explain its plans for webOS, its PC business (also known as its Personal Systems Group), warranty support, and a couple of other topics....
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It turns out all you need to do to dethrone Apple's iPad is launch a $500 tablet with modern hardware, discontinue the device, and mark it down to $99 (or $149 for the 32GB version). Hewlett Packard did exactly that and now owns the hottest selling tablet on the market, only the OEM failed to anticipate such rapid demand for a prematurely defunct device. Finding a marked down TouchPad at this point in the game is mostly an exercise in futility, and those who've been waiting for HP to receive a final shipment from one of its warehouses have been wearing out their F5 keys. Well, we have some good news folks. If you're on the brink of giving up, don't lose hope just yet. HP has committed to manufacturing...
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HP dropped a bombshell on consumers with last week's TouchPad $99 firesale, and now the company is going to sweeten the deal by giving away six free apps for the tablet. The TouchPad has certainly gained some popularity after being snatched up everywhere by deal-hungry consumers, having sold out at many locations causing HP to send out more shipments of the device. Now, it seems that HP wants to generate some good-will from those sales by offering six free apps to TouchPad owners that normally sell for as much as $14.99. The six free apps are: Glimpse (Inglorious Apps, $5, injoj55410gavxv): Amp up your TouchPad multitasking to 11 using this customizable and addictive split-screen...
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Over the last couple of weeks, since HP announced its will no longer manufacture devices using WebOS and the ensuing fire-sale of HP TouchPads, there has been much talk about porting Android over to the TouchPad to breathe some new life into an otherwise pretty nice piece of hardware. There are already a couple of projects underway and some sizable bounties available for the first developer (or team of devs) that port Android over to the TouchPad. The goal is to first port Gingerbread, i.e. Android 2.3, to the TouchPad and to then start working on Honeycomb (v3.0), which is the first version of Android specifically designed for larger-screened tablets. If we were betting men, we’d...
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Amazon's Kindle has been booted out of the top spot among electronics best sellers by a device which has been, basically, sent to the scrap heap: the HP TouchPad. The 16GB and 32GB versions are in the top spots among Amazon's electronics best sellers. Amazon.com itself is sold out of the device by now, but some of its third-party Marketplace vendors continue to sell it at nowhere near the price of that HP is using to clear out its now forsaken tablet, at $99 for 16GB and $149 for 32GB. HP said last Thursday that it was halting manufacture of its tablet, but that it would continue work on webOS, in hopes of licensing or selling the IP. Amazing as it is that HP's tablet would wind up atop...
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Here's an idea for tablet makers who are striving to compete with Apple: sell your device for $99. We know, that's no way to actually stay in business, but it's working like a charm for HP, even after the company announced that the TouchPad was a dead product this past week. Shortly after the company made clear that this was the end of the road for webOS devices, a few Canadian e-tailers began to sell the product for $99 (16GB) / $149 (32GB). Tremendously cheap prices considering the $499 starting point just a month or so ago. Furthermore, that sale soon spread south, with some American companies (and direct through HP's website) doing the same sale but in U.S. dollars. During all of this mayhem,...
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True story: I ventured down to my local Best Buy and stood in line the day Apple launched it's iPad 2. It was a longer line than the one I waited in during the original iPad's launch, and this time around, Best Buy employees tried their hardest to create a buzz for a product that really doesn't need it. There were excited pre-release announcements over the PA, there was music, and there was a blue-shirted employee standing on top of a ladder yelling to the crowd in an attempt to drum up excitement. It was over the top, and it was unnecessary for a product that virtually sells itself because, let's face it, Apple knows how to market itself. What's my point? Well, maybe Best Buy should bottle up...
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Apple won a major victory against Samsung today; a German court has banned the Korean manufacturer from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the entire European Union. The ruling is the latest setback for Samsung in its battle with Apple over allegations that its devices infringe on Apple's patents with respect to aspects of the iPhone / iPad's design and GUI. The injunction blocks the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the entire EU save for the Netherlands, where a separate court case with a similar goal is being decided. Samsung's comments on the injunction indicate it had no idea the ruling was coming. Samsung is disappointed with the court's decision and we intend to act immediately to defend our...
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HP's TouchPad is now available for pre-order in AT&T 4G form, although it looks like the price is sans carrier subsidy. The Amazon.com listing shows a price of $699.99 (with Amazon Prime available, at least). This pricing is probably going to draw criticism despite the fact that it matches up well with a similarly equipped iPad (32GB, 3G vs. the TouchPad's 4G), which would be priced at $729. The earlier Wi-Fi only TouchPad debuted on July 1st at $499 for 16GB and $599 for 32GB (both of those are available for $100 less at Amazon.com, currently). That device sported a dual-core 1.2Ghz CPU, but the new AT&T version will come with a faster 1.5GHz processor, 4G HSPA+ support, and webOS 3.0.2....
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At this point, there are really only a handful of ways to seriously compete with Apple in the tablet space; either create something so amazing that even Steve Jobs and company couldn't imagine it, or lower a tablet to a price point that's impossible to ignore. Many have tried and failed on the first point, while most haven't even bothered to sell their tablets for much less than $500, right where the iPad starts. Now, though, HP is finally going for the price drop. The company's TouchPad was met with mixed reviews upon launch, but there's no better way to rekindle interest than to snip $100 off of the price tag. For a limited time, HP's offered $100 in instant savings when the TouchPad was purchased...
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HP is teaming up with AT&T to offer the HP TouchPad 4G in time for the back to school season. The TouchPad 4G features a 1.5-GHz processor, 32GB of storage, GPS, and AT&T mobile broadband capabilities. This tablet also comes with support for Adobe Flash Player Beta, video calling capabilities, wireless printing capabilities, Quickoffice, and Adobe Reader. A specific release date as well as pricing is not yet available. HP TouchPad 4G to Launch on AT&T Mobile Broadband Network Connected webOS tablet is a productivity powerhouse for businesses and consumers PALO ALTO, Calif., July 12, 2011 - HP today announced that the HP TouchPad 4G(1) will be available exclusively in the United States...
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Timing is everything in life, and the timing here is particularly strange. Just a few days after HP's TouchPad launched to ho hum reviews, the company has decided to make a few major strategic changes in the ranks. Jon Rubinstein, the visionary behind webOS, came over from Palm to lead up the group. After championing the Veer, Pre 3 and TouchPad, it looks like he'll be sitting in a different office by the time the last of those actually ships. HP has appointed Stephen DeWitt as senior vice president and general manager of its webOS global business unit, a post that Jon held prior. Jon will assume a product innovation role within the Personal Systems Group (PSG) at HP. It's hard to say what this...
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