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Blackberry 4g Tablet Dual Core!

Sorry if it is off topic but a 4g blackberry tablet with a dual core processor what do you guys think
http://now.sprint.com/playbook/
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BlackBerry? That's unexpected.

aph said:
BlackBerry? That's unexpected.
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It's been known for a while now. Well, except Sprint officially carrying it. But um, who'd want a RIM product? iOS, Android, and WP7 are going to have the most support by both developers and community.

Award Tour said:
It's been known for a while now. Well, except Sprint officially carrying it. But um, who'd want a RIM product? iOS, Android, and WP7 are going to have the most support by both developers and community.
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Yeah, I did some research and it was supposed to be WiFi only and/or allow tethering to an existing BB phone to power the tablet.
Smart of them to change their minds, they would not be able to compete without data. 4G can't hurt.

idk it is a blackberry and running their os. could be drama in the long end, but if the hardware is in there for 4g, that makes me believe that you could set it up as a phone with a dialer... could be a combo of old school meets new school.

a Blackberry tablet ...
... who was the fool at Sprint who green-lighted backing this hot mess? RIMs target audience and the typical tablets target audience aren't even close to the same focus groups ... a square peg/round hole failure. Has RIM ever competed in the home user space? Apple at least has worked in that arena, Google clouds absolutely everything, RIM does ... well ... email.
I predict failure here.

looks nice probably be nice for corporate email? I just do not want a tablet tied to contract and do not want some just no name tablet.

From what I hear there's no built in support for calendar or email - those features won't work unless tethered to a blackberry. The os is actually supposed to be pretty impressive though.
Sent from my blah blah blah blah

The tablet looks well built..i hate blackberry os, but i would consider rocking this. I signed up for alerts.

Justin.G11 said:
a Blackberry tablet ...
... who was the fool at Sprint who green-lighted backing this hot mess? RIMs target audience and the typical tablets target audience aren't even close to the same focus groups ... a square peg/round hole failure. Has RIM ever competed in the home user space? Apple at least has worked in that arena, Google clouds absolutely everything, RIM does ... well ... email.
I predict failure here.
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To answer that question I'd have to say yes! I love that there is this huge envisioning by the tech world that BB is only used by businesses.
BB may not do nearly as much marketing and focus on non-business users, but I can say that 35-45% of my friends have a BB as their PERSONAL phone. Not because all of the "business" advantage, but because BB makes attractive, ergonomic, simple to use phones and people do buy them. Not to mention brand recognition, how many people do you know that wouldn't know what "blackberry" is?
Now ask that same person about "android" or "WP7"...
The re-written BB OS is actually pretty sleek looking IMO, so I wouldn't say it's a completely horrible idea for Sprint to take this on. Plus many of the businesses would certainly fall into the potential for stocking these up given their employees are all robots equipped with BBs...

Meh...
Just because it's not Google/Apple/Microsoft doesn't mean it won't be a success or that it's a "hot mess".
Les we forget that RIM was top of the mobile world for a long time.

mattykinsx said:
Meh...
Just because it's not Google/Apple/Microsoft doesn't mean it won't be a success or that it's a "hot mess".
Les we forget that RIM was top of the mobile world for a long time.
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RIM is a sinking ship. Of all the OS', BBOS is destined to have the least support from developers. Their SDK is also based on AIR/Flash, a dying platform if I ever seen one.

Award Tour said:
RIM is a sinking ship. Of all the OS', BBOS is destined to have the least support from developers. Their SDK is also based on AIR/Flash, a dying platform if I ever seen one.
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I think with a nice breath of fresh air they can be a competitor again.
Having the user base, even though it is dwindling, definitely puts them in a good position still.
I think it's really silly to count anyone out at this point in any mobile business, ESPECIALLY tablets.
Per example, Android was practically NOTHING last year...

mattykinsx said:
Per example, Android was practically NOTHING last year...
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The difference is that Android was a startup that was growing from nothing. RIM is a dinosaur that is dying and making mistakes by frantically looking for solutions.

Award Tour said:
The difference is that Android was a startup that was growing from nothing. RIM is a dinosaur that is dying and making mistakes by frantically looking for solutions.
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I can come up with 100 logical reasons why Android shouldn't be where it's at right now.
I think this tablet could help revive BB.
And I certainly don't think it's silly for Sprint to carry it.

With the lack of Sprint news from CES I was very surprised by this move.. Of all the tablets with that mobile focus mentioned a few months ago the PlayBook was the one I was most excited about. Unfortunately I doubt it will be a star by the time it releases as I've already seen a number of tablets from CES that would mop the floor with the PlayBook.
It'll be 4-6 months before we make another mover forward with a new halo handset IMO.

I would buy one of the blackberry tablets before I bought a crummy apple tablet... Apple is a joke and there os is even more of joke... But android on the other hand is far superior to any other tablet out there. If the android tablets didnt exist I would definitley buy a blackberry tablet though.
iamr00t

Award Tour said:
The difference is that Android was a startup that was growing from nothing. RIM is a dinosaur that is dying and making mistakes by frantically looking for solutions.
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Apple was a dying dinosaur before Steve Jobs came back and then they came up with new computer designs and took off with the ibook, ipod, etc.

Is it just me...

