[james99]

from press release

HP today enlarged the HP webOS world with the first webOS slate ¬– the HP TouchPad – the breakthrough webOS user interface fully realized in the tablet experience.(1)
With its vibrant 9.7-inch diagonal flush capacitive multitouch display, virtual keyboard, instant-on access, support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 beta in the browser and access to thousands of webOS applications,(2) TouchPad works the way you do and is designed not just for fun but for mobile productivity. It’s ideal for anyone who wants the benefits of the amazing webOS platform on a much bigger scale.

and

HP TouchPad features and specs
— HP webOS
— High-speed connectivity(1)
— Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2-GHz processor
— 9.7-inch diagonal XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 1,024 x 768 resolution display
— The option of either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage(14)
— High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content(1)
— Wireless connectivity:
— Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication(1)
— A-GPS (3G only)(10)
— Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
— Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, and a 3.5 mm headset/headphone/microphone jack
— Internal stereo speakers and Beats Audio
— Front-facing 1.3-megapixel webcam for live video calling(11)
— Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)(6)
— Robust messaging support(4)
— Light sensor, accelerometer, compass (magnetometer) and gyroscope
— Rechargeable 6,300 mAh (typical) battery
— Micro-USB (Charging and PC Connect) with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
— Built-in HP Touchstone technology for easy charging (HP Touchstone for TouchPad sold separately) and HP touch-to-share to share web addresses between TouchPad and compatible webOS phones(5)
— Dimensions: 190 mm x 242 mm x 13.7 mm (7.48 inches x 9.53 inches x .54 inches)
— Weight: approximately 740 g (1.6 pounds)

 

[hugh]

Looks just like an iPad

 

[hugh]

Looks every bit as good as an iPad but Pricing and apps will be critical. If its not cheaper then why bother and if I can't download a bunch of good apps, then why bother.

With HP behind this (the world's largest computer seller), I think this could really hurt the Android tablets.

 

[audacity]

Looks every bit as good as an iPad but Pricing and apps will be critical. If its not cheaper then why bother and if I can't download a bunch of good apps, then why bother.

I think the value proposition is for people who would prefer webOS over iOS. We'll see how it turns out, but I think the card-based multitasking of webOS will prove to be superior for tablet computing scenarios than Apple's current "multitasking" implementation in iOS 4.

If the pricing is in the iPad price range, I may upgrade from my current (WiFi) iPad to a TouchPad. My iPad may become a dedicated Sonos controller.

 

[TorontoColin]

Like Hugh I think apps are the key. What's the point in spending all that money on a tablet if it's mostly just for web browsing?

Personally I won't buy a tablet until the can integrate with my phone like the Blackberry Playbook. I want to be able to receive my calls and texts on my tablet when I'm using it so that I can leave my phone in my pocket. As I use an Android phone, I suspect I'll be waiting for an Android tablet with that capability.

Still, webOS is a very slick interface, and from what I've heard they work very well with developers. With HP's backing, as long as they keep that up then I think they have a shot.

 

[audacity]

What's the point in spending all that money on a tablet if it's mostly just for web browsing?

Aside from the Sonos controller app, that's 90% of what I do on my iPad: browsing. Why? Because the web is where all the content is!

 

[hugh]

I think the value proposition is for people who would prefer webOS over iOS.

Well there's six sales. Look at sales of Pre. They are microscopic.

I suspect the Anything but Apple crowd will go for an Android tablet, not webOS, since they probably already own an Android smartphone.

 

[TorontoColin]

I think the problem the first Pre faced was that Palm couldn't market it well enough.

Apple was able to leverage their iPod market share in order to build up iPhone hype. People already used Apple products like iPods, iTunes, and Macs. Thanks to the popularity of iPods, people were paying attention to Apple.

Google did similar work with their various services in order to build interest in Android. Microsoft is trying to do the same thing using Office and Xbox Live (and a massive ad budget) to build interest in Windows Phone 7. Palm no longer had much market share and didn't have other businesses to leverage. Now that HP is behind it, perhaps they can build up some hype and market webOS properly to actually draw some interest.

 

[audacity]

Well there's six sales. Look at sales of Pre. They are microscopic.

Sure, but I think Palm's inability to sell the Pre to the mass market was a function of their poor marketing campaign and being a relatively small (cash-strapped) company. I think webOS has potential because it certainly has a lot more mindshare than it does marketshare in the "technorati" circles. One pattern that I've seen again and again is that mindshare gains precede marketshare gains.

Oh, and HP should be able to do a better job getting their products to market since they have a relationship with most technology retailers, and they do indeed seem to be "doubling down" on webOS.

 

[hugh]

We will leave the last word on predicted sales with TorontoColin so lets leave the how many units will HP sell and focus on the product since that is really the subject of the thread.

