The world's largest PC maker has decided to keep making PCs after all.

Hewlett-Packard just announced that it has decided not to jettison its Personal Systems group, ending a bizarre public parade of self-doubt that began in August and led to the ouster of its chief executive, Leo Apotheker.

Competitor Michael Dell recently made the best argument for HP staying in the business. He said HP's servers would get more expensive because the PC business gives companies like HP and Dell the scale to get deals on components.

HP's new chief executive, Meg Whitman, issued a statement today saying that the company has "completed its evaluation of strategic alternatives for is Personal Systems Group and has decided the unit will remain part of the company."

"HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It's clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees," Whitman said in the release. "HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger."

The company's PC business is profitable and had sales of $40.7 billion last year. It also has recently been growing faster than the rest of the PC industry, which is in a period of relatively slow growth.

HP is also one of Microsoft's largest customers and one of the largest tech companies in the Northwest, with offices in Seattle and large facilities in Boise and Corvallis.

HP's statement said "the outcome of this exercise reaffirms HP's model and the value for its customers and shareholders."

Hewlett-Packard unveiled a line of new "all in one" desktop PCs, including touchscreen models that look like good candidates for running Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

They range in price from $399 to $899 for the base models, with screen sizes ranging from 20 to 23 inches diagonally and touches like HDMI output and slot-loading disc drives on some models.

HP already offers some of the nicest all-in-one Windows machines, which stuff the computing hardware behind the monitor. They're not as gorgeous as Apple's iMac but they cost around half as much, which puts the convenient "computing console" design into reach for mainstream buyers.

There's growing interest in this style of PC, according to market data HP provided in its release. During July, 34 percent of consumer desktop sales were all-in-one systems, according to NPD.

Business users also plan to buy more all-in-ones, which take up less space and don't need a bunch of wires connected. Among "commercial PC users," plans to buy an all-in-one will grow to 15.7 percent from 9.9 percent over the next 12 months, according to IDC research.

"The popularity of the all-in-one form factor continues to grow, and HP's contribution to this market is significant," Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's personal systems group, said in the release.

Yet HP is still thinking about jettisoning its PC business under a reorganization announced last month that walloped the company's stock.

The systems announced today include redesigned TouchSmart desktops - the more powerful models with touchscreen displays. They have a silver external frame design and base, upgraded "Beats" audio systems and screens that tilt back up to 30 degrees.. They also come with new version of HP's desktop software that emulates the Mac desktop, with application icons spread across the bottom of the screen.

The new PCs - especially the ones with the powerful, latest-generation Intel Core processors - will presumably work well with Windows 8, which has Microsoft's "Metro style" interface displaying a group of large tiles on the desktop. They are tapped or clicked to launch programs, and can be rearranged and customized, similar to the way you can change the display on phones running Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 software.

HP didn't mention Windows 7 at all in its release - perhaps because of its cool relationship with Microsoft - and declined to comment specifically on whether the new systems are being designed with Windows 8 in mind. It didn't mention anything about offering these PCs with its WebOS software, although that was the direction it was headed earlier this year.

The emailed response to my question about whether the new touch computers were designed with Windows 8 in mind:

"HP knows people expect a lot from their technology - from the overall design to the user experience. Our new all-in-ones were designed with this in mind, combining a full featured PC and a high definition display into an elegant, modern design that complements the user's environment instead of trying to define it."

HP also updated are the designs of its lower-end all-in-one desktops without touch input. The $399 models is rounded and funkier looking, like the budget all-in-one "net tops" offered by companies such as Asus, MSI and Lenovo.

Only partial details of the hardware were available, but here's what I was able to find out about the lineup and processors:

Omni 120, 20" screen, available Sept. 21, starting price of $399.

- Base configuration includes: AMD dual core processor, 2GB memory, 320GB hard drive, ATI Radeon graphics, wired keyboard and mouse

-Base configuration includes: Intel core i3 processor, 4GB memory, 750GB hard drive, Intel HD graphics, wired keyboard and mouse

-Base configuration includes: AMD dual core processor, 2GB memory, 320GB hard drive, ATI Radeon graphics, wireless keyboard and mouse

-Base configuration includes: Intel core i3 processor, 3GB memory, 500GB hard drive, Intel HD graphics, wireless keyboard and mouse

-Base configuration includes: Intel core i3 processor, 4GB memory, 750GB hard drive, Intel HD graphics, wireless keyboard and mouse

Also announced were two new TouchSmart models for business customers.

Here's the $399 Omni 120:

Here's the $699 TouchSmart 420:

The $799 Omni 220:

A side view of the $899 TouchSmart 520:

Hewlett-Packard flip-flopped today, saying that it's going to produce more TouchPad tablets after all.

The company abruptly announced on Aug. 18 that it was killing the TouchPad product line after dismal early sales. But sales picked up after the price was cut to $99, from $499, to clear out remaining inventory.

That prompted HP to announce today that it's going to produce "one last run" of TouchPads, which may be available in a few weeks. Pricing wasn't disclosed.

An excerpt of the announcement:

Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand. We don't know exactly when these units will be available or how many we'll get, and we can't promise we'll have enough for everyone.

