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HP offers TouchPad owners six free apps – but hurry

Trevor Mogg
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When HP recently announced it was ending smartphone and tablet production, a fire sale began which saw the price of its 16GB TouchPad tablet slashed from $399 to just $99. The 32GB model was knocked down to $149, from $499.

Not surprisingly, they were snapped up quicker than you could say, “Who wants an iPad, anyway?”, freeing up a sizable amount of space in Best Buy stores across the US in the process.

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Now it seems the kind folks at HP have been rummaging around in the closet to see what else they can find in the way of offers, as on Thursday it announced that all TouchPad owners can get themselves a free six-pack – of apps, that is.

In a post on the HP Palm blog, the company said it was offering six free apps, worth a total of just over $30. You’ll have to hurry though – the offer expires on August 31 at 11:59pm.

The pack, which includes two games and a storybook, is currently only available to TouchPad owners in the US, though they will be made available to those in other countries shortly, HP wrote in the post.

This is what the company is giving away:

  • Glimpse (Inglorious Apps, $5): Amp up your TouchPad multitasking to 11 using this customizable and addictive split-screen interface.
  • Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook (zuuka, $2.99): Enjoy images and voices from Kung Fu Panda 2 right on your TouchPad.
  • Big Boss (Fair Play Labs, $1.99): Design your “ Big Boss Boss” – a gigantic monster – and attempt to defeat the brave heroes and powerful wizards of WackyLands.
  • Sparkle HD (10tons Ltd., $4.99): Save Crowberry Woods in this TouchPad version of the popular desktop game.
  • Camera for TouchPad (Keen Studios, $0.99): Start snapping away, with options for managing your photos and using them with other TouchPad apps.
  • Audubon Birds (Green Mountain Digital, $14.99): This searchable digital field guide to North American birds offers stunning photography and thrilling (trilling?) bird songs.

The blog post ends with more good news for TouchPad owners. “Stay tuned for the next 6-Pack of apps (planned for early September),” it says.

For full details on how to get the current set of free apps, click here.

The move by HP looks like an attempt by the company to maintain interest in the TouchPad’s WebOS operating system – which the company says it wants to develop – and hopefully prevent WebOS developers from running off to other platforms.  

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Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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