Back when we reviewed HP's latest Envy 15, we found a glaring issue with its otherwise spectacular 1080p IPS display -- namely, its less-than-pleasing color reproduction. Making good on a promise it made back in March, HP has finally released its On-Screen Display Utility software for the machine in hopes of quelling user complaints. If you'll recall, HP stated that the displays are of a higher quality than other laptop panels, which can make colors look odd in comparison. That said, while this gesture is certainly welcome, at least one tipster wrote into complain that he "wasn't able to get a satisfactory change. It's basically just gamma adjustment and r/g/b sliders." Of course, we've only cited one anecdote here, so if you've got an Envy 15 you'd like to test this on, hit up the source link below. Be sure to let us know your results in the comments.

[Thanks, Anthony]

HP's On-Screen Display Utility released, aims to alleviate Envy 15 screen color complaints originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  HP  | Email this | Comments

In a previous life, the HP Envy 14 was a laptop's laptop: a 5.69-pound slugger with an optical drive, discrete AMD graphics and a battery that couldn't last four hours in our battery rundown test. That notebook -- one of our favorites in the 2010-2011 year -- met its fate last fall when HP redesigned its high-end Envy line, but instead of going wherever it is gadgets go to die it was reincarnated as an Ultrabook. The new Envy 14, dubbed the Spectre, has shed almost two pounds, along with its discrete graphics and outmoded optical drive. It's also one of the first 14-inch Ultrabooks to hit the market, but even if it weren't so oddly sized we'd have no trouble remembering it: after all, how many laptops have a built-in NFC chip, or a glass palm rest?

There's no doubt about it: the Spectre is a premium machine, and it's not just that HP needed something high-end to take the place of the last-gen Envy 14. This also happens to be the company's first consumer-grade Ultrabook, and it arrives at a time when there are many to choose from. Enter HP's marketing department: the outfit's touting this thing as a "premium Ultrabook" -- the kind of machine you'd choose if you wanted a 1600 x 900 IPS-quality display or an unorthodox design. For that kind of beauty, though, you're looking at $1,400 and up -- a princely cost of entry when you consider lots of similarly specced models go for $1,100 or less. But perhaps that splurge comes with more than just a head-turning design? There's only one way to find out: follow past the break for our in-depth review.

Continue reading HP Envy 14 Spectre review

HP Envy 14 Spectre review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  HP  | Email this | Comments

We're still waiting to see where HP goes with webOS, but according to the New York Times it will officially launch a cloud computing service that competes with Amazon Web Services in the next couple of months. HP Senior VP and General Manager Zorawar Singh is quoted saying the currently in beta service projects as an alternative to what Amazon has built with a focus on personalized sales and service and additional tools for third party developers, as well as a system of small data centers around the world. Throw in analytics based on technology it's obtained by purchasing Vertica and Autonomy, and maybe Meg Whitman's ship has something here, but we'll wait until the next Netflix is running its operations from this cloud before declaring it on the same level.

HP readying competitor for Amazon's cloud computing, plans to launch soon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  New York Times  | Email this | Comments

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman on Thursday said that the company has a bright future ahead, although it will take some time to rebuild after a year of disappointment, reports The Wall Street Journal. Within two to three years, Whitman expects the company to best be known for cloud computing, security and tools that help businesses better manage their data. Whitman also announced that the Palo Alto-based manufacturer plans to release a tablet later this year that will run Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system. The company’s previous tablet, the HP TouchPad, ran webOS and was canceled two months after its lackluster launch. As for how the company intends to position its upcoming tablet, Whitman believes the best way for HP to gain tablet market share is to focus on the enterprise market.

Read

Whitman expects HP Windows 8 Intel tablet this year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Business Week  | Email this | Comments

When the HP TouchPad was released in the summer of 2011 it did little to impress consumers, leading to the tablet being discontinued after a mere 49 days on the market. Remaining TouchPad stock received substantial price reductions, dropping to as low as $99 dollars during a huge fire sale. Shortly after inventory ran dry, crafty hackers had announced their intention to run the Android operating system in replace of WebOS on the TouchPad, and progress thus far has been slow, with alpha versions being released that are fairly stable but have serious bugs. In an act of good will, HP has now released an Android kernel source code to the hacking community. Read on for more.

The source code appears to have been developed separately from webOS, and was last changed in March 2011, three months before the TouchPad’s release, RootzWiki reports. The code will not help with any major fixes, however, and will instead help with minor bugs. “Kernel source from HP would have been more helpful earlier in development. Don’t expect huge gains from this source,” said Erik Hardesty, a member of the CyanogenMod team, on Twitter. “It will help with things like serial console and Bluetooth. Most other areas it *might* with will be minor.”

Read [RootzWiki] Read [Twitter]

Three patents pertaining to memory chip design that were used to successfully sue HP and Nvidia—dubbed the Barth Patents—are among Rambus' most valuable IP. Excuse me, they were among Rambus' most valuable until the US patent office invalidated them. More »

Another smote at the hearts of those who failed to reach the fire sale in time: CyanogenMod 9 is bringing some ICS flavor to the TouchPad and it's apparently not far off. The video after the break gives us a glimpse of some remarkably stable operation, especially considering how tricky it was bringing CM7 to HP's slate. It looks like everything functions except the camera and video playback, and the team behind the port promises it'll give us "something to play with soon."