Or does it seem like Honeycomb was rushed out. I get a lot of force closes on my browser and other apps that were installed when I get my Xoom. Does anyone else get that?

Nope, it's just you, nobody has never made a thread like this ever in this forum.
Next time put something real in the title.

Google is going to f***ing dissenchant me with all their little f***ing two sided antics. OK I get it, blah blah open f***ing source etc. But you can't have it both ways. You want to make a liberal system that can be taken advantage of freely by developers and promote creativity and freedom, great. But you do half the work and allow the cyanogenmod team to smooth out the rest of the quarks and make your OS closer to an expected consumer user experience, voiding peoples warranty in the process. Even at this point, OK. BUT YOU CAN'T F***ING HAVE THE HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS AND CARRIERS PARADING AROUND LIKE ITS OK TO MILK A HALF BAKED OS BY SUCKING PEOPLE DRY WITH INSANE UNJUSTIFIABLE PRICES, ESPECIALLY WHEN NOT EVEN ONE CENT OF ANY OF THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMES OUT OF THEIR POCKET.
Google needs to put the f***ing squeeze on these a*****es or realize that they are full of s***.

IndivisibleP said:
Language in quote cleaned.
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Lolololol its a breath of fresh air seeing someone comment with this much emotion
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IndivisibleP said:
Google is going to f***ing dissenchant me with all their little f***ing two sided antics. OK I get it, blah blah open f***ing source etc. But you can't have it both ways. You want to make a liberal system that can be taken advantage of freely by developers and promote creativity and freedom, great. But you do half the work and allow the cyanogenmod team to smooth out the rest of the quarks and make your OS closer to an expected consumer user experience, voiding peoples warranty in the process. Even at this point, OK. BUT YOU CAN'T F***ING HAVE THE HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS AND CARRIERS PARADING AROUND LIKE ITS OK TO MILK A HALF BAKED OS BY SUCKING PEOPLE DRY WITH INSANE UNJUSTIFIABLE PRICES, ESPECIALLY WHEN NOT EVEN ONE CENT OF ANY OF THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMES OUT OF THEIR POCKET.
Google needs to put the f***ing squeeze on these a*****es or realize that they are full of s***.
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and THE OP
Nobody forced you to buy anything. Is honeycomb perfect? no we already know this. 2.2 or 2.3 is not perfect so not sure what you expected. We got earthquakes, tsunamis, and civil wars going on and you are worried about some force closes. You dont like it dont buy it. You should feel lucky you even have the choice to buy a Xoom. Quit your *****in.

IndivisibleP said:
INSANE UNJUSTIFIABLE PRICES
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Sounds like you can't really afford the Xoom. Maybe you should just take it back and get a refund. Yes, I think that's the best course for everyone involved.

DroidzFX said:
and THE OP
Nobody forced you to buy anything. Is honeycomb perfect? no we already know this. 2.2 or 2.3 is not perfect so not sure what you expected. We got earthquakes, tsunamis, and civil wars going on and you are worried about some force closes. You dont like it dont buy it. You should feel lucky you even have the choice to buy a Xoom. Quit your *****in.
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I wasn't "*****in" as you like to put it I was merely asking a question as to whether this was a common thing or if mine was just having problems and maybe I should reload it or something to fix it. If you can't say anything constructive maybe you should avoid using that 1st amendment right of yours.

matdev said:
I wasn't "*****in" as you like to put it I was merely asking a question as to whether this was a common thing or if mine was just having problems and maybe I should reload it or something to fix it. If you can't say anything constructive maybe you should avoid using that 1st amendment right of yours.
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Maybe you should do some research because this question has been asked several times. If the same question or statement is mentioned over and over then it becomes classified as *****in. Unfortunately you fell into this category.

I think the price is fair...and Moto does have software dev time in it - Kernel time at a minimum. I'm fully aware Google was involved in the design process of the device, but I doubt other than a ton of OEM support to Moto that they actually have a ton of resources invested in the device it self.
I guess no one has looked in to purchasing a 32Gb SSD - those alone are $100.
10" screen ~$100 for just a screen without any touch digitizer
So 200 bucks in cost in 2 pieces of hardware.
One of the problems with the Android community as a whole is everyone whining about price. The price of hardware, the price of apps. The Apple drones could care less about price, they'll pay what they are asked to pay regardless of any other thought than "It's white, it has fruit on it" . I however am a fairly informed consumer and am WILLING to pay for latest and greatest as long as it serves my needs.
However, the lack of HC Source has made me reconsider the purchase....