HP said a "limited quantity" will be produced during the quarter ending Oct. 31.

I wonder if the company is also trying to appease the Taiwanese factories that were stuck with parts of perhaps another 100,000 TouchPads, according to a DigiTimes story. It said HP was going to honor its commitments to its Taiwanese partners, who also manufacture its computers.

The DigiTimes story said the parts were for a 7-inch model of the TouchPad that wasn't released before HP scuttled the line.

It reminds me of the way Verizon reintroduced Microsoft's short-lived Kin phones last fall, before they all ended up at the Dollar Store.

Steve Jobs did his old employer one last favor.

By resigning from Apple last week, Jobs made everyone briefly forget that Hewlett-Packard, where he had one of his first jobs, had just hobbled itself.

It may seem like ancient history, but HP's debacle isn't over yet, and the outcome will reshape the tech industry and the lives of tens of thousands of employees across the West.

The world's largest PC maker and cornerstone of Silicon Valley announced Aug. 18 that it was killing its new flagship Web tablet and may jettison its PC business.

Simultaneously, Chief Executive Leo Apotheker (left) doubled down on its higher-margin corporate-technology business, bidding more than $10 billion for a relatively low-profile British enterprise software company.

HP's stock was in the $40s in the spring, the mid-$30s in early summer and then plunged below $25 on the news (see chart). HP lost more than $10 billion in value, and the fabled company may be a takeover target, ready to be sliced and diced.

There's no doubt the PC industry is in a slump, and HP's TouchPad tablet was a dud.

But the PC industry is cyclical, and in past years its growth lifted other parts of HP's business. In the fiscal year that ended last October, HP's personal-systems group -- the unit that sells PCs -- accounted for half the company's net revenue growth.

The group's sales were up 15 percent in fiscal 2010, to $40.7 billion, and its profit grew 5 percent to $2 billion.

Yet, in 2009 and 2010, HP cut the percentage of the group's revenue spent on researching and developing new products.

That's a far cry from the legendary invention factory that gave Jobs a summer job in his teens and served as an early role model for Apple.

What's most striking is that HP has been acting just the way Wall Street encourages tech companies to behave. It's been ruthless on costs, and unsentimental in deciding to slash core businesses and chase products that, for now, have higher margins.

But instead of applauding these bold moves, investors have savaged HP. Ratings agencies raised red flags and several research firms downgraded its stock after the announcement.

Some Wall Street sirens still praised the approach, if not the execution. Credit Suisse's Kulbinder Garcha told The Wall Street Journal that HP had the "correct strategy" in buying the British company, and Gleacher & Co.'s Brian Marshall told the paper, "HP is undergoing a sound strategy transformation by focusing on high-growth, high-margin opportunities."

We may hear more of this in a few weeks when Microsoft holds its annual meeting with financial analysts. They've perennially asked the company to slash costs. In recent years, as Microsoft stock lagged despite the company's steady growth, some began calling on Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to break the company apart.

This would enable investors to choose only the most profitable groups, instead of having to bet broadly on the whole company.

It's a cynical and greedy approach.

Global tech companies that take the long view use proceeds of their hits to develop new products that may take years to crystallize and become profitable. Eventually this broadens their reach into new markets, grows profit and stabilizes companies that employ tens of thousands of people and provide tools the world depends upon.

Multiple businesses balance each other through cycles. Strong Xbox sales made up for slowing Windows sales during Microsoft's last fiscal year.

Instead of laying people off when its core product slowed, Ballmer announced across-the-board compensation increases that take effect in September, because "success comes from the people who work here," he said in an April memo.

Microsoft hasn't charmed Wall Street in years, and Ballmer doesn't seem to bother.

That's one way to deal with Wall Street. Another is Apple's approach, which is to play the Street like a Garageband guitar.

For instance, the day before Jobs resigned, someone told The Wall Street Journal that the iPhone 5 will debut in October on Sprint as well as AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Who would sell Apple stock right before an iPhone launch, Jobs or no Jobs?

Then we have HP's approach. Apotheker is still trying to make his mark, in the footsteps of past HP bosses who cut thousands of jobs and spent heavily on acquisitions to boost growth and woo investors. I'll bet he takes the fall for clumsily attempting to give the queen of the PC industry a quick and dirty makeover.

When it comes to tech companies of a certain age, Wall Street is like a rude old man who presses his wife to get a radical face-lift and boob job because he can't see her beauty and lusts for a young filly.

HP is the latest reminder that you'll never be happy in a relationship like that: It went under the knife and still ended up forlorn, dumped on the curb.

Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest PC maker, just announced that it's looking to spin off its PC business and killing off the Web tablet it launched a month ago.

This comes a year after HP spent $1.2 billion buying Palm and its webOS business, so HP could have its own operating system and build its own developer ecosystem, instead of using Windows'.

Chief Executive Leo Apotheker -- who joined HP in November after a career at business software giant SAP -- is playing to Wall Street and converting HP into a higher-margin, enterprise company.

