HP/Palm announces tablet prototype

[xune]

Oh, hello. A trusted tipster just sent in these internal renders of HP / Palm's "Topaz" webOS tablet, which is one of two tablets currently being developed in Sunnyvale. That's right, two tablets: the 9-inch Topaz and a 7-inch model codnamed Opal -- a lineup that fits nicely into Palm's "Something big, Something small, Something beyond" tagline for its upcoming February 9th event. Looking at the render, we're seeing the no-button design we'd previously heard about (we're assuming the gesture area rotates with the display), a front-facing camera, a micro USB port on the bottom, and what appears to be a Vizio Tablet-style three speaker arrangement for stereo audio in both landscape and portrait modes -- that's two speakers along the left side and a third on the right. (That's just a guess, though.) We'd also note the back appears to be a glossy material, which might rule out a giant Touchstone for charging -- Touchstone backs have heretofore been soft-touch, but anything can change, we suppose.

We're told that units will start to arrive at Palm HQ in June as production ramps up for launch later this year -- a timeline backed up by an internal marketing slide we received that lists WiFi-only, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE versions of the Opal arriving in September 2011, and on AT&T LTE in July 2012. The slide also indicates the Opal will have a particular e-reading focus, which makes sense for a 7-inch device, and there's a mention of "premium audio," which nicely reinforces our speaker hypothesis. Unfortunately, we don't have any word on specs or pricing yet, but these things had better be packing some serious heat for cheap if Palm is really planning to wait until September to launch them -- they'll be going head-to-head with the Xoom, the PlayBook, and presumably the iPad 2. We're still digging for more, so keep an eye out -- things are going to get crazy leading up to February 9th.

Update: We're told that they both have unspecified 1.2GHz processors, and that Topaz may arrive before Opal. We'll let you know if we learn anything else.

Hit the link up for photos:
Exclusive: HP / Palm's webOS tablets -- pictures, plans, and more -- Engadget

 

[xune]

HP/Palm Tablet [Topaz] specs leak

Note. The following specs have not been officially confirmed:

Though we've already had a chance to see what they might look like, a new wave of leaks from PreCentral suggest that HP's 9.7" webOS tablet will have a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and wireless docking features like whoa.

Here are the specs for the Topaz, the larger of HP's two webOS tablets, as received by PreCentral:

Processor: Dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 at 1.2GHz
Graphics Integrated Adreno 220 GPU
Screen: 9.7" XGA 1024 x 768
Dimensions: 190mm x 240mm x 13.7mm
Weight: 700g / 1.5lb (estimated)
RAM: 512MB DDR2
Storage: 16g / 32g / 64g eMMC
Camera: Front-facing 1.3mp camera for Video Chat
Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR
WiFi Dual-band 802.11 b/g/n
Other Radios Optional WWAN for HSPA, LTE, perhaps CDMA later
Sensors: Accelerometer, eCompass, Gyro, Light Sensor, Microphone
Speakers: 2 integrated speakers with Beats Audio, 3.5mm audio jack
Battery: 24WHr for >8hrs, using two 3150mAh cells
All good and well (who really needs a camera on the back of a tablet, anyway?) The first run will apparently be Wi-Fi only with 3G and 4G versions following up after the initial release.

But even more interesting is PreCentral's info on "Touchstone v2," the second generation of Palm's inductive charging technology. Their leaks suggest that the Topaz tablet will support inductive charging via Touchstone, as well as wireless photo sharing and audio streaming, wireless printing, and some wireless game functionality that sounds mighty interesting.

We'll be hearing all about the Topaz and its sidekick, reportedly dubbed the Opal, on February 9th. But it sounds like the first 10" webOS tablet is shaping up to be a worthy iPad competitor with an eye to cutting a lot of annoying cords.

Leak: Full Specs For HP's 9.7" Topaz WebOS Tablet

 

[Digikid]

I dunno....also hated the PalmOS. Such garbage.

Just my opinion though.