Monthly Tablet PC News Roundup for August 2011

08/30/2011 Comments Off on Monthly Tablet PC News Roundup for August 2011 Mobile News Like

It’s been another eventful month in the world of tablet computers, one where yet again there was no shortage of news, in some cases even a few headlines that were quite shocking. The month started off fairly normal but quickly took a few rather unexpected turns which rattled the entire tablet/tech industry a fair amount and even took the world a bit by storm.

I’m aware that tomorrow is the last day of the month but I just couldn’t help myself and felt a sudden urge to post the top tablet news of the month a day early. So, let’s get right to the juicy stuff. For starters, HP announced the cancellation of the TouchPad. After spending months to create a ton of hype surrounding their new tablet they gave it the axe only 6 weeks after it was launched on the market. Who would have thought? Certainly nobody could have predicted such an outcome.

If nothing else the discontinuation of the TouchPad lead to a sales frenzy as everyone launched immediate firesales to completely wipe out their stock. The HP TouchPad was selling for as low as $99 and it didn’t take long for them to sell out. This also lead to a huge rush for consumers to get TouchPad accessories while they lasted since the majority of them likely won’t be manufactured anymore either, or will they?

HP TouchPad: Is it coming or going?

Then of course, shortly after HP made the announcement, there were rumors that after all stock was sold out HP had suddenly changed their minds again and decided to give the TouchPad another go. As it turns out these were just rumors and nothing else, that is of course until today.

Todd Bradley, the PC chief at HP told Reuters today that the TouchPad could quite possibly be making a comeback. Is this a sincere change of heart or possibly a marketing tactic the company had planned all along? If it was just a clever marketing strategy will HP customers remain loyal and how will this impact the overall credibility of HP? It’s hard to say right now how consumers will react to this sudden change of events but whatever the case if the TouchPad does get resurrected you can bet Hitler will be happy!

There are so many different angles and ways to look at this situation, but one thing is for certain, in the highly competitive world of touch screen tablets price does matter to consumers. To help fill this black and white statement with some color see the tablet PC market survey chart below:

It does makes you wonder what is really going on behind the scenes at HP headquarters. Perhaps they really did feel the pressure of the highly competitive tablet market, or maybe these recent events were just a ploy all along to sidetrack competitors. For example, Android OS programmers and developers quickly began working on a way to port their OS to the TouchPad tablet. If HP does go ahead and continue future production of their tablet and webOS the efforts of these developers could possibly be nothing more than the result of a decoy. Mind you, in the long run I can’t see this slowing down Google or Android developers as they are gaining more momentum and headway in the mobile market each day.

When Let’s Talk Tablets exclusively interviewed HP & webOS Category Leader Sherief Ibrahim back in July it sounded like the company was very optimistic about the future of tablets as well as their all new webOS. Mind you when we asked him if HP would consider offering other companies a license to use their tablet OS his response was “We don’t comment on future roadmaps“, which is not that significant but in the same breath it wasn’t an all out “YES” or “NO”.

Steve Jobs Shocking Resignation

As if that news wasn’t surprising enough, not long after that Steve Jobs announced he was stepping down as Apple CEO effective immediately. Very shocking news to say the least, an announcement that came so sudden and instantly made headlines worldwide. You can see the guest post article I did on Technology Blogged regarding Steve’s decision, just click the link below, I hope you enjoy reading it!

Steve Jobs: A Man With an Extraordinary Vision & Legacy

Yes it was a sad and touching moment to see Steve Jobs step down, but you can bet Tim Cook, who is the newly promoted CEO of Apple, had a big smile on his face when he found out he was getting a $380 million dollar bonus. Not bad for a days work, or shall I say 3,650 days. What I mean is, Tim Cook received 1,000,000 Apple shares but the only catch is he can’t cash them in until 5 years from now, and that’s only half of the shares. He must wait 10 years before he is legally able to cash out the other half. Still, sounds like more than a fair enough deal to me, then again I’m just an underpaid blogger, tech and gadget enthusiast & researcher so I get excited if someone offers to buy me lunch!

RIM Making a Comeback?

As if they ever really left! A week ago it was announced that the PlayBook is selling very well overseas and as of today RIM’s stock prices are valued at over $30 for the first time since the middle of June. Could it be that the long time mobile giant is getting some real momentum back? It’s certainly starting to look that way and as I’ve said all along, despite all the negativity from other bloggers and tech analysts during the past several months, RIM is not a company that should be underestimated.

Other Top Tablet PC News Stories of the Month

TabCo Revealed As Fusion Garage With Grid 10 Tablet
4G Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 Announced

Conclusion

So there you have it, a roundup of the top tablet news for the month of August, 2011. Sure I wrote and published this article a day early, and as we all know when it comes to the fast paced tech industry a LOT can happen in a day, but as always we do our best here to keep you up-to-date and in the loop!

There were a few other big topics that surfaced this month but the stories we covered and mentioned today were some of the biggest movers and shakers.

What are some of your thoughts about the events that have recently taken place in the tablet industry? Are there other stories or topics that you feel are worthy of being mentioned? Please feel free to speak your mind and discuss your thoughts below, as always we love to hear your point of view!