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Report: HP-Palm webOS Tablets Coming in 7- and 9-inch Flavors, Not Hitting Shelves Until September?


Jan 18, 2011 02:30 PM EDT by Mark Spoonauer, LAPTOP Editor in Chief  

It looks like HP-Palm  is definitely thinking big and small when it comes to its upcoming webOS tablet lineup, expected to be announced Feb. 9th at a special event. Engadget just posted leaked information on two tablets coming from the combined company: the 7-inch model is codenamed Opal, and the 9-inch model is internally dubbed Topaz. As you can tell by the above render, this a design that’s free of mechanical buttons (just like the rumored iPad 2 and Xoom) but the LED under the display indicates that it will double as a touch home button of sorts. We’re also talking microUSB connectivity, a front-facing camera, and three speakers.

What else do we know about these Palm Pads? There’s apparently a focus on premium audio (Beats integration, maybe). The smaller Opal reportedly won’t hit shelves until September, including  Wi-Fi-only, Verizon LTE, and AT&T 3G versions. An LTE model for AT&T will come in 2012. We hope the bigger Topaz arrives sooner than that, especially if HP-Palm hopes to compete against the iPad 2 and Android onslaught. Overall, these tablets look like a good one-two punch, but we’ll need a lot more details to decide how competitive the products might be.

Are you excited yet? Stay tuned for our live coverage of the launch event to get the full scoop.

Via Engadget


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