HP TouchPad 4G/Go/Go 3G Get Support Despite Never Having Been Launched

Even though HP never actually launched any webOS-loaded tablet beyond the original TouchPad, the product registration page has options for a bunch of slates that never actually saw the light of day, officially anyway.

This is one of those bits of info that aren't likely to emerge without someone looking for them.

Then again, considering that this info was never supposed to have a cause to exist, it is doubly strange that it was discovered, especially now.

Specifically, even though it has been months since the TouchPad was launched and then sacked, it was found that HP offered the option to register not just it, but some tablets that never got released at all.

By accessing the product registration page on the company's website, and searching the keyword TouchPad, users will find themselves in front of a list of models.

The HP TouchPad 4G, TouchPad Go and TouchPad Go 3G are all there, even though they aren't supposed to exist. Turns out they were just days or weeks from their own introductions.

It is implied that customers can register their serial numbers and receive product support alerts.

According to webOS Nation, at least one person who owns the TouchPad 4G testified that the system accepted the serial number.

Whether this is because HP really is recognizing the numbers of items that aren't supposed to exist or not actually referencing a database for valid serial numbers is anyone's guess.

For those who want a reminder, HP's TouchPad was abandoned about little over a month of existence, at the same time as the aborted decision to drop PCs.

What followed were some months of chaos in HP's camp, ending with a new CEO and, later, the choice to make webOS open source.

HP could still release some successors to the TouchPad, hopefully more long-lived, but that won't happen before 2013 (probably) especially with the webOS researcher team growing thin.