The tablet wars will get a new entrant in June when Hewlett-Packard is expected to introduce the TouchPad.

Our colleague Ian Sherr at Dow Jones Newswires with some preview thoughts:

“Like all tablet computers, the TouchPad lets users manipulate it by touching its screen. Applications can be opened by tapping on their icons, while messages can be read and deleted with the flick of a finger.

“But the TouchPad breaks ground because it is designed to help users communicate, to keep in touch. It can receive phone calls and text messages, functions even Apple Inc.’s market-leading iPad doesn’t have.

“The TouchPad, which is expected to hit stores in June, debuts as more hardware companies rush out tablet computers in an attempt to capture some of the excitement Apple created with the iPad. Competitors, including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Motorola Mobility Inc. and Dell Inc., have rolled out tablets running Google Inc.’s Android system that have met with limited success.”

The tablet market also includes Research in Motion’s PlayBook, which, like the Android-power tablets, has had an uneven reception.

Ian notes that TouchPad will use webOS, an operating system that HP acquired when it bought Palm last year. One other tidbit from Ian: “[TouchPad] will also be able to play animations and videos created using Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash technology, something Apple has repeatedly said will not run on the iPad.”

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2011/05/10/hewlett-packard-gets-ready-to-enter-the-tablet-wars/