Kcarpenter said:
I think the price is fair...and Moto does have software dev time in it - Kernel time at a minimum. I'm fully aware Google was involved in the design process of the device, but I doubt other than a ton of OEM support to Moto that they actually have a ton of resources invested in the device it self.
I guess no one has looked in to purchasing a 32Gb SSD - those alone are $100.
10" screen ~$100 for just a screen without any touch digitizer
So 200 bucks in cost in 2 pieces of hardware.
One of the problems with the Android community as a whole is everyone whining about price. The price of hardware, the price of apps. The Apple drones could care less about price, they'll pay what they are asked to pay regardless of any other thought than "It's white, it has fruit on it" . I however am a fairly informed consumer and am WILLING to pay for latest and greatest as long as it serves my needs.
However, the lack of HC Source has made me reconsider the purchase....
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You have to think though, that by not releasing the source.. they are doing their best to avoid some of the issues spoken about previously. Too often manufacturers would like to prey on the uneducated or the early adopters by throwing a half developed piece of hardware out the door, slapping the google android sticker on it.. and then while they profit, they take the good name of Google/Android and drag it through the mud.
Look at the reaction to the original Samsung Galaxy Tab. It was thrown out, with an OS that was not made for a tablet, on hardware not optimized for the design... only to capitalize on the fact that they would be the first out the gate (or at least one of the first). Apple did the same thing, and took their phone OS and blew it up to a larger format. The only reason they succeeded was that they had their system locked down and could ensure that they had a good hardware/software mix. The throngs of iFags everywhere gobble it up because they knew it would be solid enough to satisfy them for a year till the next one comes out and improves on it.
Google is finally learning from Apple in that respect.
By not releasing the sc for HC, they are making sure that they can correct the early issues found with HC in the Xoom, as well as ensure the hardware its installed on meets specific requirements as to not damage their name or their products name. Its not that it wont let it out eventually, but they want to make it as solid as possible before they do. I respect them for that, even if it makes the modding community's job a bit harder in the interim.

Lastly... you can blame the marketing techniques for shady products. Simple people are too excited by shiny products with big words in their advertising, that they get burned by not researching... and those that get burned, cry the most. Those that do their due diligence and research, only blame themselves when they get burned because they overlooked a mistake or failed to prioritize features.

matdev said:
Or does it seem like Honeycomb was rushed out. I get a lot of force closes on my browser and other apps that were installed when I get my Xoom. Does anyone else get that?
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Can you give us some more details? Like, did you root your xoom or are you experiencing all of these force closes on a clean xoom that you just got 2 days ago? Did you throw an image on there, sideload a bunch of apps, etc....
Off Topic...
Many people do not understand when they try to compare the Xoom to a polished product like the iPad that the iPad OS has been around for a while before the iPad even came to market (iTouch, iPhone) and developers had already enough time to work with iOS so when the iPad was released there was not that much difference besides the new screen real estate that they had to adjust their apps for. When the iPad first came out there were some bugs, apps had that BS 2x until they were optimized for the iPad, etc...The Xoom is a brand new product that is sporting new hardware and a brand new OS that developers have not had the opportunity to work on until just recently so if "you" are not an early adopter then please buy an iPad. And if you are going to complain about the price of the Xoom compared to an iPad 2 then please explain how many 16GB WiFi only models are selling for the same price right now as a Xoom.

The entire android os and their very diverse array of devices is the reason it will fail. Kind of the same reason linux have not been able to penetrate the masses. I been a linux user since 92 and even I get overwhelmed sometimes with the amounts of distros out there. Got it that is what open source is about however. that same premises is what hinders its progress. Andoid is too fragmented with companies rushing out devices to the market without been ready, unfortunately the so call "early adopters" do everyone else a deservice by rushing to buy such devices, to compund this, companies are quick to abandon support for devices after a couple of months leaving us at the mercy of freelance developers (which by the way are great)
Yes the xoom and hc were rushed out to the market on an effort to get a headstart on other devices, by now it has been proven that it did now work as expected for them
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neonflx said:
The entire android os and their very diverse array of devices is the reason it will fail. Kind of the same reason linux have not been able to penetrate the masses.
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What? You realize android is the most used smartphone platform worldwide right (ignoring sybian)? If that isn't market penetration I don't know what is.
The API differences from 1.6-2.3 are so minor that application compatibility is really a non issue between operating systems. The only issue is hardware differences really.
Ask the average Joe user what version of android or IOS they are using and they'll ask you "what?". Only the power users ***** and moan about these relatively minor OS updates because they always want the latest thing.
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neonflx said:
The entire android os and their very diverse array of devices is the reason it will fail. Kind of the same reason linux have not been able to penetrate the masses. I been a linux user since 92 and even I get overwhelmed sometimes with the amounts of distros out there. Got it that is what open source is about however. that same premises is what hinders its progress. Andoid is too fragmented with companies rushing out devices to the market without been ready, unfortunately the so call "early adopters" do everyone else a deservice by rushing to buy such devices, to compund this, companies are quick to abandon support for devices after a couple of months leaving us at the mercy of freelance developers (which by the way are great)
Yes the xoom and hc were rushed out to the market on an effort to get a headstart on other devices, by now it has been proven that it did now work as expected for them
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
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Are you rooting for Android to fail? You know they do have Windows based phones if you don't like android ones. No one is forcing you to buy anything android. This is not a hate forum so unless you actually own a xoom and have a general question/statement regarding the xoom/honeycomb then why not just go find a "I hate android/linux/capitalism" forum.

neonflx said:
The entire android os and their very diverse array of devices is the reason it will fail. Kind of the same reason linux have not been able to penetrate the masses. I been a linux user since 92 and even I get overwhelmed sometimes with the amounts of distros out there. Got it that is what open source is about however. that same premises is what hinders its progress. Andoid is too fragmented with companies rushing out devices to the market without been ready, unfortunately the so call "early adopters" do everyone else a deservice by rushing to buy such devices, to compund this, companies are quick to abandon support for devices after a couple of months leaving us at the mercy of freelance developers (which by the way are great)
Yes the xoom and hc were rushed out to the market on an effort to get a headstart on other devices, by now it has been proven that it did now work as expected for them
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
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Really? You must have been on a deserted island for the last couple years. My Xoom running Honeycomb works just fine. Someone needs to start a thread titled ***** here so you guys can get together share what type of tampons you prefer.

