HP on Wednesday officially rolled out webOS Pivot, a venue to highlight apps and showcase developers. The company also added a discount system to its developer program designed to reward those with the most years working with Palm and active webOS apps.
The moves come as HP preps its HP TouchPad for lift off at various retailers. The Wi-Fi TouchPad starts at $499 and is the latest entry to the tablet market. HP will push the TouchPad via its formidable consumer and enterprise channels.
According to HP, Pivot will complement its App Catalog and be an editorial product—basically a monthly magazine—showcasing app discovery by region and lifestyle. HP will put original content by journalists and photographers from publishers such as Conde Nast in Pivot.
The primary aim of Pivot will be to showcase and stoke interest in the WebOS platform. Pivot will publish in English, French, German and Spanish and then roll out to all HP TouchPad customers.
As for the discount program, HP said it will post full details on its developer portal July 1. In the long run, the discount deal will probably have a much bigger impact than Pivot. Developers tend to follow the money and generous revenue split.
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