HP-Palm WebOS Tablet Coming in - The UpStream

We'd heard HP's Todd Bradley had confidentially told employees that a webOS tablet would arrive in first quarter 2011, but now the man's gone on the record in the company's third quarter 2010 earnings call.

"You'll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a webOS-based product in early 2011," he told investors and analysts in response to a direct question about tablets, adding that potential slates were part of the reason HP bought Palm in the first place. Now, we're not financial experts, but we've heard it's typically a good idea not to promise things to your shareholders if you don't intend to deliver. In other words, there's a good bet the PalmPad is actually not an imaginary friend our subconscious created after Mark Hurd's hateful words in June. Instead, it does exist and that's why HP has gone a new direction when it comes to their CEO decision-making - you know, minus the whole $50 million severance package thing.