It looks like he's copying IBM, which sold its PC business to Lenovo in 2004 so it could focus on business servers, software and services.

From the executive suite, HP's move may look decisive and maybe it will pay off in the long term.

But from a distance it looks like more wild directional changes at a storied company that has lurched back and forth in search of a strategy under a series of challenged chief executives.

The only thing consistent about HP lately is its apparent hatred of Microsoft.

Carly Fiorina abandoned HP's storied culture and laid off thousands to appease Wall Street. Along the way she cozied up to Apple. She was replaced by Mark Hurd, who was shown the door after fudging expense accounts to cover dates with an actress. Hurd was pals with Microsoft's nemesis Larry Ellison, and now works with him at Oracle.

Before he left, Hurd bought Palm and its operating system, enabling HP to begin weaning itself from Windows. Hurd also named Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen to HP's board in 2009.

Now, by turning HP into an enterprise software company like IBM and Oracle, Apotheker's making HP even more of a competitor with Microsoft.

As part of this new emphasis, HP is spending $10 billion to buy Autonomy Corp., a British company that makes software companies and governments use to search and analyze their data.

The planned PC spinoff and Autonomy purchase were announced along with HP's earnings during the third quarter. It netted $1.9 billion on sales of $31.2 billion - a 9 percent increase in net profit over the same period the year before, and a 1 percent increase in sales. Its release noted that consumer sales were down 15 percent and its business sales were up 5 percent.

HP's personal systems group netted $567 million on sales of $9.6 billion, compared to a profit of $469 million on sales of $9.9 billion a year ago.

Apotheker arrived during a low point in the cyclical PC business -- after the rush of netbooks and initial burst of Windows 7 upgrades, at the peak of the computer industry's iPad envy.

The next PC upgrade cycle is just around the corner, with Windows 8 and new mobile hardware.

But HP decided a year ago that it could do better going its own way, with webOS and devices like its TouchPad, which has been a flop.

Instead of sticking with its new computing platform strategy, though, HP's dumping it the month after its flagship product launched.

And instead of trying to get back in sync with its PC industry partners, HP is throwing in the towel with its personal system business.

HP will presumably sell its PC business to one of the Asian manufacturers. There will still be plenty of options for consumers and businesses who will continue buying hundreds of millions of PCs a year.

That will leave Dell as the last major U.S.-based manufacturer of Windows personal computers.

Meanwhile, thousands of HP employees - including many in the Northwest -- are in limbo, and the PC industry is losing another one of its pioneers.

One more thing: Wall Street types often call on tech companies to split apart and divest slower business groups. HP's doing just that, but investors responded today by ditching its stock: It fell 6 percent in regular trading and another 10 percent after hours to $26.61.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday outlined a billion-dollar bet to reshape its huge personal-computer and mobile-device business to be more like Apple, using an in-house operating system rather than Microsoft Windows.

It's a blow for Microsoft to have its largest customer -- and the world's largest PC maker -- reject Windows for its new push into the fast-growing mobile-device business.

But shoppers may benefit from the increased competition and new options coming later this year.

HP plans to release two phones this spring and a tablet computer in the summer, all based on the latest version of the WebOS software the company acquired when it bought Palm last April for $1.2 billion.

HP's tablet -- the TouchPad -- joins a flood of tablet computers to be released this year, including new versions of Apple's iPad, devices running Google's Android software and Windows-based tablets from Dell and other major PC makers.

Research firms forecast more than 50 million tablet computing devices will be sold this year. Gartner expects 64.8 million will be sold globally, rising to 154 million in 2013.

"These things are proof that the future is really wide open when it comes to growth and opportunities in the mobile space," Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said during the HP event.

The TouchPad was the highlight of a splashy media event in a waterfront pavilion Wednesday morning.

Yet HP made clear it was launching more than a few devices. It was presenting a new platform it expects to rival Windows, Android and Apple's iOS software used in the iPhone and iPad.

The company aims to build the largest community of connected devices in the world, creating a big draw for software developers, according to Steven McArthur, senior vice president for applications and services.

"Virtually no other company could credibly put forward such a goal," said McArthur, a former president of Expedia.

HP emphasized that the WebOS platform can be pushed through its vast network of customers, partner companies and retail outlets. The Palo Alto, Calif., company has more than a billion customers and distributes its products through 88,000 stores around the world.

It's going to count on wireless phone companies to help move the TouchPad, though. Verizon and others will start selling the device in summer for a price somewhere below $800.

The 1.6-pound TouchPad has a 9.6-inch diagonal display with 1,024 by 728 resolution and a front-facing camera for videoconferencing. It's powered by Qualcomm's newest dual-core, 1.2 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and will come with 16 or 32 gigabytes of storage.

It will be available first with Wi-Fi and later with 3G wireless service through multiple carriers.

The new phones include the tiny Veer, about the size of a credit card with a 2.6-inch screen. It has 8 gigabytes of storage, a slide-out keyboard, HSPA+ wireless and an 800 megahertz Snapdragon processor. It will go on sale in "early spring."

"Never before has a smartphone done so much and felt so little," said Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and now an HP senior vice president.

