HP Announces The Pre3, 1.4GHz Processor On A 3.6inch Screen

Next up on HP announcements is the Pre3.   The Pre3 is not treated as a refreshed version of its predecessor like Pre 2 was.   The third incarnation of the Pre series may just be the best thus far.   The Pre3 offers its users a 3.6inch touchscreen w/ 800 x 480 resolution & slide-out QWERTY keyboard, powered by a 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor, running webOS 2.2, front-facing VGA camera for video calling, rear-facing 5MP camera w/ auto-focus + LED flash + video capture at 720p HD, 512MB of RAM, Wi-Fi b/g/n support, Bluetooth 2.1, mobile hotspot for up to five devices via Wi-Fi, built-in GPS, accelerometer, equipped with a 1230 mAh battery, and arriving in 8GB or 16GB storage sizes.  The Pre3 has HSPA+ and EVDO Rev. A radios, which gives it global phone support.  The Synergy feature allows sharing between your Pre3 and the TouchPad by touching the devices (like the Bump It app).   The Pre3 is slated for a summer release and no mention of pricing as of yet.   Check out the full details in the official release after the break.

For professionals who require powerful mobile productivity with an eye on personal connectivity, HP today announced the versatile HP Pre³ smartphone running HP webOS.

With a large 3.58-inch touchscreen, fast 1.4-GHz processor and a full slide-out keyboard, Pre³ is a multitasking professional workhorse that’s perfectly balanced for speed and serious fun.

Pre³ is one of the products HP announced today to introduce a unique experience for customers around connected mobility. It’s one of the building blocks in HP’s vision to seamlessly connect all your worlds through the power of HP webOS.

“In the suite of webOS products we’re introducing today, Pre³ is our premier phone, designed for the speed of business,” said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. “It enables professionals to accomplish more of their important workday tasks while easily keeping their fingers on the pulse of their personal lives.”

Pre³ is the ideal smartphone for multitasking professionals who rely on advanced messaging and voice capabilities to stay connected with all aspects of their busy lives.⁽¹⁾ With a slim design and high-capacity battery,⁽²⁾ it is comfortable to carry and use all day. The phone’s fast performance and large, high-resolution display accentuate the unique webOS experience for both professional and personal use.

The portrait layout enables optimal readability for email, attachments and web, and the new vertical slide-out keyboard – the widest and largest keyboard on any webOS phone to date – helps ensure quick and comfortable error-free typing. It’s ideal for heavy email and messaging needs, web browsing, enjoying multimedia and for staying in touch with business and social circles.^(1,3)

For professionals who demand more than productivity

With an array of features that are critical for professionals balancing work and personal use – including the speed of 3G and Wi-Fi,⁽¹⁾ a comfortable keyboard for typing and a large vivid touchscreen – Pre³offers the best of both worlds on the powerful HP webOS platform:

• Business-class email – Pre³ offers business-class email and encrypted data storage to protect critical information and supports industry-standard VPN to connect to corporate networks. You can read and write email with ease, view your email accounts together or easily toggle between them.^(1,3)

• More ways to connect – With the HP Synergy feature, you just have to sign in to your Facebook®, Google, Microsoft® Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo!® accounts. Your information – email, contacts, calendars – automatically populates your phone and stays updated so it’s always at your fingertips.⁽³⁾ Integrated messaging conveniently combines all your text messages, picture messages and IM conversations with one person into a single view, and you can connect through SMS, MMS, Google Talk, AIM and Yahoo! Messenger.

• The whole web – Pre³’s high-performance web browser offers support for HTML5 features and Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content on the phone’s big, vivid display.⁽¹⁾

• Video calling – Pre³ has a front-facing camera, a great speaker and noise cancellation for a state-of-the-art video calling experience.^(1,4)

• True Multitasking – webOS works the way you do. Begin an email, pause to answer a call, check your calendar, send a text, then switch back to your email without closing anything. Pre³lets you easily manage multiple open applications and notifications using natural touch gestures. Whether you’re planning a meeting or a night on the town, webOS keeps related items together so managing multiple tasks is easy.⁽⁵⁾

• Just Type – Start an email, create a message, update your status and search your favorite websites – all before you’ve even opened an app. Because webOS works the way you do, whenever you want to do something on your Pre³ – whether it’s emailing, texting, searching or almost anything – just type.

• Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite – HP is working with Quickoffice to include the Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite, which offers support for viewing Microsoft Office Word and Excel and provides integration with a variety of services, including Google Docs and Box.net.

• Touch-to-share – With HP’s new and exclusive touch-to-share feature, you’ll be able to simply tap your Pre³ phone to the new HP TouchPad to share web addresses between devices.⁽⁶⁾

• GPS – Get where you need to be with built-in GPS on Pre³. Apps such as Fandango and OpenTable work with GPS to pinpoint your exact location, get directions, find nearby places of interest and provide turn-by-turn directions.⁽⁷⁾

• Apps to keep you connected – The webOS App Catalog features thousands of apps for fast and easy access to all the things you need to keep your day moving, such as weather, news, hotel and restaurant reviews and reservations, flight info and games.⁽⁸⁾ Mobile social networking apps such as Facebook and Twitter allow you to stay connected throughout your hectic day and update your status and upload pictures in real time.

• HP mobile hotspot – Pre³ also supports the HP mobile hotspot, enabling your phone to act as a mobile Wi-Fi router so you can share wireless internet connectivity with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including the new HP TouchPad, as well as notebooks, gaming devices and portable media players.⁽⁹⁾

Pre³ is compatible out of the box with HP Touchstone (sold separately). The webOS Exhibition feature lets you run apps designed specifically for HP Touchstone – showing you anything from today’s agenda to a slideshow of your photos – turning charge time into useful time.⁽¹⁰⁾

Pre³ is one of three webOS products announced today (see separate announcements for HP Veer andHP TouchPad). Each product plays a distinct role in the growing webOS family, designed to meet the varying needs of customers in a rapidly evolving mobile landscape.

Availability

The HP Pre³ smartphone is scheduled to be available in the summer. Exact pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

• HP Pre³ features and specs

• HP webOS

• High-speed connectivity⁽¹⁾

• Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8x55 1.4-GHz processor

• 3.58-inch multitouch screen with a vibrant, 24-bit color, 480 x 800 resolution display

• Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation

• Redesigned vertical slide-out QWERTY keyboard with backlight

• 8 or 16 gigabytes (GB) of internal storage⁽¹¹⁾

• High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content⁽¹⁾

• Wireless connectivity:

  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication⁽¹⁾

  • Integrated GPS (and A-GPS)⁽⁷⁾

  • Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support

  • Wi-Fi router functionality for up to five devices using HP mobile hotspot⁽⁹⁾

• Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack

  • Rear-facing autofocus camera with flash, HD camcorder (capable up to 720p video recording)

  • Front-facing VGA fixed-focus camera for live video calling⁽⁴⁾

• Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)⁽³⁾

• Robust messaging support (combining IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)⁽¹²⁾

• Proximity sensor, light sensor, accelerometer and compass

• Removable, rechargeable 1,230 mAh battery

• USB mass storage mode to transfer media and other files quickly between desktop and device

• Ringer switch, which easily silences the ringer with one touch

• Compatible with HP Touchstone (sold separately)

• Dimensions: 111 mm x 64 mm x 16 mm (4.37 inches x 2.52 inches x .63 inches)

• Weight: 156 grams (5.5 ounces)