Palm's Topaz Tablet & 2011 Smartphone Plans

The webOS Round-Up

Dec 18 2010, 9:44am CST | by Robert Evans

Palm's Topaz Tablet & 2011 Smartphone Plans

Remember when we thought the Pre might be a legitimate iPhone competitor? There were a couple of months there when it actually seemed possible, before the Pre actually launched and Palm's marketing team decided to buy a ton of creepy ads. Now HP owns Palm, and they have big plans for the future of webOS.

First off, recent rumors point towards a re-launch of the Palm Pre 2 on Verizon's network. Engadget found internal Verizon training documents for the Pre 2. That, plus the fact that a CDMA Pre 2 recently showed up on eBay, gives this rumor some credence.

Jon Rubinstein, head of Palm, is on record as stating that a webOS tablet will launch in 2011. He claimed that this would be a "radically different" device and added, "This is just the beginning. It's not 'game over'."

At least one analyst believes that tablet will launch in March, 2011. BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman recently met with 30+ East Asian tech companies to put together a report on the industry. One other analyst, Doug Reid with Stifel Nicolaus, also expects the PalmPad to launch in March.

That's the name we've been using since Palm tablet speculation began. But now a leaked Bluetooth keyboard accessory has leaked out, along with the PalmPad's internal codename: "Topaz". The keyboard is super-thin and contains webOS specific buttons. The tablet itself is said to have no buttons on the front- much like the Motorola tablet.

Also revealed was a new device codenamed "Castle". This looks to be an entry-level teen smartphone with no keyboard. Ubergizmo has heard it will be the smallest smartphone ever and that it will be unveiled at CES 2011. We'll see soon enough.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.