4th UPDATE: H-P Launches Two Phones, Tablet Built With WebOS Software
February 09 2011 - 4:24PM
Dow Jones News
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.
Steven McArthur, H-P's senior vice president for applications and
services, said in an interview the company was in discussions with
multiple carriers in various markets, but he declined to provide
additional details.
H-P didn't provide pricing details for the three devices, but
McArthur said the TouchPad would be "very competitive" with the
iPad, which starts at $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.
McArthur said developers have already built about 7,000 apps
built for earlier Palm Pre devices and he expects there will be
"tens of thousands" of apps available by the time the devices
launch later this year.
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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