There hasn't been a ton of information about Palm's entry into the tablet space, currently referred to as the PalmPad, but a new report claims that we'll be learning a lot more next month.  According to Fox News, there will be three different versions of the PalmPad unveiled at CES, with each model sporting slight hardware differences to make them stand out.  All three are said to be a spin-off of the HP Slate and will be powered by webOS 2.5.1.  The consumer-oriented model will sport WiMAX capabilities and will have specs similar to the iPad, but will also have a mini HDMI port, 3 megapixel rear camera and 1.3 megapixel front-facing cam (both with LED flash), USB 3.0, a 9.7-inch display, and a weight of 1.25 lbs.  A smaller, 8.9-inch model is also rumored, although this version is planned for use by universities only.  So just when will you be able to get your hands on HP's shiny new tablet with webOS 2.5.1?  If this rumor is to be believed, March 2011.

Most of those PalmPad specs sound pretty nice, especially the possibility that it'll be able to access Sprint's WiMAX network.  Some of them, mostly the webOS 2.5.1 part, seem a little questionable, though.  Right now, the most current version of webOS is 2.0.1, and that's only available on the Pre 2.  Will HP/Palm really jump all the way to 2.5.1 in a month's time?  USB 3.0 also seems a little unlikely.  Sure, it'd be a nice addition, but there aren't a lot of machines that could support USB 3.0 speeds right now, so why bother?  Then again, perhaps they're planning to future-proof their devices.  We'll just have to wait until CES next month to see what HP/Palm really has up its sleeve.  One thing is for sure: if Palm and HP can push out a tablet with all of the above specs, I could probably forgive them for waiting so long to push out new webOS-powered hardware.

Via Fox News