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webOS brick-and-mortar stores close forever, may they rest in peace
It's with broken heart that we announce that the doors have officially shut for good on all remaining webOS retail stores. The news likely won't come as a shock to many, given HP's intent to scrap the operating system from its future plans. This isn't the first physical manifestation of the company's announcement, when factoring in the plethora of layoffs taking place; nonetheless, anyone affected or touched by a Palm device over the last 19 years may likely mourn the loss. That said, at least the stores went out with a bang: Veers were cleared out for $50 each, the Pixi was sold for $25 ($15 if you purchased four or more) and the Touchstone could be had for a cool $2.50. The retail outlets may now be a thing of the past, but the memories of the products sold in them will hopefully live on forever. Never forget.
Touchstone mod blesses Samsung Epic 4G Touch with inductive charging powers
The Touchstone's future is just as unclear as any other webOS product at the moment, but it's sure getting a fair share of love from the mod community. Not only did we witness the inductive-charging unit work on a modded Samsung Galaxy S Plus, a bold and daring AndroidCentral Forums member also accomplished the feat on his three-day-old Epic 4G Touch in a process that's definitely not for the faint of heart. The modder (who goes by the name of "darrenf" on the forum) offers a full step-by-step guide on exactly how to do it, but advises that it's "a pretty delicate mod" and attempting it will likely void any warranties or return policies that were attached to the phone when purchased. It also doesn't result in the most aesthetically pleasing look since the charging coil had to be attached to the outside of the phone, but it's gotta give you some massive street cred if you pull it off, right?
Mr Fussy mods Samsung Galaxy S for inductive charging, without frazzling warranty (video)
It's not hard to find a good inductive charging smartphone these days, but German IT student Qian Qin absolutely had to have the feature on his Galaxy S Plus. What's more, it needed to be just right: no voiding of the warranty and no unsightly protrusions. So, instead of bumping his gums, he went out and purchased a Palm Pre back cover and a Touchstone dock for €30 ($40), ripped the charging circuit out of the Pre cover and stuck it into the Samsung's cover, then finally soldered a wire from the circuit to the micro-USB port (plus another wire to the microSD slot for 0V). Job done. At first, the mere mention of a webOS device gave us a twinge of sadness, but then the video after the break cheered us right up again -- you can tell within the first six seconds that this guy is a pure OCD perfectionist. You'll also find more detailed instructions at the source link, and they should work equally well for the original Galaxy S too.
HP TouchPad veers into stores early, flaunts its webOS moves (video)
Dying to get your hands on HP's TouchPad before it's available on July 1st? According to Pre Central, a visit to either Best Buy or Walmart may afford you the opportunity. During the past few days, the stores have apparently begun quietly displaying demo-loaded versions of the slate. The device went up for pre-order about a week ago, but for webOS hopefuls still contemplating whether to take the Palm-rooted plunge, a pre-release impression may not be a bad grab between socks and motor oil. Don't feel like taking a trip to Wally World, you say? You'll find a video overview past the break; although the box to the left has us wondering if now's a good time for getting lucky...
HP rolls out the YouTube carpet for TouchPad slate, prices accessories (video)
Now that HP's TouchPad has a confirmed July 1st release date, the company's going to do its darnedest to make sure you're excited for the slate, and the company's starting off rather well if you ask us -- instead of attempting to find a new anthem, it's simply showing off what the dual-core tablet actually does. The nine YouTube videos after the break may not be the most exciting things you'll watch all day, but they certainly do show off the multitasking magic of HP's card-based operating system. If that's not nearly enough TouchPad information, though, Geekazine also taped a 37-minute conversation with HP product manager Tim Pettitt, where he reveals that the final TouchPad won't have a traditional gesture area, but it will recognize the traditional swipe up for opening and closing apps. By the by, all the TouchPad's accessories have now been priced: you'll drop $30 for a charger, $50 for the official folding case, $70 for the Bluetooth keyboard, and $80 for the new Touchstone dock. Pricey.
