HP TouchPad 9.7in WebOS tablet

Online service centric

Touching phone's rear HP logo to the TouchPad's Home button auto-pairs the two, and future taps let them sync screens. View a website on your TouchPad, touch phone to pad, and the phone will immediately open its browser and present the page you're viewing. New Pres can be used as cellular modems in the same fashion.

It's cute, but limited to WebOS 2.0 and 3.0 devices.

Running apps are represented as 'cards' - tap one to bring it to the fore

Touchstone is more useful - HP's Palm-developed inductive charging system is built into the TouchPad. The charging dock-cum-stand is an optional extra, but it'll be a compelling purchase for TouchPad owners, offering wireless charging in whatever orientation you slip the tablet onto it.

The downside - no syncing cable - isn't really a negative: you'll sync your data wirelessly using the TouchPad's 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi link. It'll only be a handicap if you side-load content frequently.

HP said there will be 6000 apps available for the TouchPad when it goes on sale here on 15 July. That probably includes Pre-oriented apps, presented in a window or full-screen if they're capable of supporting it.

Tap phone to pad to sync screens. Yes, it works - but you have to have a Pre

Comparing the number of apps available to different platforms is an invidious now as it was in the Windows vs Mac battles of the 1980s and 1990s: quality is far more important than quantity, and the jury is still out on that one.

HP is paying [surely, 'persuading' - Ed] some big names to create apps for the platform, and if it can build up a solid userbase, more will come of their own volition.

And that's key: selling the TouchPad and selling WebOS. Today's world is one where data is platform agnostic, so it shouldn't matter what OS you favour. App availability can change that, but HP is big enough - as Palm was not - to pick up the tab in the near term.

Multi-service messaging is at the heart of WebOS

The TouchPad isn't the mythical 'iPad killer' - no tablet yet available is. But it's worthy alternative, especially if while disapproving of Apple's walled garden, you don't particularly trust Google either.

That said, while I like WebOS, the hardware is a let-down. It's not actually bad, but alongside the likes of the iPad 2 and Asus Eee Pad Transformer - let alone the anticipated iPad 3 - it feels like a product that's just behind the curve - the performance isn't quite there. ®

Tablet Reviews
Asus Eee Pad Transformer	Acer Iconia Tab A500	RIM BlackBerry PlayBook	Motorola Xoom	Apple iPad 2