HP have provided developers with a development kit for their new operating system – webOS 3.0.

The OS will not feature on a tablet until the new TouchPad device is released in the summer, but HP hope that by giving developers a head start they can provide TouchPad users with a range of useful and unique applications.

HP Palm development blogger, Sean Lindo believes that the features of webOS 3.0 give developers a great opportunity to create some mindblowing apps for the new device:

“When we introduced the HP TouchPad on February 9th, you could really feel the excitement,” Lindo writes. “People everywhere wanted to know what the buzz was all about. Well, that day not only marked the introduction of the first webOS tablet – it marked the beginning of a new vision for webOS and an unprecedented opportunity for developers.”

The software development kit – or SDK – for webOS 3.0 provides access to Enyo – the new framework for webOS – as well as allowing developers “helpful guidance on app structuring, design and navigation” within the operating system.

No concrete date has yet been set down for the release of the HP TouchPad, but it expected to ship in the summer. It boasts a 9.7 inch display with a 1024 x 768 pixel resolution and comes with either 16GB or 32GB of storage.

Not only will this be HP’s first competitor to iPad 2, the release of the TouchPad also signals HP’s foray in to the OS battle currently raging between Google Android and Apple iOS.

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Hewlett-Packard has unveiled the 9.7 inch TouchPad, the first full-size tablet device to run on its WebOS operating system.

The Qualcomm powered slate will not be made available until later this year, probably during the summer, but HP is already trying to get tech-lovers on side with the device it claims “works the way you do”.

With a multi-touch display, a virtual keyboard, a front-facing camera, Adobe Flash Player options and the ability to receive text messages and phone calls, the TouchPad is being billed as a tablet that is as productive as it is fun to use.

“Today we’re embarking on a new era of webOS with the goal of linking a wide family of HP products through the best mobile experience available,” said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager of the Palm Global Business Unit at HP.

“The flexibility of the webOS platform makes it ideal for creating a range of innovative devices that work together to keep you better connected to your world.”

As the largest supplier of PCs in the world, HP clearly has plenty of fans of its technology but it remains to be seen whether it can win over a share of the many millions of people expected to buy a new tablet PC at some point this year.

The company’s strategy in the tablet sector has been based partly on developing and utilising the technology, branding and know-how it acquired along with the Palm business in the spring of last year.

Here’s a promo video for the soon-to-be-launched HP TouchPad…

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