HP touts TouchPad on WebOS platform as true business tablet

HP has released its much anticipated TouchPad tablet running the WebOS 3.0 operating system, touting it as a true business tablet.

Speaking at a TouchPad showcase event in London on Wednesday, HP vice president of accounts for the UK, Steve Murphy, said that the features on the tablet made it a stronger proposition for corporate users than Apple's iPad.

"Multi-tasking is a big plus for the enterprise. Competitors often say their devices can multi-task but users find they have to close down one app to run another, and can't keep their original app running in the background. With ours the original app is still running," he said.

"The search functionality, Just Type, finds things very quickly and will search Google pages, Wikis, emails and web links too."

Murphy added that the TouchPad can also play Flash files, unlike the iPad, and revealed that HP has a team for the TouchPad focused solely on creating applications for business users such as financial and surgery applications.

He added that HP plans to target consumers with the TouchPad, but that the business market will be the primary focus, acknowledging Apple's dominance in the consumer market.

"The main play is corporations as Apple has a stronghold in the consumer space and trying to shift that is a big mountain to climb," Murphy said.

Meanwhile, the developer community will welcome the TouchPad because HP can vet applications for the device and make them publicly available much faster than Apple can for the iPad, Murphy said.

V3.co.uk was given the chance to film a hands on video with the TouchPad while at the event.

Discussing the future strategy for WebOS, Murphy was coy on whether HP would focus more on its own platform or continue to develop products using Windows as well.

"We purchased Palm for the software rather than the device," he said.

"We're not just going to concentrate on WebOS, as the Windows operating system still has a massive user base, but in terms of whether we will ship more PCs and devices with WebOS than with Windows in the future, I just can't say."

The TouchPad looks similar to the iPad and is of a similar weight. It boasts a 9.7in screen, a Qualcomm dual-core 1.2GHz processor, and 16GB or 32GB of memory.

The device will be priced to compete with the iPad at £399 for the 16GB version and £479 for the 32GB unit.

However, HP may face a tough battle to excite the business community as V3.co.uk readers showed little desire for the device in a poll conducted in February.