'Google TVs? They're selling really well'
That's the word from an employee at my local Sony Style Store, at Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego. Google TV products should be selling, because Sony has priced them to move as part of a clever back-to-school promotion.
The store prominently displays three "Internet TV" products, which all incorporate Google TV -- Blu-ray player and 24-inch and 32-inch televisions. The marketing pitch is simple: They're perfect for the dorm room. The Blu-ray player, which sold for $399.99 a few months ago, is $199.99. The 24-inch TV is $299.99 and the larger one sells for $499.99. I was so-o-o-o tempted to buy the Google TV Blu-ray player.
'It was like a stampede, and they went quick'
That's how a Best Buy employee described the line waiting to buy discounted HP TouchPads today outside the Mission Valley store in San Diego.
More than 100 people waited for the store to open, on a Sunday morning, to get one of about 30 TouchPads still in stock. They were sold out five minutes after the Best Buy opened.
Best Buy nukes tablet partners, resumes HP TouchPad sales
So much for my heaping praise on Best Buy. The retailer has decided to unload its unsold stock of TouchPads after all. It's an atomic blast that will have grave consequences for Best Buy and, more importantly, its other tablet partners. Apple might just laugh all the way to the bank.
The problem is this: Best Buy is sitting on an inventory of as many as 245,000 TouchPads -- or was yesterday. Today, who knows how many there will be for how long. By midday yesterday, cheap TouchPads were sold out pretty much everywhere, except HP online. Today, Best Buy owns TouchPad sales and already has sold out its online stock. Now it's up to retail stores to clear inventory. Last week, my local Best Buy sold the 16GB TouchPad for $499.99. Today it's $99 -- $149 for the 32GB model -- for an attractive 9.7-inch tablet, running the well-reviewed WebOS.
Sit down, kick off your shoes and cozy up to the new BetaNews
Please pardon the dust, and watch out for falling debris. BetaNews relaunched overnight August 20. The site has moved from a custom content management system to (a very customized) WordPress.
BetaNews founder Nate Mook and his developer team have done a great job getting the new site up and running on WP, which will offer lots more flexibility curating and presenting content and allow for better reader engagement. Expect more changes as we tweak the look and feel. I'm looking forward to lots of (cough, cough) work this creates for me as managing editor. It will be fun.
What does the glut of cheap HP TouchPads mean for Apple and Android tablet sales?
If you're trying to get a $99 TouchPad but can't find it anywhere, blame Best Buy. Based on calls placed to a half-dozen of the stores today, Best Buy has refused to sell its huge stock of HP tablets, choosing to return them to HP instead. It's probably cheaper for HP to dump the TouchPads -- as in a landfill -- then to sell them. You can thank Best Buy, which is sitting on an estimated 245,000 units, for that and partly for the mess at HP's online store today.
But there's sense -- loads of it -- for Best Buy shipping back unsold TouchPads rather than putting the soon-to-be obsolete devices into the hands of greedy geeks. HP, which is spending more than $100 million liquidating tablet stock, will compensate Best Buy for inventory. Better to take that cash rather than collapse sales of other tablets and quite possibly create unrealistic expectations among regular shoppers about what tablets should sell for.
Where's the HP TouchPad fire sale?
The InterWebs buzzed last night with excitement about TouchPads selling for $99 and $149 -- that's for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. These prices make Border's bankruptcy liquidation look pathetic. Suddenly, TouchPad is the Lamborghini of tablets for 30 year-old VW bug prices. Yeah, but where do you get such a steal? Not where I expected.
Last night, Amazon and Best Buy still offered TouchPad at full retail prices here in the United States. Best Buy Canada, among a handful of other retailers, offered the discount prices yesterday -- that's $300 and $350 off. Today. The WebOS tablet is gone from both US retail Websites, and that's not because they're sold out. I called three East Coast Best Buys this morning and got the same response from all. If they carried TouchPad, it would still be for the higher prices. HP has recalled the tablet, and Best Buy has none to sell.
Did HP do the wrong thing by killing off TouchPad?
HP is taking a beating for its decision to kill off WebOS devices, including TouchPad, and shopping around its PC division, which could be spun off or sold. Shares fell nearly 23 percent -- that's about a six-year low! -- in early trading today.
