TouchPad OTA Update: Why I see it as MIA for July 31

For starters, I really do want to see HP release a SIGNIFICANT OTA Update on or before July 31. Its just that, for my money, the signs point toward something later, perhaps something on the order of... "by the start of calendar year Q4, so that we can do it right for our customers".

Language

Phrases like "Shortly after... " and "... by the end of the month" are not new from the Palm gang, but HP is now getting in on that act. That's disturbing and unsettling, indicating that the HP suits don't have enough confidence in what's happening on the OTA update front to truly put a stake in the sand. I think they've left themselves some wiggle room to tap dance again when July 31 comes and goes.

Quantity & Quality

I have no doubt that they've been working on updates for months, but methinks -- going back to the language they're using -- HP knows that they don't have the quantity and quality of updates coming to offset what their customers (rightfully) perceive as the necessary updates for the TouchPad. They're in a bind and not in the mood to admit it.

Commitment

I saw some blog/forum posts yesterday that put forward the idea -- and I agree -- that maybe HP lacks real commitment to the TouchPad, the Pre/Veer smartphones and webOS. They (HP) are huge and the Palm acquisition was something relatively small for them. Maybe success or failure with webOS isn't a big deal for them... small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

Let's watch the calendar and see what happens.

Download: New York Times News Feeds

Stumbled across a pleasant surprise this morning in the app catalog this morning... a free app for reading New York Times News Feeds on the HP TouchPad

I've been a user of the NYT beta app on the Pre for the past couple of years and have continued now to use it happily on the TouchPad in the emulator on webOS 3.

Will I be immediately abandoning the Pre/early webOS version?... Nope. The earlier version is a perfectly acceptable way to read the news that hasn't been rendered dead by the new app.

Will I switch exclusively to the new app in the long run?... Hard to say. The new app is obviously -- having the new Enyo styling -- a richer graphic presentation/experience, but what's at the core of what I want in a NYT app or any news app?... READING!

Both apps seem to pass the reading test for me. Last time I checked this morning the story content was the same in both apps. Good enuf for me!

Small nit to pick... The old NYT beta app has a NY/Region section that I enjoy reading.  Not immediately seeing it on the new News Feed app. Not a "dealbreaker" for me vis a vis the new app... just an observation.

First Impressions: Gemini File Manager

My recent "hit list" posting of the five things I needed to make the HP TouchPad a useful tool to me, moving it beyond just being a large format web browser, had one big, fat omission... a  File Manager.

How did I miss putting something like a File Manager on my list? I'm not sure, but I'll hang my hat on the fact that I've been working for so long without one on my webOS devices that I guess I've resigned myself to working "blind" on my Pre smartphones and carried that over to the TouchPad.

(Before you start... Yes, I am aware that I could have installed a File Manager to my phones via Preware, but that's a topic for a post/rant at another time.)

Getting back to the case at hand...

Well, lo and behold, the Gemini File Manager for the TouchPad has arrived on the scene to fill my void.  I've done the download and taken a quick spin around the app.

First impressions

• Intuitive enough for even the casual user
• Functions as advertised
• Worth the price of $2.99 (putting aside for the moment that HP should already have a File Manager on the device)

Now, if we can get some document editing in Quickoffice...

TouchPad OTA Update: MIA or Just SOL?

Now that we're at July 24, deep into the "shortly after" of the HP TouchPad's July 17 official launch and approaching the "by the end of the month" promise from HP, who wants take some action on the proposition that the OTA update will be MIA and we'll be SOL again?

I hate to be cynical and negative-sounding, but after a few decades in the business world, one develops a nose for the "horse hockey" -- borrowing a phrase from Col. Potter of M*A*S*H -- you hear from the Ruby-esque corporate types.

HP's soft launch/hard launch and shortly after/by the end of the month tapdances are the corporate equivalents of "the dog ate my homework". They're not ready. They don't know when they'll be ready... and are just trying to buy themselves some time to cook up the next tapdance.


So, what does this mean to those of us bought the TouchPad for what turned out to be the "on double-secret probation" July 1 soft launch and the "this time its for real, trust us" July 17 hard launch?...

I can faintly hear the Jackie Gleason/Ralph Kramden "Hummada hummada hummada" now from the direction of Palo Alto.

... Or is it, "August 15... Yeah... That's the ticket!" from Jon Lovtiz's liar character?

