HP TouchPad - do we need an extra hero?

webOS has landed in Australia, but can it make headway within of a sea of tablets?

HP unveiled its new webOS-powered TouchPad tablet toward the Australian advertising this morning, also it experienced been met using a resounding “meh”. Anthony McMahon, vice president of HP webOS, took toward the point to market the TouchPad’s virtues - but what we saw was however one more also-ran which failed to distinguish by itself from powerful competition that consist of Apple’ iOS and Google’s Android “Honeycomb”.


The wifi-only HP TouchPad will market for $AU599 (16GB) and $AU699 (32GB), with converse of 3G designs within future. At 9.7-inches using a 1024x768 display, it essentially appears and feels like an overgrown BlackBerry PlayBook but with out RIM’s frustrating restrictions that consist of the PlayBook’s original lack a non-BlackBerry mail client. The interface attributes a great offer in standard with RIM’s Tablet OS, even although getting reasonable it is most possible RIM which “borrowed” much more from webOS.

webOS’s checklist of attributes consists of the normal suspects that consist of multi-tasking, multi-touch, Flash, HTML5 and universal notifications. In conditions of hardware you will locate a 1.3MP webcam, Bluetooth, wifi as well as a micro-USB slave port, but no USB host, SD slot or HDMI - which signifies no display mirroring for path warriors searching for to operate presentations. It weighs in at a mediocre 740 grams.

The TouchPad attributes a Snapdragon dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM below the bonnet, but you wouldn’t know it dependent near to the sluggish hands-on performance. Honeycomb is smoother when operating on comparable specs. The TouchPad’s menus are slow to rotate, it is occasionally slow to respond to touches as well as the browsing know-how falls short of cell Safari as well as the Honeycomb browser.

McMahon kept throwing near to the term “unique” but could provide extremely tiny to back again it up. matters do not turn ugly, but McMahon copped a few brutally truthful inquiries that consist of the straight out “why would I purchase one?”.

“The way you interact using the unit is unique,” we experienced been told, even although we do not see something ground-breaking. probably the most effective McMahon could provide was Just sort - a universal research element which also lets you sort a sentence after which ascertain that which you desire to hold out with it, that consist of create a be aware or article it to Facebook.

The TouchPad also lets you flick by means of thumbnails of available apps - like Honeycomb and Tablet OS, except which you can stack numerous apps on best of every other within app altering menu. Possibly handy, but hardly enough to declare “Works like positively nothing else” - which could be element near to the tablet’s catch phrase.

McMahon also spruiked the benefits of HP Synergy which combines mail, contacts, calendar and interpersonal advertising within just one app with APIs for third-party integration. certainly just about every Android vendor provides some thing comparable as well as Apple is receiving near to the work with its Twitter integration.

There undoubtedly are a few tiny touches concerning the TouchPad that are appealing, that consist of the optional $AU89 inductive charger/stand. You can even arranged the TouchPad to behave in different ways based on whether or not it is in your work or residence stand.

Of instruction course today’s tablets are as very much concerning the ecosystem since the device. McMahon attempted to paint a vibrant image near to the webOS ecosystem, but once more failed to impress. There are near to 8000 webOS apps within app store, even although all but 300 are developed for tiny webOS mobile phones as opposed to the bigger tablet.

He promised webOS can be “across countless devices” that consist of desktops and notebooks but couldn’t provide particulars about in which it is can be considered a dual-boot surroundings as well as a glass windows app. He also couldn’t provide a timeline concerning when we’d see webOS mobile phones in Australia, even although he’s currently making utilization of one.

It’s difficult to locate a hold going to acquire excited concerning the TouchPad. Apple fanboys currently possess the shiny iPad, energy consumers have Android and company styles can choose from those people or appear toward the PlayBook. without any killer element to capture the imagination, HP’s TouchPad will possess a challenging occupation successful individuals apart by means of the competition.

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