At its WebOS event a few moments ago, HP announced three new Palm-centric products: one small, one medium, and one large. The HP Veer is a miniature touch smartphone, the Pre 3 updates the existing Palm Pre line of smartphones, and the HP TouchPad is a full-fledged 9.7-inch tablet. Better, all three devices can sync up contacts, data, and calendar events with one another. Details below, courtesy of CNET.
Small: HP Veer
Describing the new tablet, Jon Rubenstein (formerly of Palm), told the crowd that everyone is trying to make bigger smartphones but “HP is thinking beyond by thinking small.” The HP Veer will have the power of a regular smartphone, but will be much more compact. The phone has a 2.6-inch screen, slide-out tiny HP keyboard, a gesture area, other common phone features like GPS, and supports Adobe Flash. No further stats were given. The device will be available sometime this Spring, but no price was announced.
Medium: Palm Pre 3
This is an update to the Palm Pre we know. It doesn’t look very different. It has the same upward-slider design as the Veer and older Palm Pre phones, though the keyboard is the largest QWERTY keyboard of any WebOS phone yet. The screen measures 3.6-inches and has a resolution of 480×800–double the resolution of the Palm Pre. In addition, it runs on a 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor, can shoot “HD video,” has a 5MP rear camera with autofocus/LED flash, and a front-facing camera as well. As far as storage, 8GB and 16GB models will be available, and the device will support HSPA+ 4G (AT&T, T-Mobile) as well as Wi-Fi connections. No LTE support was mentioned at this time. The device will be available this summer, but no pricing was announced.
Large: HP TouchPad tablet
We wrote that Apple has a lock on 9.7-inch screens. Well, it looks like HP may be the first manufacturer to break into that screensize. Most iPad competitors have been 10.1 inches, but the HP Touchpad has a 9.7-inch screen very reminiscent of Apple’s tablet. The device runs on an updated WebOS 2.1 and has a resolution of 1024 x 768. It weighs 1.5 pounds and is 13.7mm thick. Under the hood is a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor with a choice between 16GB and 32GB of internal storage.
The standard WebOS card-like interface is still around, but it has been enhanced for the tablet, allowing users to group cards (apps, windows) together and multitask a bit easier than on the smartphone. It also features some social networking features and QuickOffice for light spreadsheet, document, slide show, or PDF editing. Beats Audio will also be included in the device.
No word on battery life, but the Wi-Fi version of the TouchPad will arrive sometime this Summer for an undisclosed price. 3G and 4G versions are on the way sometime later in the year.
Synergy and Touch to Share
Like the Veer and Palm Pre 3, the TouchPad comes with “Synergy” technology, which allows you to sync contacts, calendar events, and other items from your phone to your computer to your tablet. More interesting, if you drag one of the HP smartphones near the TouchPad tablet, it will let you load up Web pages from the tablet to the phone with a click of a button.
For a better look at HP’s new products check out our photo galleries on the HP TouchPad, Palm Pre 3, and HP Veer.
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