Andre Yoskowitz
9 May 2010 21:18
One week after computer maker HP agreed to purchase the struggling smartphone maker Palm for $1.2 billion in cash, we reported that the company was removing Windows 7 from its much-hyped Slate tablet, instead choosing to use a WebOS variant.
This weekend, "industry insiders" have noted that a WebOS-based tablet dubbed the HP Hurricane is set for release in the Q3 2010.
Says one analyst of the Slate, Paul Mueller, via The Examiner: "It is a really interesting device, but runs as slow as a turtle. I think they could have had something with a faster processor, but that would have led to less battery life than the Slate already had."
Mueller can't wait to see how the Hurricane will work though: "If rumors of this tablet are true, this can be a killer device--webOS is an outstanding operating system for a tablet."
The Slate, in its original state, would have run on Windows 7, would have been $549 at its cheapest, and had an 8.9-inch 1024x600 multi-touch screen. Additionally, the tablet had a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, 1GB RAM, SDHC slot (with support up to 128GB), two cameras, a USB port, a SIM card slot, and five-hour battery life.