Andre Yoskowitz
15 Jan 2014 16:19
HP has announced today that it has returned to the smartphone/tablet market after a two year hiatus, building two "voice-enabled" tablets that will launch in India this year.
The Slate 6 VoiceTab and the Slate 7 VoiceTab will run on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and there are no plans for the tablets outside of India.
Ron Coughlin, Senior VP for the consumer PC business, notes: "We see a need in India that we can meet. Consumers are looking for a way to consolidate devices. We think there's an opportunity to enter a growing market where there's an unmet need."
At just 6 inches, the Slate 6 is a small tablet (or an oversized phone) but the 7-inch Slate 7 fills the normal form factor slot owned by the Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 and Galaxy Tabs. Both devices have 720p displays, quad-core processors (likely from MediaTek), 16GB internal storage and microSD slots. Both have dual 2MP/5MP cameras.
The press release says the tablets will launch next month, at a "great value."