HP TouchPad Release Date, Price Announced

The release date and pricetag for the HP TouchPad tablet has officially been announced.

The HP TouchPad will be available for pre-order starting June 19 and will go on sale July 1 for $499 (16 GB version) and $599 (32GB). By comparison, the iPad also costs $499 for a 16 GB version and $599 for a 32 GB vesion.

The TouchPad is the first tablet from HP running webOS, the operating system developed by Palm, which HP purchased for $1.8 billion last year. The AP explains, "Hewlett-Packard Co. has previously made tablets based on Windows, but webOS is a cellphone operating system, making the TouchPad more like the iPad than a PC."

The HP TouchPad will be available "in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany a few days later and in Canada in mid-July, with availability scheduled to follow later this year in Italy and Spain, as well as in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore," according to a press release.

See photos of the TouchPad on HuffPostTech here.

Comments

[lemonsanver]

04:08 AM on 06/27/2011

The Touchpad is shaping up to be a really decent product. The new HP WebOS is great to develop with. Lets see how it shakes up the tablet market.

Can't wait to get mine!

[Amishguy]

02:49 PM on 06/12/2011

WebOS = Fail.

[Matt SnowPirate Dalton]

03:01 AM on 06/17/2011

WebOS = The best mobile OS evar

[chadyao]

10:48 AM on 06/12/2011

If you have interests in Android Tablet PC. You can read review of chinese Android Tablet PC 70D2. It is in good design and good performance, http://dootar.com/Android/Android-Tablet/2011/06/05/98.html

[OS2Guy]

12:22 PM on 06/11/2011

DOA.

[iBlizz]

12:18 PM on 06/11/2011

HP bought Palm for 1.2 billion. Not 1.8 like the article says.

[Khoi Nguyen]

12:12 AM on 06/11/2011

This is not going to end will for HP. The operating system they chose is the weakness.

[SanityForOnce]

02:25 PM on 06/10/2011

HP Sucks..... Apple Rocks!

Or, Apple Sucks..... HP Rocks!

Take your pick. ;-)

[noway lv]

04:51 PM on 06/10/2011

I do like HP's printers . . . but the iPod is truly amazing! Can't say much about anything else from either company haha

[AEX7]

01:58 PM on 06/10/2011

Look I can haz iPad

[NHBill]

01:51 PM on 06/10/2011

I can still remember all the weeping and wailing about how "over-priced" the iPad was when it debuted.
Clearly it was extremely under-priced since no major OEM has released a comparable product at a discount.
Just as with the iPod I see no one grabbing significant market share in the tablet space unless they find a way to leapfrog Apple.

[Twincities]

07:29 PM on 06/10/2011

Why would they when people are stupid enough to shell out that money for products that are obsolete before they hit the shelves?

[CaptainObvvious]

03:15 PM on 06/11/2011

Because they might actually want to release products that sell well and most can't sell in a month what the iPad 2 sells in a day.

Being an inferior machine and priced at the same point as the iPad 2 isn't going to get them much in the way of sales.

[drchris1]

06:12 PM on 06/09/2011

It's WebOS, not Palm OS. Apples and oranges. Check it out.

[ThaGovna]

05:17 PM on 06/09/2011

Palm OS? Um... No thank you.

[abuckley23]

04:35 PM on 06/09/2011

I'll wait a couple more years, they'll drop in price eventually. I bought an e-reader for $350 over a year ago, the same up-to-date model is now $130. It's just so hard to resist new gimmicks!!

[NHBill]

01:53 PM on 06/10/2011

refurb iPad 1's are $350 at Apple.
New shell and new battery with 1 year warrenty.
Like most computers don't expect price drops just tech upgrades each year.

[DRaymond]

02:06 PM on 06/09/2011

Head to Head with the iPad 2:
http://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/06/hp-touchpad-vs-the-ipad-2-and-fight/

[ResearchtheFacts]

10:58 AM on 06/09/2011

Wow another overpriced tab on the market. What a novelty, what would be the incentive of getting this one over the Transformer or Samsung Galaxy 10? I have a tab and as much as I like it but don't use it more than my laptop which I am now on because of  quickness and better useability. Along with this is my warm up to actually producing work. The tablet I would hurl through a window if I had to be creative only on it. To look up stuff on the web, send emails and be entertained fine but as a staple no.

I wouldn't pay $499 or above for any of these type devices. Simply not worth it.

[DRaymond]

11:56 AM on 06/10/2011

To get a tablet at all you want the tablet format in size and weight.  To get this over the Xoom or Galaxy 10 you really must want WebOS over Android.

As for 'another overpriced'.  I think that what we are seeing is that the price of the key components (dual core ARM SOC's, flash memory, and multitouch screens) is such that, particularly with Apple's huge quantity of production, nobody can really beat $499 for 16gb wifi.

I am sure that if any of these competitors felt that they could get away with knocking $50 off Apple's price and still do better than breakeven they would.

I also think that perhaps they are concluding that tablets are not that price sensitive a market since for the price of any tablet you can buy a value laptop model with better tech specs in every category.

http://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/06/hp-touchpad-vs-the-ipad-2-and-fight/

[ResearchtheFacts]

12:14 PM on 06/10/2011

I agree with you somewhat but there are tablets you can get for $399 or under the Asus Transformer, Acer Iconia $450 and Viewsonic G Tablet for $279. All sport Tegra 2 processors usb, sd, 10.1 screens and some form of Android operating systems. Geek community (multiple support communities for this device: Slatedroid, Androiodforum, xda developers, Androidcentral, CyanogenMod to name a few) tab of choice is G Tab for its outstanding hack-ability and multiple input ports. Out the box experience Asus Transformer and runner up Iconia.

[Jack Kennedy]

09:52 AM on 06/09/2011

Honest question: why would a person buy this over an iPad?

[dvigilante1]

10:29 AM on 06/09/2011

I don't know maybe because of Synergy, Citrix, SAP, true multitasking, and the fact that webOS will be on every HP desktop, notebook, netbook, printer, tablet, and smartphone next year. I'm sure the IT folks at businesses around the world would appreciate that. You do realize HP ships almost 3-4 times more computers than Apple a year.

[Jack Kennedy]

11:00 AM on 06/09/2011

I do, and I am sure that most of them run Windows. No need to be snarky.

[JohnTheMac]

07:13 PM on 06/09/2011

iPad has apps for Citrix and SAP, Autodesk and others.

[kintarius]

10:29 AM on 06/09/2011

Some people just don't like Apple. My wife bought an iPad a couple weeks ago. It's nice and all, but I can't stand how it doesn't use Flash. To some, that doesn't matter. To me though, it drives me nuts.

I'm looking for anything that's not Apple. Problem is, iPad is still the best thing out there. So I wait...

[Jack Kennedy]

11:47 AM on 06/09/2011

This is true. I had been hoping for a decent Windows 7 tablet, but I haven't found a decent option and gave into an iPad, which I only use when travelling. Maybe this Windows 8 will end up being more promising than I expect.