HP Slate Could Get a Makeover With WebOS Turning Into HP Hurricane
The acquisition of smartphone maker Palm by HP is likely to have an impact on the company's plans to launch its tablet PC, HP Slate.
HP could release the Slate with a new name of “Hurricane” and it will run on Palm’s operating system, the WebOS, The Hurricane is likely to hit the market in the third quarter of the year say media reports.
The Hurricane will definitely find buyers among the people who are not interested in buying Apple's iPad. But HP has failed to release Slate so far, while Apple has already sold more than 1 million iPads. HP introduced the Slate through a video in March, but the company did not release the technical details of the device at that time. It released two short video clips announcing that the Slate will run Windows 7.
The Slate would also have a built-in camera, video-recording capability, USB port, an SD card reader and support for Adobe Flash, all these features are absent in Apple's device. A leaked company document suggested that the 32-GB Slate would cost $550, while 64-GB device will cost $600.
But HP announced last month that it was acquiring smartphone maker Palm and now it is expected that the company would use Palm's WebOS in place of Windows 7 in the Slate. A HP spokesperson refused to say anything on these reports, saying the company does not talk about “rumors and speculation.” HP is expected to complete the acquisition formalities in July.
