HP announced three products powered by the webOS platform gained through its acquisition of Palm, including two smartphones and the long-anticipated tablet powered by the operating system. Although it is the handsets that are likely to bring the volumes for HP, it was the tablet that has drawn much of the attention. The device has a 9.7-inch screen, making it closer in size to Apple’s iPad than Samsung’s Android-powered Galaxy Tab, and is powered by a dual-CPU 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor.  Also announced was a successor to the existing Pre device line, called Pre3, which includes a 3.6-inch touch-screen, 1.4GHz processor, and has a slide-out QWERTY keypad. This is joined at the low-end by Veer (pictured), described as “the smallest webOS phone to date,” which includes a 2.6-inch touch screen, 800MHz and slide out keypad. In a statement, the company notes that “exact pricing and availability will be announced at a later date,” although Veer is set to reach the market first, with Pre3 and TouchPad following in the summer.

While webOS was received positively when it first reached the market, penetration of the platform was unspectacular due to the limited reach of its ailing parent, Palm. This certainly seems to be an issue that HP will be able to address, although for the smartphone devices the ability to pick up operator support will also be significant. In the past, Palm has been criticised for launching the CDMA versions of its devices with close partner Sprint first, which did little to improve its chances of gaining market traction. HP has also improved the hardware specifications of the devices, in order to address concern that previous devices have been under-powered. According to a recent developer survey from Appcelerator, interest in webOS is higher than for Nokia’s Symbian OS or MeeGo, despite the fact that webOS devices are currently rare.