GlobalInfluencerSummit2012
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HP teases new Envy all-in-one printer, glass and metal dotted all over (video)
We all love teasers, so it's rather swell that HP decided to tease its next Envy-branded all-in-one printer at the Global Influencer Summit in Shanghai -- almost two years after introducing the Envy 100. As you can see in the above slide and the extremely brief video teaser after the break, this time round the design will feature a glass control panel, as well as a metal scan bar and a metal hinge under the scanner's see-through lid. Pretty hot, we'd say, and looking back at the Envy 14 Spectre which shares similar elements, this certainly sets a good example of how the new Printing and Personal Systems Group is already bringing a better design consistency across what used to be two different groups. For now, stay tuned for more info.
HP takes print away from town for seven days, laughs at 'print is dead' claim (updated)
With e-books and digital subscription of magazines and newspapers becoming the new hot, many are sending off the message that print is gradually losing or has even already lost to its digital counterpart, while others argue that print is far from dead. Needless to say, being one of the leading manufacturers of printers, HP took the "print is dead" claim quite personally -- and perhaps too literally. How so? Well, the company commissioned a project that got participants in the US, India and Singapore to live without printed materials -- including newspapers, books, labels, packaging, ID cards and even some clothes -- for two days. Understandably, those folks had quite a tough time, but HP certainly proved that "the role of print is vastly underestimated" and that "true print deprivation was impossible." If you think that's an overkill, just you wait: HP and renowned photographer Chase Jarvis even went as far as getting a Wisconsin town called Spring Green to undergo a similar experiment, but for a duration of seven days. The entire project will be presented in a video documentary called 7 Days Without Print, and ahead of its premiere at Guggenheim Museum in New York on June 14, we were shown an exclusive trailer for said movie at HP's Global Influencer Summit in Shanghai. For the sake of those poor participants, do check out the clip right after the break. Update: Sorry folks, but we've been asked to remove the trailer as it's not ready for public viewing yet, but we'll put up the official version once it's out.
Visualized: HP's all-in-one PCs over the years, one from 1983
HP's TouchSmart sub-brand and its other AIOs should be no stranger to many PC advocates, but in case you've never come across one before, the company's laid all of them out on one side of its Global Influencer Summit in Shanghai. Models range from the TouchSmart IQ770 launched back in 2007, all the way to the recently shipped Z1 workstation and even the just-announced t410 Smart Zero Client; but the real gem of the booth is that little beige HP 150 right in the middle -- it's one of the first-ever touchscreen PCs, dating back to 1983, powered by an 8MHz Intel 8088 chip, ran MS-DOS and cost a mere $3,995. Whilst on the topic, HP's Vice President of Industrial Design Stacy Wolff shared some interesting stats: his team found that much like laptops, there are very different screen size preferences across different regions, with the US showing strong interest in 20-inch and 23-inch HP AIOs, whereas China much prefers 20-inch over 21.5-inch and 23-inch. With the big jump in AIO market penetration in each region between 2008 to 2012 (almost doubled in Japan and the US; and an even bigger leap for other markets), HP predicts that these machines will continue to steadily increase market penetration across more price points -- this was illustrated with what it conveniently calls the "AIO wedge" on a chart. Feel free to take a gander at our gallery for more tidbits.
HP t410 AIO Smart Zero Client does single-wire Power over Ethernet, no power cord required
Now, we don't normally cover this sort of networking equipment, but we were quite impressed by HP's new t410 All-in-One Smart Zero Client after we spoke to its proud product manager Walt Jurek. First of all, this isn't an AIO desktop PC, nor is it an LCD monitor -- well, if you're unfamiliar with thin clients, just think of this as an 18.5-inch, 1,366 x 768 LED-backlit monitor (featuring a 3M technology for the 200 nit brightness -- our money's on the Uniformity Tape) that uses just one Ethernet cable to get both its 13W power from a PoE (Power over Ethernet) switch, as well as data connection over Citrix, Microsoft or VMWare protocol. The t410 can automatically detect the virtualization environment and then reprogram its digital signal processor when needed, meaning less manual work for the admin (in theory, anyway). More after the break.
Meg Whitman: HP's engineering is very much still alive, aims to be cloud computing leader
HP sure knows how to wrap up a party -- by letting its CEO make a surprise appearance right at the end of the show. Joining Todd Bradley on the stage, Meg Whitman reassured the audience with her company's "commitment to fantastic products," and that "engineering is very much still alive from HP." In regards to the recent merger of HP's Imaging and Printing Group with Personal Systems Group (which changed this week's show entirely), Meg -- who's a big believer in focus -- is confident that Todd's new team will deliver a united brand and a unified design language, thus making the PC business stronger with the best customer experience and customer support. Additionally, Meg seems to be getting along just fine with the board, saying that they are deeply engaged to plot a brighter future for HP. Under Meg's supervision, HP is doubling down on R&D and incubation, as well as aiming to be a leader in cloud computing (she claims that HP is already the largest provider of private cloud services) and security by bringing a full host of benefits that the competitors lack. When asked about HP's mobile and tablet strategy, Todd skirted around by emphasizing the happy partnership between HP and Microsoft on tablets, but he also said that markets evolve and change all the time, and that his company's well aware of the differences between the needs of enterprises or small businesses and the needs of consumers. So in other words, stay tuned.
HP's most popular laptop screen sizes: 15-inch in the US, 14-inch in China
Here's another interesting tidbit from today's HP event in Shanghai: according to Kevin Frost, Vice President and General Manager of Consumer Notebooks Business Unit, 15-inch is currently the most popular laptop screen size in the US, while the folks in China prefer 14-inch offerings. Oddly enough, Kevin wasn't keen on explaining this phenomenon, but he added that 17-inch laptops also do well in Europe and the US, but not in China.
HP on laptop design similarities with Apple's: it's a struggle as we drive to simplicity
HP's spent the afternoon here in Shanghai to share some details about its latest products and strategy, and to our delight, there was one session dedicated to "Style Meets Function," during which Vice President of Industrial Design Stacy Wolff talked about his design philosophy and design goals for the current market. Most notably, we learned that some of HP's latest laptop designs were based on the work of its research centers from 11 different cities, and the company isn't afraid of admitting that it used consultants for an outside perspective as well. Despite Stacy's upbeat presentation and interesting stats (apparently these days men have a boring color preference, from first to fourth favorite: black, gray, blue and white), the inevitable question popped up: One lady expressed her concern that the brand-spanking-new Envy Spectre XT reminded her of the MacBook Air a lot, so she wondered if HP's ever worried that Apple might sue. Stacy kept his initial reply pretty brief: "I would go back to the TC1000 [Tablet PC] from about 10 years, and that's a tablet. I think if you look at the new Spectre XT, there are similarities in a way, not due to Apple but due to the way technologies developed. Apple may like to think that they own silver, but they don't. In no way did HP try to mimic Apple. In life there are a lot of similarities." As always, we wanted more from the horse's mouth, so we grabbed hold of Stacy right after the session and had a little chat over this topic -- you can see the full and surprisingly candid interview after the break.
Live from HP's Global Influencer Summit 2012 in Shanghai!
Good evening or good morning, wherever you are. We've just sat down at HP's Global Influencer Summit 2012 in Shanghai and will be seeing what the company's got up its sleeves for the rest of the year, so sit back, relax, and enjoy our liveblog right after the break.