BioWare says WoW is the touchstone for Star Wars: The Old Republic
When game developers talk about massively multiplayer games these days, World of Warcraft is the proverbial big man on campus. At the DICE summit keynote panel in Las Vegas, Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of Bioware, stated that WoW was the touchstone for standards in the MMO sphere and for upcoming Bioware MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. Essentially, Zeschuk was saying that breaking rules that World of Warcraft set as industry standards is a bad idea for any up and coming MMO. Zeschuk said: "It [World of Warcraft] is a touchstone. It has established standards, it's established how you play an MMO. Every MMO that comes out, I play and look at it. And if they break any of the WoW rules, in my book that's pretty dumb." What's interesting is how Zeschuk, sitting with Mike Morhaime at the keynote panel, gave WoW the reverence it deserves as the leading industry standard in MMO gaming. Instead of couching his remarks about the specific game he was in the process of making, he discussed how players expect a set of established standards that WoW has provided. Be it a sense of completion of polish, a game mechanic, core concepts, or even art direction and fluidity of art theme, World of Warcraft set the bar very high for other game developers and even Blizzard itself. We know WoW is big, but I think we sometimes forget how important it is as well. Greg Zeschuk and the rest of the video game industry know this and acknowledge that breaking some clear-cut rules is a big mistake.
HP's Touch to Share eyes-on, starring the TouchPad and HP Pre 3 (video)
Tablet manufacturers love to talk about how magical their devices are, but HP's Touch to Share truly is something else -- you simply bump a paired Pre 3 into an HP TouchPad slate, and the data beams over the air -- in this case, loading a website URL a la Chrome to Phone. While it uses the same induction coil technology to connect the twain as HP's Touchstone dock (and Bluetooth to actually pipe those packets through the ether), you don't actually need a Touchstone to make the magic happen this time around, only a pair of compatible devices. Representatives tell us that you do have to pair them beforehand, as well -- you wouldn't want an errant Pre 3 owner to swipe your banking session while you're on the go, now would you? Don't miss the video above. Nilay Patel contributed to this report.
HP Touchstone Touch-to-share lets devices swap URLs, 'Exhibition' mode added for phones
So, HP is extending "Touchstone" to mean more than "that heavy, slanted magnet thing that my Pre always slips off of." For starters, the TouchPad has a Touchstone charging dock -- it's not magnetic, but at least you don't have to worry about plugging the thing in, and it's particularly suited to working with a keyboard. But that's not the real magic. HP has enabled its three new webOS devices (The TouchPad, Veer, and Pre 3) to communicate over Touchstone using "Touch-to-share" tech. You simply place your phone on top of the TouchPad, as illustrated, and whatever you're viewing on the phone pops up in the tablet's browser. We're not sure how this works bi-directionally, but HP mentions both scenarios, so hopefully it shouldn't be that difficult to configure the URL to come from the tablet and land on the phone. The two devices have to be on the same webOS account, however, so don't get any crazy ideas about sharing URLs with friends. Naturally, there should be a lot more "Continuous Client"-style uses for this tech in the future, but we'd say URL pushing is a good start. Finally, the old-fashioned Touchstone is going to work with the Veer and Pre 3, which will now be sent into an "Exhibition" mode when docked. The mode allows the phone to display photos or upcoming appointments, depending on the user's particular level of sentimentality. For more on all of HP's webOS announcements today, click here!
