HP’s upcoming Slate PC is probably one of the most hotly anticipated iPad rivals. That’s largely because it’s one of the few tablets on the horizon that comes from a big name company that we’ve all heard of. Since the slate will run Windows 7, it’s also going to have a number of features missing from the iPad, including the ability to run Adobe Flash, multitasking support, and the ability to run Windows software, as well as apps designed specifically for tablets. Heck, you could even plug in a keyboard, mouse, printer, and external display and use it like a portable desktop.
But details on the HP slate have been hard to come by. Now Spanish site Clipset says that the HP slate will cost about €400 at launch. That’s about $545 US, although it’s not clear if the price will be the same in the US and Europe.
Clipset says HP will launch the tablet in June, and that it will be available in Europe before September. Hopefully (if you live in the US, anyway), that means it will appear in the States before that.
There’s also some news about the specs. Clipset says the HP slate has an Intel Atom processor — although there’s no mention of which Atom processor HP is using. There’s also a memory card reader, a camera on the back of the tablet, and USB port(s). The tablet is thicker than the iPad and the prototype Clipset got to handle had a non-slip, rubber finish on the back.
HP Slate