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Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth. -- Lillian Hellman

Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said. -- Mel Brooks

The Hit List...

Here's my hit list of the top five things I need to make my HP Touchpad something other than a large format mobile browser and a useful tool...

• Quickoffice editing
• A Task app
• Cloud sync of profile/apps (contacts, calendar, tasks and memos) between multiple webOS devices
• Smoother scrolling and swipes
• Better/easier cursor placement in memos app

Hey, HP, am I asking too much?

The Aha! - Saving (Moving) E-Mail Messages...

I've had a bit of an aha moment in the past day regarding the ability to save/move e-mail messages on the HP TouchPad tablet.

Yesterday, I was grousing that it took more steps to save an e-mail message (move it to a folder). While that still appears to be true for saving an individual message -- as compared to saving a message on a Pre smartphone -- it doesn't hold water for saving multiple messages on the Touchpad. There's a bit of an improvement baked into the TouchPad.

On a Pre, messages must be saved/moved one by one. On the TouchPad, the new mail interface allows multiple messages to be selected and then saved to a designated folder... certainly not a bad thing.

Now that I've weasled my way around saying outright that I was wrong... I have to run. I have a mailbox to cleanup.

Amazon Kindle App - Day 2

In the past 24 hours I've had a chance to dive a little deeper into the Amazon Kindle app on the HP TouchPad.  Clearly no "wow" factor here... not that there actually needs to be one.  Its just a reader ap combined with the ability to download and synch books purchased from Amazon.

Animated Page Turns

I get the idea that some people feel the need to have the visual metaphor of turning a page on an e-reader -- or they just think its "cool"-- but its a loser in the present incarnation... slow, clunky and cheap-looking.

'Nuf said!

Day In and Day Out...

Not the old song, but rather a brief post about how my TouchPad's battery is responding to daily use.

In a word... Fine. As I'm typing this, my battery is just a bit south of 65%, nearing 3:00 PM on a weekday.

Are there other tablets out there with better battery specs than the TouchPad?... Sure, but I'm not using one.  The TouchPad is meeting my current needs, so the talk about which battery takes and holds a bigger charge is irrelevant to me at this time.

Hey, I've been using devices powered by rechargeable batteries for close to thirty years, and I've had a few "dogs" along the way. The TouchPad isn't a dog -- far from it. Its fine!

TouchPad: A Crimefighting Tool?

I read somewhere on the Internet today that law enforcement authorities have classified the new HP TouchPad as a crimefighting tool... because it captures the fingerprints of any who touches it.

No Wailing or Gnashing of Teeth

Several weeks ago, while briefing my wife about the upcoming purchase of an HP TouchPad, it dawned on me that the two laptops we have -- both less than one year old -- are probably the last laptops we'll own. (Our last laptops, which were almost exclusively used in the home, lasted around 7 years. The desktop PC was sent to the bullpen about four years ago and laid off for good before New Year's Eve 2011.)

I might be the last guy on this side of the Mississippi to have that realization, but the introduction and adoption of the current style of tablets, not withstanding the arrogant stampede of the Apple iPad and the launch of the semi-crippled HP TouchPad, has been a remarkably uneventful affair. No wailing or gnashing of teeth within my earshot.

... Although I do think I'm hearing a faint whimper coming from the Targus 16" padded bag over in the corner.

It Can't Do No Stinkin' Editing!

My purchase and regular use of a TouchPad was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but getting my wife into the tablet computing world is another story. (Being the owner of a Pre+ and a Pre2, I pretty much knew what I was getting into.)

The unknown is what kind of a tablet -- HP, Apple iPad, or one of the Android variants -- will fit her needs and be a machine that she can effectively use.

The (current) case I can make to her for the HP TouchPad has a ginormus hole in it... It can't edit documents and spreadsheets. She, like a great number of potential purchasers/users, won't be interested in waiting for a "coming soon" (or maybe never) update. The TouchPad is dead to them... Case closed, end of story, ballgame over.

With apologies to the Treasure of Sierra Madre, "It can't do no stinkin' editing!"

Hey, HP, do what it takes, exert the right pressure, to get the editable version of QuickOffice on the TouchPad!

TouchPad Touchstone Charger - First Impressions

I received the Touchstone charger for my TouchPad yesterday via FedEx.

First impressions...

