In the spring of this year, Gizmodo exclusively presented the first images of the iPhone 4 terminal, and now it's the turn of those from FoxNews to present the first images of the new HP PalmPad tablet. This tablet will be presented at next month's CES conference, will be available in 4 versions and will have hardware similar to that of the iPad tablet. The HP PalmPad will run the WebOS operating system made by the Palm company for the famous Palm terminals before being bought by HP due to financial problems.
The HP PalmTab will work on Sprint's 4G network, it will have an HDMI port, it will have 2 cameras - a 1.3 megapixel frontal one and a rear one, both equipped with LED flash and USB 3.0 port. 3 of the 4 versions of the PalmPad will have slightly larger screens than the iPad tablet, but there will be a 4th version for universities that will have an 8.9 inch screen.
To be honest, the tablet doesn't appeal to me at all and I don't know why, but I have the impression that this feeling is shared by quite a few people. What do you think? Will it matter that it runs WebOS?
HP will introduce three models of the PalmPad at CES, with minor hardware differences distinguishing them. All three will run a new iteration of the WebOS operating system, version 2.5.1; they're collectively a spin-off of the never-released HP Slate. A fourth version won't be shown off at CES, I'm told, but it will be custom made for university students to prove how versatile the machines can be. The consumer version of the PalmPad will run on Sprint's fast 4G network, but otherwise it has hardware specs nearly identical to Apple's iPad. There are minor differences, of course: It has a mini HDMI port, for example, while the iPad requires a special dongle for video output. And there are front- and rear-facing cameras (1.3 megapixel and 3 megapixel, respectively), both with LED flashes. The PalmPad is slightly thinner than the iPad with rounded edges closer to the Amazon Kindle. At 1.25 lbs, the PalmPad also sports a USB 3.0 port and a "multi-switch" just like the one on the Palm Pre.