Rubinstein also showed the Pre3, a larger phone with a 3.6-inch diagonal screen, slide-out keyboard and HSPA+ and EVDO rev. It runs on a 1.4 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and will be available this summer.

Rubinstein said that with WebOS, the company aims to transform how people think, feel and connect to different devices and services. Devices running the software stay synchronized with online services and can integrate multiple providers of e-mail and online calendars, for instance.

To use all the features, though, users will need both a TouchPad and a WebOS phone.

For instance, the demonstrations Wednesday showed how messages coming into a Pre phone can be answered on a tablet. Web pages being browsed on the tablet -- such as a restaurant's website -- can be shifted to a Pre phone by tapping the phone against the tablet.

Todd Bradley, HP's executive vice president for personal systems, said the company is bringing memorable new experiences comparable to the first time he heard the whisper of an electric car.

"We should all witness these firsts as often as we can in our lives. If you think about it, creating those experiences for a living is what the technology industry is all about."

The phones and tablet had been expected, but Bradley added something extra when he announced the company also plans to extend WebOS to desktop and laptop PCs.

Executives provided no details of when WebOS PCs will arrive and said the company will continue to produce Windows-based PCs also.

Microsoft declined to make executives available to discuss HP's move but a spokesman provided a statement: "HP is a valued Microsoft partner, and we continue to work closely with them on many new products that bring great experiences to our mutual customers."

In January, Microsoft disclosed the next version of Windows will run on the tiny, integrated hardware platforms used in smartphones and the latest tablet computers, including the Qualcomm hardware HP is using for its WebOS devices.

But the new version of Windows may not arrive until late this year or in 2012.

HP looked into different operating systems when it began developing slate-type tablet computers five years ago, according to Chief Technology Officer Phil McKinney.

It decided the best approach was an operating system designed from the ground up for mobile devices and one that could be tailored for tablets.

"There are operating systems appropriate for the job," McKinney said.

That approach is similar to that of Apple, which develops its own hardware and software, and has led the emergence of mobile computing devices since its iPhone was first released in 2007.

HP also may have decided it was simply cheaper to develop its own operating system and developer platform, instead of paying to license the multipurpose Windows.

It's a challenge to lure developers to a new platform, especially when they're already stretched developing applications for multiple platforms and devices, but HP has already landed a few big ones.

Time Inc. showed TouchPad versions of "Sports Illustrated" and "People" magazines that are expected to be ready -- along with Fortune magazine -- when the device launches.

HP also worked with Amazon.com on a TouchPad version of Kindle that supports the Kindle's new "collections" feature for managing libraries of Kindle books.

(This is an expanded version of my blogging live from HP's event)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday outlined a billion-dollar bet to reshape its huge personal-computer and mobile-device business to be more like Apple, using an in-house operating system rather than Microsoft Windows.

It's a blow for Microsoft to have its largest customer -- and the world's largest PC maker -- reject Windows for its new push into the fast-growing mobile-device business.

But shoppers may benefit from the increased competition and new options coming later this year.

HP plans to release two phones this spring and a tablet computer in the summer, all based on the latest version of the WebOS software the company acquired when it bought Palm last April for $1.2 billion.

HP's tablet -- the TouchPad -- joins a flood of tablet computers to be released this year, including new versions of Apple's iPad, devices running Google's Android software and Windows-based tablets from Dell and other major PC makers.

Research firms forecast more than 50 million tablet computing devices will be sold this year. Gartner expects 64.8 million will be sold globally, rising to 154 million in 2013.

"These things are proof that the future is really wide open when it comes to growth and opportunities in the mobile space," Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said during the HP event.

The TouchPad was the highlight of a splashy media event in a waterfront pavilion Wednesday morning.

Yet HP made clear it was launching more than a few devices. It was presenting a new platform it expects to rival Windows, Android and Apple's iOS software used in the iPhone and iPad.

The company aims to build the largest community of connected devices in the world, creating a big draw for software developers, according to Steven McArthur, senior vice president for applications and services.

"Virtually no other company could credibly put forward such a goal," said McArthur, a former president of Expedia.

HP emphasized that the WebOS platform can be pushed through its vast network of customers, partner companies and retail outlets. The Palo Alto, Calif., company has more than a billion customers and distributes its products through 88,000 stores around the world.

It's going to count on wireless phone companies to help move the TouchPad, though. Verizon and others will start selling the device in summer for a price somewhere below $800.

The 1.6-pound TouchPad has a 9.6-inch diagonal display with 1,024 by 728 resolution and a front-facing camera for videoconferencing. It's powered by Qualcomm's newest dual-core, 1.2 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and will come with 16 or 32 gigabytes of storage.

It will be available first with Wi-Fi and later with 3G wireless service through multiple carriers.

The new phones include the tiny Veer, about the size of a credit card with a 2.6-inch screen. It has 8 gigabytes of storage, a slide-out keyboard, HSPA+ wireless and an 800 megahertz Snapdragon processor. It will go on sale in "early spring."

"Never before has a smartphone done so much and felt so little," said Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and now an HP senior vice president.

