HP Global Influencer Summit 2012 keynote and other comments

HP is holding their annual Global Influencer Summit here in Shanghai, and they’ve invited us to attend in person. In addition to providing valuable insight during their keynote address, select HP personnel commented on various aspects of the company’s workings and sales, including noted similarities between Apple and HP designs.

Ronald Tiefenthäler/Omar Al-Qudsi, Published 05/09/2012

The plethora of notebooks unveiled by HP have already been documented, but the company did have another unique offering at hand. In conjunction with 3M, HP has developed the t410 AiO, which is an all-in-one PC that can be powered through a single Ethernet port. The device consists of only an 18.5” display, that’s run by a TI DM8148 chip and operates at between 5 and 13 watts of power. Intended to reduce clutter and energy costs, the device should be helpful in countries like India and China where electricity can be a rare commodity. The t410 AiO will cost $429 and should be available this summer.

On the other hand, HP execs did have a few interesting comments to make in subsequent interviews with members of the press. Speaking to Engadget, HP’s VP of Industrial Design Stacy Wolff commented on the similarities between HP’s Envy Spectre XT and Apple’s MacBook Air. According to Wolff, the similarities are a result of the way technologies are now developed and HP did not try to mimic Apple in any way. Furthermore, Wolff believes that while some companies may want to be copycats, the majority does not and any resulting similarities are just a cost of attempting to reduce the size of their products.

HP was also forthcoming with a few other tidbits about their design and marketing, including the fact that the 15” form factor is currently the most popular size in the US as opposed to 14” in China, and that men prefer black laptops to white ones.

As usual, check out our images of the keynote below and stay tuned for more updates as they roll in.