PalmPad to feature Sprint's 4G, USB 3.0 and HDMI-out, coming in March

Palm's (and HP's) upcoming PalmPad tablet leaked on Fox News of all places, and it has some aces up its sleeve. First off, it might be announced at CES in two weeks, and will feature a 9.7" screen, the same size that the iPad sports. The PalmPad is supposedly thinner that the iPad, with rounded edges, and comes at the very decent 1.25 pounds.

Three consumer versions will be on the shelves in March, with slight hardware differences from each other, and WiMAX 4G connectivity (Sprint, Clearwire). A "university" version should come later in 2011, with a slightly smaller, 8.9" display, and HP will let educational institutions customize its aspects, both from hardware and software standpoints. Not a bad idea to out it for the fall semester, since it is a relatively untapped niche market, which has a huge customer base.

Now on with the juicy details. The PalmPad will have a 3MP main camera, and a 1.3MP front-facing snapper for video convos, both with LED flashes. HP hasn't forgotten to cover the added value base that will distinguish it from the upcoming iPad 2, BlackBerry PlayBook and Motorola Everest - extremely formidable competitors. Palm's slate will have a tablet-oriented version of webOS - 2.5.1, HDMI port, and will sport lightning fast USB 3.0 ports.

Sounds like a good plan, and we can't help but agree with the source's opinion that webOS's card interface and tablets are a match made in heaven. We don't know what chipset will be inside, probably something of TI's OMAP family, so we can't even ballpark the PalmPad cost, but we can't imagine that HP will be silly enough to price it more than the direct competition. Besides, HP runs a very cost-optimized supply chain, and Palm's tablet comes as a total underdog, which will take a lot of pressure off its projected sales figures and price at launch.  

source: FoxNews