Rubinstein also showed the Pre3, a larger phone with a 3.6-inch diagonal screen, slide-out keyboard and HSPA+ and EVDO rev. It runs on a 1.4 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and will be available this summer.

Rubinstein said that with WebOS, the company aims to transform how people think, feel and connect to different devices and services. Devices running the software stay synchronized with online services and can integrate multiple providers of e-mail and online calendars, for instance.

To use all the features, though, users will need both a TouchPad and a WebOS phone.

For instance, the demonstrations Wednesday showed how messages coming into a Pre phone can be answered on a tablet. Web pages being browsed on the tablet -- such as a restaurant's website -- can be shifted to a Pre phone by tapping the phone against the tablet.

Todd Bradley, HP's executive vice president for personal systems, said the company is bringing memorable new experiences comparable to the first time he heard the whisper of an electric car.

"We should all witness these firsts as often as we can in our lives. If you think about it, creating those experiences for a living is what the technology industry is all about."

The phones and tablet had been expected, but Bradley added something extra when he announced the company also plans to extend WebOS to desktop and laptop PCs.

Executives provided no details of when WebOS PCs will arrive and said the company will continue to produce Windows-based PCs also.

Microsoft declined to make executives available to discuss HP's move but a spokesman provided a statement: "HP is a valued Microsoft partner, and we continue to work closely with them on many new products that bring great experiences to our mutual customers."

In January, Microsoft disclosed the next version of Windows will run on the tiny, integrated hardware platforms used in smartphones and the latest tablet computers, including the Qualcomm hardware HP is using for its WebOS devices.

But the new version of Windows may not arrive until late this year or in 2012.

HP looked into different operating systems when it began developing slate-type tablet computers five years ago, according to Chief Technology Officer Phil McKinney.

It decided the best approach was an operating system designed from the ground up for mobile devices and one that could be tailored for tablets.

"There are operating systems appropriate for the job," McKinney said.

That approach is similar to that of Apple, which develops its own hardware and software, and has led the emergence of mobile computing devices since its iPhone was first released in 2007.

HP also may have decided it was simply cheaper to develop its own operating system and developer platform, instead of paying to license the multipurpose Windows.

It's a challenge to lure developers to a new platform, especially when they're already stretched developing applications for multiple platforms and devices, but HP has already landed a few big ones.

Time Inc. showed TouchPad versions of "Sports Illustrated" and "People" magazines that are expected to be ready -- along with Fortune magazine -- when the device launches.

HP also worked with Amazon.com on a TouchPad version of Kindle that supports the Kindle's new "collections" feature for managing libraries of Kindle books.

(This is an expanded version of my blogging live from HP's event)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday outlined a billion-dollar bet to reshape its huge personal-computer and mobile-device business to be more like Apple, using an in-house operating system rather than Microsoft Windows.

It's a blow for Microsoft to have its largest customer -- and the world's largest PC maker -- reject Windows for its new push into the fast-growing mobile-device business.

But shoppers may benefit from the increased competition and new options coming later this year.

HP plans to release two phones this spring and a tablet computer in the summer, all based on the latest version of the WebOS software the company acquired when it bought Palm last April for $1.2 billion.

HP's tablet -- the TouchPad -- joins a flood of tablet computers to be released this year, including new versions of Apple's iPad, devices running Google's Android software and Windows-based tablets from Dell and other major PC makers.

Research firms forecast more than 50 million tablet computing devices will be sold this year. Gartner expects 64.8 million will be sold globally, rising to 154 million in 2013.

"These things are proof that the future is really wide open when it comes to growth and opportunities in the mobile space," Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said during the HP event.

The TouchPad was the highlight of a splashy media event in a waterfront pavilion Wednesday morning.

Yet HP made clear it was launching more than a few devices. It was presenting a new platform it expects to rival Windows, Android and Apple's iOS software used in the iPhone and iPad.

The company aims to build the largest community of connected devices in the world, creating a big draw for software developers, according to Steven McArthur, senior vice president for applications and services.

"Virtually no other company could credibly put forward such a goal," said McArthur, a former president of Expedia.

HP emphasized that the WebOS platform can be pushed through its vast network of customers, partner companies and retail outlets. The Palo Alto, Calif., company has more than a billion customers and distributes its products through 88,000 stores around the world.

It's going to count on wireless phone companies to help move the TouchPad, though. Verizon and others will start selling the device in summer for a price somewhere below $800.

The 1.6-pound TouchPad has a 9.6-inch diagonal display with 1,024 by 728 resolution and a front-facing camera for videoconferencing. It's powered by Qualcomm's newest dual-core, 1.2 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and will come with 16 or 32 gigabytes of storage.

It will be available first with Wi-Fi and later with 3G wireless service through multiple carriers.

The new phones include the tiny Veer, about the size of a credit card with a 2.6-inch screen. It has 8 gigabytes of storage, a slide-out keyboard, HSPA+ wireless and an 800 megahertz Snapdragon processor. It will go on sale in "early spring."

"Never before has a smartphone done so much and felt so little," said Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and now an HP senior vice president.

