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 Channel Futures

Mobility & Wireless


HP Debuts TouchPad – The First Real Contender to iPad?

  • Written by Dave Courbanou 1
  • February 9, 2011

Palmtb0240
The wait is over … HP launched its webOS tablet, dubbed TouchPad. Believe it or not, it’s much more than an iPad competitor. HP’s level of integration and innovation on this device show a very Apple-like approach to a device ecosystem, and it should come as no surprise, considering Jon Rubinstein (now a senior VP and general manager at HP following its acquisition of Palm in 2010) previously had a successful career at Apple. Although I haven’t actually played with the product, at first blush it looks as through HP hit the nail on the head with the TouchPad. Here’s why:

First, photo credits go to Engadget, which broadcast HP’s webOS event live, during which I obtained the photos. In addition to the TouchPad, HP also announced at the event two new HP/Palm phones — the Pre3 and the Veer, a credit card-sized phone with some quality guts.

But the star of the show was clearly the TouchPad, which is a decent contender to the lineup of Android tablets on display last month at CES 2011. TouchPads will come in 16GB or 32GB flavors, with Wi-Fi connectivity coming this summer and 3G and 4G models to arrive later in the year. It packs a beefy dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU, along with the same-size screen and resolution as the iPad — 9.7 inches at 1024×768. HP has also included a 1.3MP front facing webcam (but no rear camera) and quality stereo speakers.

Palmtb0311But the real reason the TouchPad has the potential to kick some serious iPad butt is HP’s “touch to share” technology. HP hasn’t said whether it’s RFID or near-field communication or simply Wi-Fi, but the technology enables users of Pre3 or Veer users to transfer information from the phone to the TouchPad (or vice versa) simply by touching the two devices together. HP presented a demo of the technology, in which a Pre3 was tapped to the TouchPad, and suddenly, the web page on the TouchPad was available on the Pre3.

Text messages and other notifications also can be transferred between the devices, giving users what the BlackBerry Playbook wants to do (except the Playbook is useless without a BlackBerry). I would LOVE this feature with my iPhone and iPad. (I’m holding out for this with iPad 2 and iPhone 5.) But this tightly knit level of integration is something vendors just can’t do (or, at least, do well) with Android device fragmentation. (Argue with me in the comments.)

All the webOS multitasking card-based features are there, along with all the Flash-enabled goodness. We already know the webOS user experience is great. Some of the tablet applications do look a lot like Apple’s iOS implementations (like the mail app) but overall, there’s a good polish that is uniquely HP/Palm. Notifications don’t arrive front and center like iOS, or get hidden away in a menu bar like Android. They fade in over the right side of the screen in a bubble, and then fade away. Wireless printing, magazines, a new Kindle app and a few other developer demos flexed some 3D muscle on the TouchPad, too.

A size-adjustable onscreen keyboard for different fingers is a pleasant touch (no pun intended), and initial reports are that all animation, sounds and visuals are super smooth and super pleasing. I’ve always felt if Android’s app base was laid on top of webOS, there would be a robust and stylish competitor to the iPhone, so I’m hoping developers hop on board with HP.

HP also has developed a keyboard and docking station for the TouchPad, for obvious reasons. No price tag has been announced yet.

The, as an added ‘wow,’ HP finished up its presentation by saying webOS would be coming to PCs in about a year. It’s an exciting time to be a consumer.

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Tags: Agents Cloud Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Mobility & Wireless

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3 comments

  1. Avatar Tristan Rhodes February 13, 2011 @ 6:24 am
    Reply

    The “touch to share” application reminds me an awful lot like the app “Bump”! Good idea though.

    http://bu.mp/

  2. Avatar milles21 February 14, 2011 @ 3:50 am
    Reply

    I am really excited about what HP is bringing to the table with WebOS. I think it is really the only true competitor to the iPhone and the iPad.

    I think that WebOs looks great on the TouchPad and even for the moment appears to have a better workflow as well as a uniqueness of it’s own. I have always thought that WebOs lacked the resources to challenge Apple.

    I can see where HP could really leverage the OS it’s self in places like a it’s ILO in servers, Printers, POS, and mobile devices.

    I could also see significant cost savings around the organization by standardizing on their own hardware and software.

    On the consumer side I see a market where developers can really leverage the full power of the web. The device really feels like a true multitasking device that could serve as a PC replacement.

    If HP markets the device correctly it really could out pace Android which often feels like s hack. IMHO!

  3. Avatar Victor February 14, 2011 @ 8:11 pm
    Reply

    Hi Dave,

    Good article. Interesting product but, I lost my love for Palm when they abandoned me and Win 7 64 bit. I would be afraid to go back to them because of lock in. And fear they would break my heart again. I do not find quality in the whole HP line like I use to. Android and their tablets will give me more options. So many different ways that Android can get me in trouble but I can move on easily. And if Microsoft gets their act together I would at least give them a try before I would go back to HP.
    (Trying to be cute but I think that emotion guides a lot of purchases and HP has a lot of ground to catch the rest of the pack.)

    Thanks,
    Victor

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