HP roadmap shows faster, 3G TouchPads, Pre3 and Opal in fall
updated 01:45 pm EDT, Mon July 4, 2011
HP roadmap shows TouchPad and Opal for late 2011
A leaked roadmap has shown HP's webOS plans for the rest of the year. The schedule slipped out to PreCentral shows the current TouchPad being followed by a 64GB model in August that wouldn't just have more storage but get a full-fledged unique design. It would have a faster processor, possibly a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon instead of the present-day 1.2GHz chip, and would come in an Apple-like glossy white.
The first cellular version of the TouchPad would show at the same time. A "4G" (actually 3G) edition with HSPA+ is expected to go on sale at AT&T. All of its components would be similar to the existing 32GB version on the inside beyond the modem.
Longer-term schedules have also suggested that the seven-inch Opal tablet has been narrowed down more definitively to a fall release. The slate should be a close cousin of the 9.7-inch TouchPad with a similar resolution and possibly elements like the processor and storage.
The same presentation also points to HP shipping at least the American version of the Pre3 in the fall. Its new flagship webOS phone has been widely pegged as arriving in some countries by mid-July and may indicate that American carriers are taking a long time to get the Pre3 approved. Both CDMA and GSM versions of the Pre3 are coming and leave room for AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and most any US carrier to get onboard.
