THINKS HP'S TABLET NOT PERFECT
POSTED BY DAN YOUNG
On the first day of the World Mobile Congress, HP debuted its WebOS-based tablet, the TouchPad, under "controlled circumstances."The TouchPad looks quite like an Apple iPad; the approximate dimensions and size are roughly equal. Beyond that, it was hard to describe how the device handled as HP did not allow any attendees to handle the device. As they said, "it is an early prototype and needs to be used in a particular way." Obviously, the device still needs to be baked a bit more.
The device specifications put it as a competitive unit. It has memory, processing power and the requisite radios save for cellular--that will come months later. The screen is 1024x768. It has stereo audio with two speakers. It runs WebOS, the operating system developed by Palm before the HP acquisition. On paper, and in a controlled demonstration, the device looks good.
From what was demonstrated, the performance of the device looked comparable to other tablets at the show.The mail client was similar to Apple's Mail app on iPad (if it were mashed up with Yahoo's tablet email web app). The web browser appeared to be similar to the others. One cool feature was the variable-sized on-screen keyboard. This is the first company to play with the input configuration--an area long overdue for innovation. Overall, the performance of the device was "canned;" doubtful all of the apps were fully functioning and stable. We will see how this product matures.
