HP TouchPad webOS Tablet

Introduction:

From the time of Palm achievement by HP, they had now developed webOS to bring new features to a Tablet PC. In this latest HP TouchPad, you will find the whole thing you like in webOS. If we see it physically, it is indeed similar to Apple iPad. The Tablet is packed with 9.7 inch screen with good color rendering (18bit color managed to 262,000). It also has one physical button on the front (a rounded rectangle instead of a circle), a front camera, and a button on / off on top. It also features a dual-core processor running at 1.2 GHz with 1 GB of RAM and comes in two models: 16 GB and 32 GB. It has a 3.5 mm output jack which allows connecting any audio device. At first glance most people could not clearly differentiate it between iPhone or TouchPad. Where the iPhone has a black metal, the TouchPad is having curved black plastic. It has a mini USB port instead of the classic dock connector.

The touchpad can also be associated with a bluetooth keyboard which will transform the tablet in a small netbook. It has everything to be a racing machine, but there is nevertheless sometimes slowdowns that are due to the youth of webOS 3.0. Hopefully as for smartphones webOS improved performance and optimized over time. But for now the flow is to go in most cases.

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Design:

The physical look of the TouchPad is not the only proof that HP is playing a unlike game than the other competitors in the tablet market. The achievement by HP Palm about a year ago offered them complete control over mobile platform. HP is now taking control of hardware design, software and application development platform just like Apple do. Whereas the other competitors make use of both third-party hardware and software, HP has the same control of their product that Apple or RIM.

The HP TouchPad is the first generation of a device, clearly behind the iPhone in different areas, but running a carefully designed operating system (WebOS) that has great potential, both smartphones and in tablets. I have not clear whether the TouchPad will be able to surprise the world, after all the other competitors have failed to achieve this goal so far. In terms of accessories, the Tablet (induction charging base) appears to be an indispensable tool to make 100% of the TouchPad. I recommend you to get one, in order to enjoy the fashion show but also to change your digital photo frame shelf.

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webOS Software:

HP TouchPad Tablet embeds webOS operating system. If there should be one reason to push you to buy it, it will be its operating system that works wonders in ergonomics and ease of use. From the beginning, many of observatories market of smart phones have been considered as a promising webOS limited by the operating system of mobile hardware. With the TouchPad, webOS have the opportunity to shine, which is an important part of the challenge it faces. In short, I like the webOS UI, I can say that it is similar to iOS and Android, but still it has some personality of its own. Is beautifully designed and amazingly user friendly.

I am also somewhat intrigued by the fact that most webOS apps can be developed using standard web technologies like HTML and JavaScript, which means that HP does not have to convince anyone to learn the complete development approach to develop applications based webOS. Still, the catalog of applications HP is packed with applications (there are more than 300 applications optimized for the tablet at the time of its release), and the size of the Apple App Store gives you a greater advantage over the rest their market competitors tablet.

However, HP is trying a clever strategy: You are creating an online magazine, Pivot, an application added to the catalog of HP applications. Think of an airline magazine, devoted entirely to applications webOS, and you'll get an idea. This is certainly an offline approach that encourages the discovery of new applications, and although it is unclear whether it will succeed or not, is to evaluate a new platform would dare to invent a new way of teaching applications.

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This is the first device to include webOS keyboard, and no doubt it is practical. Remember a little iPhone keyboard, but with an extra row for numbers at the top, so no need to change the keyboard mode to enter unusual characters. The keyboard height is adjustable by the user, so if you're particularly agile, able to shrink the keyboard and larger screen space visible. I do not think the self-correcting HP works precisely because I had to make a few corrections when I tried it, but overall, I quite liked the idea of on-screen keyboard.

Another major feature is the synergy of webOS, which weaves deferens data applications and resources to your address book, an idea that would not hurt Apple that appropriates. Apple recently made a breakthrough in integrating Twitter Worldwide Developers Conference with IOS 5, but any service imaginable (AIM, Skype, Google Calendar, MobileMe, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace webOS ...) are available, and developers of other products may also include support for plug-in their own way.

