32GB HP TouchPad Tablet Coming Soon to Wal-Mart?

05/21/2011 Comments Off on 32GB HP TouchPad Tablet Coming Soon to Wal-Mart? HP, Tablets & Technology Like

It’s believed that the highly anticipated HP TouchPad will be available at a plethora of different outlets including Wal-Mart with a modest price tag of $600. That’s according to an unidentified tipster who shared this information with our friends over at PreCentral.net.

Back in February HP executive Jon Rubinstein announced the ThinkPad at the HP Think Beyond event in San Francisco. HP fans have been waiting patiently for the arrival of the world’s first webOS tablet ever since. No exact release date has been confirmed yet, but my guess is it will be sooner than later.

At first glance the TouchPad looks very similar to the Apple iPad, but internally it’s unique. It will be the first tablet computer on the market to sport the new HP webOS 3.0 operating system.

What’s Different About webOS 3.0?

If you spend enough time online and/or working with computers then you understand how common it is to be focusing on more than one task at a time. With webOS 3.0 you can multitask a lot more seamlessly. You can also share information quickly and conveniently between other platforms such as HP smartphones like the HP Veer and HP Pre3 for example.

What if you could stay better organized and have personal accounts such as Microsoft® Exchange, Google, Twitter and Facebook merged into one easy to access location? Well HP’s webOS 3.0 enables you to do just that. Instead of constantly switching back and forth between programs and accounts you can have all of these things function side by side which ultimately results in less confusion and better overall productivity.

HP TouchPad Specs

Hardware

Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2GHz
16GB or 32GB models available
3.5mm stereo headset/headphone/microphone jack
Internal stereo speakers and Beats Audio™
Charger/microUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
A-GPS (3G models only)

Sensors
Light sensor, compass, gyroscope and accelerometer

Internet
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
A2DP stereo Bluetooth support

Audio Playback
DRM-free MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, QCELP, WAV

Video Playback
MPEG-4, H.263, H.264
Rechargeable 6300 mAh battery
1.3-megapixel front-facing webcam for video conferencing and calls

Operating System

HP webOS 3.0

Dimensions

Width: 190mm (7.48 inches)
Height: 240mm (9.45 inches)
Thickness: 13.7mm (0.54 inches)

Weight
1.6 pounds (740 grams)

Display

9.7-inch XGA capacitive, multitouch screen
vibrant 18-bit color
1024×768 resolution display

Final Thoughts

There’s no denying the HP TouchPad is advanced, clever and remarkably designed. The question is, will it be able to compete with other devices such as the Blackberry PlayBook, iPad and cheaper Android tablets? Seems like only yesterday there was hardly any selection when it comes to purchasing a new tablet pc, now consumers have plenty of options to choose from.

I believe the HP TouchPad has a lot of potential in the highly competitive tablet market, and you can’t forget they are a very large company that already has a lot of long-time loyal customers. Guess we’ll wait and see when it’s released on, uh well, whatever date they finally do release it.