HP Veer: smallest smartphone in the webOS stable, 2.6-inch display, coming this spring
You wanted a small smartphone? Well, you've got it in HP's Veer, the very first webOS-based device to bear the HP name alone without Palm's alongside packing Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7230 processor at 800MHz. Other headline specs include a 2.6-inch 320 x 400 display, 5 megapixel EDoF camera, HSPA+ support, 8GB of storage, an accelerometer, proximity and light sensors (as usual), Touchstone compatibility, and mobile hotspot support. It's genuinely cute -- but keyboard usability will be a big question that we'll need to have answered when the phone is released this spring. No word on carriers yet, and pricing is set to be decided upon "at a later date." Update: Added the full press release and a demonstration video after the break, and our hands-on with the device can be found here! For more on all of HP's webOS announcements today, click here! %Gallery-116081% %Gallery-116100%
HP / Palm's 9.7-inch Topaz tablet to use 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8660, Adreno 220 GPU
Looks like those whispers we heard about HP's Topaz having a 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU were true. The folks over at Pre Central just scored an internal document detailing presumed specifications of HP's forthcoming 9.7-inch tablet, and it looks like the aforesaid CPU will be joined by an integrated Adreno 220 GPU, 512MB of DDR2 memory, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera and dual-band 802.11b/g/n WiFi. We're told to expect an oleophobic Gorilla Glass screen with a standard XGA (1024 x 768) resolution, options for 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage, optional WWAN, an accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, microphone and a battery that'll last for around eight hours in ideal circumstances. Naturally, webOS will be onboard, and we're hearing that a WiFi-only model will indeed hit the market at some point. As for the connected versions? HSPA, LTE and CDMA variants are rumored, with the former two likely to be SIM-locked while all three carry A-GPS. It should be noted that these documents were apparently fresh as of last fall, so everything is clearly subject to change. That said, we're digging the reports that HP will be doing everything it can to fully support Flash on this here slate, and it may also consider a partnership with Blio for the digital bookworms in attendance. Naturally, cloud services is shaping up to be a huge deal, and it'll definitely support inductive charging via the Touchstone v2. These docs also affirm what we'd heard about integrated Beats Audio technology and Tap to Share, with the second-gen Touchstone to also handle wireless picture sharing, cordless audio streaming and tether-free video beaming (just to name a few). Hit the source link the full skinny, and feel free to pressure HP to move February 9th a little closer to today. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Engadget Podcast 230 - 01.24.2011
This week in consumer electronics was full of culture. Or maybe it was full of color -- we're not quite sure what the difference might be, but there was a lot of weird / cool news in the CEO, handheld gaming, and tablet worlds. The point is, we've got another weird / cool podcast on our hands that you haven't listened to yet and you need to take care of that, like, five minutes ago.Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, #1 Digitimes bestselling author Paul MillerProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: Superstition00:04:15 - Steve Jobs takes medical leave from Apple, Tim Cook taking over daily operations in his absence00:10:22 - Apple turns in record Q1: $6b profit on $26.7b revenue, 16.2m iPhones sold00:23:20 - Apple's invested in a 'very strategic' $3.9b component supply agreement, but what is it?00:25:10 - Asahi Glass introduces Dragontrail for consumer electronics, puts the Gorilla on notice (video)00:25:48 - Larry Page taking over as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt will remain as Executive Chairman00:35:30 - Google Voice now lets you port your own phone number, maybe (update)00:44:53 - Exclusive: HP / Palm's webOS tablets -- pictures, plans, and more00:45:42 - HP / Palm tablet to feature Touchstone dock, cloud storage, Beats