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webOS Features:

• True multitasking with the metaphor of cards
• A visual style extremely well and an operating system that is unlike any other.
• Synergy allows you to migrate in a gesture of your life online.
• Synchronize your calendars Facebook, Google Calendar.
• Synchronize your photos with your Facebook account, Snapfish
• Synchronize your documents with Dropbox and Box.net, which offers all users a TouchPad free online storage to 50 GB!
• All your contacts in one place, whether the SIM contacts, Skype, GTalk, Facebook. Start a conversation by text message, complete the on Gtalk all on your shelf or smaprtohne webOS
• Just type feature that revolutionizes the way to use mobile equipment
• Exposure mode with TouchStone
• The discrete system notifications which does not interrupt you in your activities.

Accessories from HP TouchPad:

With its exposure mode can make the most of this accessory to turn your touchpad digital photo frame, or simply sign electronic dissemination of information of your choice. In short, a must have which allows the TouchPad to stand out completely from the competition. One more accessory that you will like to buy for the new TouchPad is the cradle Touchstone, which enables wireless upload when in the base. It's a pretty solid piece of hardware, but software integration makes it even more interesting. Once docked the TouchPad immediately launches an exhibition mode. Any developer can write applications that work in this way, and showing passive project information (watch, photos, calendar, Twitter ...) on the screen of the device while it is attached to the fixture. When removing the TouchPad base load applications disappear. And if you're carrying a TouchPad at home and one at work, the device recognizes the difference and can be configured to play different applications on each display case.

In addition, an optional Bluetooth keyboard on the HP TouchPad can change the tablet into a real little netbook. Thanks to its specific function keys of webOS. There is a button parallel to the physical button discount cards at the lower left of the Device. You will find a set of keys to activate Just typeat the top of the keyboard to bring up the music applications, acting on the volume and screen brightness. In general this Bluetooth keyboard plays and important role and allows a much more accurate than typing on the TouchPad.

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There are few more smart technologies included in TouchPad webOS like in order to join the TouchPad with a phone webOS, you just need to put the phone face down on the bottom of the TouchPad, near the start button. At least that's how it should works, I had to configure it manually. It also includes the "Tap to share" (Touch to share) for sharing data quickly (like a web page) from one device to another with just a touch, but neither got to run this feature.

It is by far a much more intuitive than Apple, which requires double-click to select an icon, and remove an application you must press and hold, and then click on the X. While Apple system makes it hard to walk by closing the applications used, webOS encourages the user to walk directly by opening and closing applications and quickly. When a lot of applications open on the TouchPad, it may become slow, but like IOS, webOS not cut to put applications into hibernation when memory gets low.

The experience of playing time seems pretty solid. I played a few games like the classic Angry Birds and was impressed with the extremely smooth animation and high frame rate. TouchPad hardware can display a better performance without a doubt; you only need the software to each task.

TouchPad App Catalog:

The App Catalog is the place of passage for any user of webOS, which is why HP has taken care to create a brand new webOS 3.0 App Catalog adapted to the screen size of the TouchPad. Besides some minor changes, the great novelty of the App Catalog is highlighting applications with "Pivot webOS". webOS Pivot is a magazine that highlights some applications in an interactive and highly ergonomic. This new way to advertise for applications allows the system again webOS to stand out from the competition.

HP TouchPad comes with an integrated set of multimedia applications, but I was not able to buy or rent music videos. This is one of the strengths of IOS, and the place that most marketers are struggling to conquer. According to HP, HP MovieStore be an application (powered by RoxioNow and available only in USA) available on the device "after its release," and a third-party online music store (Amazon MP3, perhaps) that will also be available when it launches the product. There is also a good news for Mac OS users and that is HP has developed its own Mac application called as HPplay . It helps to automatically synchronize the iTunes library with the TouchPad..) I tried a beta version of the application, and although it works, it limits the features and supports the synchronization of smart playlists.

