14 DAY TRIAL // Those that know of the iPad and have been keeping track of the various devices claiming to bring a better experience, one way or another, will surely know of the HP Slate. As one of the first tablets, besides the iPad, to be unveiled, this device has been showcased on video multiple times and had promised that it would provide multitasking and Flash support while running Windows 7. It seems, however, that these promises may not be kept after all.
The HP Slate has bitten the dust or, if a report published by TechCrunch is to be believed, will bite it soon enough. Apparently, even with all the benefits that Windows 7 can bring, the OS simply needs too many resources to run properly, resources that the hardware that makes up the device cannot provide. There is also the issue of the hardware itself.
The HP slate is powered by a central processing unit developed by Intel. When it comes to performance, the benefits of this approach can't be questioned. However, for a mobile device, power consumption takes precedence. Sadly, Intel chips lose to the ARM architecture in this area. On the other hand, a more powerful processor is what allowed the slate's multitasking capabilities in the first place, which may be seen as an acceptable tradeoff.
There is no way to confirm whether or not these rumors are true. HP has been working on the tablet for quite some time now and it shouldn't take far too long for it to come to the market if HP sticks with it. On the other hand, HP has announced plans to acquire Palm and to invest heavily in WebOS. This operating system may prove more suited for slate-type devices, since it uses less resources, although it is unclear whether it would gain traction when faced with Apple OS, Android and Chrome.