US technology giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) is set to launch in Singapore its TouchPad, and it could be just right for some consumers who want it all and at a price that's hard to resist.
This is especially since in the US, a decision has been made to cut the price of the TouchPad just a month after launching the tablet computer that has to muscle hard for a corner on the market dominated by Apple's iPad.
In the US, a price-tag of US$400 has been put on TouchPads with 16 gigabytes of memory, while models with 32 gigabytes being sold for $500, which amounts to lopping almost $100 off the original prices.
TouchPads made their US debut in early July, pipped by Apple's release in March of its second-generation iPad as welll as the BlackBerry PlayBook and news of a new version Android tablet from Samsung. Also on the market are tablets from Motorola and Huawei.
While the iPad remains a consumer favourite, there is little elbow room on the rival patch with all the other tablets touting support for Adobe's Flash format which Apple chose to do without.
What HP has in its favour is the comforting factor.
With its computing range that fits most price levels and needs,HP has enjoyed a fair market share with consumers ranging from students to business-users.
And while Apple may have been first to seize the imagination with the iPad, the team at HP have been working with touch-screen computing far longer with its range of TouchSmart desktops and touch-screen laptops.
Then in 2010, before breaking into the mobile tablet business, HP acquired Palm, the mobile-device pioneer.
HP is without doubt, couting on winning fans with its know-how.
The HP TouchPad runs the webOS operating system, developed by Palm.
Despite the mixed reviews at the TouchPad's debut, the device does come across as user-friendly.
It is very responsive to the touch and the 9.7-inch diagonal flush capacitive multi-touch display offers clear viewing.
At the Asian launch of the HP TouchPad in July, Anthony McMahon, vice president of HP webOS, Asia Pacific and Japan challenged that consumers would be seeing "only the beginning of how HP will scale with webOS across the device spectrum."
"You will discover that the HP TouchPad simply works the way you do for both personal and professional use. The platform has unmatched features and flexibility that works like nothing else," he added.
The device is deifnitely intuitive.
There's little guessing as to which way to swipe and with the WebOS allowing for multi-tasking, users will see their different applications stacked as cards.
The sleek lines to the mobile device is ironically let down by two factors that cramp its portabilty - its bulk and its connectivity which currently is only via WiFi.
Buy your gadget only to our trusted Partner:
HP TouchPad Wi-Fi 16 GB 9.7-Inch Tablet Computer
HP Slate 500 8.9" Black
HP TouchPad Custom Fit Case
HP Touchstone Charging Dock for TouchPad
HP TouchPad Wi-Fi 32 GB 9.7-Inch Tablet Computer
No comments:
Post a Comment