HP WebOS tablet to ship early July
TouchPad inbound
HP's WebOS-based tablet - the TouchPad, as it's officially known - hits Blighty's shores early next month following its 1 July arrival in the US.
Punters in France and Germany get it on the same day we do - delivers in Canada commence mid-July, HP said today. Australians will have to wait until "later this year".
So far, HP is only offering a Wi-Fi version of the TouchPad, but it promised "a connected version" toward the end of summer, though it only gave a guarantee of US availability.
No word on local pricing, but the US prices are $500 (£306) for the 16GB model and $600 (£367) for a TouchPad with 32GB of storage - essentially iPad prices, once import duties and VAT have been applied.
HP will begin taking orders on 19 June. ®
COMMENTS
Meh..
If I'm paying iPad prices I'll get an iPad where I have the known quantities of the App Store (good and bad) or Cydia, not a WebOS device where ongoing support and development is a unknown.
These will sell like hot cakes
These will fly off the shelves, I bet they won't be able to meet demand.
Who's going to be able to resist a device that's not an iPad or Android? Especially from a top tier manufacturer with loads and loads of apps.
Oh.
Amazing
That this tablet doesn't seem to have any other connections other than USB sync and charge.
No HDMI, no VGA, nothing, not even with accessories. Isn't this a business tablet? How are users supposed to plug it into things like projectors?
The it has no SD card (again not even with adapter) and not even a basic rear camera either?
Seems UK price has been announced at £399 for the 16GB, £479 for 32GB - exactly same as the iPad 2.
Hope HP is planning on discounting them soon. Maybe buy a server get 5 Touchpads deal. Can't see it making it otherwise.
Sorry. HP
I've waited over a year for what turns out to be a damp squib.
Just why do you suppose I'd want to buy this?
WebOS = Titanic
There's absolutely no benefit in someone investing their hard earned cash on a device which has so little support and where WebOS market share is falling at such a massive rate month on month.
In the 3 months between Jan 2011 and April 2011, Palm/WebOS lost 19% of its marketshare (http://technology-headlines.com/2011/06/03/us-smartphone-ownership-up-13-percent-in-first-quarter-according-to-latest-comscore-report/). While Android and Apple showing the only signs of growth, I can't see WebOS lasting much more than a few more months. By Summer, HP will need to pay people to take these tablets off their hands.
