Internal renders of HP/Palm's webOS tablet have been leaked

Can't wait until next month when HP/Palm is slated to hold a press event where they plan on having a webOS announcement? Well, you're in luck today because a rendered image of one of their upcoming tablets have been leaked alongside a potential time-line of when we'll see these webOS powered tablets come to market.

First and foremost, we find more evidence of hearing about more than one webOS tablet after HP/Palm's tag line of “Something big, Something small, Something beyond” was used in its invitations for their upcoming event. Specifically, the first rendered images of the “Topaz” webOS tablet have been leaked and indicates that it'll be packing a 9” display. Conversely, there will also be a 7” model, going by the codename of “Opal,” which will round out the company's lineup and will focus heavily on e-reading. Additionally, faint whispers believe that both tablets will be powered by unspecified 1.2GHz processors under the hood.

Going back to the Topaz, the leaked shots show us that it sports a very minimalistic design that omits any buttons from its design, but it's assumed that the gesture area will rotate accordingly to the orientation you flip it to. Moreover, we find a front-facing camera, microUSB port on the bottom edge, and three speakers – two on the left side and one on the right. It seems that the speaker layout will allow for stereo audio output in both orientations. And finally, we see it sporting that glossy finish to its rear, much like the original Palm Pre, which could hint to the notion that the Touchstone won't be usable in charging the tablet wirelessly. Nonetheless, we won't know for sure until HP/Palm officially unveils the tablet.

Granted that some are already drooling over this despite the fact that we have yet to see fully functional tablets, it seems like we're going to have to wait some time before we even see the Opal hit the market. However, it's being reported that the larger Topaz will be launching first out of the gate, but no word on any kind of time frame. Based on what's shown from an internal marketing slide, the Opal is slated to arrive some time in September 2011 – meaning, we'll see Wi-Fi only, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE versions. Regretfully, the AT&T LTE version of the Opal won't see the light of day until July of 2012 – which is a hefty time away from right now. Still, we'll surely know more about HP/Palm's road map and strategy next month during their event.

source: Engadget