audio and Tap-to-Share smartphone integration00:49:30 - HP calls us out, implies it's got even better scoops at February webOS event00:53:20 - HP's first webOS tablet may start shipping in March, fulfill longstanding promise01:06:00 - Motorola Xoom launching February 17th at Best Buy (update: priced at $700)01:06:22 - Motorola Xoom priced at $800 at a minimum, according to Verizon leak01:14:52 - Nintendo 3DS coming to US March 27th for $249.99, Europe first on March 25th (video)01:19:10 - Live from Nintendo's 3DS preview with Reggie Fils-Aime01:23:22 - Bloomberg: Sony PSP2 to debut next week, PlayStation Phone at MWC01:23:47 - This fan-made PSP redesign is sexy01:25:15 - PSP2 to be based on iPhone-esque PowerVR GPU, rival original Xbox in power?01:27:52 - The Engadget Show returns next Sunday with Steve Wozniak!Hear the podcastSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcast1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @engadget @reckless
HP / Palm tablet to feature Touchstone dock, cloud storage, Beats audio and Tap-to-Share smartphone integration
Now that the kitty's out of the gemstone bag, we're slowly starting to connect the dots that obscure the details of Palm's soon to be announced "Topaz" and "Opal" tablets. First up is information from one of our original trusted sources who claims that the Opal will measure 180 x 144 x 13mm (making it a bit shorter and wider than the 190.1 x 120.5 x 12-mm Galaxy Tab) and feature a 1,024 x 768 pixel TFT LCD display. We're told that the bigger Topaz tablet will ship about three months before Opal and measures in at 241 x 190 x 13mm (making it nearly identical to the 242.8 x 189.7 x 13.4-mm iPad) with a pixel resolution that could be the same as the Opal (our source wasn't 100 percent on this). We're also hearing that the "premium audio" we saw on that leaked marketing slide will indeed be powered by HP's Beats audio processing, and that the tablets will be provided with "tens of gigabytes" of cloud storage -- so much that it dwarfs the local storage on the devices. Good, because you're going to need it from the looks of some additional information we just received. Click through for the detail.
WebOS 2.0 gets fresh round of screenshots; new Palm phones and Touchstone certified?
The name of certification firm TÜV Rheinland may not ring a bell, so allow us to jog your memory: these are the guys that outed the GSM versions of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus prior to their announcement earlier this year. Hence, the interwebs are paying pretty close attention this evening now that we've found US and Canadian certifications for Palm models P102UNA and P102EWW (first unearthed by homebrew hub WebOS Internals), which -- following Palm's typical model numbering convention -- would correspond to North American GSM and CDMA versions of some new device, respectively. To put things in perspective, the P101UNA was unearthed in the certification database on January 23rd and announced for AT&T on March 22nd, so we could reasonably still have a couple months' wait on these... or a couple days. No way of knowing yet how Palm plans to play this. There's also a listing for a new "inductive battery charger," which would certainly imply a new Touchstone -- which may or may not still bear the Touchstone name. On a related note, we've received a slew of new webOS 2.0 screen shots -- and while some of them look familiar, our eyes were drawn to the sexy new "classic" and flip-style digital clocks. Important? Not necessarily, but sometimes it's the little touches that count. Hit up the gallery for the full show (and don't forget our first batch from a few weeks back, while you're at it). [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]%Gallery-103357%
EVO 4G receives a Palm Pre inductive charging transplant (video)
Oh yes, an HTC EVO has been modded with the inductive charging coil ripped from the still beating heart of a Palm Pre. The 30 minute soldering project does have the side effect of rendering compass apps useless while creating a slight bulge in the battery cover. Other than that, it just works -- or so says the creator. See the modded EVO get busy with a Palm Touchstone and do what yours can't in the video after the break. [Thanks, Brody White]
General Mobile's Touch Stone: how can something so wrong be so right?
