CES is only a couple of weeks away, so speculation has started on what we’ll see during said trade show. Today, Fox News (of all places) is reporting that we may actually see some PalmPad-branded devices from HP.
Not one, not two, but three. Three PalmPads, differentiated by minor tech specs. And apparently they will all be very
similar in design to HP’s Slate. If not identical.
At least one of those will have a 9.7-inch screen, they will weigh 1.25 lbs (567 grams) and be thinner than the iPad. A USB 3.0 port will also be included. As will a ‘multi-switch’ like the one on the Palm Pre, and a mini HDMI port. There will also be two cameras, a 3 MP rear one and a 1.3 MP front one, both with flashes.
The tablets will run WebOS 2.5.1. Why not just 2.5? No one knows. Oh, and there will be a fourth tablet (yes, fourth) to be tailored to universities – but that won’t be launching at CES. That (and only that) will have an 8.9-inch screen for some reason.
The consumer version(s) of the tablet will be on Sprint, and taking full advantage of their 4G speeds.
Now, not long ago, HP’s Todd Bradley had said that they will be launching the PalmPad in “early 2011″, and the first days of January are as early as 2011 gets.
However, Engadget’s Joanna Stern seems to disagree with what Fox News has deemed an exclusive and believes that CES is way too soon for us to see any WebOS tablets. Plus, she calls shenanigans on the whole ‘re-done HP Slate’ thing.
We’ll see. Frankly, I think that whether HP will intro tablets at CES or later is quite irrelevant. There will be at least one WebOS tablet in 2011, and I’m betting that’s Q1 2011 – otherwise Bradley would not have said ‘early 2011′. Now if that’s going to be January or March… does it really matter?
Also, does it really matter if the WebOS tablet(s) will look like the Slate?
