HP Veer goes exclusive with AT&T, $99 on May 15

HP has announced that its tiny HP Veer WebOS phone will be available from AT&T on May 15, and for a relatively tiny price, at that.

The HP Veer 4G will be available from AT&T stores on May 15 in either black or white, costing $99.99 with a two-year contract, AT&T said on Thursday. AT&T said the offer is good for just a limited time, however, and that there's an early termination fee of up to $325, depending on how far along users are into their contract.

Inside will be 8 GB of user storage, which will store preloaded apps including a mobile hotspot for up to five users and AT&T Navigator that uses the built-in GPS. AT&T also claimed that "thousands of apps" are available via the WebOS App Catalog.

"A large majority of our customers are choosing smartphones but they don't all want the same thing," said Michael Woodward, vice president, mobile device portfolio, for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, in a statement. "HP Veer 4G gives us a highly unique and feature-rich smartphone for customers who want something a 'little' different."

The Veer will run the latest version of WebOS, which will would also appear on PCs. AT&T said that version would be WebOS 2.1.

Hewlett-Packard said it selected AT&T as the exclusive carrier for the Veer, as PCMag.com exclusively predicted at the launch, based on an analysis of the smartphone's number it used at the launch.

"AT&T is a pioneer in smartphones and devices, and expects to widen its portfolio in 2011, the company said in a statement. "In January, AT&T committed to introducing 20 4G devices by the end of the year. Available exclusively to AT&T customers, HP Veer 4G will be one of several 4G devices offered in the first half of 2011.

HP launched of the HP Veer, Pre3, and the Touchpad tablet at an event in San Francisco in February.

The Veer looks like a feature phone, if only because smaller phones typically lack the features of their larger brethren, according to a hands-on we did with the Veer at its launch. HP, however, has packed a full smartphone inside a tiny package - just 2.15 inches wide by 3.31 inches tall, and 0.59 inches thick.

The keyboard is small - Veer small. Those used to thumb-typing on a BlackBerry keyboard, or touching a virtual iPhone keyboard may have a tough time depressing the keys with the very tips of their fingers. On the other hand, what Palm has placed on its bright, 2.6-inch, 320-by-400 touch screen looks lovely.

The Veer's specs include:

• HP webOS 2.1
• 3.63 ounces
• Tri-band UMTS: 850/1900/2100; HSDPA Cat 10/HSUPA Cat 6
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE
• 800Mhz processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7230)
• 2.6-inch multitouch display screen with a vibrant 18-bit color, 320x400 resolution
• Slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard
• Email and integrated IM, SMS and MMS
• Facebook integration, YouTube
• Wi-Fi/aGPS capable
• 5-megapixel camera with extended depth of field, geotagging, and video capture
• Stereo Bluetooth (2.1)
• 8GB internal storage(~6.1GB available)
• 910 mAh battery; up to 5.0 hours of talk time or up to 300 hours of standby time.
• webOS WebKit browser with Flash support
• HP Touchstone (wireless charging) compatible (sold separately)

This article, written by Mark Hachman, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.