expecting tablet-centric announcements from such tech giants as Microsoft, Samsung, and Motorola, but HP’s presence in Vegas could potentially throw the entire proceedings on its collective ear. HP spent $1.2 billion to acquire struggling mobile computing pioneer Palm earlier this year, and speculation has run rampant that the computer giant plans to use PalmOS not just for smartphones, but for a new tablet device.

With tablet sales projected to approach 20 million this year and exceed 50 million in 2011, there’ll be no shortage of jockeying for market position at the trade show. Competition for eyeballs is expected to ruthless.

If the documents cited by FoxNews.com are accurate, then the palmPad will initially launch with three base models, with a fourth (geared toward university students) scheduled to launch around the third quarter of next year.

Any sort of palmPad momentum heading into 2011 would be a boon for the Palo Alto-based company, which had already put its HP Slate on life support when it acquired Palm in late April, setting off speculation that Palm’s WebOS for smartphones might be adapted and ported over to a new HP-branded tablet, whether that be a “Slate” or some next-gen model.

Now it appears that HP has taken those original Slate specs and updated them for a new palmPad-branded platform. It’s primed to run on WebOS version 2.5.1. In addition, there’ll also be dual cameras (sporting 1.3 and 3-megapixel resolution) with LED flashes, according to the report.

Few other details were revealed, but what we’d most like to know is what processor it’ll use (likely Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chipset), exactly how large the screen will be (though it should be comparable to the iPad’s 9.7-inch display), and what the storage capacity will look like across the different three models.

Whether the palmPad debuts at CES or not, anything resembling a successful launch in early 2011 would present HP with a decent chance to make up ground on Samsung, which has sold more than 1 million Galaxy Tabs less than two months after its October launch.

Both would be far behind tablet leader Apple, which sold roughly 4 million iPads in the most recent quarter alone, and may have sold as many as 28 million of the devices by the time 2011 ends.

Image: FoxNews.com

Authors: Erik Malinowski

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