Okay Geek Farm
The HP Palm WebOS Tablets - What We Know and Why We Care
Jason Tsay
Rumors of a WebOS slate from Palm have come a long way, and it seems that they may become a reality quite soon - as soon as March, in fact! Now let’s take a second to run down what we know so far of the HP Palm tablets (yes, we said tablets); the Opal and the Topaz.
Opal
- 180 x 144 x 13mm
- 7 inch 1,024 x 768 pixel TFT LCD display
- 1.2 GHz processor
- Premium Beats audio
- Tens of gigabytes of cloud storage
Topaz
- 241 x 190 x 13mm
- 9.7 inch 1,024 x 768 pixel TFT LCD
- 1.2 GHz processor (Dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660)
- Integrated Adreno 220 GPU
- 512 MB DDR2 RAM
- 1.3 MP front facing camera
- Premium Beats audio
- Tens of gigabytes of cloud storage
- Two 3150mAh battery cells
Apparently, both of the tablets will be compatible with the Touchstone accessory and will have special capabilities when docked (ex. alarm clock, digital photo frame, and GPS), possibly a feature of WebOS 2.0 in general. Another feature named in the leak is Tap to Share, which would allow users to bump devices and transfer data (ex. a website, document, or video).
As mentioned in the specs above, each device will feature cloud syncing for everything - a little like Chrome OS. This means that the built in 3G/WiFi will let you access all your files and media remotely without having to use local storage. In addition, if you happen to lose your WebOS tablet, you can just pick up another one and continue playing Angry Birds from where you left off. It is a possibility that Palm might be trying to achieve a concept similar to the Atrix 4G, with the whole docking concept. While on the subject of connected devices, your WebOS phone will be able to communicate with your WebOS tablet, similar to what RIM claims will be a main feature on their PlayBook.
Why do we even care?
You may be thinking to yourself right now, “Isn’t this just another pair of boring slates?” Yes, and no; On the hardware side, there isn’t much to get excited about. However, WebOS had always posed as an interesting mobile OS to us. We’ve seen a “Cards”-like interface both on the BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad with iOS 4.3, and now we’re about to see the real deal. We have no doubt WebOS will run great on more powerful hardware as the Palm Pre 2 has already somewhat proven. With new tablets like the second generation iPad and Motorola Xoom in the pipeline, it’ll be interesting for HP/Palm to throw its offerings into the mix. The rumored carrier based cloud features also have us on the edges of our seats because it truly takes a page from the Chrome OS’s book. Having all your apps and data online would be a pretty genius move for Palm’s smartphones and tablets alike.
In any case, check out the source links below and anticipate our coverage of the February 9th Palm event!
