Global technology powerhouse Hewlett-Packard is aiming to pull together the various stands of an ever-changing consumer tech market and could soon be announcing the launch of a new set of tablet PCs.

Speaking to the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, HP’s chief executive Leo Apotheker suggested that the industry as a whole is going through the most dynamic period in its history and said his firm has the capacity to take the greatest advantage.

The HP boss made clear that the primary shift in the consumer tech sector is towards a “totally mobile” pattern of internet usage, which is why there is so much emphasis being placed on tablet PCs right now and not least by HP.

Mr Apotheker wouldn’t be drawn on specific plans for the company’s future in the tablet sector but he confirmed that there will be a big announcement in early February and a major unveiling a month or so later.

He also said: “HP will stop making announcements for stuff it doesn’t have. When HP makes announcements, it will be getting ready to ship.”

So it looks as if a HP tablet device is very much on the way but with Apple having stretched out such a huge lead in the sector with the popularity of the iPad, the challenge for HP is to try and become equally “cool”. The company’s chief executive is apparently confident that he can help make it happen: “I hope one day people will say ‘this is as cool as HP’, not ‘as cool as Apple’.”

One piece of information yet to sneak out of HP is what its up-coming tablet PCs might be called, with three new names having reportedly been filed with the US patent office, namely the HP Touchslate, HP Touchcanvas and the HP Duopad.

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Toshiba has launched a new website and a teaser video to promote its up-coming tablet PC release, which it claims amounts to “the perfect sum of all its parts”.

And what might those parts be? Well, the first few things to note are that it will run on a Honeycomb version of Google’s Android operating system and that it will have a 10.1 inch display screen.

The resolution display will be 16:10 and Toshiba is hoping that a set of incorporated stereo speakers will encourage media consumers to opt for their latest tablet offering when it hits the market later this year.

Another of the possible selling points being promoted at this stage is the “long-lasting, replaceable battery”, which can be switched in and out by users in a way that no other tablet battery can at the moment.

There’s plenty of competition already out there of course and much more to come from the likes of Asus, Acer, RIM and Motorola, while Toshiba’s case in this context hasn’t been helped particularly by the much-publicised problems with its ‘Folio’ device that was released and then withdrawn in the UK last year.

In any case, the company is aiming to convince would-be buyers of its as-yet-unnamed tablet PC that it has the basics covered, with two USB ports and one HDMI, front and rear facing cameras and five different colours to choose from.

A release date on the device is far from set in stone, with the new website stating only that it will be “coming this spring”. Here’s the teaser video in full.

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