Examiner: HP webOS 'PalmPad' tablet will have digital pen

kjk · 07-20-2010, 12:32 PM

http://www.examiner.com/x-11295-LA-G...ve-digital-pen

Quote:

Our insider tells us that just like HP's tm series notebook, the webOS tablet will have a screen that recognizes a wacom pen while functioning as a capacitive touchscreen. That means the webOS tablet--unlike the iPad--will be an actual tablet. You will be able to take handwritten notes on it and easily search your notes.

Nice product differentiation move.

charleski · 07-21-2010, 05:33 AM

HP's WebOS tablet is looking more and more interesting. Looks like it might be genuinely useful rather than merely a consumption device.

m-reader · 07-21-2010, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk

http://www.examiner.com/x-11295-LA-G...ve-digital-pen

Nice product differentiation move.

Double-fingers crossed here. Looking good.
I would be a bit worried about the applications availability for webOS though.

GlenBarrington · 07-21-2010, 06:12 AM

Quite a coup for Wacom too. . .

So far, the only way to get a Wacom pen is to buy a Wacom digitizing tablet (and replacements ain't cheap). It's the interaction between the pen and the tablet that make Wacom digitizing tablets the best in the world.

The Wacom tablet/pen combination can recognize up to 2048 different levels of pen pressure, and the pens themselves require no batteries (so far, no other tablet manufacturer can produce a batteryless pen, a major convenience).

Even if Apple comes up with pen technology, they will have a huge hurdle to overcome. The HP may become the de facto standard for people interested in art and graphics. I can see applications where we connect the HP pad to a PC and it is used as a conventional graphics pad but with an intelligent interaction between the pad and the PC. This could be big, folks.

Might be time to buy stock in Wacom. . .

WillAdams · 07-21-2010, 07:20 AM

GlenBarrington, Wacom styluses are readily available from many computer retailers:

http://www.amazon.com/Penabled-Table...711083&sr=8-49

http://www.zones.com/site/product/in...rtner_id=-8979

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...spx?EDC=502896

They're a lot cheaper than they used to be too (back when I first got my ArtZ, the pens were ~$100 each).

William

GlenBarrington · 07-21-2010, 07:30 AM

$31 USD is still not cheap in my eyes especially since it probably costs a couple of dollars to produce! And up till now, there has been no reason to buy a pen without a Wacom tablet.

I think HP has made a marketing coup over Apple if they can tie up Wacom technology in an exclusive deal.

WillAdams · 07-21-2010, 08:16 AM

One of the pens is $19.99 --- and they don't require a battery --- have you priced AAAAs? Purchasing them for the stylus for my Fujitsu Stylistic 2300 was a recurring, annual expense. They also last for decades --- how many disposable pens does a typical person go through in a year? (I use fountain pens myself, currently an Esterbrook Dollar pen w/ a 9312 medium italic nib)

Wacom tablets have had pen ID#s for a long while, affording one the option of switching tools (and pressure / sensitivity settings) by switching pens in graphic design programs --- very handy. There are also styluses which mimic the shape and effect of airbrushes and marker pens.

There is no way anyone could get an exclusive deal w/ Wacom --- too many existing contracts. Even an attempt to purchase the company wouldn't be feasible due to legal ramifications.

William

Dulin's Books · 07-21-2010, 08:21 AM

well, onyx and irex ereaders are of course wacom pen abled devices but not pen and touch. and wacom is not the only pen digitizer game in town. Hanvon produces magnetic resonance digitizer technology as well and its available in some of their ereaders as well as their own graphical tablet products.

TallMomof2 · 07-21-2010, 11:09 AM

I just hope it has USB ports. Wacom pen tech is great, my daughter uses a Wacom tablet for drawing.

nyrath · 07-21-2010, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m-reader

Double-fingers crossed here. Looking good.
I would be a bit worried about the applications availability for webOS though.

Well, not for lack of trying by the Palm company. They have released some powerful free software development suites, and are bending over backwards to help developers.

They know that WebOS will die without cool apps.

kjk · 07-21-2010, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrath

Well, not for lack of trying by the Palm company. They have released some powerful free software development suites, and are bending over backwards to help developers.

Including refunding every developer for the initial registration fee!

whitearrow · 07-21-2010, 01:09 PM

I have the Palm Pre and I'm very happy with WebOS as an OS. Sure, there are apps it would be cool to have (like Shazzam), but there's nothing that's truly mission critical (for me, anyway) that it doesn't have now. I also really love the Palm developer community -- there are tons of free apps and in development apps that you can get for free. And unlike certain manufacturers, Palm/HP has no interest in shutting that practice down.

If you are curious about some app/type of app in particular, I'd be happy to check and see if it exists.

ETA: I forgot to mention that with the Classic app, you can also run many of the legacy Palm apps from the pre-WebOS days. I am still using Pocket Quicken for my checkbook and syncing it with my deskop Quicken.

wodin · 07-21-2010, 03:56 PM

Damn! And I just dumped $200 on an 8GB LiveScribe Echo smartpen. I've been looking for a small (8' to 10") relatively inexpensive tablet to take/organize meeting notes.

I tried an Asus eeePC T91 MT with OneNote, and it just isn’t working out. I finally decided to put up with having to use special paper with the Echo. Now you guys are telling me that there's a reasonably priced Wacom enabled device just around the corner.

