Expect HP’s First webOS Tablet Before End of the Year

Three months after Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm (PALM) closes in July, we should begin seeing the first HP devices running the smartphone maker’s webOS operating system. Among them: A tablet.

That’s the word from Marty Wong, head of HP’s Personal Systems Group in Taiwan, anyway.

“The HP Slate will hit the market before the end of the fiscal year ending in October, and consumers could see a wide range of software and application support at launch,” Wong told DigiTimes.

It’s worth noting that HP’s intentions for webOS at this point seem to revolve only around tablets and smartphones. Wong said the company has no plans for a webOS netbook.