Is Motorola getting ready to ditch Android?

http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/54903-is-motorola-getting-ready-to-ditch-android
The article makes several key points:
"Android isn't turning out to be profitable for any company other than Google and even Google's numbers look less than reliable. There are 37 lawsuits on this platform since the beginning of 2010 many filed against companies like Motorola and complaints from the OEM on Google's responsiveness to their concerns are both common and strident," he explained.

"They are not happy and a review of all of this is what pushed HP to buy Palm and avoid Android all together
You have to consider why a company like Motorola would chose to support, or not support an OS - things may not be all that rosy for Google Experience Devices, in fact it sounds like companies like Motorola may actually resent Googles interference, and what they percieve as an inequitable distribution of profit (into Googles Pocket) on these devices.

Developing an operating system isn't something a company "just decides" to do. It takes years, then you have to get the hardware vendors to make systems for it, and the software guys to make software for it. HP already have an OS in WebOS; ditto RIM. Are they swimming in dev love right now?
>"Android isn't turning out to be profitable for any company other than Google"
Moto was near death after the Razr petered out, and was resuscitated back to life with the Droid series. Last I looked, its financials look a lot better than it was before its Android push. Ditto for HTC, which is now riding on a wave of cash. You can check on others.
Every for-profit company in the world is doing things to make...a profit. If it's not profitable, nobody would do it. Now, look at the rate of Android adoption for smartphones. Think all of those vendors are looking to lose money?
The trouble with holding Internet pundits as gospel is that they, like any for-profit entity, don't necessarily care about the facts as they do about sensationalizing them, even to the extent of spouting fibs. The more attention a blog post gets, the more hits, and the more ad revenue. Sad as it is to say, but truth and facts can be boring, and embellishment sells.

I think its all in the informations source. Wasn't there an article a month or two back that essentially discussed exactly how profitable Android is? Essentially calling it Google's most profitable venture ever for both themselves and their partners.
I think the proof is in handset shipments and growth. What is HTC's shipment growth over the past 2 years? Something in the neighborhood of 200%? and their projection is for a 300% increase over that this year? Those handset sales are driven primarily by Android. If they aren't making a profit on those handsets then they would have been unprofitable no matter what, because their prices wouldn't have changed. Whether it be Windows Mobile,Android or Brand Z their new handset is still going to be in the neighborhood of 599-650, so its their responsibility to make sure that price point is profitable for them. I don't see them being able to complain about slow growth since the sales growth and acceptance for the Android platform is pretty much meteoric.
I hardly see Motorola complaining about Android considering it and Verizon essentially saved them from becoming the next Nokia, a brand no one in America cares about. Are they hedging their bets? Possibly. Abandoning Android right now or in the foreseeable future though? I would say absolutely not.
Without Android, its pretty easy to say that Motorola and HTC would be in far worse financial shape than increasing their shipments and profits every quarter than they currently are. (Samsung not so much, they could have continued to be the OEM supplier for screens to HTC/Other brands who want to make phones) But in fact it was so profitable it encouraged Samsung to jump into the market themselves instead of just supplying parts. It gave those companies an instant way to compete with iOS.
Motorola announced today it sold 8.3 million handsets in the second quarter, earning the Mobile Devices division $1.7 billion in sales, and returning the unit to profitability after several quarters of losses. Over 2.7 million smartphones were part of Motorola’s overall handset sales, showing the vast growth in this segment, as the company reported zero smartphone sales in the same quarter in 2009. Although Motorola quarterly results don’t specifically name the biggest catalyst for such a change, it can be summarized in one word: Android.
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Thats from July of 2010. So from losses to profit, I can hardly see how that "wouldn't be turning out profitable" for them.

e.mote said:
Developing an operating system isn't something a company "just decides" to do. It takes years, then you have to get the hardware vendors to make systems for it, and the software guys to make software for it. HP already have an OS in WebOS; ditto RIM. Are they swimming in dev love right now?
>"Android isn't turning out to be profitable for any company other than Google"
Moto was near death after the Razr petered out, and was resuscitated back to life with the Droid series. Last I looked, its financials look a lot better than it was before its Android push. Ditto for HTC, which is now riding on a wave of cash. You can check on others.
Every for-profit company in the world is doing things to make...a profit. If it's not profitable, nobody would do it. Now, look at the rate of Android adoption for smartphones. Think all of those vendors are looking to lose money?
The trouble with holding Internet pundits as gospel is that they, like any for-profit entity, don't necessarily care about the facts as they do about sensationalizing them, even to the extent of spouting fibs. The more attention a blog post gets, the more hits, and the more ad revenue. Sad as it is to say, but truth and facts can be boring, and embellishment sells.
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You both make good points.
Thats when these boards work best. When people actually think through all the facets of a topic and don't just devolve into an Apple good/Android Bad rant.
However, in response to the comment: "Developing an operating system isn't something a company "just decides" to do. "
Certainly it is,
ANDROID is an operating system developed by a company called Google, that just "decided" to create an OS to compete with Apple.
That in turn was developed from an OS called Linux developed by Torvalds as an open source alternative to Windows.
Or take Windows Phone 7 - A company called Microsoft "Just decided to develop" and OS from the ground up to compete with Apple.
Problem isn't developing an OS, problem is marketing it and developing Apps.
Edit: I agree with you that that this is virtually impossible for Motorola. But I would have thought it impossible for HP too and yet, they had the creative insight to buy palm, and now they are doing it. Probably will crash and burn, but bottom line is: They DID abandon android.

