It was just a few weeks ago that a
report suggested that HP
was ditching its Slate tablet due to power issues with Intel's
Atom processor and a Windows 7 operating system which isn't exactly a
master at touch operations. Now, a new report suggests that a
webOS-based tablet from HP could arrive by year's end.
Engadget
reports that the HP tablet is being developed under the codename
"Hurricane" and will arrive in the third quarter. Engadget
also notes that it has heard "strong whispers" that this
account is accurate and that a Q3 launch would position HP strongly
for the Christmas shopping season.
If correct, it appears that all of the
stars may be aligning for what could be a worthy competitor to the
iPhone OS-based Apple
iPad. Most critics have raved about Palm's webOS, and it would be
interesting to see how the operating system GUI scales to a larger
device.
An early
hands-on review of the original Windows 7-based Slate called it
"slow and annoying" and even more telling, the reviewers
came to this conclusion: "Oh .. and the official verdict?
'meh'."