[Thanks, Pedro]

Continue reading HP's TouchPad running Ice Cream Sandwich? Mmmm, thanks CM9 (video)

HP's TouchPad running Ice Cream Sandwich? Mmmm, thanks CM9 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AndroidPolice  |  greentheonly (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

HP recently circulated a short video of a new ultra-thin notebook that is purportedly its upcoming HP Envy Spectre ultrabook. While there aren’t any specs discussed in the video, we’re definitely impressed by what appears to be a very sleek design. HP’s first ultrabook, the Folio 13, was unveiled in November and it offers the latest Intel Core processors, a 128GB SSD and more for a relatively affordable $900 price point. The Consumer Electronics Show is just around the corner so hopefully we’ll hear a bit more about the Spectre next week. The clip follows after the break.

Read

Why, what's this? Funny you ask -- we're wondering the same thing. A source at HP just dropped us a mysterious teaser video of a so-called Spectre laptop, a heretofore unannounced lappie that looks to be the company's next Ultrabook. In our wildest dreams, this rig has a dual-LCD setup -- similar to Toshiba's Libretto W100 -- but perhaps the creators here were just coincidentally interested in showing us lots of glass panes. We'll be digging for more details (we're told that an official produce portal should surface tomorrow), but for now, lose your mind in the video just past the break.

Continue reading HP Spectre teaser video: fantastically thin laptop, shrouded in mystery

HP Spectre teaser video: fantastically thin laptop, shrouded in mystery originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

By the time HP unveiled its first Ultrabook, the Folio 13, other heavyweights like Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Toshiba had already gotten a head start of up to several months. But being fashionably late to market may have worked in Hewlett-Packard's favor: the Folio 13 ($900 and up) is temptingly priced for what it is. Even the base model comes stocked with a 128GB SSD, backlit keyboard, HDMI port and Ethernet jack -- specs that undercut the ASUS Zenbook UX31 and 13-inch MacBook Air, and render the $900 Acer Aspire S3 nearly irrelevant. Not to mention, it brings business-friendly features such as TPM circuitry that other Ultrabook makers have omitted from their 1.0 products. But surely HP cut some corners to get here, no? Is this really as sweet a deal as it seems? Funnily enough, the answer is "yes," on both counts.

Continue reading HP Folio 13 review

HP Folio 13 review originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

HP's decision to contribute webOS to the open source community represents, at the very least, a detour from the company's plans to "double down" on the operating system acquired from Palm, Inc. The good news for fans of the OS is that HP will continue to invest in the software's development, albeit probably not at the unsustainable rate at which it was going it alone. And for webOS fans, the decision is certainly more favorable than another possibility that HP considered -- ending the development of webOS software as abruptly as it ended the hardware..

Still, webOS faces an uphill climb if it is to emerge as a viable option for device makers. HP itself says that it may not enter the webOS device market again until 2013 and we've seen no public statements from other major device makers champing at the bit to build devices based on the software, at least not in its current state. That means that the addressable market for webOS updates is the relatively meager installed base of TouchPads and the handful of Pres, Veers and Pixis, and many owners of those smartphones will likely move on as their contracts expire..

Continue reading Switched On: Open source, open issues for webOS

Switched On: Open source, open issues for webOS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Continue reading HP: webOS to live on through open source, hardware lineup still dead (for now)

HP: webOS to live on through open source, hardware lineup still dead (for now) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

I love Thanksgiving. Turkey. Cranberry Sauce. Stuffing. Everything and anything at dinner, to be honest. I love the colors. Orange, brown, it's perfect for that fall spirit. I love football, there's no other holiday associated with sports as much as Thanksgiving is. I love playing football, it's the only time I put on cleats any more. I love seeing old friends and getting drunk and reminiscing about old stories because everyone is back in town again. I love how the work week is cut in half (and really, cut even more because everyone checks out by tuesday) because of Thanksgiving. More »

Taiwan-based Asus has denied rumors that it is considering an exit from the tablet market next year. A recent report from industry watcher DigiTimes cited unnamed sources from within component suppliers in stating that several PC vendors such as HP, Dell and Asus might abandon tablets next year in light of the poor sales performance seen with most models. ”As usual, the rumors and reports from DigiTimes are incorrect,” Asus spokesman Gary Key told CNET on Friday. “ASUS is not exiting the Android Tablet business.” The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is among a handful of Android tablets that have been well received by consumers according to reports. Shipments of the convertible tablet were said to have surpassed 400,000 units per month during the summer, and the slate’s quad-core sequel is scheduled for release later this year.

Read

HP's Envy line of serious fun notebooks (as opposed to serious business, bleh!) have always been a bit on the tacky side. I hate to say it, but they looked like expensive toys. Now they're grown up, in and out. More »

Just last month, we off-handedly said that HP's Envy laptops were among the most shameless MacBook impersonations we've seen. Looks like we spoke too soon: the company just introduced a redesigned Envy 15, Envy 17 and Envy 17 3D, and we have to say: the interior here is just uncanny. If you ask company reps, they'll tell you the old taupe design was too masculine (despite the divets arranged in a floral pattern!), and that the new aesthetic is more gender-neutral. Fair enough, we suppose, though we defy you to tell us that touchpad, silvery aluminum chassis and black, chiclet-style keyboard aren't familiar. To be fair, it's not a complete facsimile: HP also throw in a few design flourishes of its own, most of them Beats-inspired. Chief among them is a red-accented, analog volume dial on the right side of the keyboard deck, though the black lid and thin red strip around the keyboard also add some kick.

All three laptops will be available December 7th, with the Envy 15, Envy 17 and Envy 17 3D starting at $1,100, $1,250 and $1,600, respectively. For now, though, we've got hands-on shots below, along with a rundown of the starting specs just past the break.

Continue reading HP redesigns its Envy laptops, announces the Envy 15, 17 and 17 3D (video)

HP redesigns its Envy laptops, announces the Envy 15, 17 and 17 3D (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments