HP's Latest Contribution to the Tablet Market

HP is the latest PC maker to jump into tablets - and in entering the market, it has immediately become the latest tablet maker to land under Apple's shadow. The HP TouchPad is the first tablet based on the WebOS mobile operating system, which HP acquired when it purchased Palm a year ago. It has had tepid reviews this week.

Although WebOS shows some flashes of finger-friendly brilliance (it seems far better suited for a tablet than for the small screen of a phone), the TouchPad suffers from cumbersome design, performance lags, and a poor app selection.

The Wi-Fi TouchPad comes in two versions at launch, with a 16GB model costing £399 and a 32GB model costing £479, price tags that put it on a par with the iPad 2.

Had the TouchPad launched a year ago, soon after the first-generation Apple iPad, it might not have felt so behind the curve. But at this point it seems to be playing catch-up, despite the fact that it has several distinguishing features. Chief among them are the immersive meshing of contacts from multiple Web services and sources, the ability to print, Touchstone inductive charging, and touch-to-share (a Web, phone, and messaging transfer capability that will eventually work with the HP Veer and the upcoming HP Palm Pre smartphones).

HP hopes that Russel Brand can boost sales as the face of the TouchPad. There is a series of 12 short clips where Brand demonstrates the tablet's features.

Sources

PC Advisor 30/06/11

Business Advisor SAI