14 DAY TRIAL // The official website may not have yet been updated, but there are always multiple ways of finding out when a new device will come out and what it will be able to do. This has been proven time and time again, as various leaks and listings kept spilling the beans on PC and hardware makers' upcoming products. In this case, an impending upgrade to HP's TouchSmart tm2 convertible tablet has been revealed by an online retailer.
The TouchSmart tm2 was initially showcased at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and was quite a sight, being larger and more powerful than any netbook, yet portable and versatile enough for on-the-go computing, especially through its support for touch input. Now, it seems that HP will soon make this device even more powerful, by adding a CPU from the Intel Calpella platform as an option.
Amazon has added a listing where the Intel Core i3-330M central processing unit is at the heart of the tablet's configuration. This chip is backed up by 4GB of RAM (up to 8GB supported). The rest of the components are, more or less, unchanged. Storage space is provided by a 640GB hard disk drive, whereas a 12.1-inch, LED-backlit touchscreen, with a 1280 x 800 resolution, handles both video output and user input. The feature set also includes a 5-in-1 card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a TrueVision webcam and a battery life of up to four hours.
The mobile PC runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and is enclosed inside a brushed aluminum casing with three USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI output, and audio jacks. Finally, the product measures 11.9 x 8.7 x 1 inches and weighs 4.7 pounds. It is unclear when actual shipments will start, but pre-orders may be set here, for $949.99.