General Mobile -- maker of the DSTL1 dual-SIM Android phone -- has always walked a fine line between KIRF and originality with its phones, and its latest batch is no different. Normally it's easy to resist a device widely regarded as a knockoff (for most of us, anyhow), but in the case of the newest model here, General Mobile's actually managed to answer a question HTC's failed to so far: where the hell is the HD2 with Android? The so-called "Touch Stone" (deep breaths, Palm) rings true to many of the actual HD2's specs, from the 5 megapixel camera to the 4.3-inch capacitive WVGA display, but this sucker adds an "optional" analog TV tuner (which won't do countries with digital transitions any good) and Android 2.0 atop an ARM9-based PXA935 core. Sadly, this phone doesn't quite exist yet -- we were shown a dummy model today with the promise of retail toward the end of the year, at which point HTC and others will undoubtedly have phones like the Supersonic on the shelf. If you'll excuse us, we need a cold shower, but you'll find more shots of the Touch Stone along with the Cosmos (launching soon) and Cosmos 2 dummy (launching... well, eventually) in the gallery. %Gallery-85846%
Seidio's Innocase for the Pre is Touchstone-compatible
Say you've got a Pre and a Touchstone. Say, further, that you've got butterfingers -- or maybe you just really can't stand the thought of your glossy beauty being scratched beyond recognition by the occasional encounter with a lint ball in your pocket. Normally, the answer would be a case -- but the Touchstone requires special handling since it needs contact with a non-slip back to stay firmly planted and deliver the wireless juice, so what's a Pre user to do? The answer might just lie with accessory maker Seidio, which has released its $29.95 Innocase complete with the promise of Touchstone compatibility -- no need to remove the phone to do your thing. You still need to have the Touchstone battery cover installed for the solution to work, but since it's all concealed by the case anyway, who cares?[Via jkOnTheRun]
Dude hardwires Palm Touchstone into BMW, charging ensues
In 2004, it was all about iPodding your BMW, but in 2009, it's all about Palming it. No, not "palming" as in concealing your car in the palm of your hand -- "Palming," you know, as in the act of hardwiring a Touchstone into your center console so that you can charge a Pre on the road with the greatest of ease. Ironically, this modern marvel of technology is mounted right where the iDrive controller would normally go, which means you're stuck making the nearly impossible choice between this hack and BMW's.[Thanks, Mike]
Palm Touchstone torn asunder, cost to manufacturer estimated at $5 (update)
As much as we love those guys and gals over at Will It Blend?, we couldn't help but cringe each time they "dissected" any given gadget. The cautious cats over at iFixit, however, are more our style. Gentle, loving, appreciative and respectful -- what else could you want in a gizmo surgeon? Per usual, they've done whatever it takes to get ahold of Palm's new Pre and Touchstone, but rather than basking in the glory of ownership, they promptly unrolled their tool belt, fired up the DSLR and proceeded to dissemble both units for your viewing pleasure. We already know that all those little innards add up to right around $170 (for the Pre, anyway), but there's nothing quite like looking at each and every chip and bit yourself. Hit up the read links below if you find your interest piqued, and don't forget to tip your hat as you exit. Update: Through their official Twitter account, the iFixit folks have chimed in to say they'd be "shocked if it cost more than $5 to manufacture." As always, that's not the whole story and there's probably a good number of other variables justifiably contributing to the cost, but knowing $70 is a bit of a turn-off for some customers, we can only hope that price drops sooner rather than later. Read - Palm Pre teardown Read - Palm Touchstone teardown
Palm Pre and Touchstone get torn down gently, beautifully
As much as we love those guys and gals over at Will It Blend?, we couldn't help but cringe each time they "dissected" any given gadget. The cautious cats over at iFixit, however, are more our style. Gentle, loving, appreciative and respectful -- what else could you want in a gizmo surgeon? Per usual, they've done whatever it takes to get ahold of Palm's new Pre and Touchstone, but rather than basking in the glory of ownership, they promptly unrolled their tool belt, fired up the DSLR and proceeded to dissemble both units for your viewing pleasure. We already know that all those little innards add up to right around $170 (for the Pre, anyway), but there's nothing quite like looking at each and every chip and bit yourself. Hit up the read links below if you find your interest piqued, and don't forget to tip your hat as you exit.Read - Palm Pre teardownRead - Palm Touchstone teardown
Palm Pre Touchstone sold early, for some reason
We're not sure what good the Touchstone inductive-charging dock and rubberized back cover will do you without an actual, you know, Pre, but it looks like at least one Sprint store is selling the things early -- and for just $50 instead of the expected $70, to boot. Saturday can't come fast enough, can it? One more pic at the read link.