Digital Man said:
ANDROID is an operating system developed by a company called Google, that just "decided" to create an OS to compete with Apple.
Or take Windows Phone 7 - A company called Microsoft "Just decided to develop" and OS from the ground up to compete with Apple.
Problem isn't developing an OS, problem is marketing it and developing Apps.
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I hope you understand that there difference between software companies deciding to make software and hardware companies deciding to make software.
Microsoft and Google already had experience and infrastructure in place to create new software. Motorola will be starting with...nothing. That is why Palm was purchased by HP, they needed a leg up on software experience to make new software development practical.

_RTFM_ said:
I hope you understand that there difference between software companies deciding to make software and hardware companies deciding to make software.
Microsoft and Google already had experience and infrastructure in place to create new software. Motorola will be starting with...nothing. That is why Palm was purchased by HP, they needed a leg up on software experience to make new software development practical.
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Knew that one was coming. Thats why companies hire employess. Thats why companies buy other companies.
Thats why companies like HP which are HARDWARE companies buy companies like Palm which are SOFTWARE companies. Whatever it takes to get the job done.
Programmers are people, they can walk from software companies over to the building where the hardware company is located and start working there, on a shiny new OS as soon as they are hired or aquired.
Edit: Might I also point out that Google started as a search engine, not a software company either.

Digital Man said:
Knew that one was coming. Thats why companies hire employess. Thats why companies buy other companies.
Thats why companies like HP which are HARDWARE companies buy companies like Palm which are SOFTWARE companies. Whatever it takes to get the job done.
Programmers are people, they can walk from software companies over to the building where the hardware company is located and start working there, on a shiny new OS as soon as they are hired or aquired.
Edit: Might I also point out that Google started as a search engine, not a software company either.
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...ok, but in order for them to walk over there they need to be PAID, and an entire new wing of R&D needs to be built to support them. This is a massive investment that is VERY high risk that takes a long time.
Oh you're right, I had no clue Google started as a search engine. That means they are and have always been a software company. Just because "engine" is in the phrase doesn't mean it isn't software

_RTFM_ said:
...ok, but in order for them to walk over there they need to be PAID, and an entire new wing of R&D needs to be built to support them. This is a massive investment that is VERY high risk that takes a long time.
Oh you're right, I had no clue Google started as a search engine. That means they are and have always been a software company. Just because "engine" is in the phrase doesn't mean it isn't software
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Sarcasm aside, no, I'm still not sure a search engine is the same as a hardware operating system....
Her is a good article supporting the alternative point of view however:
Moto ditching Android: Silly Rumor
http://androidcommunity.com/motorola-developing-own-os-silly-rumor-20110325/
Note this line: Motorola is working on their own OS? What? Back that up. Several blogs are putting forth the rumor that Motorola’s friendship with Google is waning and that the cellphone manufacturer has been quietly hiring Apple and Adobe engineers with the aim of developing their own platform OS to compete with Android.
Note the part about quietly hiring from Apple and Adobe.
I honestly don't have a strong opinion one way or the other here. I am primarily playing Devils Advocate by throwing the orignal topic out here for discussion, as it is something that people have been talking about quite a bit on Motorola hardware boards.
I was curious to see other peoples points of view on the story-rumor.

Here is an interesting article about why Google might not care if Android ever makes money.
Android May Be the Greatest Legal Destruction of Wealth in History [Android]
TOP STORIES IN TECHNOLOGY | MARCH 25, 2011
http://gizmodo.com/#!5785983/android-may-be-the-greatest-legal-destruction-of-wealth-in-history

tinpusher said:
Here is an interesting article about why Google might not care if Android ever makes money.
Android May Be the Greatest Legal Destruction of Wealth in History [Android]
TOP STORIES IN TECHNOLOGY | MARCH 25, 2011
http://gizmodo.com/#!5785983/android-may-be-the-greatest-legal-destruction-of-wealth-in-history
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Thanks for posting this.
I have to laugh. I started this thread, and in effect was accused of being a conspiracy theorist wearing a tin-foil hat. So it makes me feel better knowing that the guys over at Gizmodo have some pretty shiny head-gear as well.