- Overall... Looks like a good investment (putting aside for the moment that HP really should be including a free Touchstone with every WebOS device)

- Size and Stability... My concerns, based on what I had seen in pictures and videos, were greatly reduced when I got the unit in my hands. It still appears to be on the smallish side, but it seems to hold the TouchPad securely and stabily.

- It works correctly.  Can't ask for more than that. (...well, it should be bundled for free with the purchase of the TouchPad!)

Soft Launch???

I just heard that HP called the botched July 1 launch of the TouchPad a "soft launch" and announced that the real launch will be on July 17... Hhhmmm.

We -- the customers -- apparently never knew that Ruby had us on "double-secret probation". We are customers... We couldn't be trusted.

And now that Ruby has been pushed to the side of the road, it sounds like HP is trying to fix the mess... kinda.

Suggestions to Leo and the rest of the gang at HP:

Step 1 - Fess up in a straightforward, honest manner.
Step 2 - Really "make it right". The $50 offer/gambit you recently made to the owners of older Pre models is really nothing. Forcing previously abused customers to buy the more expensive TouchPad model in order to get the abuse "made right" is adding insult to injury. Let your abused customers experience the TouchPad at the level of their choice (16GB or 32GB). That's much closer to "making it right".

Hey, HP you're better than this! (... or at least you used to be.)

TouchPad WebOS Emulator

Many reviewers and bloggers have expressed disappointment with the emulator in the TouchPad for launching older WebOS apps..

I don't find myself in that camp. I'm actually ok with the emulator and find myself going down the path of "the glass is half full" thinking on this one.

Hey, it works and lets you use your older apps.

Count your blessings that Rubenstein semi, partially, somewhat delivered a bit on something... Kinda, maybe, perhaps.

There are more important things that need to be upgraded -- and fast -- on the TouchPad.

Wow!

In my post yesterday morning about the badly unexploited value of the Touchstone charger to HP Palm and how they should make an "addition by subtraction" move in the Palm ranks, I was wishing out loud for the departure of Jon Rubenstein.

Little did I know that several hours later HP would actually be making that move... Or least putting it in motion.

Great news, HP! Now keep things moving in the right direction.

The Touchstone Charger and There's an App for That...

The Touchstone charger is one of the things that clearly differentiates the TouchPad from Apple's iPad.

Is it an iPad-killer by itself?... No, but it is a big, big difference that isn't being well exploited by HP Palm.

What's not to like about dealing with one less wire every day (or whenever)?

I think it can ultimately be as valuable to HP as "there's an app for that" is to Apple.

HP Palm still seems to be stuck in a rut when it comes to both completing and promoting their WebOS devices. Both efforts have something dragging them down, holding them back.

At this point in the game, one has to wonder if HP needs to make a big "addition by subtraction" move in the Palm ranks to correct these problems.

Maybe there should be an app for that?

E-Mail Account Synching

The past couple of mornings at my breakfast hangout, I've experienced some problems with my e-mail synching correctly between my Pre2, TouchPad and GMail. Then, later in the day at various other locales, all is well... Hhhmmm.

A little bit of playing around with my devices is leading me to point a finger more at the new, free wifi service at my local Burger King than at the TouchPad. It appears that the hotspot isn't fully "acknowledging' the acceptance of their TOS screen, then not letting the mail app do a "proper" synch with GMail. It "goes through the motions", but no synch actually takes place.

Let's see what happens with this in the longer term...

Onscreen Keyboard and Memo Apps

The TouchPad reviewer at PreCentral was not happy with the current state of the keyboard and memo apps for any serious writing. Thus far, I would have to disagree with my brother blogger and put forward that any problems I've had are more related to my poor typing skills rather than the limitations of the apps.

Sure, autocorrect isn't quite where it needs to be, but what about getting better vis a vis our typing and spelling skills in the first place?

One nit to pick... Manually placing the cursor in text to make an edit is more of a chore than it should be. Hey, HP, why did you let something like this get by? (Oops, I retract the question... I just remembered how bad the physical keyboard was on the Pre+.)

Battery Life?

I haven't had the opportunity to fully run down the battery yet and get a feel for how long the TouchPad will actually run on a charge, but I can say that it seems to sip power more slowly than any device (other than an Amazon Kindle) I've ever owned.

Fingerprint Magnet?

Yep... You're surprised that the TouchPad, or just about any other modern device, is a fingerprint magnet???