This time last year, Derek, Dieter, and Riz were running around San Francisco's Fort Mason Center covering what turned out to be the biggest planned event in the history of webOS. It was the coming out party for webOS under HP, and it came to be known as "Think Beyond." One year ago, HP SVP and Palm Global Business Unit manager Jon Rubinstein got up on the stage to introduce, in order, the tiny HP Veer smartphone, the HP Pre3 - larger, thinner, and more powerful webOS smartphone that the faithful had been waiting for - and the first webOS tablet, the HP TouchPad, all slated by the end of Summer 2011

That day brought more than hardware announcements. We got our first look at webOS 3.0 on the TouchPad, met the new VP of Developer Relations Richard Kerris, found out that HP was not going to update older handsets to webOS 2.0, and said goodbye to the Palm brand. Things were looking up - even if the TouchPad wasn't a mind-blowing piece of hardware, it was the first of what we hoped would be several products to take the market by storm.

The Veer shipped to middling reviews in May and the TouchPad followed in July. And then everything went downhill from there. After just a month on the market, HP cut the TouchPad's price by $100, and ten days after that pulled the rug out from under the webOS community by canceling all webOS hardware development. Since then we've gone through a hardware fire sale, a fired CEO, the loss of Kerris, Rubinstein, and many others, questions about the future of the platform, and emerged on the other side with plans for going open source with a new Open webOS.

My, what a year it has been.

The research was conducted by RBC Capital Market analyst Mike Abramsky who managed to create an 88-page report on his findings. He also focused on the market for TV subscriptions, newspaper circulation and more but we will just focus on the tablets for now.

The fact that only .3% of the world’s population has purchased a tablet can be attributed to the lack of selection, fairly new technology or the fact that there is no real need to own one. There is a flurry of tablets on the horizon, so these numbers could surely change by this time next year

Abramsky believes that these numbers will skyrocket within the next few years. In fact, he predicts that 185 million tablets will be sold in the year 2014. That is a huge difference from the numbers reported in 2010.

With Android getting ready to hit the tablet world by storm, BlackBerry and HP getting ready to make a plays their own and an already established successful tablet in the form of Apple’s iPad, what do you think of Abramsky’s prediction? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

source: Slash Gear

Sure it might be beneficial to go with your carrier for most occasions when purchasing a new phone, but HP seems like they really want you to buy it from them. That’s because the handset is now priced at $29.99 with a 2-year agreement on their HP Wireless Central web site. You heard that right, this device can be bought for super cheap through HP directly, but if you prefer the no-contract route, your best option is still to side with Verizon since they’re selling it for $409.99 versus the $429.999 that HP is asking.

Naturally, some people would believe that its price point right now is fitting since we’re expected to see its successor arrive some time in the very near future. But if you just can’t wait for that to come around, then probably this solution might fit the bill in the meantime.

source: HP Wireless Central via PreCentral

Amazon adds two accessories to the listing – a Bluetooth keyboard and a matching stand, but it is highly unlikely for these two to be included out of the box. At least 16 gigs of storage will be available on the HP TouchPad while the option for twice that amount seems also plausible. A couple of typos keep bugging us though – a reported 1.3 GHz processor speed instead of the 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon we are expecting to see, as well as 2 USB ports where the microUSB port should be noted. We hope these do not confuse too many people.

Who knows, we may see the HP TouchPad coming out in April after all, just like the rumors are suggesting. Waiting for it until June will not make much sense, especially with the Motorola XOOM already out on the market, the iPad 2 ready to launch in days, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 expected to hit the shelves pretty soon.

source: Amazon via Unwired View

Previously, we’ve seen the handset selling through various third party retailers online around the price of $50, but it’s nice to see it dropping down even lower. Not only do you save some money on buying a no-contract smartphone, but you even have the opportunity of using it as a mobile hotspot for free. In the end, of course, its unworldly off-contract price of $40 ($5 shipping) is something that may seem so foreign to most people, especially when they normally start off at around $300, but this is in fact for real – so don’t hesitate on pulling the trigger on this one.

Specifically, there is only 10 hours left before this deal expires – so be sure to come down with a decision. Yeah, it’s nice seeing it priced extremely low right now, but as always, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it even lower in the near future.

Thanks Nicholas!

source: Dailysteals

The iPad 2 comes with a lot of swagger – Cupertino is saying that with it the company aims to retain a nearly 80% market share in 2011. Honeycomb on the other side comes in a variety of tablets like the already released Motorola XOOM and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. But it’s not the only one who wants a piece of the tablet pie as the webOS-based HP TouchPad is expected to make an appearance in the Summer months.

We shouldn’t omit the rest of the tablets out there, but it seems that most of them fall in a slightly different category by either having a smaller screen or not having the type of carrier support these heavyweight will get. That – of course – doesn’t make them less of a capable rival to the iPad, but for the time being let’s focus on the biggest ones and see who wins in the first round where we clash the specs!

Right now, there is a new firmware package available for download for those sporting O2 Germany’s Palm Pre Plus – which interestingly enough will offer the most up-to-date webOS experience. Version 2.1 brings forth some highly anticipated features like exhibition mode, improved Synergy, new launcher, and stacked cards. However, it seems like Flash support is still missing in action. Furthermore, reports already indicate that App Catalog 2.0 is up and running as well.

And from the sound of it all, Vodafone Palm Pre Plus owners can safely install the software update as well without any worries about things dramatically going bonkers in the short term. Naturally, it’s nice to see this thing going very well for some people, but let’s hope that the update makes its way overseas to other markets.

source: Palm via PreCentral & Engadget

Now that must be the effect of global warming on the early arrival of summer, but we won’t mind seeing the dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon-powered tablet hit shelves in April! The HP TouchPad will not only feature the new tablet version of webOS, but will also be able to easily synchronize with phones like the HP Pre 3 and the HP Veer. The tablet will initially come in a plain Bluetooth and Wi-Fi version, but later versions will add mobile data connectivity including 4G.

The TouchPad roll-out is crucial for HP’s presence on the tablet market. The company expects to ship around 4-5 million tablets in 2011, a milestone that will make webOS known in the tablet market. Will it succeed? With an early launch chances are much higher.

source: DigiTimes

Sure we know that some new webOS devices are on the horizon, especially now that the Palm Pre 2 finally on sale, but for those who don’t want to spend serious dough on a webOS smartphone, then you’ve got to check out this fantastic deal going on with the Palm Pixi Plus for Verizon.

Previously, we’ve seen third party sellers offering the smartphone at the no-contract price of $55 and even $50. Today though, we’re seeing a new record being made now that it’s going for the no-contract price of only $45! You heard that right, you’ve got a decent smartphone in the Palm Pixi Plus that has a price attached to it that some might considered to be subsidized.

With approximately around 10 hours left until this deal is over, you’d better think quickly now before it’s gone. But then again, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it come back, with a lower price point obviously, next week or some time after that.

source: 1SaleADay

Starting today, you can stroll into your local Verizon Wireless location and pick up the latest webOS powered smartphone out there. Granted that its arrival might be considered late for some, especially when its successor was recently unveiled, it still nonetheless presents us with the latest webOS experience. Not to mention that we’ll all have to wait until the summer before getting the opportunity of getting comfy with the HP Pre 3.

Going for the 2-year contract price of $149.99 after rebates, the Palm Pre 2 features a 3.1” display, slide-out portrait keyboard, 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera with flash, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, and is powered by webOS 2.0.

source: Verizon Wireless via Mobileburn