HP preparing to launch TouchPad in Australia?

Brenton Currie
Wednesday, 20 July 2011 10:20

Your IT - Mobility

HP TouchPad launch in Aus coming up soon? (Credit: HP)

Earlier in the month, HP launched their very first tablet '” the TouchPad '” running webOS, the mobile operating system which the company owns after their acquisition of Palm last year.

Billed as an alternative to Apple's iPad and the wave of Android tablets swamping the market, the TouchPad has met with varying reviews in the United States, with Engadget mentioning that it 'fails to live up to one's expectations' in such a competitive market and TechCrunch referring to it as 'a capable third (or fourth) entrant into the mobile OS race.'

When the tablet was announced by HP earlier in the year, the company's Australian representatives confirmed that it would become available locally by the end of 2011.

It would seem that HP is now preparing to launch the TouchPad in Australia within the next few months, with an invite sent out to media outlets late last week for an event about what appears to be the tablet device.

The invite doesn't specifically state that the TouchPad is going to be the focus of the event, but there's some strong indications including the fact that it's titled 'connect like nothing else' '” a similar motto to 'works like nothing else' which was used in the US launch and is used in the Australian event description '” and pictures of what appears to be a tablet being used in multiple situations.