After months of dueling reports that Hewlett-Packard would release either a Windows 7-based tablet or one based on Palm's webOS platform, HP has now confirmed the reports. The decision: Both of them.
In a conference call with analysts on Thursday, Todd Bradley, executive vice president of the company's personal systems group, said a Microsoft-based tablet will be out "in the near future," and a webOS tablet will be launched early next year. He acknowledged what many industry observers have assumed, that "tablet sales" are "a big part of the reason we acquired Palm."
According to the San Jose Business Journal, the Windows 7-based tablet will be called the Slate 500 and will be directed toward business markets. The webOS tablet will be designed and marketed for the consumer market currently dominated by Apple's iPad. Two names have been mentioned as possible brands for the consumer version -- either the PalmPad or the Hurricane.
HP reportedly has had a Hurricane Project, and some observers have speculated that the webOS tablet is the main offspring. According to news sources, earlier this month Bradley discussed a webOS-based tablet at a HP employees meeting, which he called Hurricane.
The techncal specifications of either tablet have not be revealed, except that a Palm executive had previously said a tablet based on webOS would have Adobe Flash, the popular interactive multimedia technology that is widely used on web sites. Apple has refused to allow Flash on its mobile devices, and has instead touted open standards based around HTML5. Many tablet makers see Apple's refusal to allow Flash as an invitation for differentiation from the iPad.
At the big Consumer Electronics Show in January, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed a Windows 7-based, HP tablet, but rumors of its demise followed shortly thereafter. A key reason cited for...
Posted: 2010-08-20 12:30:03
