HP Reportedly Kills "Slate" Tablet PC; Looking At WebOS Alternative?
Whoa. Could it be true? Hewlett-Packard's claim to fame in the tablet
PC world has been killed? It's a wild and far-fetched story, but golly
if it doesn't make a little bit of sense. HP's "Slate," which Microsoft
Steve Ballmer flew all the way to Las Vegas for in order to demonstrate
at CES, could be dead and buried internally, according to a source
talking to TechCrunch this week.
Reportedly, HP has completely "killed off" the Windows 7 Slate, which was supposed to hit the market this summer--just a few months after the iPad. This news comes just weeks after a Slate promo video made the rounds on the Web, but reportedly, HP isn't satisfied with the way Windows 7 reacted as a Tablet OS, and they also didn't like the power consumption rate of Intel-based CPUs.
So, why would HP kill off a product they have spent so much time and money marketing? Only HP knows (if this rumor proves true), but the recent acquisition of Palm may have a little something to do with it. HP promised to "double down" on WebOS, and if Windows 7 wasn't a great Tablet OS (we tend to agree), WebOS might be. It's a mobile OS, designed for low-power devices, and designed for touch inputs. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Also, now that HP owns Palm, the only way you could buy a WebOS tablet would be to buy an HP tablet. Sort of how Apple has arranged that the only iPhone OS tablet is the iPad.
We're not trying to get you too excited or anything, but a WebOS tablet would really shake-up the tablet landscape. And it might just put Palm's mobile OS on the map in a big, big way.
Reportedly, HP has completely "killed off" the Windows 7 Slate, which was supposed to hit the market this summer--just a few months after the iPad. This news comes just weeks after a Slate promo video made the rounds on the Web, but reportedly, HP isn't satisfied with the way Windows 7 reacted as a Tablet OS, and they also didn't like the power consumption rate of Intel-based CPUs.
So, why would HP kill off a product they have spent so much time and money marketing? Only HP knows (if this rumor proves true), but the recent acquisition of Palm may have a little something to do with it. HP promised to "double down" on WebOS, and if Windows 7 wasn't a great Tablet OS (we tend to agree), WebOS might be. It's a mobile OS, designed for low-power devices, and designed for touch inputs. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Also, now that HP owns Palm, the only way you could buy a WebOS tablet would be to buy an HP tablet. Sort of how Apple has arranged that the only iPhone OS tablet is the iPad.
We're not trying to get you too excited or anything, but a WebOS tablet would really shake-up the tablet landscape. And it might just put Palm's mobile OS on the map in a big, big way.
