HP Reveals WebOS Based Veer, Pre3 Smartphones

Hewlett-Packard showcased the results of its Palm acquisition for the first time since it bought the company in April of last year.

At an event near in San Francisco, HP unveiled two new smartphones using a new version of Palm's WebOS. The HP Veer and Pre -- the next version of the previously named Palm Pre series -- will both use webOS 2.1.

HP said the latest version of the operating system takes multitasking and notification even further and has added 50 new features. Jon Rubenstein, former Palm CEO and current HP vice president and general manager, said the HP acquisition added a new level to webOS' reach.

With HP, we can now scale webOS globally. As most of you know, one of our developments is Synergy -- it merges your data from across the cloud and brings it together in an easy way. If info changes in the cloud, it's automatically updated in your phone. Now HP is bringing that to more products that help you connect, Rubenstein said.

The Veer is a credit card sized, 2.6-inch screen phone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. It uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7230 processor, has a 5MP camera, a USB port, 8GB of storage and will be available in the early spring.

The Pre3, HP said, is more of a business-based phone, which will incorporate consumer friendly features. It's got a 3.6-inch sliding screen with a sliding QWERTY keyboard. It uses the Qualcomm Snapdraggon 8x55 processor, which runs at 1.4Ghz. There will be two versions of the phone; HSPA+ and EVDO World Phone with Wi-Fi and 8GB or 16GB of storage.

This phone is built for serious speed, and serious fun and will be available this Summer, Rubenstein said.

Neither phone got pricing or carrier announcements. During the event, HP also introduced the TouchPad, an iPad like tablet.

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