Palm TouchPad to weigh 1.5 pounds and is 13mm thick

5330 Views 39 Replies 15 Participants Last post by NeilN, Jun 21, 2011

james99

Discussion Starter · Feb 9, 2011

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)

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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.

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Gino Cerullo

· #23 · Feb 15, 2011

WebOS was never Palm's problem it was the build quality of the phones. They had a very high return rate and once word got out that the hardware was cheap people stayed away and lost faith in Palm's ability to see it through. We all know what happened next. They were bought out by HP.

The advantage with being part of HP is that they have deeper pockets but if they don't come through with better build quality then people will continue to stay away as it will be a sign that HP is hedging its bets.

If consumers stay away so will developers and, although all the basic apps will be there like browser, email, calendar etc., it's the standout apps by third parties that make a platform.

HP's position in the enterprise has no advantage here. As a matter of fact Apple, being the first mover in this space, has the advantage because of the sheer commitment of the developer community Apple has been able to attract and the very mature developer environment Apple provides.

@rpr,

I don't know where you got your information from but next to Blackberry, Apple has the highest penetration in the enterprise for smart phones. As for tablets, Apple has THE highest penetration with 80% of Fortune 100 companies testing or deploying iPad (Financial Post). And Citrix Receiver is already on the iPad. Apple also has enterprise deployment tools. They still need to mature but compared to HP who has none I think Apple has the advantage here also.

WebOS is not a desktop replacement. 5–10 years down the road as a thin client maybe, who knows, but no advantage or savings here for HP.

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Gino Cerullo

· #25 · Feb 15, 2011

First, there's nothing wrong with being a fanboy. It just means that the platform works for you any your enthusiasm about it shows. And there's nothing wrong with spreading that enthusiasm. If somebody doesn't like it that's their loss. Of course, if you become really obnoxious about it then that can be a turn off.

As for standout apps, what I meant was that out of sometimes over a hundred apps that claim to do the same thing only maybe 2–4 actually do what they claim elegantly or accurately. Common sense dictates that the most successful apps will find their way on to every platform but if there are half a dozen platforms vying for attention, the developer may only choose to target 2 or 3 of the most successful.

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