HP’s webOS-running TouchPad tablet, the 32GB, WiFi-only model to be exact has been found listed in Walmart’s inventory and no solid release date is given but the leaked page does give out a price tag $599, the same as the 32GB WiFi-only iPad. HP Touchpad uses the WebOS operating system, a fifth OS in a market currently dominated by Apple and Google that also features BlackBerry and tablets that run Windows 7………
Best Buy will sell the HTC Flyer later this week but Walmart is getting ready for something a little more interesting, the first webOS tablet in the world HP’s TouchPad and this tablet has been made official a few days before MWC 2011. HP’s distribution advantage over some other tablet manufacturers is hard to deny and have massive inroads with traditional electronics retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, their own online store and also a good relationship with rising electronics powers like Target and Wal-Mart. HP’s all-out assault for the TouchPad to hit all of these markets avenues and thanks to an enterprising tipster. First up is the mighty TouchPad itself, which Wal-Mart will carry in at least the 32GB configuration and at the price of $599.00. That’s right in line with the pricing for Apple’s 32GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, and right in line with what we are anticipating. While weren’t able to glean any info about when the TouchPad will actually be available at Wal-Mart or any other retailer, we got our first glimpse at the packaging. Well, actually just the size of the packaging: 9.5x10x1.78 inches – approximately the same size as the iPad’s packaging (weight was listed as 3 lbs). Seems it wasn’t just product design where HP targeted the iPad, let’s just hope Apple doesn’t pull a Samsung on HP.
Also to be available at Wal-Mart is the TouchPad-specific Touchstone Dock/Stand. Like the little puck Touchstone charger when it first debuted, the price for the stand-style tablet Touchstone isn’t cheap: $79.88. Granted, this is for what we expect to be a more powerful charger with two sets of inductive charging and communications coils. Plus it’s machined out of a chunk of metal, unlike the little smartphone Touchstones. Apart from the TouchPad and Touchstone stand, Wal-Mart also stands to carry the webOS Bluetooth keyboard for $69.88 and the first-party TouchPad case for $49.88. Also listed is an AC charger, priced at $29.88 – the same price HP currently charges for the old Palm AC-to-USB adapter and micro-USB cable. It doesn’t appear that Wal-Mart has yet placed any orders for the TouchPad or any of its respective accessories, but with the massive efficiencies that define Wal-Mart’s distribution system, they could have it in stores as early as the 1st of June if the product were to hit Wal-Mart’s distribution centers by next week.
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