If Motorola leaves the Android community they would be shooting themselves in the foot. I really have a hard time believing Moto would be that stupid.
Where were they before Android? On the brink of death. Leaving now is suicide. Companies really need to stop thinking they are Apple. Apple is the exception to that proves rule.
If they took all the money they put into this rumored OS and sunk it into a better blur (or option to disable blur), better hardware, and FAST updates... they would rule the market.

th0r615 said:
If Motorola leaves the Android community they would be shooting themselves in the foot. I really have a hard time believing Moto would be that stupid.
Where were they before Android? On the brink of death. Leaving now is suicide. Companies really need to stop thinking they are Apple. Apple is the exception to that proves rule.
If they took all the money they put into this rumored OS and sunk it into a better blur (or option to disable blur), better hardware, and FAST updates... they would rule the market.
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Oh hell, some companies like Microsoft shoot themselves in the foot on an almost daily basis. Remember the Kin phone? Here is a quote from an article by Engadget:
"While it's hard to argue that Kin is an awful product, the saddest part of the story is that many of the people responsible for it knew it was -- they were largely victims of political circumstance, forced to release a phone that was practically raw in the middle."
In the end they sold something like 500 of the things.
Remember the Dell streak releasing crippled with Android 1.6?
And then there was windows Vista....
Companies often do things that seem to make no rational business sense.

It would be crazy for them to abandon the platform that single handedly prevented them from going into bankruptcy... Motorola was doing horrible before they teamed up with Verizon and released the Droid OG. Which was an insanely popular device. Motorola should be thanking Verizon and Google for still having jobs right now...

They would be crazy to stop embracing android. Not only is it generating business like crazy (everyone has seen or heard of the enormous numbers of android products being sold, numbers that are unseating the existing leaders of the mobile os market), all indications are that android is still growing. Why abandon success?
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Actually it's as simple as this.. Would you abandon an OS that has the second largest apps for mobile? It would be dumb for any company to do such a thing.. I mean think about it.. What other choices do you have?? WM7, RIM, Palm etc?? It would take years for them to catch up, apps wise.. Right now, what makes these phone manufacturer tick, is the apps behind it.. Hence, that's the reason why I chose Android when I left iphone.. The apps.. So I don't think Motorola would abandon Android and jump ship anytime soon.. Or at all, for that matter..

Yeah I agree. I don't see this happening anytime soon, if at all. Especially looking within a few years down the road.

Motorola should just concentrate on making better quality hardware and leave th software to people who know what they are doing. Motorola use to mean quality, now it's just another phone maker in a sea of the same devices running the same software with nothing really revolutionary to offer buyers. If moto could make an android device with the quality of their razor they would destroy the competition.

The rumor that Moto is hiring software egr's has a glimmer of truth (and subsequently embellished for tabloid consumption). Moto is learning that there is a downside to the Android gravy train, which every co and its sister is jumping onto, and that is lack of differentiation.
Co's are trying different things. Asus is doing the integrated keyboard with the Transformer. HTC has the active digitizer where you can use a stylus. Archos is leaning on its PMP roots with strong multimedia support. But for the majority, differentiation will be minimal (mostly a custom GUI). The main determinant will be price. In other words, Android tabs will be commodity status very soon. This is good for the consumers, but not for the vendors.
This isn't the smartphone market any more, where supply is constrained by the carriers playing as gatekeepers. Price competition will be intense, and slapping on a custom GUI (as has been the practice for smartphones) will no longer be enough. Premium brands in smartphones do not automatically translate to the tablet market.
It'll be a free-for-all. And the guys that win will be those with the best value-add, brand strength, and distribution muscle. For the first, you need software peeps. Which is why Moto is stocking up.

Digital Man said:
Might I also point out that Google started as a search engine, not a software company either.
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This sentence does not make any sense

hi_its_ryan said:
This sentence does not make any sense
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Just saying that something doesn't make sense isn't very helpful. Try explaining WHY it doesn't make sense.
That would add something to the discussion.

HP touchpad

I am guessing that HP is going to sell the touchpads for practically nothing. Anyone thinking about picking one up just or the hell of it?
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Depends how low might get in he missus one lol
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I might get one at $200 for my mother...
No more than that...

I really want one!

I will only get one of they decide to Open Source the OS. Otherwise I won't because I don't think there will be any developer support for it and new apps coming out.

I hope you live in a supported country.
I had one and sold it within a week.
It really sucks, and its slow.
My advice save the 200 and get something else.
There's a lot of great android tablets available for 200 usd.
The touchpad has done nothing for me except make me use webos gestures on my sgs2 and the xoom......
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HP's biggest mistake was putting WebOS on it. I guess they learned nothing from the failed attempt called the Palm Pre.

Hey speaking of which, the Touchpad sounds like it will be pulled from the market completely. I suppose they were embarrassed when WebOS ran faster on the iPad when they gave it a test run. They are said to be working on another tablet, a 7 inch tablet I believe. Since it most likely will not be running WebOS, and since the only open source OS is Android... I think I know what will happen next! Hmmm...
I would personally never touch any tablet that isn't running the Android OS. Not the Playbook, the Touchpad, and definitely not the iPad!
Open source+Android+Google=Win.

diablo2224 said:
Hey speaking of which, the Touchpad sounds like it will be pulled from the market completely. I suppose they were embarrassed when WebOS ran faster on the iPad when they gave it a test run. They are said to be working on another tablet, a 7 inch tablet I believe. Since it most likely will not be running WebOS, and since the only open source OS is Android... I think I know what will happen next! Hmmm...
I would personally never touch any tablet that isn't running the Android OS. Not the Playbook, the Touchpad, and definitely not the iPad!
Open source+Android+Google=Win.
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Click to collapse
+1 We think alike.

Android on Touchpad
Those tablets have an open bootloader, they can run android. It might be time to start a forum for doing just that?

