Supposedly legit WePad video gives us a case of the JooJoos
By Thomas Ricker 
posted April 16th 2010 8:43AM
posted April 16th 2010 8:43AM
Update: Video was removed.
[Thanks, Mauro]
posted April 16th 2010 8:43AM
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it's obviously an exo pc , so i assume we-pad is just the branding?
@shizzledmg
"Don't know what to believe?" I am sure if this was a iPad article you would be overdosing with the Apple Juice...
@shizzledmg
Anyone notice that the video was encoded into an m4v file, the format used by iTunes?
@shizzledmg Steve jobs queefed himself when he saw the mouse get plugged in
@shizzledmg
We-Pad? Seriously? And I thought the iPad had an unfortunate name...
@tikigawd
"If you see a mouse, they blew it."
@shizzledmg If it's going to run android they should use the ARM/TEGRA2 platform. Instant 2-6 hours extra batterylife .. then good. Reactions. http://j.mp/wepad-reactions
@logicbombde Why is Engadget saying there's no touch enabled when the video shows them touching the screen?
It still sucks though. Where are you HP???
@shizzledmg
Nice UI
450 euros for this??
@garfieldfriends
How come companies have such a hard time competing with new Apple products? Surely it can't be that hard to make something decent.
I guess Apple makes it look easy.
@Tchaikovsky
Thing about it is, it isn't hard. Take a Nexus One, make it super large, put a front facing camera and >32 gigs of storage, and put it in an awesome looking case.
(BAM)
Pr0fit.
@BigJayDogg3
Also toss in more A/V formats.
@BigJayDogg3 If it's that easy you'll have to ask yourself why Google/HTC haven't already done it.
Depends on what you mean by decent bro.
If increasing the size of an iPod touch, and putting a 1ghz processor in it to sell for over twice the cost is decent, then by all means.
@Tchaikovsky wait a bit, you'll see
@Garion
Google has Chrome OS to worry about, and HTC doesn't have the money to throw around on a product that could very well fail. Not because it isn't a good product, but because tablet computing isn't a very large market. And its about to get flooded.
@BlackedOut
Ask one of the million or so owners and they'll tell you.
Guess you haven't used one yet, and are just trying to jump on whatever bandwagon is going at the moment.
You're probably don't have the disposable income to buy a tablet anyway. Stick to that $199 netbook for now
@BlackedOut
If you already have a capable OS lying around that perfectly fits your 'oversized iPod touch' and has a whole application ecosystem built around it, yeah it's pretty easy. Jutst order some bigger screens and slap the OS on it.
Now remind me, who designed and implemented iPhone OS again?
@pukerocket
Try half that number...
@BigJayDogg3
yeah, cos that completely disproved the point I just made.
@pukerocket
Your lies discredited your point.
@pukerocket
Wait, you actually had a point? All I heard was "blah, blah, blah, I'm uninformed."
@Apple Google Microsoft
And you are certain that he is lying? He may have stated it a little early, but not by much. A week. Maybe two. Two days ago Apple announce they sold over 500,000 in the first week. It's been 5 more days since that so you can easily add to that number as of today. Then within the next two weeks they have the 3G version going out. that alone will push them well over the million mark.
Sorry, but like it or not Apple will likely sell more tablet computers in one month than all others combined have sold in a year.
@btblomberg
LOL make that 1 month, all the sales included pre orders. m0ron. why can't you accept the fact that iPad is just an giant iPod/iPhone at least the iPod/iPhone can take pictures and do multi task.
@jdm28690
Im sorry but have you actually used the product? If not please go back to your cave
I reserve my judgment of the hp slate until i have a chance to use one, and until then i will not mKe comments about something i have not used.
I love my oversized ipod touch and so do over 500,000 other people who own them currently
@SeveringGecko
Im sorry but what makes you think i have a fetish for HP slate ? i don't even find tablets useful. the fact you replied to my comment says something about your happiness with your giant ipod touch, im sorry if i offended your loyalty towards Apple. please forgive me god.
@BigJayDogg3
Yeah, and I love your commentary up above. You sure sound like an industry insider ;)
@Apple Google Microsoft
Dude. Even someone called pukerocket can't take someone calling themselves 'Apple Google Microsoft' seriously.
@BigJayDogg3 Yeah BAM! and there goes 1k dollars as I am sure a 10" OLED screen would cost. They aren't cheap. I mean they might not cost a grand, but I am sure that they wouldn't be able to compete with a 499 price point
@btblomberg
Hate to tell you this but I have information that says this guy isn't lying. My computor store, pc land (Australia), is in compunications with a company somewhere in Asia developing something like this running Windows 7, using an Intel Atom cpu, etc. sounds pretty much identical, to me. One sticking point for verification I don't know the name they are using for development. But I'll have ago finding out for everyone. Oh and it is supposed to have a touch screen.
And to make falsifying windows 7 on an iPad harder there are no usb ports on it. and the pictures of dissasembled iPad's have revealed space but no connections for usb's. Oh and everything that is soldered is soldered using some sort of hi-heat solder. meaning that if you try undoing any connection, you fry the component.
it looks speedy..but i'll hold my judgement.
Headline cracked me up.
Wow, look at that beautiful interface! So intuitive and useful, it looks so polished and everything looks so integrated with the rest of the OS! This will so kill the iPad!
/s
@drange Why do we keep talking about products killin other products. It doesn't make sense. It like saying iPhone is going to kill Blackberry, it doesn't work that way. I think the WePad will be a tool for the more advanced users. I also like the widget screen.
