HP and Palm tease tantalising taste of webOS tablet

HP and Palm have revealed a tantalising glimpse of the first webOS tablet, set to be announced next week. The video, entitled Think Beyond, shows off a couple of buttons. But what does it mean?

The 8-second video hints at close-up details of the device, without revealing whether it's a smart phone or tablet or some other kind of device altogether. Could it be the HP Opal or Topaz, which have already been leaked? There's a button on the shoulder, and what appears to be some kind of slider at 3 seconds in.

The video title comes from HP's slogan for the tablet launch: 'Think big'. Think small. Think ahead. Think beyond. Think up. Think down. Think left. Think right. Think thin. Think you're hard enough. Think of England. Think we're alone now. You better think (think) think about what you're trying to do to me, yeah, think (think, think), let your mind go, let yourself be free.

Blimey, we got a bit carried away there. Without further ado, let's take a look at the video.

What do you think the device could be? Share your thinking in the comments section below. Is it too thick to be a tablet? What would you like that shoulder button to do? And what's that slider thingy?

All will be revealed on 9 February. HP and Palm have taken a leaf out of Apple's tree with a much-hyped launch event that avoids the scrum of CES, where a host of other tablets launched in January.

The webOS tablets face stiff competition from the likes of the BlackBerry PlayBook and Motorola Xoom -- not to mention the hotly anticipated second generation Apple iPad. Fear not, for CNET UK's own Rory Reid -- the man who puts the G in technology -- will be at the San Francisco launch, so keep it Crave.