iPad expected to push HP into largest quarterly loss

Could HP become the Nokia of PCs? Although the largest PC seller in the US, HP is expected to announce record-breaking quarterly losses later this week. As Nokia never could adapt to a market now dominated by smartphones, HP foresees nearly $9 billion in losses – much from the runaway adoption of Apple’s iPad.

On word that PC sales in the US were down 12.7 percent during the second quarter, HP is expected to loose between $8.5 and $8.9 billion in stock value, according to theAssociated Press. Meanwhile, record iPad sales are helping Apple become the world’smost valuable company…

Indeed, if iPad sales were counted alongside computer purchases, the tablet would account for 19.4 percent of all PCs shipped, analyst firm Canalys announced. By comparison, HP would drop to No. 2, as computer sales fell 11.3 percent for a 12.5 percent piece of all PC shipments.

You may remember HP, like so many other firms, took a run at competing against the iPad. When the company bought failing Palm, the key spoil from that takeover was the webOS, which HP quickly used for its TouchPad. The TouchPad became the Edsel of iPad-killers, quickly crashing and burning in bargain basement sales.

However, that experience may not have taught HP any lessons. Reportedly, HP is mulling over whether to create a new tablet, this one based on Android. In the meantime, HP along with other PC makers, await the Oct. 26 release of Windows 8, which might allow the PC to limp along for a few more years.

United Airlines Hands Out 11,000 iPads to Pilots

United Airlines has announced that it will officially be switching from the traditional 12,000 page “flight bag”(operating manuals, logbooks, reference handbooks, navigation charts, etc) and opting for a more modern approach by handing out 11,000 iPads to Continental and United pilots.

The iPads will come preloaded with Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck, “the industry’s premier app featuring interactive, data-driven enroute navigation information and worldwide geo-referenced terminal charts.”

From the press release:

“The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying,” said Captain Fred Abbott, United’s senior vice president of flight operations. “The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight.”

Not only will the iPads significantly ramp up efficiency by saving pilots from navigating the presumably clunky 12,000 sheets of paper that make up the conventional flight bag, they will also save approximately 326,000 gallons of jet fuel per year, according to the press release:

“The airline projects EFBs will save nearly 16 million sheets of paper a year which is equivalent to more than 1,900 trees not cut down. Saving 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 3,208 metric tons.”

This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen iPads being used as a more efficient alternative; restaurants have begun replacing menus, credit card readers, and cash registers with the tablet, and schools have long been handing them out in lieu of laptops.

Other businesses are bound to adopt the iPad to work for their own needs and perhaps render a lot of traditional hardware extinct in the process.

In what other scenarios could the iPad be used in to help increase productivity/efficiency?

YSL PATENT-LEATHER IPAD CASE

Still stressing over the last gift ideal for ya' Valentine? How about this Yves Saint Laurent Patent-Leather iPad Case? Everyone deserves a good "Oh you fancy huh?" moment and this is the gift item to do it.

The black stamped patent-leather iPad case comes with a stitch-detailed embossed designer logo at front, an internal leather compartment for iPad, press studs to fasten and is fully lined in beige suede.

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