HP’s latest iPad killer: the Windows 7-based Slate 2
After nearly exiting the PC business, then changing its mind last week, Hewlett-Packard has proved it’s still interested in capturing a piece of the tablet market with the launch of Windows 7-based Slate 2.
I’d actually forgotten there’d been a Slate 1.
The device sports an 8.9-inch capacitive multi-touch screen, an Intel Atom Z670 CPU, 32 GB of storage space and a 3-megapixel back camera, as well as a front-facing VGA camera for video calls.
If all of this sounds familiar, you’re right: the device is just a slight upgrade of the business-oriented Slate 500 which launched in October 2011, with the addition of HP’s Swype technology for easier text entry.
And I’ve never heard of the Slate 500.
The HP Slate 2 starts at $699 and is expected to be available worldwide later this month.
Lucky that’s not $100 more than the 32 GB iPad 2, or HP’s pricing might look a bit daft. *checks US Apple Store* Oh.
I propose a moratorium on the use of the phrase “iPad killer”; I suggest “iPad irritator”, or “iPad botherer”, as being more accurate indications of the effect any of these devices have had on the iPad up to now.