Apple has certainly held its own against a wave of contenders to the tablet throne this year, with only the $399 Asus Eee Pad Transformer coming anywhere near what could be considered modest success. On July 1, HP is going to throw its considerable weight into the mix with the long-awaited webOS-based TouchPad.
Engadget is reporting that a date has finally been made official for the HP TouchPad, the first non-smartphone device to feature the former Palm webOS which debuted in 2008 with the Palm Pre. HP is making their new slate available in the U.S. on July 1 at a long list of retailers including Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Sam's Club, OfficeMax, Amazon.com, Fry's, Microcenter and more.
Americans can get their HP TouchPad excitement on a bit earlier, with preorders starting on June 19 -- just a few short days away. So how much will it cost you? How does the familiar $499.99 for 16GB or $599.99 for 32GB sound? And fear not, HP will be offering a wide range of accessories for the tablet, including a Touchstone Charging Dock, TouchPad Wireless Keyboard and TouchPad Case.
Of course, the initial release will be a Wi-Fi only affair at that price, but HP is shacking up with AT&T for a 3G (or maybe faux 4G?) connected edition "this summer."
Foreigners will be able to get their hands on the HP TouchPad "a few days later" than July 1, at least those of you in the U.K., Ireland, France and Germany, with Canada bringing up the rear in mid-July. But fear not, a "phased rollout" will continue the webOS invasion later this year in Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore and Spain as well.
While it's too early to tell if the HP TouchPad might finally take the iPad down a notch, its webOS software is often considered one of the best mobile operating systems to date, including a slick notifications system that trumps even the one Apple is bringing to iOS 5 later this year.
In the meantime, Engadget has linked to a whopping nine YouTube videos that HP has been posting to promote the TouchPad leading up to its July 1 debut, so if you're looking to get a feel for the tablet, now's your chance.
Follow this article's author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
(Image courtesy of Engadget)
沒有留言:
發佈留言