@scottix Well someone killed Palm.
@imikedaman
Palm killed Palm
We pad sucks just like tim tebow.
@Let1me1in
What does Tim Tebow have to do with this? He's a well respected guy who had a great college career, and will probably make millions in the NFL. So if the WePad sucks as much as him, I want one.
Wepad sucks just like tim tebow.
@Let1me1in
I disagree, someone needs to let you out.
I don't really see why people want to buy tablets in the first place. Can someone enlighten me?
@n8equalsd To me it seems like a evolution from the keyboard and mouse. Light computing in a very easy to carry form factor. Until they can create pen and touch in a thin tablet design the masses will stick to the mouse and keyboard which is fine right now.
@n8equalsd
I boot up my laptop at least 50 times in a typical week, just to do a few minutes of browsing, check my email and shut it down again. A tablet would be perfect for that, since it would be instant on/off and I don't have to put a source of heat near my private parts all the time. A netbook would be clunky and annoying (I actually have one and I absolutely hate it, worst purchase in years) and my phone doesn't have the screen estate to be convenient for browsing the web (though I do use it a lot for it).
Also: I'd love to be able to read e-books on a tablet, I don't read a lot, but that's mostly because I don't buy a lot of books. Having an electronic store with millions of books that I don't need have to put on a shelf somewhere would be perfect for a lazy ass like myself.
@neeko18
I don't think that's /quite/ right. Tablets are mainly a media consumption device. Internet browsing, movie watching, music playing; their entire purpose it to collect all you media in one place and give it to you. You can also do a little actual "work" on them, though if you really want to get deep into it, you still have to break out the full fledged computer.
The one thing (in my opinion) tablets have over laptops is you don't have the keyboard to get in the way. I've had my laptop before and there are times I've wanted to position it in a way that would have been far easier to attain had the keyboard been gone.
However, I think hardware wise, we're ready for tablets. But I don't think the software is quite there yet. People are still used to the keyboard and mouse paradigm. Until we have a few companies that fully commit to bringing finger input to a large screen, we won't be able to advance.
The iPad was a step forward, but even it uses a cell phone OS. In my mind, before tablets can really become a force to be reckoned with, there needs to be a tablet OS. An OS who's entire reason of being is to be put on a tablet. This OS can't be gimmick-y, yet it has to be simple. It has to be powerful, but that power can't be layered under menus and such.
(And I know this is a completely different idea, but) This is why I'm so interested in the Courier. Will I buy one? Probably not. But the Courier is a new way of interacting with touch interfaces. This could bring ideas to the table that will make tablet computing a viable platform. Especially if Courier isn't a device in and of itself, but a platform for others to use/a design experiment.
tl;dr: Tablet devices are media consumption devices.
Until they develop a strictly tablet platform, tablet computing won't reach its potential.
Courier could be that very platform.
@drange - here's a hint: if you boot your computer 50 times a week, you're doing it wrong. Ever heard of standby?
@NewL "here's a hint: if you boot your computer 50 times a week, you're doing it wrong. Ever heard of standby?"
First, you addressed only one of his points, second the standby drains the battery (slowly, but still).
@BigJayDogg3 "The iPad was a step forward, but even it uses a cell phone OS."
I don't understand, because it was used on a cellphone, it somehow makes it not so good? It's a an OS, and it is very well suite for a small media device like the iPad.
"In my mind, before tablets can really become a force to be reckoned with, there needs to be a tablet OS."
Well, that is what Apple is trying to do with the iPhone OS. You can't just go out there and make an interface not depending on keyboard and mouse. People have a learning curve. You make a phone/ipod with a few multitouch capabilities and simple functionality, you test how it works for people, the you go the next step and make something bigger with more functionality etc. You jump those steps and the average customer who doesn't want/have the time to learn new stuff is lost. Some of the ideas shown on the Courier are great, but are going too fast. Also, a device with two 7" screens will be lost on every person who wants to draw/sketch when he can just buy a Tablet PC with a 12" screen. I rally like the Courier, but I don't see it succeeding.
@BigJayDogg3 Courier? Sorry, but its clear you don't have any concept of getting from point A to point B.
First... iPad doesn't run a "cell phone OS". That alone casts doubt on your reasoning. It runs a "mobile OS", which is different (evident by the fact that while it came out on a cellphone product first, it was almost immediately released on a non-cellphone product, and this is the 3rd category in addition to the first two). Moreover, iPad's OS is being shown to be plenty powerful. People just need to discover how to leverage that power (iWork being a great demo of that).
Regarding point A to point B... look at the adoption rates. Apple has invested 3 years now, in training people on its new touchscreen operating system. Even now, new users are taking to it without any training (from the very young to the very old, and most importantly, the blind and visually impaired too).
Don't mistake an excellent presentation and focused product for something that isn't powerful. Apple is prioritizing and implementing features NEVER seen before, but they're taking there time with features that may be higher profile, but less important.
@n8equalsd
Lots of reasons but the one I like the most about my iPad is I can hold it with one hand and fully operate it with the other. Can't do that easily with most laptops. Too heavy, too awkward. The other thing I like is the UI is designed specifically for the things I want to do. It takes me only a few seconds to get anywhere on the device. The UI isn't always popping up warnings/dialog boxes interrupting what I'm trying to do. I can easily flip it from landscape to portrait depending what fits the content best.