Rubinstein also showed the Pre3, a larger phone with a 3.6-inch diagonal screen, slide-out keyboard and HSPA+ and EVDO rev. It runs on a 1.4 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and will be available this summer.

Rubinstein said that with WebOS, the company aims to transform how people think, feel and connect to different devices and services. Devices running the software stay synchronized with online services and can integrate multiple providers of e-mail and online calendars, for instance.

To use all the features, though, users will need both a TouchPad and a WebOS phone.

For instance, the demonstrations Wednesday showed how messages coming into a Pre phone can be answered on a tablet. Web pages being browsed on the tablet -- such as a restaurant's website -- can be shifted to a Pre phone by tapping the phone against the tablet.

Todd Bradley, HP's executive vice president for personal systems, said the company is bringing memorable new experiences comparable to the first time he heard the whisper of an electric car.

"We should all witness these firsts as often as we can in our lives. If you think about it, creating those experiences for a living is what the technology industry is all about."

The phones and tablet had been expected, but Bradley added something extra when he announced the company also plans to extend WebOS to desktop and laptop PCs.

Executives provided no details of when WebOS PCs will arrive and said the company will continue to produce Windows-based PCs also.

Microsoft declined to make executives available to discuss HP's move but a spokesman provided a statement: "HP is a valued Microsoft partner, and we continue to work closely with them on many new products that bring great experiences to our mutual customers."

In January, Microsoft disclosed the next version of Windows will run on the tiny, integrated hardware platforms used in smartphones and the latest tablet computers, including the Qualcomm hardware HP is using for its WebOS devices.

But the new version of Windows may not arrive until late this year or in 2012.

HP looked into different operating systems when it began developing slate-type tablet computers five years ago, according to Chief Technology Officer Phil McKinney.

It decided the best approach was an operating system designed from the ground up for mobile devices and one that could be tailored for tablets.

"There are operating systems appropriate for the job," McKinney said.

That approach is similar to that of Apple, which develops its own hardware and software, and has led the emergence of mobile computing devices since its iPhone was first released in 2007.

HP also may have decided it was simply cheaper to develop its own operating system and developer platform, instead of paying to license the multipurpose Windows.

It's a challenge to lure developers to a new platform, especially when they're already stretched developing applications for multiple platforms and devices, but HP has already landed a few big ones.

Time Inc. showed TouchPad versions of "Sports Illustrated" and "People" magazines that are expected to be ready -- along with Fortune magazine -- when the device launches.

HP also worked with Amazon.com on a TouchPad version of Kindle that supports the Kindle's new "collections" feature for managing libraries of Kindle books.

(This is an expanded version of my blogging live from HP's event)

SAN FRANCISCO _ Microsoft leadership announcements and leaks about the next iPad can't distract from the fact that the world's largest computer maker today is launching its own operating system.

Hewlett-Packard is holding an Applesque launch event at a waterfront pavilion to present the latest version of the WebOS platform it acquired with the purchase of Palm last April for $1.2 billion. The company's also presenting new smartphones and a touchscreen tablet based on the software.

In addition to tablets, HP is going to put its operating system on personal computers, including laptops and desktops that have traditionally used Microsoft's Windows.

I'll be updating this entry as the event progresses.

HP's executive vice president for personal systems, Todd Bradley, opened the event by saying the company's bringing memorable new experiences comparable to the first time he heard the whisper of an electric car.

"We should all witness these firsts as often as we can in our lives. If you think about it creating those experiences for a living is what the technology industry is all about," he said.

Bradley said the company has more than 1 billion customers around the world in 174 countries, with 88,000 retail locations, and it's selling 120 PCs every minute.

Our intention with WebOS is to transform how people think, feel and connect to different devices and services, he said.

Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president, came on stage for the actual launch.

After talking about the genesis of WebOS five years ago, Rubinstein presented the first new product, the tiny Veer phone that's about the size of a credit card with a 2.6-inch screen but has 8 gigabytes of storage, HSPA+ wireless and an 800 megahertz Snapdragon processor. It also works as a mobile hotspot for up to five devices, and will go on sale in "early spring."

"Never before has a smartphone done so much and felt so little," he said.

Then he pulled out the Pre3, a more business-oriented phone with a 3.6-inch diagonal screen, slide-out keyboard and HSPA+ and EVDO rev. a world phone radios. It runs on a 1.4 gigahertz Snapdragon processor.

It's going to be available in the summer.

The tablet is called the TouchPad and has Qualcomm's newest dual-core Snapdragon processor that runs at 1.2 gigahertz.

The tablet is 1.6-pounds, a 9.6-inch display with 1024 by 728 resolution, has video calling capability and 16 or 32 gigabytes of storage.

Rubinstein said the pad has features that "blow away" the competition, including multitasking and "activity cards" that show open applications.

Driving home some capabilities that exceed those of the iPad, he said the device can be used to work with Microsoft Office documents via Quickoffice, runs Adobe Flash and has standard printing options. The device has printer drivers built-in and discovers and prints to wireless printers made by HP; there wasn't word on how it works with other companies' printers.

A demo showed how the TouchPad and Pre phones sync together in the home, so calls and messags can be handled on the larger device.

