We’re still referring to the yet unreleased Palm tablet as the HP PalmPad, but the Opal and Topaz names have made their way onto the Internet too. The smaller of the two is the Opal with its seven-inch 1024×768 resolution TFT LCD, while the larger of the two is the Topaz with its nine-inch display of unknown resolution.

Four new tidbits about these upcoming Palm tablets have also leaked themselves onto the world wide web. First, it seems that HP is leveraging its “Beats” audio processing platform onto the PalmPad too. You might remember the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, for example, as well as the Beats Audio on the HP Envy laptops.

Second, cloud computing is becoming quite a big buzzword (buzz term?) these days and HP is no exception to that. Instead of limiting you to the on-board storage of the Opal and Topaz, it’s being reported that the PalmPads will have “tens of gigabytes” available to them through cloud storage. This is being “offered” to tablet owners, though it’s not clear whether it’ll be “included” with the price of the device.

Third, it sounds like HP wants to do the Touchstone wireless charging thing for the PalmPad, just as you can already do with the Palm Pre smartphone. And fourth, they’re working on a “bump”-like technology for sending media and documents between tablets and phones. Just tap and go.

Considering the onslaught of Android tablets we saw at CES, HP will have lots of big shoes to fill if it wants to wow us with the PalmPad Topaz and Opal. Remember how excited people got about the first Pre? Recognize where the Pre fits into the marketplace now?

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Can’t wait until next month’s Consumer Electronics Show to learn about HP’s consumer-geared alternative to the Apple iPad? Well, you just so happen to be in luck. The cleverly named webOS powered PalmPad has apparently had its specs and features leaked all over the Internet. Someone bring the mop.

This comes by way of a report from Fox News, which is revealing that there will be no fewer than three variations on the HP PalmPad at time of launch. A fourth version is being planned around Q3 of next year, targeting univeristy and college students as they get ready to hit the books again… or maybe they’d rather them hit the e-books on the PalmPad instead.

What exactly can you expect from the PalmPad? Well, it’s a tablet and it’s going to be powered by webOS. HP is reportedly leveraging much of the original specs from its less than successful HP Slate and updating them for the webOS 2.5.1 PalmPad. The report from Fox News also cites dual cameras: a 3MP and a 1.3MP, the latter of which presumably for video calling. And yes, the camera has flash.

The real juicy details — like the processor (probably Tegra2), screen size (probably a 7-inch and/or a 10-inch), and storage capacity (at least 8GB) — have not been leaked just yet, but CES is just a fortnight away. You can wait that long, can’t you?

[Wired]

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Right now, about 7% of businesses provide tablets to their employees for work-related duties. That sounds pretty good, considering that tablets are still a relatively new phenomenon, but that number is set to explode very soon. In fact, that number is expected to double in the next couple of months.

This comes by way of a survey conducted by ChangeWave. Not surprisingly, the Apple iPad is by far the most popular tablet device being provided by companies to their employees. It accounts for 82% of the corporate tablet market, compared to 11% for HP (Slate) and 7% for Dell (Streak). The iPad owners are happier too with 69% very satisfied and 28% somewhat satisfied. When HP Slate corporate users were polled, only 23% were very satisfied and 46% were somewhat satisfied.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic to come out of this survey, though, is the explosive growth expected in the next quarter. An incredible 14% of businesses surveyed say that they will be buying tablets in the first quarter of 2011. That’s double the current demand, representing almost exponential growth. It won’t be long before outfitting employees with tablets could become just as commonplace as outfitting them with smartphones.

Maybe this growth can be attributed to the upcoming RIM PlayBook? Not exactly. Of those companies expected to buy tablets in Q1, only 9% are opting for the BlackBerry option. An overwhelming 78% are still turning to Cupertino for their tablet needs moving forward.

This just goes to show you that the iPad may look like a consumer-friendly media consumption device, but it’s got plenty of potential on Wall Street too. It’s a good time to be a tablet maker… if you’re Apple.

[Investor Place]

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We all knew this day was coming. We’ve seen teaser pics and spy shots, but it’s about time the official day arrived. HP has officially announced the HP Slate 500. This is a tablet that will come powered by Windows 7, but it gets some slight modifications so that it can work better with the 8.9-inch touchscreen.

The Slate made its debut at CES back in January, but that was still a work-in-progress. Finalizing the spec sheet, HP tells us that the Slate 500 has a 1.86GHz Atom processor, WiFi, 64GB SSD, and 2GB of RAM. This puts it in the same power range as a netbook, aside from the addition of the SSD. The kicker is that the retail price is $799.

That’s an awful lot of bones for a what could otherwise be a $300 netbook. I have a hard time justifying an additional $500 for a touchscreen and a solid state drive. Then again, HP is saying that this is catering mostly to the business market and it is capable of doing 1080p video (with HDMI out).

Moving forward, the mass market PalmPad will likely fit in better with the consumer perspective than the Slate. That’s currently slotted in for an early 2011 release. Let’s face it: Windows 7 is probably too bloated for the tablet environment. webOS makes a lot more sense.

SOURCE: HP

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Best Buy to unveil Android tablet soon

The iPad is selling like hot cakes, but the only one profiting from the impressive sales of the device are Apple. Well, Best Buy has its own in-house “Rocketfish” brand. And these two factoids are on the verge of combining. Last Friday, Best Buy CTO Robert Stephens effectively confirmed the existence of an iPad-esque Rocketfish tablet on the horizon by sending out a tweet with the image of the device.

