HP hitting the tablet market
HP has announced they will enter the tablet market with their TouchPad tablet currently available for preorder on June 19th, available to all on July 1st. The 16GB tablet is $499.99 and the 32GB is $599.99. Retailers will have the wifi version available and AT&T will be carrying a 3G version later in the third quarter.
While the full technical specs are listed below, the HP TouchPad tablet is being well received by tech analysts due to its webOS operating system. “The platform’s unmatched features and flexibility will continue to differentiate HP products from the rest of the market for both personal and professional use. This is only the beginning of what HP’s scale can do with webOS,” said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s Palm Global Business unit.
HP says the TouchPad will be available at Best Buy, OfficeMax, Office Depot, Fry’s, Amazon.com, Walmart, Sam’s and directly from HP.com.
The most popular features are the large display as it is a 9.7″ device with 1024×768 capacitive display running a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, has a high resolution webcam and highly rated speakers.
For the people who are HP loyal or who are former Palm users, the TouchPad is a great option and is also useful for professionals looking for their first tablet as it functions similarly to a smartphone yet reminiscent to a PC.
Full technical specs:
| Color | Black |
|---|---|
| Operating System | HP webOS |
| Display | 9.7-inch XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant 18-bit color, 1024×768 resolution display |
| Keyboard | Virtual Keyboard |
| Microsoft® Exchange email with Microsoft Direct Push Technology POP3/IMAP (Yahoo!® Mail, Gmail™, AOL, Hotmail®, etc.) | |
| Messaging | Integrated IM and SMS |
| GPS | A-GPS (3G models only) |
| Digital camera | Front-facing 1.3-megapixel webcam for live video calling4 |
| Sensors | Light sensor, accelerometer, compass (magnetometer), and gyroscope |
| Media formats supported | Audio formats: DRM-free MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, QCELP, WAV Video formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 |
| Wireless connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication; Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support |
| Memory | Choose either 16GB or 32GB internal storage |
| Battery | Rechargeable 6300 mAh (typical battery) |
| Connector | Charger/microUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed |
| Headphone jack | 3.5mm stereo headset/headphone/microphone jack |
| Speakers | Internal stereo speakers and Beats Audioâ„¢ |
| HP Touchstone for TouchPad | Compatible |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2GHz |
| Dimensions | Width: 190mm (7.48 inches) Height: 240mm (9.45 inches) Thickness: 13.7mm (0.54 inches) |
| Weight | Approximately 740 grams (1.6 pounds) |
