HP confirms 'Palm pad' to ship early 2011
Windows 7 tablet out sooner
HP will bring its WebOS-based tablet to market early next year, a company executive has stated.
During the PC giant's quarterly earnings conference last night, Todd Bradley, head of the company's Personal Systems Group, said: "Tablet sales and slate sales [were] a big part of the reason we acquired Palm. You'll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future, and a WebOS-based product in early 2011."
The "Microsoft product" refers to the Slate, the Windows 7-based tablet HP showed off at the start of 2010 and which was assumed by many to have been canned when HP acquired Palm in April.
HP is more likely to have ditched the Android-based tablet it was said to be working on. The Windows tablet will be aimed at corporates, while the WebOS machine will be pitched at consumers as an Apple iPad alternative.
There's not much room left for an Android model too, unless HP wants to be comprehensive. That seems unlikely, especially since all its major rivals other than Apple will be offering Android 3.0 tablets in the same timeframe. ®
COMMENTS
There's a new fanboi in town
> Without doubt, Android will rule. The toss up for second place will be between Apple and RIM so that leaves fourth place for HP.
and they call us Apple folks fanatical. At least we have a product that we admire.
Backing a loser - Slate with Windows
It is strange for a company to hack what must be, by any criteria, a dud.
Without doubt, Android will rule. The toss up for second place will be between Apple and RIM so that leaves fourth place for HP.
These products will be price sensitive which again places HP at a disadvantage as most of it;s products tend towards the high end. As others point out, Apps also will determine the most suitable unit for he intended purpose - quality and not quantity.
Another non-exsistant "I-p*d killer" device
Not unlike the Android phones! Just you wait until Android release 16.33! Then, we will see who is the baddest!
Nice....
Nice that they're putting a product out, but are they going to develop the OS?
What use is the WebOS if it falls behind the competition?
I may be wrong but HP aren't a company I associate with developing OS software.
What Windows?
Confused by the comments about apps. The article doesn't say Windows Mobile (or whatever they call it now), unless I'm mistaken? Any decent tablet built on desktop Windows could be pretty strong... by 'decent' I mean it has to not just be Windows with a touch-screen, preferably.