Oh well; another gadget for my wish list.

emai7s2 · 07-22-2010, 03:56 AM

As a long-time Palm fan, I would also be very interested in a HP wacom tablet running WebOS and Palm Classic. I use a Palm Centro and my main PDA/ebook reader at the moment is a Palm m515.

nyrath · 07-22-2010, 09:49 AM

Yeah, I cut my teeth on a Palm PDA. I actually wrote some software for PalmOS back in the day. I do own a Pre cell phone and I love WebOS.

07-21-2010, 06:12 AM	#4
GlenBarrington Cheese Whiz Posts: 1,986 Karma: 11677147 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Springfield, Illinois Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.	Quite a coup for Wacom too. . . So far, the only way to get a Wacom pen is to buy a Wacom digitizing tablet (and replacements ain't cheap). It's the interaction between the pen and the tablet that make Wacom digitizing tablets the best in the world. The Wacom tablet/pen combination can recognize up to 2048 different levels of pen pressure, and the pens themselves require no batteries (so far, no other tablet manufacturer can produce a batteryless pen, a major convenience). Even if Apple comes up with pen technology, they will have a huge hurdle to overcome. The HP may become the de facto standard for people interested in art and graphics. I can see applications where we connect the HP pad to a PC and it is used as a conventional graphics pad but with an intelligent interaction between the pad and the PC. This could be big, folks. Might be time to buy stock in Wacom. . . Last edited by GlenBarrington; 07-21-2010 at 06:15 AM.

07-21-2010, 01:09 PM	#12
whitearrow Guru Posts: 808 Karma: 2260766 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Kindle Oasis 2	I have the Palm Pre and I'm very happy with WebOS as an OS. Sure, there are apps it would be cool to have (like Shazzam), but there's nothing that's truly mission critical (for me, anyway) that it doesn't have now. I also really love the Palm developer community -- there are tons of free apps and in development apps that you can get for free. And unlike certain manufacturers, Palm/HP has no interest in shutting that practice down. If you are curious about some app/type of app in particular, I'd be happy to check and see if it exists. ETA: I forgot to mention that with the Classic app, you can also run many of the legacy Palm apps from the pre-WebOS days. I am still using Pocket Quicken for my checkbook and syncing it with my deskop Quicken. Last edited by whitearrow; 07-21-2010 at 01:14 PM.

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07-21-2010, 05:33 AM	#2
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	HP's WebOS tablet is looking more and more interesting. Looks like it might be genuinely useful rather than merely a consumption device.

07-21-2010, 07:20 AM	#5
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,234 Karma: 3350652 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	GlenBarrington, Wacom styluses are readily available from many computer retailers: http://www.amazon.com/Penabled-Table...711083&sr=8-49 http://www.zones.com/site/product/in...rtner_id=-8979 http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...spx?EDC=502896 They're a lot cheaper than they used to be too (back when I first got my ArtZ, the pens were ~$100 each). William

07-21-2010, 07:30 AM	#6
GlenBarrington Cheese Whiz Posts: 1,986 Karma: 11677147 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Springfield, Illinois Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.	$31 USD is still not cheap in my eyes especially since it probably costs a couple of dollars to produce! And up till now, there has been no reason to buy a pen without a Wacom tablet. I think HP has made a marketing coup over Apple if they can tie up Wacom technology in an exclusive deal.

07-21-2010, 08:16 AM	#7
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,234 Karma: 3350652 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	One of the pens is $19.99 --- and they don't require a battery --- have you priced AAAAs? Purchasing them for the stylus for my Fujitsu Stylistic 2300 was a recurring, annual expense. They also last for decades --- how many disposable pens does a typical person go through in a year? (I use fountain pens myself, currently an Esterbrook Dollar pen w/ a 9312 medium italic nib) Wacom tablets have had pen ID#s for a long while, affording one the option of switching tools (and pressure / sensitivity settings) by switching pens in graphic design programs --- very handy. There are also styluses which mimic the shape and effect of airbrushes and marker pens. There is no way anyone could get an exclusive deal w/ Wacom --- too many existing contracts. Even an attempt to purchase the company wouldn't be feasible due to legal ramifications. William

07-21-2010, 08:21 AM	#8
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	well, onyx and irex ereaders are of course wacom pen abled devices but not pen and touch. and wacom is not the only pen digitizer game in town. Hanvon produces magnetic resonance digitizer technology as well and its available in some of their ereaders as well as their own graphical tablet products.

07-21-2010, 11:09 AM	#9
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	I just hope it has USB ports. Wacom pen tech is great, my daughter uses a Wacom tablet for drawing.

07-21-2010, 03:56 PM	#13
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	Damn! And I just dumped $200 on an 8GB LiveScribe Echo smartpen. I've been looking for a small (8' to 10") relatively inexpensive tablet to take/organize meeting notes. I tried an Asus eeePC T91 MT with OneNote, and it just isn’t working out. I finally decided to put up with having to use special paper with the Echo. Now you guys are telling me that there's a reasonably priced Wacom enabled device just around the corner. Oh well; another gadget for my wish list.

07-22-2010, 03:56 AM	#14
emai7s2 Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 128170 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Palm & PPC	As a long-time Palm fan, I would also be very interested in a HP wacom tablet running WebOS and Palm Classic. I use a Palm Centro and my main PDA/ebook reader at the moment is a Palm m515.

07-22-2010, 09:49 AM	#15
nyrath Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 52007 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: nook	Yeah, I cut my teeth on a Palm PDA. I actually wrote some software for PalmOS back in the day. I do own a Pre cell phone and I love WebOS.

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