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HP TouchPad coming to a store near you July 1, pre-orders start June 19

By | June 9, 2011, 8:15am PDT

Summary: Looking for an alternative to the iPad-or-Android-OS conundrum, you will have one in the HP TouchPad running webOS starting July 1. Well, at least the Wi-Fi only version.

Looking for an alternative to the iPad-or-Android-OS conundrum, you will have one in the HP TouchPad running webOS starting July 1. Well, at least the Wi-Fi only version.

U.S. consumers can look for the TouchPad in these retailers: Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Sam’s Club, OfficeMax, Amazon.com, Fry’s, Microcenter. They can also order the tablet from HP’s online stores.

The 9.7″ tablet running webOS 3.0 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060, and has capacitive, multi-touch display at 1024×768 resolution. But what most excites consumers about the TouchPad is the multi-tasking abilities of the webOS. (Check out this post for more details and a demo of the TouchPad.) The tablet will be available in two models, both with Wi-Fi connectivity only: the 16 GB will retail for $499.99 while the 32 GB will cost $599.99.

For those who prefer a 3G version, HP will be partnering with AT&T to release the model with cellular connectivity later this summer.

I can’t wait to give the webOS a try. What about you?

[Source: BusinessWire]

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U.S., Hewlett-Packard Co., Apple iPad, Gloria Sin

Gloria Sin is a freelance journalist based in New York City.

Disclosure

Gloria Sin

I have no stocks or investments in any companies or interests which may lead to a conflict of interest in my coverage.

Biography

Gloria Sin

Gloria Sin is a New York-based freelance journalist who writes about the tech toys that you can't live without for ZDNet. She has little patience for poorly designed user experiences, and is not afraid of opening the guts of her own machines for repair or hacking her gadgets for new uses.

She has written for FastCompany.com, Popular Science, Olympic News Service; she currently covers the startup scene in the Tri-State area for NYConvergence.com.

Prior to ZDNet, Gloria was the online editor for Dance International, and dabbled in web design and social media consulting. When she is offline, you will find her at an ice rink living out her figure skating dreams. Follow her on Twitter.

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RE: HP TouchPad coming to a store near you July 1, pre-orders start June 19
tejasmodi@... 17th Jun
@hlynnar
"With HP integrating it into printers and PCs, it should be a real winner. "
probably the only way they can win
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Yes but it runs webos so it will stay there in the store, on the shelves
Johnny Vegas 9th Jun
because consumers dont want webos devices and they dont want to buy into a webos app ecosystem where they lose everything when they make the inevitable move to a windows tablet. Wake up HP! Get on board or your shareholders will have to overthrow your management. You stand to lose billions over the next few years...
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RE: HP TouchPad coming to a store near you July 1, pre-orders start June 19
awkward hug 9th Jun
HP plans on integrating their future lineup to run within windows. I want to know what they're going to do with this touchpad then.

I wish people would other OS a shot. But that's just the way it is, the network feedback loop just can't be beat.
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Multi-tasking
camcost@... 10th Jun
It has one appeal.... multi-tasking.
Besides that, it appears to be somewhat of an iPad clone (which isn't a bad thing when priced far below the iPad... which it ISN'T!!!)

At this point I'm not sure if it's a good thing to divide the market with similar alternative devices, or to let the leader strengthen their lead.

I personally haven't been happy with the Android tablets, and feel that with a couple tweeks the iPad could be much better, but I also have reservations about these other devices (Touchpad etc) which aren't innovative enough to have a magnetism of their own.
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RE: HP TouchPad coming to a store near you July 1, pre-orders start June 19
hlynnar 10th Jun
It's very exciting for this long-time user of Palm devices. I've been moving up each time a new product is released. The WebOS Palm Pre is far superior to the iPhone and with the TouchPad syncing with the Pre, Google calendar, contacts, etc. keeping it all up to date when changed from any device, it's a no brainer for me. I've been using the Nook Color Android tablet for email, web, Facebook, newspaper and magazine reader. Limitations of Android vs. WebOS are quite apparent with lack of multitasking particularly. I've tried iPhone and iPad that friends have bought and I'm left unimpressed, particularly when videos sent as email links won't play due to lack of Flash. If people will just give WebOS a chance, I'm sure they'll love it. With HP integrating it into printers and PCs, it should be a real winner. My recommendation is to judge these devices on their functional merit not the marketing and advertisement hype. If you do, I believe the TouchPad and forthcoming new WebOS phones will really delight.
0 Votes
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RE: HP TouchPad coming to a store near you July 1, pre-orders start June 19
tejasmodi@... 17th Jun
@hlynnar
"With HP integrating it into printers and PCs, it should be a real winner. "
probably the only way they can win
0 Votes
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RE: HP TouchPad coming to a store near you July 1, pre-orders start June 19
opcom 10th Jun
It looks pretty cool tho. I've been happy with HP products overall. I don't like Apple very much because of their policies so this could be worth looking at.
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Good thing I have waited.
pfyearwood 10th Jun
I am also a long time user of Palm products. I have been looking at the Archos line of mini-Android tablets because my z31 is losing its ability to hold a charge under moderate use. I don't want another cell phone but a mini webOS tablet the size of the Palm PDAs would be nice.

Paul
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RE: HP TouchPad coming to a store near you July 1, pre-orders start June 19
bunkport Updated - 13th Jun
I already have an HP Slate tablet witha 64GB solid state hard drive and Win7 Pro. It was a gift that I haven't really used that much but I would like to be able to make it a dual boot or even a triple boot running webOS and/or Android. So far I haven't found out how to do it.
If Android I want to install the honeycomb tablet version. I tried out Froyo on a live CD and it worked but was essentially useless since my laptop is not a phone

I've gotten away from Palm OS stuff having used Handspring PDA's and Treos in the past, but still have the apps stored. I understand there's an app for webOS that allows legacy Palm software to run in web OS.

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