Report: HP Sought $1.2 Billion For webOS Sale.

If a new report by VentureBeat is accurate, it’s a glaring look at how disconnected from the outside world HP has become, and how much they are grasping at straws (if the multiple CEO swaps and running a somewhat successful — webOS at least had potential — mobile platform into the ground weren’t enough already).

In said report, it is alleged that HP sought the same $1.2 asking price that the company originally paid to acquire webOS and Palm assets. While it is true that HP didn’t have webOS/Palm that long, breaking even itself is way too far of a stretch. HP trashed webOS/Palm’s reputation and potential, taking its value and throwing it in the garbage.

On top of the sticker shock, potential buyers were also reportedly looking at a tangled web of strings — HP wanted to retain the ability to use webOS for its printers and develop it accordingly. No wonder no one bought webOS.

Report: HP’s webOS Decision Coming In Two Weeks.

The long, toiled, and utterly depressing story of webOS over the last 6-10 months has played out in a gut wrenching slug fest online. Much to the dismay of many webOS aficionados, hope for any future for the aspiring mobile platform is all but gone. All that’s left is a slim chance that HP’s current new CEO, Meg Whitman, will save the fledging OS.

While we still haven’t received any concrete timeline in the states, a French newspaper, “Le Figaro” is reporting (Google Translated) that Meg Whitman claimed via interview that the final webOS decision will come in within the next two weeks. Whitman is currently in Vienna for a corporate themed event at which HP is showcasing their new concept of “information optimization”. Sounds completely uninteresting and boring, eh?

“We should announce our decision in the next two weeks. This is not an easy decision, because we have a team of 600 people which is in limbo. We need to have another operating system.”

Here’s to hoping…

WebOS/MeeGo: What Would You Have Done Differently?

Two amazing mobile platforms have succumbed to the insurmountable forces of neglect and disinterest: WebOS and MeeGo. Both platforms had their strengths and weaknesses. What they shared, however, was a huge amount of potential. The only major fault of both was that the owner(s) dropped the ball. Whether it be poor resource management, lack of marketing, or fractured roadmap/schedule, may never be known. Ultimately we’re left with a single option: choose from one of the few big platforms offered by Apple, Google, Microsoft or RIM.

If we were in charge of HP we would have put a considerably greater amount of in-house developers and company financial resources behind the webOS platform. Because MeeGo is/was open source we would have been a lot more proactive than the mishmash of supporters have been thus far and advertised the hell out of it. (How is anyone supposed to get excited (read: care) about your platform if they don’t know it exists?)

But we’re sure there are at least a few other good ideas out there. What would you have done? Leave it in the comments after the break…

HP Announces 525 Layoffs For Coming To WebOS Team.

Even though HP is apparently committed to webOS (whether by sale or some miraculous re-birth within the company), they will carry onward with fewer webOS members in tow.

Following the abandonment of webOS hardware back in August, HP today started laying off an unconfirmed amount of webOS employees. (Some reports indicate layoffs may go as high as 525.)

What’s uncertain even now is what exactly HP’s plan is. While they’ve already voiced interest in “leveraging the webOS software”. Critics have been quick to hit back at such comments, citing a lack of hardware essentially a death sentence for the platform.

Either way, the future for webOS remains bleak.

Unreleased 7″ TouchPad Go Images Leak. Still Vaporware.

WebOS fans licking their wounds after HP’s untimely exit last month will no doubt find images of the unreleased 7″ TouchPad Go tablet creating an even greater feeling of sadness.

Cheer up. Maybe a TouchPad Go or two will show up on eBay…

HP Sends Letters To Employees Detailing Upcoming HP TouchPad Availability.

Miss out on the HP TouchPad fire sale from a few weeks back? Well, we have bittersweet news. Sweet: HP is planning to hold another TouchPad fire sale beginning September 28th at 9:00 AM PST. Bitter: The fire sale is only for U.S. HP employees…at least for now.

The news was dispersed to HP employees via internal email. Similar to the first fire sale, pricing will be $99/$149 for the 16 GB and 32 GB TouchPads. Shipping will occur within 10 days of the initial order. And unfortunately for eBay resellers, all customers will be limited to just one TouchPad at a time (for now).

Non-HP employees looking to score a TouchPad in this second wave of fire sale fun time will have to buddy up with an HP employee or sit tight and wait for more hardware to hit online auction sites.

Letter sent to employees after the break…

What If: HTC And WebOS.

As one of the (apparently) few people who had a thing for webOS’ sleek lines and heaps of potential, it saddened me when HP made the surprise announcement that they were discontinuing all webOS hardware. And then but a few days later comments from HP indicated they could once again re-open the webOS hardware shop later on down the road. Needless to say, HP’s stance is confusing as much as it is disappointing.

But there is hope for webOS aficionados. Rumors began circulating early today of a potential purchase by HTC. For a company that is so heavily entrenched in the Android culture and just beginning to take Windows Phone 7 under its their wing, it almost seems too good to be true. Is it?

Report: HP Eyed Samsung And LG As Possible PSG Buyers.

The last 1-2 months have certainly been jam packed with tech upsets and announcements. In our eyes, however, the most surprising announcement came from HP when they announced last month their intention of stopping all webOS hardware development and manufacturing and voicing interest in spinning off their PC business (Personal Systems Group).

Following up on the original news comes a new report by Cnet who is claiming that as far back as late 2010 HP was involved in discussions with LG and Samsung (as well as other, undisclosed companies) over a potential purchase of PSG — a very different message compared to HP’s current stance (spinning off the company into a separate entity rather than sell off PSG in its entirety).

Whether or not HP is still looking to spin-off the business (as most recently reported) or is fluctuating back and forth between a spin-off and outright sale isn’t known.

Since the public announcement that they were looking at a potential PSG spin-off, HP has been running a new ad campaign in an effort to calm investors and shareholders claiming a spin-off would allow the company to be a “more agile organization to help us better anticipate change and quickly respond to customers”.

We’re still not sure CEO Léo Apotheker’s apparent vision of realigning with HP’s old enterprise roots is the best route. You?

HP Continues Cutting, WebOS GBU Split Into Two Separate Groups.

Apparently HP execs weren’t done with they chaos they started a couple weeks back. Under the latest roadmap, HP will keep webOS software (the only thing that matters) in the Office of Strategy and Technology while hardware (everything that’s been discontinued) will get shuffled over to HP’s Personal Systems Group (PSG). This will allow HP to keep all of webOS’ patents and ideas in-house should PSG get spun off/sold to another company.

The announcement in two forms via Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Shane Robison and Executive vice president of HP’s Personal Systems Group, Todd Bradley, in emails sent throughout HP. Basically, it looks like HP is doing what Palm failed to do in the early 2000′s — split hardware and software so they can compete in both arenas. Palm failed with that approach. Miserably. Will HP have better luck?

Full letters sent to HP employees from Shane Robison and Todd Bradley after the break…