Box.net will offer free online storage to new TouchPad tablet buyers. Photo courtesy Box.net

Those in the market for a tablet may have more incentive to opt out of buying the iPad.

Box.net will offer 50 GB of free online storage to buyers of HP’s new tablet device, the TouchPad. The company plans to announce the deal on Friday, the same day as the TouchPad’s launch.

New TouchPad owners can download the Box.net app from HP’s App Catalog store beginning Friday.

Over a year late to market, HP needs to give potential tablet shoppers all the reason to buy a TouchPad it can muster. Along with the storage promotion, HP offers a $50 rebate to owners of Palm smartphones — like the Pixi and Pre — through the end of July.

The cloud-based storage industry has grown dramatically over the past few years. Despite recent security issues, Dropbox attracted a considerable amount of users since its launch in 2008, hitting the 25 million user mark in April. Google obviously has its entire suite of cloud-based apps, including the invite-only Music Beta. And of course, Apple’s iCloud is due to drop come this fall, offering 5 free gigs of online storage as well as backups to iOS devices.

Box.net’s offering is actually a fairly nice deal for those needing online storage. 50GB of free storage amounts to approximately $240 in yearly savings, as the 50GB storage costs the average user a $20 monthly subscription fee. Though it’s difficult to compete with Amazon’s storage pricing, which costs only $1 per gig yearly (the first 5GB are free).

But still, will these packaged freebies make it worth buying the TouchPad? Amazon’s storage locker is available on any Android device, and Google’s suite is available across most platforms (except webOS 3.0, that is). We’re not sure, but if you’re already planning to buy a TouchPad, hit HP’s App Catalog to pick up Box.net’s deal.

The TouchPad launches in the U.S. this Friday for $500 and $600 for the 16 and 32GB versions, respectively. The tablet rolls out globally over the rest of July.