Its calendar syncs with multiple sources, including Microsoft's Exchange and Google Calendars, and its email boxes supports multiple accounts at once.

Although HP's firing a broadside at Microsoft by declining to use Windows on its new tablet, the company did throw roses to a few smaller Seattle tech companies. During the demo, the TouchPad was used to shop for a diamond at Blue Nile and find a recipe at AllRecipes.com.

The demo also highlighted a TouchPad Kindle application that renders pages with color illustrations and supports the new Kindle "collections" feature. Also shown was a special version of Sports Illustrated for the tablet.

HP repeatedly called out the touchscreen keypad on the TouchPad, which includes a dedicated row of number keys.

HP will begin selling the TouchPad this summer in a WiFi version. A 3G version will follow later. Pricing hasn't been disclosed yet.

Rubinstein mentioned that the device's Skype application will work over Verizon's network, so Verizon's at least one of the 3G providers.

Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs is now on stage, talking about the company's partnership with HP.

"These things are proof that the future is really wide open when it comes to growth and opportunities in the mobile space," Jacobs said.

Qualcomm's dual-core Snapdragon chips power console-quality gaming and stereoscopic 3D on mobile devices, he said.

HP has ambitious goals for the WebOS platform, which it sees as a major challenge to Windows, Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

The company's goal is to build the largest community of connected devices in the world, creating a big draw for software developers, according to Steven McArthur, senior vice president for applications and services (below).

"Virtually no other company could credibly put forward such a goal," he said.

McArthur - a former president of Expedia's leisure travel group - went on to say TouchPad will be the best mobile gaming platform.

Bradley came back on stage for the biggest news, though. HP plans to extend WebOS to other devices including printers and its laptop and desktop PCs. There were few details about the PC plans but it's a big blow to Microsoft.

I wonder what Microsoft, Apple and Google think of this bravado.

If you're in the market for an all-in-one Windows PC, there's a new option from Hewlett-Packard coming out this week.

The company today announced the TouchSmart 610, a $900 consumer model going on sale Wednesday, and the 9300 business version, which goes on sale in May.

Both have 23-inch diagonal touchscreens, slot-load disc players and a sleeker design than the slablike TouchSmarts that first debuted with Windows Vista. They're still not as gorgeous as an iMac, but they're getting closer and have more hardware bang for the buck.

Their money feature is a tilting stand that reclines the display nearly horizontal into a position that's easier for prolonged touch activity and more natural for doodling, arranging photos, playing games. When reclined, the touchscreen is in a position more akin to using an iPad or other tablet computer while seated.

HP also added a new laptop link application that lets users access and control the desktop of their laptop from the TouchSmart. The laptop's desktop appears as a window on the TouchSmart, and gestures and taps on the screen are converted to mouse clicks to remotely control the laptop.

The TouchSmart 9300 is going to be based on Intel's "Sandy Bridge" hardware platform, which was recalled with a glitch. The press release mentions the "second generation Intel Core processors." Pricing hasn't been announced.

The consumer 610 model is shipping with the first-generation Core i5 650 processor, at least to start.

It would have been nicer if the base 610 came with the quad-core i5, but the specs nevertheless aren't too shabby. The base model comes with 6 gigabytes of DDR3 RAM, a 1 terabyte hard-drive, a built-in TV tuner, HP's upgraded "Beats" audio system and a Bluetooth/80211.n radio.

UPDATE: The initial price and specs provided by HP were a little misleading. The base, $900 model has much lower specs. It doesn't have any flavor of Core i5 processor - it has an AMD Athlon X4 with 4 gigs of RAM and a 750 gig hard drive.

There's a higher-end model that starts at $1,149 that has the i5 650, 6 gigabytes of RAM and a terabyte drive. That changes the value equation.

Eric Savitz at Forbes has a fun little roundup of big tech companies not making news at CES this year.

The main examples are companies rolling out tablets soon, but not this week. Such as:

"Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) Palm unit: At some point, HP will show off Palm Web OS based tablets and other devices. That point is not this week."

Instead HP announced a refresh of its current desktop and laptop line, which is getting the new Intel processors. TouchSmart PCs will get a free upgrade of its touch suite, and laptops are getting a new user-adjustable cooling system.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Palm wasn't big enough to compete with Apple, Google, Microsoft and others with its fledgling webOS operating system, former Chief Executive Jon Rubinstein said at Dive Into Mobile.

Rubinstein explained why the company sold to Hewlett-Packard for $1.2 billion in April. He's now senior vice president of its Palm business unit developing mobile devices based on webOS.

"The world moved a little faster than we expected and we ran out of runway," he said. "That's where being acquired by HP is really positive. We bring that innovation and they bring the ability to scale."

As part of the integration, the Palm business group merged with more than 200 employees from emerging business group.

Rubinstein wouldn't say exactly when HP will release a new phone based on the software, but said phones and "radically new" tablets will be released in 2011.

Rubinstein predicted HP will be among the top three to five players in the smartphone market.

In response to a question from host Kara Swisher, he said it's still undecided whether the Palm name will continue to be used.

