UPDATE: HP TM2 is now in stores. You can get one for as little as 881$.

    Not a long time ago I’ve told you about the HP TouchSmart TM2 convertible tablet (it’s not completely true, not a long time ago, but yesterday). I had no pictures and little info about it then but now press images and further specs become available as Engadget managed to get their hands on one sample.

    It seems that the build quality is great, together with the swivel mechanism of the screen, aluminum case and chiclet keyboard. On the hardware specs they say it will feature a normal Core 2 Duo CPU but I doubt that and I bet my money on the CULV series, as estimated battery life is 9 hours with the standard 6 cell battery. The 12.1 inch diagonal screen is confirmed plus TouchSmart TM2 will also be available with a ATI Mobile Radeon graphic  options so smoother 3D graphics if you can afford it. As for price and availability just wait a few days till January 17th and make sure you have 949$ because that’s the amount you’ll have to pay for the base version.

    What comes as a surprise is the special active desktop HP developed and loaded especially for the TouchSmart TM2 which makes some tasks easy on your fingers like posting pictures to Twitter and Facebook by dragging them on special icons. The same is true for printing pictures. Special web services like Hulu are easily accessible in touch mode via special apps. A customized browser with large buttons can be used instead of IE or your favorite browser but if you prefer not to load all that crap (I know I do) you can use the included stylus to handle this convertible tablet.

    If you would like to see how it handles check out those two videos below, one with the active desktop and enhanced applications and the other with a completely stupid active screensaver that consumes a lot of battery as it uses 3D acceleration and looks more for kids than adults:

    UPDATE: HP TM2 is now in stores. You can get one for as little as 881$.