H-P Plans TouchPad to Rival iPad

Can somebody tell them that the real thing to do is to compete with iStores (tunes, app and books). The "i" hardware devices are payment terminals. So. What can I buy with the motorola, HP, HTC, samsung hardware pads ? Uh ? Wake up people, or you may end up like Nokia.

(reproduced from WSJ)
H-P Plans TouchPad to Rival iPad

By SCOTT MORRISON
SAN FRANCISCO—Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday unveiled two smartphones and a tablet computer built with its Palm mobile operating system, a move that thrusts the computer giant into a burgeoning market dominated by Apple Inc. and Google Inc.

H-P introduced a credit-card-sized phone dubbed Veer, a larger Pre3 phone for professionals and a 10-inch TouchPad tablet computer.

Hewlett-Packard today unveiled its answer to Apple's iPad, a tablet computer called the TouchPad. Stacey Delo had a chance to briefly try out the new device and joins us with details.
The three devices were built with H-P's webOS operating system, a key asset the company acquired when it bought handheld pioneer Palm last summer for $1.2 billion.

The tiny Veer, which will be available in early spring, has a 2.57-inch screen, is powered by an 800 megahertz Snapdragon processor and comes with eight gigabytes of storage. The Pre 3 features a 3.58 screen, is powered by a 1.4 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and comes with either eight or 16 gigabytes of storage. It will be available in the summer.

Palm Touchpad features a 9.7-inch screen and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera. It's powered by Qualcomm's dual-CPU Snapdragon processor and comes with either 16 or 32 gigabytes of storage. The company will release a Wi-Fi version in the U.S. and other markets this summer, with a 3G version available at a later date.

The company didn't immediately provide pricing details for the devices.
Many observers have praised the design of the webOS platform, but H-P will have an uphill battle competing with Apple's iPhone, phones built with Google's Android mobile operating system, which is available to hardware makers free, and Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry franchise.
The top smartphone operating system remains Nokia Corp.'s Symbian, but the company ceded much of its market position as customers opted for newer alternatives, according to a recent study by Gartner.
Digits
Apple's Tablet Rivals Gaining, Slowly


Android has made the biggest strides, showing a 10-fold jump in the number of its smartphone sales last year and vaulting into the No. 2 spot, followed by RIM and Apple.

H-P's TouchPad will enter a market dominated by Apple's iPad tablet, which has sold more than 14 million units since it was introduced just over nine months ago.

Research In Motion is preparing to launch a new tablet dubbed PlayBook, while a slew of other hardware makers are set to introduce rival devices built with the latest version of Android, which has been optimized for tablets.

The first of these is expected to be Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s Xoom tablet, rumored to be going on sale for $799.99 later this month.
Research firm ISuppli, a unit of IHS Inc., forecasts that 57 million tablets will be sold this year and 171 million in 2014, putting pressure on H-P to make its mark soon or be left further behind.

Write to Scott Morrison at scott.morrison@dowjones.com