Betanews readers, who are an opinionated lot, are figuratively shaking their heads in dismay, too.
You bought HP TouchPad, it's discontinued, now what?
Six weeks after the first TouchPads reached retail and two months after preorders started, HP killed the tablet. That's right -- in a stunning announcement made just a few hours ago.
What we want to know: Did you buy TouchPad? Are you willing to admit it? What do you plan to do with it? What do you think of HP's decision to ice TouchPad -- your tablet -- in less time than European summer vacations? Please tell us, in comments or email joe at betanews dot com.
iPad kills HP TouchPad, is BlackBerry PlayBook next?
One day after reports that HP TouchPad was selling poorly at Best Buy, the world's No. 1 PC company discontinued the product. It was an unexpected announcement among others. HP also is looking to ditch its PC division.
In a press release, HP says "it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for WebOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and WebOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward".
Is Windows 8's app store better late than never?
I sure hope so, but Microsoft should have done this in 2006.
Perhaps in an alternate universe Microsoft shipped Windows Vista with an app store and leveraged it to Windows Mobile. In that universe Microsoft's app store revived developer excitement about Windows; helped them to make more money (by diminishing piracy); gave businesses, consumers and developers an exciting reason to commit to Windows Mobile smartphones (with apps scaled from PC to mobile to Xbox); and made it nearly impossible for Apple to succeed in the smartphone market. Over there, Microsoft, and not Apple, is the cherished consumer brand. But, alas, we live over here.
Rocky stock markets shake tech stocks
It's another day of insanity on Wall Street, as fear grips investors. The Dow dropped by more than 500 points in early trading. Tech stocks couldn't escape gravity's pull downward.
These cycles of mayhem are becoming all too familiar as the market takes on greater cycles of increasing manic activity, with the Dow way up one day and down the next. Suddenly I feel good for not being an investor.
We want your Windows XP memories
August 24th marks the tenth anniversary of Windows XP's release to manufacturing -- ahead of its late-October 2001 launch. That's right, next week. Betanews asks readers to share their recollections about Windows XP, whether beta testing, RTM, launch or anything else. We want to share your stories.
Ideally, we want to publish your recollection as its own story with your name, photo and bio. You write it -- we edit and publish during the RTM week anniversary. If there are enough really good stories, we'll do a second round of recollections during the October launch anniversary week. Please email your stories to joe at betanews dot com -- or, if you must, comment below.
Office 365 becomes Office 364 with Wednesday outage
Microsoft joins Amazon and other online services providers who have suffered cloud outages. I'm surprised. Sincerely.
I figured if any company could do the cloud right, it would be Microsoft -- right as in 365 days up time. Damn, if this was a leap year, that could be an excuse. :)
Can Google-Motorola Mobility bring stability to the Force?
"We will be looking with interest as further details of the proposed transaction become clear. But, at first glance, to the extent that this deal might bring some stability to the ongoing smartphone patent disputes, that would be a welcome development" -- John Thorne, Verizon deputy general counsel, speaking about Google's $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition.
The statement, as reported today by the Wall Street Journal, is refreshing for perspective -- that sanity might return after an increasing number of mobile patent lawsuits, among which Apple is point of axis (mostly as protagonist, but also defendant). Armed with a large stash of newly acquired Moto Mobility patents -- more than 24,000, and, of course, not all about mobile devices -- Google's position to defend Android licensees is stronger. Hell, Motorola invented the cell phone. Surely there is something Google can use as a club to beat back Apple lawyers.
Think eBay is the top retail or auction site? You'd be wrong
I would have picked eBay. But according to ComScore, Amazon is leader, with 20.4 percent global Internet population reach in June -- 16.2 percent for eBay. The analyst group lumps together auctions and retail, so looked at that way it's not surprising. What perhaps is unexpected -- Apple ranks fourth -- 9.7 percent share, with 135 million unique visitors.
Auction sites had 1.39 billion unique visitors, 282 million of them to Amazon and 223.5 million from eBay.
Joe's Bio
Joe Wilcox is BetaNews executive editor. His motto: Change the rules. Joe is a former CNET News staff writer, JupiterResearch senior analyst, and Ziff Davis Enterprise Microsoft Watch editor.
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