As promised in January, Hewlett-Packard has released its Windows 7 Slate computer before the end of the year.

The Slate 500 is the highly anticipated slatelike computer that Steve Ballmer presented during the opening keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show just before Apple launched the iPad.

HP kept the buzz going for a while last spring with teaser videos poking fun at the iPad's inability to do things like run Adobe Flash, but then it suddenly went quiet about the Slate, around the time it bought Palm and said it would use Palm's operating system in consumer devices.

HP today began taking orders for the $799 Win7 device, which it's aiming at business users.

HP now seems to be trying really hard to downplay its potential as a consumer device for browsing media like the iPad. It's no longer teasing the iPad about Flash or talking up the full computing capabilities of the Slate 500.

The Slate 500 is listed among business computers at HP's website, and the description makes it sound relatively dull. It's being pitched not as an exciting alternative to the iPad, but as a productivity device capable of running enterprise applications.

Does HP think the biggest competition is really the business tablets from RIM and Cisco, or is it keeping things low-key until it releases consumer tablets based on the operating system it acquired with Palm?

Here's how it's describing the long-awaited Windows 7 tablet:

"The HP Slate 500 is the ideal PC for professionals who don't usually work at a traditional desk, yet need to stay productive in a secure, familiar Windows environment. The HP Slate 500 is also intended for those who use custom applications built for Windows."

What happened to the "perfect storm of innovation" stuff HP was talking about in January?

More interesting are the specs HP provided.

The Slate 500 is based on Intel's Z540 Atom processor, which runs at 1.86 gigahertz, and has up to 2 gigabytes of DDR2 RAM. For storage it uses flash memory units with up to 64 gigabytes of storage.

It's built around an 8.9-inch diagonal multitouch screen and has 802.11 b, g and n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0. The device weighs 1.5 pounds and is 0.58 inches thick. It's overall case is 9.2 by 5.9 inches.

Unlike the iPad, the Slate 500 has a USB 2.0 port and an SD memory card slot for directly loading and transferring files. It also has a built-in 3 megapixel camera, a front-facing VGA webcam and built-in microphone and speakers.

HP says the device's battery lists "up to 5+ hours." Applications preloaded on the device include Adobe Reader and a "Slate Camera" application from HP.

The device comes with a stylus and a dock, but not much of a drumroll.

HP decided not to poach any current or former Microsoft executives for its chief executive position.

The company announced that its new boss is Leo Apotheker, formerly chief executive of German enterprise software giant SAP.

It remains to be seen how the change at the world's biggest computer maker will affect relations with Microsoft and HP's large but shrinking presence in the Northwest.

But SAP has been a key partner with Microsoft, which considered buying SAP around six years ago. The two companies ended up working closely together on ways to integrate SAP with Office and other Microsoft business products.

From HP's release:

During Apotheker's more than 20 years at SAP, he was a driving force in making it the largest business software applications company in the world. Apotheker helped develop and implement the most significant changes in SAP history. During his tenure, he transformed R&D and technology platforms and expanded business models and customer segments. Apotheker also helped lead SAP to 18 consecutive quarters of double-digit software revenue growth between 2004 and 2009.

"HP has a powerful mix of businesses, products and services, one of the most innovative cultures in the industry, and an accomplished management team who have played a critical role in its success," Apotheker said in the release. "I am deeply honored to be joining the more than 300,000 dedicated HP employees."

HP also added former Oracle President Ray Lane to its board and made him non-executive chairman.

Oracle's where HP's ousted chief executive, Mark Hurd, landed after he was found to have fudged expense reports covering dates with an actress.

At the least, Apotheker will make make HP's top office more cosmopolitan. His bio:

Apotheker was born in Aachen, Germany on September 18, 1953, and graduated with a BA in Economics and International Relations from Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He is fluent in five languages (English, Dutch, French, German and Hebrew) and was awarded the French Legion d'honneur in 2007 in recognition of his business leadership and contribution to the French economy.

Are Web tablets and e-books becoming commoditized already?

Hewlett-Packard's throwing one into the box with a new $399 all-in-one inkjet printer it's calling the Photosmart eStation.
The printer includes a Web browsing tablet with WiFi and a 7-inch diagonal screen. It's pre-loaded with applications including Facebook, a music player, Barnes & Noble's eBookstore and Yahoo mail, search, weather and messenger.

When it's not being used around the house, the tablet sits in a dock on the printer and works as a control panel and digital photo frame.

The Android-powered tablet apparently doesn't let you load applications. It sounds like a new version of HP's Dreamscreen lightweight tablet/photo frame that appeared in 2008, more than the full-fledged slate computers that HP's expected to release later this year. But this one comes in a printer bundle for under $400, and it may be good enough for some people.

Here's a video from Laptop magazine, trying out the eStation:

It's hard to focus when the sun's finally shining in Seattle, but we have to pay attention to the Mark Hurd story.

Hurd's the guy who grabbed a Perrier and leapt from Hewlett-Packard's cockpit, riding a golden parachute into history.

(The top of today's column on HP and the Mark Hurd debacle.)