HP Releases Pre3 To No Fanfare Whatsoever

You remember the Pre3, right? The phone announced alongside the Touchpad and the Veer? The one that fans ignored the Pre2 for, because it was going to be so much better? The one that was supposed to come out Summer of 2011, which has two whole weeks left? The one that hasn’t shown up on any US carrier’s upcoming device leaks?

If you forgot, I don’t blame you. There are days it feels like HP has forgotten about the device. Yet suddenly, here it is on sale in Europe. No press release, no announcement, no hands-on time for the press.  Months and month of disappointing foreplay culminating in a blink-and-you-miss-it release.

No one loves you.

What’s going on here? Why is HP hiding what, by all rights, should be their flagship phone? Considering the constant doomsaying about the Touchpad and the painful silence about the Veer, one would think HP would be shouting from the rooftops about this device. It’s what WebOS users (both of us) have been asking for from the start. Isn’t the Pre what sold HP on Palm? It’s almost like they bought the company for some reason other than WebOS and the Pre (can you say “patents” boys and girls? I knew you could).

There’s also the slightly puzzling timing. HP’s due to announce their quarterly earnings tomorrow. You’d think HP would want positive news to surround that announcement. Instead, we see HP stock dipping thanks to a downgrade, and likely helped along by the widespread pickup of an AllThingsD article stating that Best Buy wants HP to take back all their unsold Touchpads. I don’t know if ATD’s numbers are entirely right (they do seem built on hearsay evidence more than not), but regardless, the idea that the Touchpad isn’t selling is hardly big news.

You know what might help sales? A bloody phone to partner it with. Say a nice, powerful 4″ screen, a unique tap-to-share feature, and the ability to answer texts and calls that come on your phone with the tablet. That’d be keen.

If only HP had a product like that on the market.