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HP held its first HP Imagine event at its Palo Alto offices in Silicon Valley in the US in October when it announced over 20 new products and services.
The line-up included personal computers, printers, workforce solutions, AI tools, streaming peripherals and video conferencing devices aimed at the new flexible and hybrid way of work and play.
Among them that caught our eye was a first-of-its-kind moveable PC called the HP Envy Move with a built-in battery and a carry handle to move it wherever you are; and a new 3-in-1 foldable called the Spectre Fold that is a notebook, tablet and desktop.
At its keynote address, HP CEO Enrique Lores said the products and services it was launching would reflect ‘new ways to reimagine the way work gets done while contributing to a more sustainable future’.
Lores adds:
He touched on trends that shaped its new products: the era of flexibility, the impact of AI, protecting data and privacy and sustainability.
Interestingly, Lores’ take on AI is that it will make employees more productive and help design and build new experiences for customers.
Lores states:
He believes it will change the definition of a PC from a personal computer to a personal companion.
Lores adds the three ways AI will drive changes: access to AI will be cheaper; AI will be accessed quicker with reduced latency; and privacy by processing data without uploading it to the cloud.
The company also introduced a new workforce collaboration tool called HP AI Studio, to be released in 2024, to help data scientists and AI practitioners accelerate and scale AI model development.
Alex Cho, president of personal systems and solutions at HP, said AI Studio would streamline setup and data configuration that would allow for multiple people to contribute to the same project, both in the cloud and on premises.
Cho says:
AI will also make the PC far more personal, says Chou.
“Imagine if you had a device that was able to provide you with personalised, bulleted meeting summaries, tailored just for you based on your own email, contacts and presentations because it’s able to identify what’s important for you,” said Cho.
He describes a scenario of one being on leave and missing a meeting but when they get back, they can listen to the replay and get a summary of what they missed in a tailored way.
Cho went on to say a more personal PC needs to be flexible and dived straight into the first of its new devices, the HP Spectre Fold PC.
HP Spectre Fold
Aimed at the new hybrid lifestyle, the Spectre Fold PC is a 3-in-1 device that switches between three form factors: a desktop, laptop, and tablet.
The 17-inch OLED display in its open tablet form can be used with a stylus, and when folded, it becomes a 12.3-inch laptop with a wireless detachable keyboard. It can also provide a one-and-a-half screen view for dual-screen functionality. And lastly, to use it as a desktop, it has a built-in kickstand with the keyboard placed in front of it.
The keyboard and stylus feature wireless charging and don’t need additional cables to charge once integrated into the device.
HP says it has built-in AI for security, wellness and gesture controls. The AI chip will adapt to the user for things like walk-away lock, wake-on approach, auto screen dimming, privacy alerts, screen time and distance reminders, and touch-free content controls.
It is powered by a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor on the Intel Evo platform with Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD hard drive. Its battery promises 12 hours in laptop mode and 11 hours in desktop mode.
The Spectre Fold carries a $4 999 price tag, available initially in the US and UK, and 11 additional markets thereafter. South Africa is not one of them.
HP Envy Move
The second device unveiled was the HP Envy Move, a 23.8-inch all-in-one PC with a 10-point touch display and a unique moveable form factor.
This first-of-its-kind device with a built-in battery, Bluetooth keyboard with pouch storage and discrete carry handle lets users pick up and move it anywhere. It has kickstand legs that automatically fold when picked up and placed down, and sports Bang and Olufsen sound.
The Envy Move was showcased as a device for the home for work, entertainment, gaming, or an exercise companion. And for multiple people in the home, it can be a shareable hub.
It is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. It has a one-touch HDMI access; USB-C and A ports; a 5MP webcam with privacy shutter and a 6-cell 83Wh battery.
You may be wondering how this fits into a world full of laptops and what would entice a consumer to purchase one.
Jo Tan, senior vice president and head of personal systems consumer solutions at HP, tells the City Press that the number one feature is the larger screen.
“Notebooks allow you to have ultimate mobility because you can put them in a backpack and go anywhere you want. But some people don’t need that ultimate mobility and want something mobile enough,” says Tan.
She cites examples like moving between parents' or grandparents’ homes and bringing the kids from one place to another to play and learn together.
Tan says it’s not just family-oriented, but also aimed at the younger generation who want to be their own boss or run an online business, and to do all these things, a bigger screen is important.
Tan adds:
As the device is still new, once the company collects data on what consumers are doing with the Envy Move – with their consent – it will look at other technologies it can bring it, like wirelessly connecting to other devices, explained Tan. She didn’t rule out the possibility of a smaller screen size down the line.
The Envy Move is currently not available in South Africa and HP tells the City Press that dates for its introduction to the market have not yet been decided.
*Akabor was a guest of HP in Palo Alto
