HP PRESS EVENT ROUND-UP; VEER, TOUCHPAD AND PRE3

Below is a roundup of HP's press event today. One notable abscense from the event was Palm, which HP acquired fairly recently. Has HP killed the Palm name? Possibly for now anyway.

HP VEER
The very first webOS-based device to bear the HP name alone without Palm's alongside packing Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7230 processor at 800MHz. Other headline specs include a 2.6-inch 320 x 400 display, 5 megapixel EDoF camera, HSPA+ support, 8GB of storage, an accelerometer, proximity and light sensors (as usual), Touchstone compatibility, and mobile hotspot support. Keyboard usability will be a big question that we'll need to have answered when the phone is released this spring. No word on carriers yet, and pricing is set to be decided upon "at a later date."

HP PRE3
Here's to a decidedly Palm-less round three. The QWERTY slider with the all-too-familiar form factor has a 3.6-inch 800 x 480 display (a marked improvement over past Pres), 5 megapixel camera with AF and LED flash, 720p HD video, a front-facing camera for video calling, mobile hotspot, and webOS 2.2. Under the hood? A Qualcomm MSM 8x55 CPU running at 1.4GHz (!), 802.11a/b/g/n 5GHz, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, a 1230 mAh battery, HSPA+ and EVDO Rev A -- yep, it's a world phone -- and the same RAM as the Pre 2 (that's 512MB DRAM). It'll be Touchstone compatible, naturally, and will switch to Exhibition mode when docked to show pictures and upcoming appointments. There's some interesting synergy going on where the TouchPad tablet can take Pre 3's phone calls, and just touching the two devices together will let you share URLs (aptly titled touch-to-share). This one's gonna keep you waiting, though -- availability is this summer with both 8GB and 16GB storage options.

TOUCHPAD
the TouchPad (previously known by Topaz) is shaped almost exactly like the iPad. It tips the scales at 1.6 pounds and measures 13.7mm thick, which is somewhat of a downer for those already put off by the heft found in Apple's slate. As we'd heard last month, HP's shipping this one with its own Beats audio engine, Touch-to-Share (a feature that lets users easily transfer a website, document, song, text or call from the phone to the tablet -- or vice versa -- simply by tapping the two devices together) and a huge reliance on the cloud. Also of note, Jon just mentioned that this is only the "first in the webOS TouchPad family," hinting that the Opal may be just around the bend.

Other specifications include webOS 3.0, "true multitasking," Touch-to-share, instant-on productivity, a 9.7-inch display (1024 x 768 screen resolution), a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU (!), inbuilt gyroscope, accelerometer, compass and 16GB / 32GB of internal storage space. There's also a front-facing 1.3 megapixel webcam, support for video calling, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, A-GPS (3G model only), "twice the memory of a Pre 2" and a set of stereo speakers. Rubenstein claims that this here tablet is "screaming fast," and the software UI we're seeing looks downright luscious. There's a new paneled email application a Growl-like pop-up notification system, support for Skype calling, compatibility with Amazon's Kindle e-book store, plenty of cal / email integration courtesy of HP Synergy, a slick virtual keyboard, VPN support, wireless printing as well as Google Docs, QuickOffice, Dropbox and Box.net compatibility. One of the killer features that can't be found on a competing tablet right now is this one's ability to talk to the Pre 3 -- so long as there's a Touchstone involved, one can have their Pre 3 and TouchPad communicate, even piping over notifications and texts from the phone onto the slate. It's a brilliant idea, and we're obviously amped to see just how well it's implemented.

OTHER NOTES
HP confirmed it has teamed up with Time, Inc to offer subscriptions to some of its magazines on the TouchPad when it launches this summer. That will apparently include Sports Illustrated, Time and People initially, with Fortune and other Time Inc. titles to follow further on down the road, according to AdWeek. Still no word on pricing, but HP promises they'll deliver an "immersive reading" experience.

HP's decided to end its fireworks-rich presentation on a gorgeous bombshell: webOS is coming to PCs! The company says it's thinking beyond today and intends to take webOS to "other connected devices, including printers, and some form factors you haven't seen before." Aside from the groundbreaking discovery that our next LaserJet might run the same code as the dashing new TouchPad, there are few specifics to be learned, but HP promises to share further details as the year goes on.