HP Wi-Fi Tablet Arriving Next Month for $499
The Wi-Fi version of HP's TouchPad will officially arrive next month. In the meantime, HP will begin taking pre-orders starting June 19.
Thursday HP said that the Wi-Fi version of its upcoming TouchPad tablet can be pre-ordered directly from HP or from participating retailers nationwide (and in Europe) starting June 19. The tablet won't actually launch here in the United States until July 1, 2011. The 16 GB model will retail for $499.99 and the 32 GB model for $599.99.
Following the U.S.-based release, HP said that the United Kingdom, France and Germany will receive the Wi-Fi tablets "a few days later." Canada won't see the TouchPad until mid-July, and availability isn't even scheduled for Italy, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore until later this year.
This will be HP's first tablet using webOS, and will sport a 9.7-inch XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a native 1024 x 768 display. It will also feature a front-facing 1.3MP webcam, 802.11 b/g/n connectivity with WPA, WPA2, WEP and 802.1X authentication, a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 CPU clocked at 1.2 GHz, Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR, HP's Beat Audio technology and more.
“What makes HP TouchPad a compelling alternative to competing products is webOS," said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. "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."
HP said that it also plans to sell TouchPad accessories at launch including the TouchStone Charging Dock, the TouchPad Wireless Keyboard and the TouchPad Case. As for the 3G models, HP hasn't disclosed a release date, but said that it's working with AT&T to provide a mobile data plan for a launch sometime this summer. More information will be released closer to availability.
U.S. retailers and commercial resellers for the HP TouchPad will include Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Sam’s Club, OfficeMax, Amazon.com, Fry’s, Microcenter, other leading local and regional retailers, and HP’s online stores, the company said.
- Mozilla Labs Showcases a Browser Desktop
- IBM, AMD Providing CPU, GPU for Nintendo Wii U
- Enhance Your Kinect Experience With Nyko's ZOOM
- MicroVision Shows Off It's Portable Projector, the SHOWWX+
- Gear Up With Calibur11's 3D Armored Gaming Cases
- Wii U to Use 25GB Discs (But Not Called Blu-ray)
- RIM Stocks Take a Hit After iMessage Unveiling
- Nintendo's Wii U Game Highlights Were Composed of Xbox 360 and PS3 Footage
- Panasonic Using ARM Cortex-A9 in Smart TV SoC
- Verbatim's Dime-Sized USB Ideal for Car Audio
- Technician Installed Spyware to Photo Women
- Miyamoto: Wii U Will Unite Core/Casual Divide
- Hands On With Nintendo's Wii U
- New Tentacle-like Prosthetic Arm
- Flexible Traffic Light Concept Wraps Around Trees
- JetLev: The $100,000 Water-Powered Jet-Pack
- Circboard Makes Typing on Controllers Easy
- Microsoft, It's Time To Retire Windows
- The Ultrabook, Part 2: It's Not What You Think It Is
no thanks..ill wait for another decent droid OS tablet using the tegra 2 to hit the market. This HP fails with the snapdragon and web os.
When will these manufacturers figure out, that we want wireless devices with a regional/global antenna not devices with an AT&T logo on the back.
Pre orders available now LAWLZ!!! I had a palm pre, Palm is shit and HP is on a massive decline their stock is going to continue to plummet especially in this pad market I can't wait to watch the heads roll. They keep putting out such junk!!
I'd like to see what webOS has to offer. If it doesn't suffice then users can always root it and install Android or something else.
The Snapdragon is ARM-based so it gives you some idea what the capabilities and limitations are.
DOA. I wouldn't buy it at 299....250 maybe. I seriously doubt those retailers will actually carry this in their stores. How many Billion did hp spend on Palm?? Dumb
This will be the litmus test for webOS.
Though, as much as I've knocked on webOS in the past, my dislike of Android may push me into the webOS camp...assuming that Windows 8 ARM turns out bad.
no thanks..ill wait for another decent droid OS tablet using the tegra 2 to hit the market. This HP fails with the snapdragon and web os.
FYI Tegra 2 is not that powerful of a SOC and that Snapdragon is more powerful. If they make a Droid tablet with the new Snapdragon SOC on it I will buy in.
I like the fact that HP managed to match Apples prices, and with WebOS being the better OS the only reason not to choose HP if you want a $499 tablet is if you need a certain app not yet available. The app problem should be solved soon though, if HP goes through with their plan of putting WebOS on all devices that can carry it.
"This is a marathon and we're just getting started" - HPs CEO