Those who want to try out another take on the tablet experience will want to mark July 1, the date the Wi-Fi version of HP TouchPad will launch in the U.S., according to HP’s announcement Thursday.
Availability of the device in other regions such as the U.K, France, Germany will not be until a few days later, with Canada having a mid-July release. Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore will have to wait longer
Preorders starts on June 19 for Europe and North America. In the U.S., the HP TouchPad will be sold at retailers, resellers and by HP directly at two prices: $499.99 for 16 GB internal storage and $599.99 for the 32 GB variant.
The most distinct feature of the HP TouchPad will be the webOS operating system. The tablet market is currently dominated by Apple’s iOS tablets while other competitors employ Android OS for their tablets. To compete with them, HP’s Jon Rubinstein says, “The platform’s unmatched features and flexibility will continue to differentiate HP products from the rest of the market for both personal and professional use. This is only the beginning of what HP’s scale can do with webOS.”
Among the touted features of the TouchPad included a ‘next-level’ multitasking experience, web access, enhanced audio playback using Beats Audio technology, and faster info access using Just Type feature.
