SAN FRANCISCO (DOW JONES)--Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) 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. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG)

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

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 has a 2.57-inch screen and is powered by an 800 megahertz Snapdragon processor and comes with 8 gigabytes of storage. It will be available in early spring. The Pre 3 features a 3.58 screen, is powered by a 1.4 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and comes with either 8GB or 16GB of storage. It will also be available in the summer.

The TouchPad features a 9.7-inch screen and a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, is powered by Qualcomm Inc's (QCOM) dual-CPU Snapdragon processor and comes with either 16GB or 32GB of or storage. The company will release a WiFi version in the U.S. and other markets this summer, with a 3G version available at a later date.

The company did not immediately provide pricing details for the three devices and it was not clear how the TouchPad would compare with the iPad's starting price of $499.

Many observers have praised webOS as a well-designed platform, but H-P will have an uphill battle to compete with Apple's iPhone and phones built with Google's Android mobile operating system, which it makes available to hardware makers for free, and Research in Motion Ltd.'s (RIMM, RIM.T) BlackBerry franchise.

The top smartphone operating system remains Nokia Corp.'s (NOK, NOK1V.HE) Symbian, but the company ceded much of its market position as customers opt for newer alternatives, according to a recent study by Gartner.

Android made the largest stride, showing a 10-fold jump in the number of smartphone sales last year, vaulting into the No. 2 spot. RIM and Apple followed.

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 (MMI) Xoom tablet, rumored to be going on sale for $799.99 later this month.

Research firm ISuppli, a unit of IHS Inc. (IHS), forecasts 57 million tablets will be sold this year and 171 million in 2014, putting pressure on H-P to make its mark soon or get left further behind.

Many observers believe H-P's most significant hurdle in the mobile market will be to convince enough third-party developers to start building applications for webOS devices. Apple has enjoyed a first-mover advantage and already has more than 300,000 apps for its iOS platform. Google's Android Market has more than 100,000 apps.

H-P highlighted a handful of content partners, including Time Inc., a Time Warner Inc. (TWX) company, but provided few other details about the number of apps that will be available for its new devices.

Todd Bradley, the executive vice president who runs H-P's personal systems group, said the company was committed to extending the webOS footprint this year by adding the software to printers and personal computers. He said the company envisions deploying 100 million devices annually.

"We're investing in a complete build-out. We're committed to helping build the ecosystem," Bradley said.

-By Scott Morrison, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-6118; scott.morrison@dowjones.com
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