HP Creates Pivotal App-Centric Magazine for TouchPad Tablet Rentals

HP’s TouchPad is receiving a lot of press, but the overwhelming question seems to be: “Why should I rent this instead of the apple iPad?”

Well, it has one new feature that is creating some buzz, and that’s an integrated WebOS magazine called Pivot. What Pivot does is pull popular apps as features and brings them to the forefront of the viewer’s attention. Popular developers will also be featured. Pivot’s features will be written by established journalists – and will be free to all TouchPad owners.

Now, I’ll admit that when I first heard about this development I didn’t care at all – because the Apple App Store kind of does this already.

Perhaps it’s the international twist – it will be published in English, German, French and Spanish and geared accordingly.

The only possible angle of note that I can see is that this is an official deviation for publications everywhere. Where once storied publications like The Wall Street Journal were the premiere platform for sharing news, we now see tech manufacturers on board with their own venues.

But the old publishing houses don’t seem to mind – too much. Condé Nast’s Chief Technology Officer, Joe Simon, shared his thoughts with PC Magazine. Simon said "Pivot has the right focus. It provides an enriching experience for customers and is a great environment for developers considering the platform."

Whatever magic Pivot may hold to titillate the press, its makers have faith in it. Richard Kerris, HP’s vice president of webOS-related worldwide developer relations, said that "Pivot brings app discovery to a new level for customers and developers alike.”

He added, “We want our partners to experience webOS as the growing platform of opportunity, and we're investing in new ways to help market their applications on our platform."

The best intentions don’t always yield the best results, so we’ll have to see if Pivot delivers.

To try out the new Pivot project – and the TouchPad – feel free to get any of our HP TouchPad rental units. We offer international, next-day delivery, and a price point that can’t be beat.