Hewlett Packard last week announced dozens of new computers, PDAs, smartphones, displays and storage devices constituting a "line-up for every room in the house" and "recognising the convergence of our personal and professional lives" in what the company called a monumental update of its personal computing portfolio.
The company's product roll-out encompassed a top-of-the-line gaming PC and five iPAQ mobile devices that included two smartphones. This was backed up by over 50 software and services offerings, an HP MediaSmart television and a MediaSmart server along with several desktop and notebook computers.
The announcements were made on the eve of Fashion Week here and HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG) vice president for global marketing, Satjiv Chahil, spoke of the convergence of fashion and computers shortly before product designers and celebrities appeared on stage during a gala event, entitled "Your Life is the Show," last Wednesday evening.
One highlight was the HP Blackbird 002 gaming PC, the first product resulting from HP's acquisition of VoodooPC nearly a year ago and which incorporates innovations from HP Labs. The Blackbird 002 features patented, full-system liquid cooling and has an aluminium chassis that stands on a cast aluminium foot. Accessibility and upgradability is a key feature, as is personalisation, with prices ranging from $2,500 to $7,100 - although initially it will be only available in North America.
HP regarded VoodooPC as a luxury brand, "the equivalent of Formula One in racing," according to Chahil, who said in answer to a question that other markets would be addressed with the Blackbird 002 when they were ready for - and wanted - that level of product.
Rahul Sood (left), founder of VoodooPC which was acquired by HP last year, with the Blackbird 002. He is flanked by HP PSG's vice president, chief technology officer and general manager of the gaming business unit Phil McKinney during last week's product roll-out in New York. — TONY WALTHAM
He also provided a meme for HP's three computer brands, with Compaq being "what you need," HP as "what you want" while Voodoo was "what you crave."
During press briefings, much was made of HP's leadership around "connected entertainment," which was what CE now stood for, executives said. The company announced two HP MediaSmart TVs that merge the PC and television with the ability to wirelessly stream digital photos, music and video stored on a PC to 42- or 47-inch 1080p displays.
They will soon be supported by an HP MediaSmart Server, powered by Windows Home Server platform, that will act as a central location for secure, easy access to content through any Internet-connected PC any time and anywhere.
The MediaSmart server, co-developed with Microsoft, will be available later in the year and will come with either 500 megabytes ($599) or one terabyte of storage for $749.
When asked what excited him the most about this portfolio update, Chahil told me: "You'll see a line-up for every room in the house and it's in the entirety that is the magic... as we make connectivity seamless.
"We have a gaming product that's very, very exciting and then on the other end of the spectrum we have a television set, called MediaSmart. When things went digital, the photos, the music, the videos went from your living room - a shared experience - into a computer.
"So first one dabbled in the magic of the digital photos - and then you couldn't access them until someone booted it up and you looked over their shoulder. So, in a way, the experience diminished.
"What the new television does, the photo moves back into the living room - almost life-sized and high-definition (while) your music is playing at the back of it," Chahil explained.
The PC ecosystem would be the foundation of the digital home, according to HP's director of marketing for the managed home Brian Burch, who observed that traditional consumer electronics companies, PC companies and networking companies were all competing for this space.
The winners would be those that successfully combined hardware, software, services and partnerships, he said, noting that HP was uniquely positioned from a product, partner and go-to-market perspective and would have roles in both the digitization of content as well as in providing access to it from anywhere in the home.
It was "a great time to be alive as a consumer, with so much innovation," said Burch, noting that enablers were the fact that broadband around the world was gaining critical mass, now reaching 60 million homes in the US, while 1.2 million US households had downloaded a digital movie last year.
A high-performance home network was another criterion and 30 million US households were expected to have one by the end of 2010, while other countries were even further along, he said. Projections were that, with the digitization of photos, music and videos, homes would have five terabytes of storage by 2010, Burch added.
HP PSG executive vice president Todd Bradley explained that, according to IDC, HP was now the global leader in PC shipments, with almost one PC in five sold during the first half of this year being made by HP, which is now firmly ahead of Dell, Lenovo and Acer.
The group's strengths were also reflected in its third quarter results, which put revenues at $8.7 billion, up 24 percent year on year and total units being up by 30 percent year on year.
Notebooks, which now accounted for 47 percent of revenues, were up 45 percent in revenue terms and 61 percent by units shipped, while desktops (accounting for 45 percent of revenue share), had seen revenues up by 9 percent and units up 15 percent, Bradley disclosed.
During a group interview, Chahil observed how HP had discovered that, even in emerging markets, selling computers was not about moving the cheapest products. "Today our technology is as affordable as televisions are, so we need to provide something of value to the family unit," he said.
HP PSG's vice president for global marketing said that the latest product rollout was all about lifestyle: "Our entire product line has been redefined from scratch ... Piano black finishes, aluminium, blue LED lighting, form-factors that fit into the kitchen environment, the living room... which can be wherever you want it to be." It was about elegance, said the executive who has previously worked with both Sony and Apple.
In March last year, HP came up with the award-winning marketing slogan "the computer is personal again" and has introduced a series of TV commercials featuring "achievers", the latest being tennis star Serena Williams who appeared on stage during last week's event.
HP had invested heavily in design, which was done in-house and which took a three-part approach, looking at efficiencies in how to simplify the product for both pricing and reliability improvements, at how to differentiate the products and take them out of being a commodity, as well as around innovations that would open up new markets.
One example cited was the HP EasyClip, which allowed users to attach photographs, a head-set or even a vase with flowers to the side of their displays. Another realm was touch, which HP had introduced at the beginning of last year with the TouchSmart PC, taking an optical approach with four cameras, one in each corner of a 19-inch display.
As such it had been the first company to bring a touchscreen to mainstream computing and the company is now evaluating feedback in selected countries. HP was reportedly working on a localised version of its SmartCentre software before introducing this product here.
Among other products launched last week was the HP Pavilion Elite m9000 WiFi-enabled desktop PC for high-end home entertainment. It offers 3D graphics, video playback and features one-touch backup and HP personal media drive bays for unlimited storage.
Also with mobile entertainment features, HP announced the Pavilion dv2500 series, offering an integrated wireless WAN, and the 15.4-inch HP Pavilion dx6500 notebook with a TV tuner and dual hard drives.
Another addition is an 8-inch LCD panel called the HP Digital Picture Frame, offering 800 by 600 resolution and stereo speakers that allowed for a personal multimedia photo display that can be set to music.
On the business side, the company introduced the HP Compaq dc7800 business desktop in a zero-footprint design when combined with the company's innovative integrated Work Center flat panel monitor stand that conceals the PC behind the display. There were also three new widescreen HP Compaq business notebooks.
In addition to the biggest single product launch in its history, HP announced new media relationships with MTV, who are jointly organising a global design competition for youths (http://www.mtv-tama.com) and with Conde Nast.
Not all of the products will be available immediately in Asia, and a regional announcement for consumer products is scheduled in Singapore this week.
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