14 DAY TRIAL // Just around the same time that Apple blew the whistle on its slate, HP published the first video demo of its own multitouch device that was expected to eventually become its prime challenger. However, even though the PC supplier has been advertising all the things that its slate can do and the iPad can't, it could turn out that, instead of making life hard for Apple and tablets in general, the HP slate may be more of a threat to netbooks.
The HP tablet PC will fully support Adobe Flash, which means that all web content, including online videos and various ads and features, will be compatible with the upcoming mobile PC. However, given its hardware and software (Microsoft Windows 7), the experience it will provide will, most likely, not be akin to what the iPad allows. iPad buyers have access to the App Store, which means that they will find a software tool to do whatever they want. The same cannot be said about HP's slate.
Digitimes reports that a major issue that HP will have to deal with will be the OS. Windows 7 has “yet to reach a level that can satisfy consumers in terms of control.” On that note, a tech site reported that it somehow got hold of an HP slate prototype and was able to summarily conduct some tests. While, in terms of hardware, the tablet seemed to win against the iPad, thanks to its two cameras, USB connectivity and support for 1,080p video playback, it supposedly had "long and annoying" OS loading times.
It should be mentioned that, whatever slate the tech site got, it was most likely a prototype, which means that the final product should, at least, run faster. Unfortunately, there is still no knowing when this Atom-powered, multitouch-capable device will come to the market.