HP KILLS TOUCHPAD, WEBoS AND PHONES; SPIN OFF OR SELLING COMPUTER BUSINESS

In a shocking announcement HP has said it is exiting the tablet computer and smartphone business and either selling or spinning off its PC division. The most immediate impact to consumers is the end of the Touchpad, which was just launched a month ago, and HP branded smartphones, notably the Palm series.

The announcement was a surprise especially considering HP paid almost $2 billion just two years ago for WebOS owner Palm. WebOS has been praised by the tech industry, but generally ignored by consumers.

HP will continue to sell servers and business equipment while it ramps up to become a software and services business.

NOTION INK RELEASING ADAM TABLET AROUND WEDNESDAY

While the FCC database isn't showing it, Notion Ink's blog is reporting the Adam tablet has cleared the FCC hurdle. After several delays the small startup company will finally release its much anticipated tablet computer. Adam will have a 10.1 inch screen, a Tegra 2 processor and an in-house created UI named Eden.

SAMSUNG SELLS 600,000 GALAXY TABLETS IN ONE MONTH

According to a report from Korean newspaper The Korean Herald, Samsung has confirmed global sales numbers for its virgin tablet offering. In its first month of availability, the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab has sold 600,000 units — likely making it the most popular Android tablet in the world. Samsung is reportedly pleased with the Galaxy Tab’s performance in its premier month, saying demand outpaced supply in most markets. In Samsung’s home market in Korea, the company sold 30,000 Galaxy Tabs in the tablet’s first week of availability. Interestingly, Apple’s iPad is set to launch on November 30th and according to The Korean Herald, the company has already taken 40,000 pre-orders in less than a week. [BGR]

LG JUMPS ON TABLET BANDWAGON

This holiday season its all about the tablet.  Apple started it off with the industry leading iPad, Samsung has the Galaxy tablet and now LG is releasing their version of the tablet computer.

A new report out of South Korea Wednesday sheds some light on LG’s upcoming virgin tablet offering. According to the report, LG is preparing to launch its first Android tablet in the first quarter next year. The “LG Pad”, as it may be called, will purportedly feature a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, an 8.9-inch touchscreen display and the Android Honeycomb operating system. A senior official at LG is quoted as saying, “LG Electronics decided to launch a new tablet PC, so-called LG Pad, both in the domestic and overseas markets in the first quarter of the next year when Google unveils Honeycomb, tablet PC-version Android OS.” The official goes on to say, “While the existing tablet PCs focus on e-book, movie, music and the Internet functions, LG’s new tablet PC is jumping into the market with more diverse contents based on powerful functions.” [BGR]

VIEWSONIC RELEASES TWO NEW TABLETS

ViewSonic unveiled two new tablets on Monday, including a unique offering that runs both Android and Windows 7. The ViewPad 10 is a dual-boot tablet capable of running both Android 1.6 and Windows 7 Home Premium. It features a 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD drive, microSDHC support (up to 32GB), a 1.3-megapixel webcam and a 10-inch 1024 x 600-pixel LED backlit multitouch display. ViewSonic’s upcoming 10-inch tablet will ship with both operating systems pre-installed along with Microsoft Office, Adobe Flash support and videoconferencing software. The smaller ViewPad 7 opts for Android 2.2 in place of the 10′s dual-boot setup, and it features cellular data connectivity (HSPA), a 3-megapixel rear camera, a 0.3-megapixel front camera for video chat, 512MB of RAM, microSDHC support (up to 32GB), up to 10 hours of battery life and a 7-inch WVGA LCD touchscreen display. The ViewPad 7 will launch before the end of the year for $479 while the ViewPad 10 will be available some time in Q1 2011 for $629.

WALGREENS OFFERING ANDROID TABLET FOR $100 WITH VIDEO

Kmart was the first to offer a cheap Android powered tablet.  Now, Walgreens is jumping on the bandwagon by launching the Maylong M-150 in their stores for a single US Benjamin.   The Maylong runs Android and is similar to an iPad in design and interface.  It has a 7-inch resistive touchscreen with an 800 x 480 resolution, a 400MHz VIA VM8505+ processor, built-in WiFi, an unspecified amount of built-in flash memory, and a microSD card slot or expansion.  In addition it has Internet Explorer built in for web browsing and access to the App Market. Video of the Maylong M-150 is below [Engadget]