The official line is that only the hardware side is dead, and the platform will continue for development & licensing. But no doubt an outright sale is preferred, given the strategic direction change with the $10B+ planned acquisition of Autonomy. Either way, WebOS will be mothballed for the foreseeable future, with no dev support.
The common line among pundits is that HP muffed the tablet & phone launches, with mediocre hardware and half-baked software, and decided to cut its losses. IMO, WebOS never had much of a chance, even if the launches went off well. On one side, there is the iPad with its polished UI and many apps. On the other, you have a legion of low-cost Android tabs. There is no breathing room.
HP's announced strategy for WebOS adoption was to piggyback on Windows as a shell in HP PCs & printers, where its vast market share is a strength. But WebOS' chance went from slim to none the moment MS announced that Win8 would encompass tablets, has a touch-friendly GUI, and run on ARM. The rationale to include it as a Windows touch-GUI was no longer viable. Thus the sole chance of WebOS penetration rests on the tablet doing well, which it didn't. But the tablet was never the main plan for WebOS, the PC was.
The bigger impact by far to HP's stock walloping is the announcement of exiting the PC market. Not sure what the thinking is here, to announce it way before it had a deal lined up. HP PC sales will suffer, especially going into the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping periods. Apotheker has a lot to answer for.
The other shoe left to drop is when RIM would cry uncle with the Playbook.

HP should license the OS or certain features in it if they arent going to make it Open Source. The OS is awesome but they didn't put any money into hardware. Can you imagine a 4 in+ HTC device running WebOS? That would be awesome. The software is awesome but the hardware, marketing and acquisitions direction was horrible.
The purchased may have been for the patents since it was a steal. If we are lucky Google makes an offer they can't refuse on those patents.
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$99 new price starting tomorrow
I should buy like 3 and give out 2 for christmas.

Wow Epic Fail. Maybe I should buy .one for modding purposes.
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Funny that the processor and gpu are great, seriously. It's a slight variation on the Qualcomm in the HTC Sensation/Evo3d, and I'm not sure there's anything in the mobile market (released) that outdoes the Adreno 220.

TouchPad fire sale at $100 (sold out for now)
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3220862
In the thread, people are buying them by the dozens, no doubt to fleabay them afterward. If you want one, be fast.

Does anyone know if Netflix is on this (homebrew/exploit/etc.) this would a partial dealbreaker (although I already bought it)?

I ended up ordering two 32gb TouchPads, the total cost came to $269, I could not go wrong for $134.50 for a device priced at $599 not even a year ago? It looks like they are all gone on HP's site now though.

the specs of the touchpad are not that impressive plus it boots very slow.. and its webOS not Android..and its the heaviest slate around !!
you can get an Android based tablet with the same specs for a better price.. unless someone ports Android to touchpad and HP will sell it for $150 or lower then it would worth spending the money on it.

pflorin said:
..and its the heaviest slate around !!.
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Click to collapse
You mean theres a slate heavier than the Xoom??

Another one bites the dust

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/08/does-apotheker-need-an-apothecary-why-hp-is-exiting-the-pc-business.ars
Pretty interesting article on how HP is leaving the pc business...

Kinda sucks as I was always thinking WebOS showed promise. They just didn't do enough with it. Almost seems like they didn't even try to make the most of it either. Sucks, but that's what happens. Look at RIM. Take the next step or bow out. My goodness, it just sucks when you see something promising and it just wilts and fades.
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WebOS was dead the moment HP bought Palm.
Anyone could see that.

mattykinsx said:
WebOS was dead the moment HP bought Palm.
Anyone could see that.
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Agreed. It was probably dead before then, since there was almost no developer support for it. A shame really, I really liked using WebOS for the short time I had a Pre. It just never got paired with the hardware that it deserved.

mattykinsx said:
WebOS was dead the moment HP bought Palm.
Anyone could see that.
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Click to collapse
While maybe forecasted, some had hope. While it was evident that work needed to be put in, some expected there would be. It is a got dayum shame. As well as many, I was personally looking for the WebOS push, more than WP7.
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github said:
Agreed. It was probably dead before then, since there was almost no developer support for it. A shame really, I really liked using WebOS for the short time I had a Pre. It just never got paired with the hardware that it deserved.
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It was, but it could have possibly been revived if the right company would have bought Palm.
That didn't happen.
I remember being on the Precentral forums when the HP merger happened.
Everyone was jumping for joy... I and a few other forum members were attacked for not.
The problem in the beginning was hardware.
Then, once hardware never came [and subsequently took over a year to come], hardware was the least of the concerns.
I have more fingers on my hands than the amount of devs that were supporting WebOS when HP bought Palm.
HP didn't increase that number.

Yeah, hardware was only the first issue. In this day and age if you're going to introduce a new software ecosystem it needs to be ready to hit the ground running basically from day one. No one who already has a smartphone has the patience to wait for yet another operating system to catch up to its peers in terms of application availability.
HP never had a real vision for webOS; when I heard that they were going to shoe horn it into their printers I knew there was no hope for it.