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Also note the Adobe Reader application which is very well done. Previously on webOS 1.x and 2.x, reading PDFs is via a PDF application Own Palm who tend to bugger. Adobe Reader here brings great comfort and is the PDF reader to a good level of usability. The HP touchpad is also having incorporated Adobe Flash. You can configure Flash to run automatically in the browser, or load when you click. I don’t have enough to say on this as I found that the performance is not very surprising. When I connected to the streaming video site of Major League Baseball, the touchpad started to reproduce at about 4 frames per second, and had difficulty responding to taps enough to press the pause button and stop playback. I tried to play the game also Flash Lexulous Facebook, but I was completely unable to move the pieces on the board. If we talk about more applications, than here is:

1. Email Application: With management on three panels, the Email application which includes the codes graphics webOS 1.x and 2.x works wonders and is probably the most successful application of webOS. We note in passing the possibility to select multiple emails at the same time to perform actions grouped.
   
   
2. Calendar: Synergy function makes sense with the calendar application. Synchronize your schedule and your colleagues or friends and display legibly all information on the screen. We can easily add multiple Google calendars that are displayed with a particular color to differentiate each account.
   
   
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3. Messaging: The messaging application also uses the Synergy feature to migrate in the same place all your instant messages that come from GTalk, Skype, or simply SMS your smartphone if you use the same account for your two HP machines.
   
   
4. Office applications: This is where the TouchPad is lacking because it does not have an office suite to meet the demands even of an individual (let alone a professional). Following QuickOffice lets you view documents but not edit them. HP, however, suggests that this gap will be filled in the coming weeks.

TouchPad Technical Features:

Another of the strengths of this model of tablet is such as dual-core processor that integrates Snapdragon. However, sometimes the TouchPad seemed strangely slow. Sometimes I think, if anything noteworthy on IOS devices, and most critics overlook is that when you move your finger across the screen objects move with it. No delays, no jumping faults in the scroll, only the illusion that we are really really moving objects on screen. Every time I tried a new phone based on Android or tablet (including TouchPad) I was surprised that the interface is not as efficient as that of Apple.

Sometimes the TouchPad is slow when opening new applications, leaving a few seconds looking at the icon of the application launched. When many applications are in use, everything becomes very slow, even freezing the screen briefly. It also appears that the TouchPad is sometimes confused with its orientation, for example by leaving on the table tends to change to portrait mode. On more than one occasion, the device showed just the opposite view which is supposed to display. Applications often make good use of this capacity is only general user interface where they seem to be most of the problems of performance and usability of this feature.

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HP truly innovative with the ability to interact with between a smartphone and a shelf under webOS. The possibility of getting a phone call or dial a number directly from the tablet is a real luxury. Google Maps disappears and is replaced by Bing Maps, unlike Google Maps on webOS 2.x has a function of map rotation. There is also the possibility to follow a route point to point even if this function will be truly useful to the release of a 3G TouchPad. Skype does not appear as a native application but is integrated directly into the operating system webOS. Skype contacts are integrated into the list of all your contacts and simply type in the name of a contact, choose audio or video call and the conversation can begin. The 1.3 MegaPixel camera is enough to make the video chat.

Conclusion:

Personally, I liked the HP TouchPad and the webOS offcourse. I can even say that now Apple requires strong competitors in the market in order to continue the tablet advancing, and I think that companies that control both hardware and software are more likely to get high quality products. For years I wondered why no one tried to replicate the success of Apple's strategy, and that's exactly what HP is doing now with its strategy of webOS. Any native applications coded with the new framework Enyo are of excellent quality and are great on the shelf. Special mention for the email application. In short, everything we love in webOS is present on the touch pad, but it lacks a good office suite. That’s it.