This is the same guy that founded the Geek Squad and it is through his Twitter account that we get the first “live” look at a device we didn’t even know existed. The yet unnamed Rocketfish tablet looks a fair bit like the HP Slate with the same ports and a similar touchscreen in the nine-inch range.

Further on the Tweetosphere, Ben Hedrington, a web strategist for Best Buy, tweeted a link in reply to a story saying that we should “be looking for a little green robot on that Best Buy tablet screen… http://bit.ly/aoepgY :) #Android”. I guess that’s all the evidence we need for now. Apparently Best Buy employees have been swapping ideas back and forth on the tablet since February. Most thought it would be an internal tool for employee communications, but now it appears to be a consumer and employee focused device. I could see Best Buy employees armed with tablets able to look up inventory information, specifications, and any other details at a customers will. Perhaps they will even hand it off to the customer as they walk in store, providing a more “rich” experience to their Best Buy shopping experience. How it will be positioned is yet to be determined, and the specs of this tablet are also in the air. It would make sense for it to be 4G equipped, but who really knows at this point.

Additional reporting by Fabrizio Pilato

[Crunchgear, Androinica]

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Speaking of the Slate, HP Personal Systems Group VP Todd Bradley added that the tablet will be “more customer-specific than broadly deployed,” and that it would launch the Microsoft-based tablet with an aim towards “the enterprise” later this year.   What it sounds like is that Windows-tablets will be focused for corporate customers, with the webOS division geared towards consumers.

[Fortune]

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The names of products are largely a personal affair. They may be a hit with one crowd, and a total miss with another, but I think “Palmpad” just works. It’s a pad that fits in the palm of your hand. And then, well, there’s Palm’s webOS under the hood.

The USPTO description is as follows: “Computers, computer hardware, computer software, computer peripherals, portable computers, handheld and mobile computers, PDAs, electronic notepads, mobile digital electronic devices.”

Naturally, since nothing has really yet to be confirmed, we can’t really give any hard specs or features on the HP Palmpad. We can, however, guess that given the current timeline, we could be seeing a new product hit the marketplace as early as Q1 2011.

[Crunchgear via PreCentral, USPTO]

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HP to focus on WebOS for it's Slate tablet

We’ve been hearing about the HP Slate for what feels like an eternity. This thing is supposed to be the biggest competitor to the Apple iPad, but it has yet to come forth in any sort of official form. And now another iteration has been laid to rest. Remember how HP decided to call it quits on the Windows 7 version of the tablet? Now they’ve done the same with their Android tablet ambitions. The Google-infused touch device was originally slated (no pun intended) for release later this year.

So, does this mean that HP has thrown in the towel and is officially giving up on the whole “let’s fight Apple with a tablet of our own” battle? No, not exactly. You see, HP was simultaneously working on tablets with Windows 7, Android, and webOS. While the first two are now out of the picture, only the webOS project remains.

And I think that’s a good thing. When HP announced that it would be acquiring Palm, everyone clamored over the possibility of a webOS tablet of some kind. The Palm Pre was so close to being revolutionary. Backed with HP’s money and infrastructure, a more mature version of webOS could make for one killer tablet.

[CrunchGear]

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HP Slate may re-surface with a Palm WebOS varient for tablets

The iPad has been a fantastic seller for Apple and it seems to have spawned a new market of other tablet-like devices. The HP Slate was slated to be a major competitor, but it seems like the project has been scrapped. Or has it?

The main problem with the HP Slate is that it was designed to work with Windows 7. Unfortunately, that operating system comes with too much heavy-lifting for a device like the Slate. So, what happens now? It seems that the Slate could be coming back with webOS.

As you know, HP recently purchased Palm and this will give the computer-maker access to the Palm Pre’s webOS. The more mobile-friendly operating system could be a much better fit for the tablet. What’s more, the “new” device could be called the HP Hurricane.

The current rumors are pointing toward a Q3 2010 launch window for the HP Hurricane, so we’ll have to keep our ears to the ground for more on this as it develops. What do you think? Can HP compete with the iPad if it uses webOS?

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HP Slate vs. Apple iPad Specs

Everyone is super excited about the new Apple iPad and Steve Jobs couldn’t be happier. At the same time, this is going to open up a whole new market for competitors and it seems like the HP Slate could be a real contender. If you look at the spec sheets recently released, it beats the iPad in several areas.

Sure, the HP Slate hasn’t quite the market yet and the iPad has, but this list of features really seems to put the iPad in its place. For starters, the Slate gets a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Menlow Z530 processor, which should be peppier than the 1GHz Apple A4 processor in the iPad.

Continuing with the HP Slate’s advantages, we find 1080p video support, a multi-card reader with support up to 128GB, a USB 2.0 port, a dock connector for HDMI, a conventional SIM tray, and dual cameras. There’s the front-facing VGA webcam for video calls and a rear-facing 3MP camera for snapshots. The Slate is also slated to be cheaper.

The iPad has some advantages too, like the inclusion of 802.11n Wi-Fi (the Slate only goes up to 802.11g) and the screen resolution is a little bigger on the iPad (1024×768) than on the Slate (1024×600), but that’s partly because of the aspect ratio.

Yes, this is a simple “on paper” comparison and we’ve seen similar charts prepared for devices like the iPhone, so it’s not necessarily representative of how well the HP Slate will actually sell compared to the iPad. Nonetheless, it still provides good food for thought.

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