HP

HP today unveiled via webcast the world's first web-connected home printer - The HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web. This new printer not only prints, scans, and faxes, but Web access is directly on the printer via touchscreen for access to Google, Fandango, Coupons.com, DreamWorks and more.

The HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web features a new web-based printing platform with HP apps. These apps come preloaded and are viewable on a large, 4.33-inch TouchSmart panel, and new apps can be downloaded as they become available at the HP Apps Studio. Simply touch the app to launch a web page where you can print content immediately. The first HP app partners will be USA TODAY, Google, Fandango, Coupons.com, DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon, Web Sudoku and Weathernews Inc. Through these apps, you will have free access to daily news, maps, coupons, coloring pages, movie tickets, recipes, personal calendars and more – all from the printer! Coming in late 2009 you will even be able to create and share your own apps! Read more

Jessica wrote earlier in the week that Verizon would be releasing a Netbook. Well, there is not a person who is better connected than Jessica … I think it is because we custom publish Best Magazine for Best Buy, and we know the right people. Click the cover of the magazine on the top right on the page, and then after the jump click the cover again to launch the digital magazine. Anyway… the Verizon netbook hits stores on May 17, 2009.

The HP Mini 1151NR will cost $199 after a $50 mail-in rebate. You will also have to agree to a two-year activation on a Mobile Broadband plan that will run $40 a month. The mail-in rebate will be in the form of a debit card, that is accessible anywhere credit cards are accepted.

The Verizon Wireless Netbook proves that Verizon is different, and customer-centric. They are really looking out for their customers, and you can prove it to yourself when you call their customer service. Their coverage is superior to any other wireless carrier, and if you have Verizon… you know it is true.

Check out their product and service offerings by visiting www.verizonwireless.com

Verizon Wireless is said to be jumping on the netbook bandwagon later this month, offering the HP Mini 1151NR netbook at a cost of $199 with a two-year contract (at $40-60 per month). The netbook is rumored to be available on May 17th.

This makes sense for Verizon…after all, AT&T already sells netbooks from Acer and Dell. However, the netbooks available at AT&T are priced lower (as low as $50) than the HP model Verizon will be offering. Maybe Verizon will decide to lower the initial price of the netbook… they end up making a killing on the monthly data charges anyway, right?

May 17th also happens to be the date that Verizon's MiFi portable hotspot router will be available. And guess what? We just happen to have a review unit. Stay tuned for a hands-on review.

HP announced the print from mobile at CES this year. Here is the free iPhone App. BlackBerry's are now printing from mobile devices, www.blackberry.com/hp. Now Epson is joining in the fun of print from your iPhone or iPod Touch to their printers. The only reason Epson will not see the success from this App is their decision to charge $6.99, and HP gives theirs away. It is my opinion that Epson will sell more printers and ink if they give this App away for free.

Now, with all the buzz on the digital tablets, and the speculation that Apple will release a touch screen digital tablet to rival the SONY Reader, and Amazon Kindle – Epson should take note, and seriously reconsider charging people for drivers to print on their printers. Good luck with your App, Epson. Isn't the data of who downloads the App, where they download it, etc. more valuable than selling it? Read more

HP announced anew Pavilion Elite m9600 Series desktops, with complementary widescreen monitors, to consumers for speedy access and reliable performance for multitasking, graphic-intensive files and watching movies.

The standard configuration starts in price at $949 and includes the Intel Core i7 920 processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS graphics card, 500 GB hard drive and a SuperMulti DVD burner for creating DVDs and CDs with custom labels. For an enhanced gaming and entertainment experience, the m9600 can be customized with a Blu-ray DVD writer and ATI Radeon HD-4850 graphics card.

HP Pavilion Elite m9600 Series options include: Intel Core i7 940 processor, up to 1 terabyte (TB) hard drive and 12 gigabytes (GB) of memory for reliable storage and quick access of multimedia files such as images and videos.

The HP m9600 series comes with two built-in drive bays for the optional HP Personal Media Drive and HP Pocket Media Drive for added storage of photos, music and videos.

This is just the beginning of printing from the handheld device we still call a phone. With Apple dominating the marketplace, a lot of people now refer to their phone as an iPhone. I actually still call the current BlackBerry I am using a "phone." While attending PMA 2009 I was able to see that HP not only has an HP iPrint Photo iPhone Application, but I saw the same app in the Sony Ericsson phone to be released soon.

It is the easiest application to use, but I don’t like the fact that it is for photos only. I am constantly trying to read documents on a phone, and would prefer to go to the closest HP printer on a wireless network and print the document. As there is always a signature needed for something that needs to be faxed back to the sender.

I am sure this application will print documents soon. With the 10,000 iPhone applications, Google G1 Applications, and the BlackBerry applications there is soon to be a phone that can print a document.

The HP iPrint Photo can easily print 4 x 6-inch photos from an iPhone or iPod touch to an HP inkjet printer on a wireless network. The application is free and available today.