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Monday, August 22, 2011

Don't bother looking for a dramatically reduced HP TouchPad in the UK

Mark Bridge writes:

This weekend, you could have picked up a HP TouchPad webOS tablet for $99. Both the HP USA online store and Best Buy in Canada were selling the obsolescent devices at a substantial discount.

HP TouchPad Amazon.co.uk emailYet over here in the UK, we’ve seen nothing except a prize draw from The Carphone Warehouse and a less-than-£90 discount from Amazon. And I don’t expect anything much better in the short-term.

Carphone Warehouse HP TouchPadPrice promises, where retailers offer a refund or credit when a reduced-price product is spotted, will probably keep TouchPad prices high (or stock levels low) for the next few weeks. Besides, retailers still need to make a profit on their TouchPad stocks - and these certainly weren’t bought at a particularly low price.

Personally, I’d head straight for my nearest Best Buy or Carphone Warehouse if the price fell below £100. Even though there aren’t many apps... and those few apps probably won’t be supported in the future unless webOS is picked up by someone else... and there may not be any more apps... I’d happily pick one up. But I don’t think that’ll be happening for a month or so - if at all.


Update: Okay, let’s face it, I got this completely wrong. Within hours of writing the article, Best Buy UK had dropped its prices to £89 for the 16GB model and £115 for 32GB. Both now showing as out of stock. Still, on the positive side, it’s cheaper than I was expecting!

We talked about HP’s webOS at Mobile World Congress in February this year. Click here to listen on our website (the webOS conversation is towards the end of the podcast), find us on iTunes or download the MP3 file.
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Opinion Articles

A Sure Signal from Vodafone

Mark Bridge writes:

Today I've been using my mobile phone at home. For many people that’s not an unusual thing to do – but it is for me because, around here, coverage indoors isn’t particularly good. Downstairs it’s previously been non-existent. But this morning everything changed.

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Physician uses cell phones to bring health care to the poor

Natalia Ardanza of voanews.com writes:

In Africa there is another use for mobile phones. Public Health workers in Kenya are now using mobile phones to gather health information from patients in remote areas and upload it to the internet for instant analysis at distant centers. And it is all happening thanks to Dr Joel Selanikio.

Author: The Fonecast
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Making dumb touchscreen phones was a smart move

Mark Bridge writes:

I remember a report from last year that said ‘non-smart’ touchscreen handsets – generally those without a popular operating system – would be bad news for mobile operators.

Conventional touchscreen smartphones tended to result in higher-than-average ARPU thanks to their early-adopting tech-loving users, their web-friendly browsers, their email programs, their app-friendly operating systems and their fast 3G connectivity. However, dumber touchscreen devices – those with a manufacturer’s own proprietary OS and perhaps a clumsier browser – could generate 23% less ARPU than smarter phones. So, if touchscreen dumbphones weren’t good for networks… and weren’t really good for consumers either… manufacturers wouldn’t really bother with them. Right?

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"Hello Nexus One" I say...

James Rosewell writes:

Mark’s been encouraging me to write an opinion piece on the Nexus One for the last few days and I’m finally putting fingers to keyboard to share my experiences. It’s taken so long because this phone has so many features. On a positive note I could go into details about the gorgeous screen, the Android Marketplace that will out-sell Apple’s over the next 18 months, the built-in satellite navigation service and the speedy processor that makes everything run smoothly in real time. Or on a less positive note, the touch screen keyboard that sucks (think carefully about this if you’re a heavy texter or emailer, it’s even worse than the original iPhone), the lack of ActiveSync for Calendars and Tasks, no support for WMA music files or the clunky zoom functions on the web browser.

However I’m going to focus on voice dictation. Nexus One is the first phone I’ve used with this feature.

Author: The Fonecast
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The Amazon Kindle prepares to fight the Apple iPhone and Tablet

Mark Bridge writes:

Here’s a curious thing. Firstly, Amazon creates the Kindle. It starts selling the Kindle in the USA with a mobile deal that lets users download electronic books and newspapers wherever they are. Then it starts selling the Kindle to us in the UK, although – hang on a moment – it’s not talking about a UK mobile deal. Instead it still seems to be ‘roaming’ from the AT&T network. Next comes the larger-screen Kindle DX – also roaming away when it reaches our shores. And now Amazon is talking about third-party downloadable applications for the Kindle. Yes, a mobile device with downloadable apps. Hold that thought; I’ll be returning to it.

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