Hewlett-Packard said it is stopping production of the HP TouchPad and closing its mobile devices business. Priced at launching at $499.99 (at par with the market leading iPad 2), and a month later reduced by $100, the HP TouchPad is the cheapest tablet on the market today at $99.99 for its fire-sale price.

New owners or would-be buyers shouldn't despair. Here are our Top 10 cool and crazy but amazingly "useful" (or lame) suggestions for a new lease in life for this dying tablet:

1. Collector's item. The year 2011 will be memorable: it's the year when Osama Bin Laden was killed while watching TV; it's the year when the world, according to Harold Camping, is supposed to end; and it's the first time in 100 years that U.S. government lost its pristine 'AAA' debt rating from Standard & Poor's. Including the TouchPad among the memorabilia's for 2011 for your future antique shop could be an awesome investment. Putting the TouchPad in this year's time capsule could also be sentimental.

2. Kardashian Giveaway. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian's wedding to New Jersey Nets basketball star Humphries is big business. Rather than a private celebration of love, Saturday's ceremony was a made-for-TV special on E! (Oct. 9), with numerous product placements. At only $99 each, Kardashian could include an HP tablet (instead of the Sketchers shoes or the Kardashian perfumes) each to the thank-you cards for the 450 guests who went into the trouble of attending the wedding. With 5 million monthly Web site visitors, and 9 million Twitter followers, and all things Kardashian dominating the airwaves, Kim could just get 450 units of the TouchPad for free in an endorsement deal (though it doesn't matter for HP anymore). For you, non-Kardashians, you can buy that $99 device now, wrap it, and send the package to grandma this Christmas. She'll likely thank you for sending her an Apple iPad.

3. In-Flight Entertainment. For some serious stuff, believe it or not, some airlines are now offering iPads or other tablets in select flights for passengers on first-class (replacing the boring existing in-flight entertainment systems). But recall what Atlantic Airways founder Richard Branson said: to become a millionaire, get a billion dollars and start an airline. In order to maintain sustainability, most airlines are cost conscious. Low-cost carriers -- the airlines that don't end up in bankruptcy -- can now afford to distribute tablets to all passengers with the $99-each TouchPad. The TouchPad is surely better than the old George Clooney movies shown during the flight.

4. Wall Frame. Remember the digital photo frames available at Wal-mart? You can turn the TouchPad into something better. The HP device actually has 16 GB of storage and Adobe Flash capabilities. Hence, you can tinker with your photos or video clips so that you'd have photos moving within the frame or appear to seem alive just like in the "Harry Potter" movies. Boosted by the TouchPad's built-in speaker for some Beethoven tunes on the background, faces smiling up or eyes winking from the photo frames can be a good house accessory for Martha Stewart and her fans.

5. eReader. At $99, the TouchPad would be cheaper than the device for eBooks being sold by Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Between chapters from a boring book that your girlfriend is forcing you to read, you can use the "next-level multitasking experience" provided by the webOS to play "Angry Birds" (which is among the built-in apps in the TouchPad). The HP TouchPad's 9.7-inch capacitive touch screen, dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls, and HP's touch-to-share technology, provide you with lots of options.

6. Secondary computing device. Remember when after ranting or typing a sad status on Facebook and nobody clicking "like"? You can use the TouchPad for a phony Facebook account and using this account to like your status. Sales people actually implement this marketing strategy -- when opening a bar or a restaurant, they pay people to eat at the new restaurant, as a busy new restaurant actually generates interest and entices new paying customers to try out. It takes only a few fake "likes" or retweets on Twitter for others to take an interest in what you wrote.

7. Fright Night. Did you know that that the TouchPad has some wireless printing capabilities? When your mean sister (or whoever you hate) is alone, sync the tablet to the HP printer, and print a note that says that "I Know What You Did Last Summer" or "Me, Jason and Freddie, coming to get you" to give her a good scare or possibly a heart attack.

8. Waiting area device. People are tired of the old magazines being provided at crowded waiting areas at your local hospital or clinic. Clinics or coffee shops or hotels (for their lobbies) would save money by buying three TouchPads rather than subscribing to a couple of newspapers every day for one year.

9. Throwing Away $1.2 Billion. Hewlett Packard paid $1.2 billion to acquire Palm Inc.'s WebOS 13 months ago. After releasing a single device that flopped, HP could abruptly end its webOS-based mobile devices business. But HP is the world's No. 1 seller of personal computers and printers and has one of the most recognizable brands in the industry. Of course, HP already said last week that it's giving up the mobile devices business after one box-office bomb, and thus, we just couldn't discard this among the lame moves for the TouchPad. Pepsi didn't stop production of its soda just a month after it failed to outsell Coke, did it?

10.[_____________]. We're saving the best for last to you, readers. Just post your ideas on the comment box. The most creative entry could get a TouchPad.

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