Buzz Out Loud 1537: BOL, Quake Out Loud Edition (Podcast)

On today's show, an earthquake appears to be headed right for us, and all we can talk about is HP and WebOS some more! Plus, Lenovo's baffling decision to drop the ThinkPad Tablet into the marketplace at $500, when fire-sale frenzy is at its peak. Um. Oops. And would Apple risk fragmenting the iPhone in order to get into emerging markets? We'll see. Oh, and quick hicks!

Watch this: Ep. 1537: BOL, Quake Out Loud Edition

39:00

Podcast

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NEWS

HP: webOS Still Coming to PCs and Printers, Pre3 Launching in "Limited" Markets
http://allthingsd.com/20110822/hp-webos-still-coming-to-pcs-and-printers-pre3-launching-in-limited-markets/

HP Pre 3 Cancelled in U.S., Will Sell for $75 In Europe
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391519,00.asp

HP TouchPad tops Amazon US sales, rumored for UK price drop
http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/22/hp-touchpad-tops-amazon-us-sales-rumored-for-uk-price-drop/

TouchDroid project looks to fit HP TouchPad with Android
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/touchdroid-hack-works-to-fit-hp-touchpads-with-android.html

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet now available for pre-order, priced at $500
http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/23/lenovo-thinkpad-tablet-now-available-for-order-priced-at-500-a/

Amazon, Dropbox, Google and You Win in Cloud-Music Copyright Decision
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/08/cloudmusic-is-not-a-crime/

Miramax Launches Facebook App For Streaming Movies
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/miramax-launches-facebook-app-for-streaming-movies/2011/08/22/gIQAeRuxWJ_story.html

Exclusive: Apple suppliers building cheaper, 8GB iPhone 4
https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/23/us-apple-iphone-idUSTRE77M1P220110823
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/22/iphone-5-dual-mode-cdma-gsm/

Quick Hits

Internet restored in Tripoli as rebels take control
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/08/23/0012213/Internet-Restored-In-Tripoli-As-Rebels-Take-Control

Name change for Libyan square on Google Maps
http://news.yahoo.com/name-change-libyan-square-google-maps-211222719.html

Microsoft opens the Windows Phone Mango app floodgates
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-opens-the-windows-phone-mango-app-floodgates/10402

Twitter improves photo sharing again with user photo galleries
http://www.splatf.com/2011/08/twitter-photo-galleries/

VOICEMAIL

anonymous guys says that HP has set the bar on the right price point for tablets

Thomas in Columbus says that he is going back to cable after cutting the chord

EMAILS

Hey Buzz Crew,

So apparently I missed the whole HP touch pad fire sale this weekend. I am currently not in the market a tablet but an opportunity like this doesn’t come that often. Now there are a few news reports in response to a tweet saying that more of the fire sale is on the horizon. I was wondering if you guys think that buying the touch pad at $99 is worth it or should I wait for more sales from different companies this holiday season? Thanks guys, Love the show!

Steve from South Carolina

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Hello Buzzcrew,

As a HP Partner we got this notification in the mail. Turns out that we shouldn't believe the rumours, it's just all:

"confusion you might be hearing from our competition". At $42 billion and growing, it is the largest PC business in the world with #1 market share and profitability worldwide. We are not taking our foot off the pedal now and will continue to drive leading innovation across our PC portfolio now and in the future.

Also, concerning Web OS they state that:

"As you also heard, we have made the tough but necessary decision to discontinue the device operations of the webOS business group. While our team created a well-respected software platform, and HP sees long term promise and value for you from the webOS operating system and the ecosystem around it, webOS devices did not gain market traction as we had hoped. The significant burden to HP's business to invest for scale in this business underscored the depths of the challenges for webOS. We will wind down webOS device operations during Q4 of 2011. "

Anyway, thought you might find this interesting.

Love the show.

Regards,

Jeroen - The Netherlands

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Hey Buzz Crew,
I’ve written in about the awesomeness that is WebOS before, but I think this fire sale is not because of $99 and not because of WebOS. The general population is not like us. They don’t understand the distinction among operating systems. They follow the coolness or contagion (or buzz, if you will) of brands. There have been tons of Android tablets priced below $100 on deal sites like Woot, but the everyday citizen didn’t jump on them.

But Touchpad was different. Ordinary citizens didn’t even notice its arrival, but is the tablet MOST like the Jesus tablet that has been priced affordably. This hurt all the active players including Apple and Samsung, because buyers, including those considering iPads will think twice before plunking down $500.

If an everyday citizen bought a Touchpad, their friends will think it’s an iPad. Hell, if they’re not app buyers, and many are not, they won’t know the difference. But now WebOS has that elusive user base, and maybe Amazon will jump on this enormous opportunity.

Love the show and hope WebOS rises like a phoenix.

–Mike

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Love the show, but you guys missed the primary issue with Germany and the Facebook like button.

The like button is embedded on the viewed page, but is served FROM FACEBOOK. What this means is that upon visiting the page a webrequest is made to Facebook’s servers that includes the id they assigned to the site you are on, the requesting page url, your IP address (as part of the request header) and Facebook’s cookie (including your login token assuming you have remember me checked (and who doesn’t)). So they know where you are (roughly by IP), what you are looking at, and who you are just by visiting the page, no clicking anything required.

Kent the Developer from Saint Louis

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From Jim in Vegas (in the chat)
Hey buzz crew, I was listening to yesterdays episode where you read the story about aliens killing us and it got me thinking, people always think aliens are going to find us, be more advanced then us, and exterminate us, we have heard this scenario and seen it in movies for years. But has any one ever thought of the realistic possibly that WE might be the ones to discover them, and maybe there technology will be lesser or equal to ours? Now yes I realize this is unlikely right now with our current technology but what about in say 300 to 500 years, just look at how our technology has changed in that amount of time in the past, is it really that hard to believe that it could change that much in the future just on a much larger scale? For all we know there is a civilization out there right now, much like us, shaking in there boots over the possibility the possibility that extraterrestrials (in this case us) are coming to get them. Its just my theory, but then again patent lawsuits will probably never let that technology evolve meaning we will still be on this rock when the other aliens who ARE more advanced get here and decide they dont wanna be BFFS. Love the show!

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http://bol.cnet.com, 800-616-2638 (CNET), buzz@cnet.com

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