h-p

Hewlett-Packard maybe ready to unveil the fate of its troubled mobile operating system, WebOS.

The company is planning an all-hands meeting tonight, led by newly installed CEO Meg Whitman, the Verge reported today. The company will likely share its plans for WebOS.

HP planned to unload its WebOS mobile platform business as part of a wider shift away from the consumer business. But even after the company opted to keep the PC unit, it persisted with its plans to shed WebOS. HP managed to introduce two smartphones and the TouchPad tablet before giving up on the business. All of the … Read more

In the end, Hewlett-Packard had as much luck with WebOS as Palm did. Maybe even less.

HP said today it will discontinue operations for devices running on WebOS, including its recently launched TouchPad and smartphones. It's part of a broader shake-up including the potential sale of the company's personal systems group, which deals with PCs and other consumer devices, and the possible acquisition of software provider Autonomy.

The announcement effectively marks the death of WebOS, which won critical acclaim but little commercial success over the past few years. HP's surprise move underscores the brutally competitive nature of the smartphone operating system.

"The market and consumers proved that no one wanted it," said Maribel Lopez, an analyst at Lopez Research. "I'm not sure they could even sell it to anyone."

With a much smaller scale relative to the likes of Apple's iOS or Google's Android, it had a high initial obstacle to clear. Poorly handled by Palm and HP, WebOS may not have ever had a chance to begin with. … Read more

The tablet market continues to be summed up like this: the iPad and everything else. And everything else doesn't amount to much.

That's according to a recent survey conducted by Robert W. Baird. The study found that out of more than 1,100 potential tablet purchasers, an overwhelming 94.5 percent cited the iPad as a device of interest. Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad was the second most-cited device, garnering just 10.3 percent of the people surveyed, while Research in Motion's PlayBook was a laggard.

The study suggests that despite a number of new entrants jumping into the … Read more

Hewlett-Packard is banking that its newly named WebOS chief, Stephen DeWitt, can tap into his start-up roots as he goes after the likes of Apple and Google with the company's fledgling mobile-device business.

DeWitt, who was named to his new position yesterday, will be busy with more than just the "official launch" of WebOS on July 17. He will also be responsible for convincing consumers that its TouchPad tablet is worth a look and that developers should start creating applications for his platform.

"There are a lot of priorities," he said in an interview with … Read more

Samsung rarely fails to manufacturer good-looking monitors that, at the very least, perform decently. Its SyncMaster XL2370 and PX2370 are both great examples of aesthetically pleasing monitors with performance that backs up their good looks.

This week we reviewed the Samsung SyncMaster P2450h. While its brothers are more like the overachieving, valedictorian, star athletes of Samsung's monitor litter, the P2450h is akin to that weird uncle that still hasn't moved out of his parent's basement and never fails to mention that he "has something cooking" that will really turn his life around, "and then … Read more