It shouldn't be any surprise that the
HP Slate supports Flash, since it runs Windows 7, but we've seen so little of the device since Steve Ballmer first waved it around at CES that we're still totally intrigued by this video from Adobe showing it in action. Yep, there it is, playing video, running casual Flash games, and using AIR applications. We also get a quick shot of the on-screen keyboard, which looks like a mildly tweaked version of the standard Windows 7 keyboard. We can't say until we use it, but it certainly doesn't look like it'll be fun to type on. Interestingly, Flash is said to be hardware-accelerated on the Slate, which suggests something other than a bone-stock Atom setup in there -- we'd guess it's an Atom plus a
Broadcom Crystal HD Accelerator, but there's a chance it's something else entirely. HP's also posted up a new marketing video, which bears a striking resemblance to
last night's iPad commercial -- until the end, which frankly makes no sense. Check 'em both after the break.
[Thanks, Rick]
posted Mar 8th 2010 1:18PM
When is this Slated to come out?
@reader1 So never? Damn.
@reader1 i love your (over)confidence on the ipad.
@Dick Lynch
I don't get the hype about this form factor. It should be another decade or so before we find a new satisfactory form factor.
Why are people looking for a big phone/keyboard-less laptop??
@Dick Lynch this thing owns the iPad in functionality. (Not fanboying at all, its just true)
@Invader Par
I think people are honestly confused about the whole issue. Slate PCs have always been virtually unusable except in very specific kinds of contexts and functions. I think the fact that people are talking about Flash support instead of the basic usability of the OS and UI is a sign of naivete. Not that Flash support on a tablet wouldn't be great -- will a slate PC be useful for anything other than watching videos and playing Flash games? That's the real question.
@Dick Lynch HP don't got time to play, let Jobs play with his legos.
Hats off to you HP
This commercial (the 5 min infomercial) is very effective.
They capital on the use of Flash, Windows 7, and they demonstrate this on the same plane the "hip" demographic which the iPad is aimed at.
They even use "local coffee shops" e.g. StarBucks to demonstrate where it can be used. It is clear they are clearly aimed towards one competitor, and are doing so in a very fair match.
Id would love to see the difference between using a full Win7 experience on a capacitive device vs the experience on the Courier.
@cobaltage I disagree. I have a TouchSmart TM2 and it's a REALLY nice machine. It functions as a laptop really well and as a slate it's great to write on and browsing the web with you finger is actually quite nice.
HP can deliver and Win7 isn't a terribly finger-unfriendly OS. Try it before you Apple fanbois decide that MS didn't do any work to make tablets a real scenario.
Also, that keyboard looks like the stock touch keyboard in Win7 to me.
@werty1432k
Given that the avg netbook struggles mightily with win 7 and flash in particular. This is either going to end up costing more than the ipad or be slow as a dog.
HP phones are more feature filled than iPhones as well...
@werty1432k
indeed! im so bummed by apples severe lack of inputs, options, customization, etc. i would have seriously considered trading my netbook for an ipad if i could have at least kept the camera and flash functionality. i'd much rather have this.
@werty1432k
indeed! im so bummed by apples severe lack of inputs, options, customization, etc. i would have seriously considered trading my netbook for an ipad if i could have at least kept the camera and flash functionality. i'd much rather have this.
@werty1432k
I'm an Apple fanboy and I approve your message.
@werty1432k Yeah cause we all know the tablet pc that Microsoft and cos have done such a killer job huh lol
@cobaltage i see what you mean, for now this form factor could largely be considered a entertainment/ leisure device like an ipod, then, with time and innovations additional capabilities around productivity could be built upon, like an iphone, we just need something more capable (read multitasking/ flash/ longer life & replaceable battery etc)
@crapple
"Win7 isn't a terribly finger-unfriendly OS"
that's quite the ringing endorsement. You think that's better than the iphone OS in terms of "finger-friendliness"? Doubtful.
@cobaltage Yes, but the key part of that is WHY they were difficult to use. The main problems were hardware ones. Resistive screens which required (rather than could use) styluses were very unresponsive and needed constant recalibration were the main one, the other was MS's too heavy and poorly implemented use of handwriting-based input. There was no good onscreen keyboard in windows (its just too damn small!) and the handwriting recognition, while you could get good at it, had too high a learning curve. Part of the faults with that were crappy processors which couldn't handle the machine learning necessary for good handwriting recognition. I think today's machines should handle it without a problem.
Plus, a lot of people were just unfamiliar with the concept of such an input method, Apple has solved that problem though.
@cherryboom "The Slate and other tablets(mostly gimmicky shits just trolling on the form factor hype)"
Good to know that you don't know the Slate and it's form factor were revealed long before the iPad.
"And what is going to happen is that all these slate/tablets like pc will kill one another for a position in the consumer mind. Tons of iterations will roll out of the factories every month as each vendor tries to out do the other.
In the meanwhile Apple will be in a league all its own."
Yup, why look for the perfect tablet that suits all you need when you can pick one that not only has less features, but is in a league all it's own?
You hear that guys? It's in "a league all it's own". That's enough to make me shell out $500. /s
@unwynd HP has always been striving to innovate and trying to be competitive over the past few years. If ever this tablet pave way to the lack of inputs that the iPad has. For sure this slate will be fantastic to see. first reactions: http://bit.ly/hp-slate-concepts-examined
@Dick Lynch lol nice pun.. i want one too.. Ill totally not pre prder the ipad over this
@crapple
I just launched the Windows 7 "Screen Keyboard" on my desktop computer, for the first time ever, and it looks exactly like the HP Slate keyboard, except I don't have the menu/button controls in the top left, and I have an extra 2x5 grid of 10 keys on the right: Home, End, Insert, PrtScn, Options, PgUp, PgDn, Pause, ScrLk, and Help. I assume that the "Options" key on mine allows for manipulating the same settings as the button/menu controls on the top left of the HP Slate's keyboard (Text Prediction settings and whatnot).
@Sean Connery
Yes, it looks really cool nd all, but looking at the video, I am not sure about the real capabilities of the device...
The stilness of the adobe rep's hand is quite amazing. The guy is like Chuck Norris! and the MTV video playing looks fake (just for it to look good on video, blah, blah, but it does not look credible). It is almost as Apple showing flash content in NYT on iPad.
@TomSawyer
>>that's quite the ringing endorsement. You think that's better than the iphone OS in terms of "finger-friendliness"?
Ringing?! Saying something isn't terrible doesn't imply it's good. