HP's Slate tablet, once promoted by Microsoft for its use of Windows 7 in this new form factor, is reported to be in the process of being reborn as a Palm webOS-based tablet. HP bought Palm a few weeks ago, and this move could mean the rebirth of Palm into the new world of tablets -- and the diminishing of Windows 7 for that platform.
Various industry observers have speculated that the versatile webOS platform was the main target of HP's $1.2 billion purchase last month of the struggling mobile device maker. This weekend, a technology columnist for Examiner.com, Daryl Deino, cited an "insider at HP" in his report that a webOS tablet, with the code name of HP Hurricane, will be launched in third quarter.
HP has not commented on the webOS report, and has dismissed earlier reports in various publications that the Windows 7-based Slate, which was expected to be released mid-2010, has been killed. Most of the reports cited HP's frustration with Windows 7, even with a HP touch overlay, for such a device.
In its announcement of the purchase last month, HP had praised the webOS platform as "unparalled." Todd Bradley, executive vice president in the HP Personal Systems Group, said in a statement at the time that webOS "provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices."
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had demonstrated the HP Slate in his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas, and HP had been leaking videos and specs about the device over the last few months. All indications were that the two computer giants were setting it up as the main competitor to Apple's hit iPad.
But some Web reports, including by those...
Posted: 2010-05-10 12:14:14
