FoxNews has reported today that Palm, purchased by HP in April, will unveil three tablets at the upcoming CES in January, taking on the iPad and Android devices.
Dubbed the PalmPad, Palm will release three models, each with small hardware differences.
Each tablet will run on WebOS 2.5.1, an upcoming update to the mobile operating system.
The PalmPad will have 4G connectivity to the Sprint network and “hardware specs nearly identical to the iPad.”
Differentiating itself from the iPad is a USB 3.0 port and a mini-HDMI port. Like the rumored iPad 2, the PalmPad will have a 3MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front-side camera, each with LED flash.
Ready for a March 2011 launch, the PalmPad will be around 10-inches, rounded curves, weigh 1.25 pounds, and be thinner than the iPad.
Result for: sprint network
Promised for the “near future” in early March, it appears that Android handsets on the Sprint network will finally receive the 2.1 firmware update.
XDA Developers revealed the screenshot today, a memo leaked from Sprint itself.
The memo says the Samsung Moment will get the update this weekend and the HTC Hero will get it in the next week.
A leaked Best Buy Mobile memo seems to point to the Hero update coming next week as well but seeing is believing in this situation.
The updates will not be OTA as they are both pretty large (80MB and 117MB respectively) so it seems like they will have to be downloaded manually.
Result for: sprint network
Palm Pre, the latest in a long line of “iPhone Killers”, is set to be one of the most anticipated smartphones of the year.
Although the company has not yet confirmed its release date, Wired is reporting that it could be available as soon as March, and on the Sprint network.
Citing an internal document from Sprint however, Boy Genius Report is saying that a May release is more likely as that will give Sprint time to stock up and clear out older Palm inventory.
The smartphone was initially showed off at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show and the company’s stock has exploded on anticipation that the phone will be a blockbuster seller.
The phone has a rounded shape, a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and uses a powerful interface to “pull together information, photos and current online status data from sites such as Facebook, Gmail and Exchange to seamlessly integrate them into the address book and contacts list.”