HP was practically driven out of the consumer business by Apple.

detusueno said:
HP was practically driven out of the consumer business by Apple.
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And you base that claim on...?
HP has no one [No carrier, no manufacturer, no developer, no company] to blame for the failure of WebOS but themselves.
A person with a 55 I.Q. could have handled WebOS better.

mattykinsx said:
And you base that claim on...?
HP has no one [No carrier, no manufacturer, no developer, no company] to blame for the failure of WebOS but themselves.
A person with a 55 I.Q. could have handled WebOS better.
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HP said so themselves.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/08/18/live-blog-h-p-on-pc-spinoff-oh-and-earnings-too/
The tablet effect is real, and sales of the TouchPad are not meeting our expectations,” Apotheker says, explaining the movement of consumers from PCs to tablets as one of the problems with the PC division. So H-P is exploring options for its unit that “may include separation through spinoff or other transactions.
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This isn't just WebOS, this is their entire consumer PC division. Apple/iOS not only killed WebOS, but it weakened their PC profits enough to consider selling it off.
HP gave WebOS/Palm their last breathe, WebOS/Palm was dead long before HP got to it.

detusueno said:
HP said so themselves.
This isn't just WebOS, this is their entire consumer PC division. The iOS not only killed WebOS, but it weakened their PC profits enough to consider selling it off.
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Click to collapse
HP is a lot like Palm, I wouldn't believe them if they said the sky was blue.
They can "say" whatever they want...
Whether or not Apple's i-lineup hurt WebOS/PC sales [which we're all sure it did] HP had gold with WebOS.
What did they do with it?
Nothing. Less than nothing.
No one's fault... but themselves.

mattykinsx said:
HP is a lot like Palm, I wouldn't believe them if they said the sky was blue.
They can "say" whatever them want...
Whether or not Apple's i-lineup hurt WebOS/PC sales [which we're all sure it did] HP had gold with WebOS.
What did they do with it?
Nothing. Less than nothing.
No one's fault... but themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
webos might have been good but as a platform it was already lost. hp picked up a dead platform the day they bought it. few companies could have turned it around at that point, maybe only apple themselves.

detusueno said:
webos might have been good but as a platform it was already lost. hp picked up a dead platform the day they bought it. few companies could have turned it around at that point, maybe only apple themselves.
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Maybe, but they chose it.
They could have went the Android route(or many others) but chose to try to start their own little ecosystem.
Either way, HP should look in the mirror if they want someone to blame.

mattykinsx said:
Maybe, but they chose it.
They could have went the Android route(or many others) but chose to try to start their own little ecosystem.
Either way, HP should look in the mirror if they want someone to blame.
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Click to collapse
what would have hp done with android? everyone is on android and it sure isn't selling in the tablet market. they didn't care about phones either, they wanted in on the tablet market, the same market which is set to bring down their consumer pc market in the next couple of years.
they tried but right now nothing is taking down the iPad. a integrated direction with webOS/touchpad was a smart move but it was about dead already.

detusueno said:
what would have hp done with android? everyone is on android and it sure isn't selling in the tablet market. they didn't care about phones either, they wanted in on the tablet market, the same market which is set to bring down their consumer pc market in the next couple of years.
they tried but right now nothing is taking down the iPad. a integrated direction with webOS/touchpad was a smart move but it was about dead already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The tablet market is far too new for anyone to make a claim of victory.
The average person doesn't even have interest in a tablet[right now], much less own one.
Anyone that is backing out already, well, it shows they really don't know how to run this type of business.
HP could have turned their PC market into a tablet market.
They could have taken WebOS and transformed the industry.
They didn't even try.

mattykinsx said:
The tablet market is far too new for anyone to make a claim of victory.
The average person doesn't even have interest in a tablet[right now], much less own one.
Anyone that is backing out already, well, it shows they really don't know how to run this type of business.
HP could have turned their PC market into a tablet market.
They could have taken WebOS and transformed the industry.
They didn't even try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tablet market is new? yup. now look at the ipad sales figures. then consider that the ipad is single handily making hp get out of the pc market.
hp ships more pcs than anyone else. they know how to put products out, if not them then who? webos aint cutting, neither is android. i think microsoft and windows 8 will have the best shot but apple is killing everyone.

detusueno said:
tablet market is new? yup. now look at the ipad sales figures. then consider that the ipad is single handily making hp get out of the pc market.
hp ships more pcs than anyone else. they know how to put products out, if not them then who? webos aint cutting, neither is android. i think microsoft and windows 8 will have the best shot but apple is killing everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But its not just the ipad.
Its the whole "mobile market"
An example...
I have the Evo.
Just the Evo, no tablet.
Do you know when I go on a PC(laptop)?
When I have to write a paper or study stuff for school.
That's it.
Otherwise, I use my phone.
Apple/i-devices didn't make that true, mobile technology as a whole did
As I type its from my Evo, not a pc/laptop.
I'm not alone.
HP just sat there and 'road the wave' on laptop and desktop sales.
Their "attempt" at mobile technology was a joke.

You know I can already see other name brand pc companys going out of business. It's a lot cheaper building your own computer these days, who wants a bloated desktop with a dozen antivirus programs that expire in 30 days.. Not me..

I love webOS and this sucks but one good thing is the HP touchpad is going on sale for 100 bucks. I'm gonna snag at least 2....

jimisdad said:
I love webOS and this sucks but one good thing is the HP touchpad is going on sale for 100 bucks. I'm gonna snag at least 2....
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SOLD out
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