Anybody care to comment on what HP appears to be delivering and its functionality?

 

[TorontoColin]

I think the touch to share functionality is really neat, though I'd like to see how easy it is and how well it works in a real world setting.

I'd like to know what exactly differentiates webOS 3.0 from 2.X. According to BGR though it looks mighty impressive:

Software is where this puppy shines, however. The Palm team’s Web-based mobile operating system may have been born on smartphones, but it’s all grown up on the TouchPad tablet.

 

[hugh]

One concern I have is the HP Movie store.

I don't want another movie store. I want to be able to buy a movie from any digital store and have it play on any device therefore the Touchpad has to be able to play the "Digital Copy" movies and the TV shows I bought at the iTunes store as I am not going to rebuy content.

For me I really want my content to work on my iPad, the Touchpad and possibly an Android pad.

 

[99semaj]

Notable in today's annoucements was the fact that the Palm name is completely absent with respect to the WebOS product. I think "Palm" is now dead.

Sure, but I think Palm's inability to sell the Pre to the mass market was a function of their poor marketing campaign and being a relatively small (cash-strapped) company.

I thought they did a pretty good job of promoting the Pre, including generating hype with the media. In my mind, what killed the Pre was it's build quality and feel compared to the competition. Given HP's shaky reputation for hardware quality, I'm not so sure they are going to help in that respect. (That said, I just bought a new HP AirPrint printer, and I'm quite impressed)

 

[audacity]

If anyone is interested, a video of the event is available on Youtube.

 

[hugh]

One very annoying thing for me about the Touchpad is the "Planned availability this summer"

Why announce something like this 4 to 6 months before its available unless its just another case of FUD. IMO, HP is just hoping that it can get people who are waiting for the iPad 2 to wait for the Touchpad.

 

[Gino Cerullo]

No pricing announced yet. I guess they’ll wait and see what Apple releases as the iPad 2 and price it accordingly. I actually don’t expect iPad 2 to be much different than this actually. Just an incremental bump in specs as is Apple’s “modus operandi.”

As it stands now, other than the dual core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon, stereo speakers, front-facing camera and gyroscope, the hardware is pretty much a clone of the iPad 1 without a 64 GB option. Admittedly, there isn’t much more you could add in a device of this class anyway. It shares the simple elegance of the iPad, which I think is a good thing. The build quality could be its Achilles' heel though. We'll have to wait and see.

One drawback though is there doesn’t seem to be any way to connect it to an external display so it can’t be used with a projector for presentations and can’t be hooked up to a TV for the odd time someone wants to playback video on a larger screen. Big over-sight in my opinion.

Overall it’s actually pretty decent, if the price is right. If HP can attract enough developer attention this could prove to be a good thing for HP and the tablet market in general.

And in the spirit of 'veering' slightly off topic, as for the Pre3 and the Veer, I'm not impressed, especially with the Veer. They really needed to have a home-run with these. If they aren't really cheap, $99 for the Pre3 and Free for the Veer on contract I don't really see these flying off the shelves.

 

[james99]

Official website:

http://www.palm.com/us/products/pads/touchpad/index.html

 

[hugh]

Not announcing pricing suggests to me that if they had a killer price in mind then they would have announced it.

Since HP products are never cheap, my guess is they will price the 16GB and 32GB versions at the exact same price as the respective Apple iPads.

 

[Veee]

Well I doubt the Touch Pad will have a "killer" price. The tech is pretty much the same as its competitors and it costs what it costs.

I'm an Andorid guy, but I'm really impressed with the software of the TouchPad - it looks more useful than either iOS or Honeycomb at this time when it comes to multitasking.

 

[GrimJack]

This is a pretty good summary post.
http://blog.cocoia.com/2011/hp-webos-event-roundup/

People I know that are Pre fans suggest that the notifications and multitasking are the strengths of this platform compared to everyone else.

I think the real issue is if HP intrudes on the technical side of the palm people rather than focusing on sales and support.

Possible problems: Palm did a horrible job of handling developer relations with the Pre. JWZ of Netscape fame wrote a pretty scathing report about how hard/impossible it was to actually get apps into their marketplace even for free. At this point in the game managing good developers is the real land grab, some crappy apps will get ported (badly) to every platform, but if you want people to come and develop killer apps that use the features that differentiate your platform from everyone else's you're going to have to work at it. As well the amount of damage caused by the talent lost after the Palm acquisition has yet to be seen.

Positives: They seem to be more focused than RIM (We're going to be everything to everyone - its a floor cleaner AND a desert topping) and they have some already mature apps (mail etc) for the platform that have received extensive testing. The fact that their phone and tablet are both running the same OS/Version should also make integrations between the two much stronger.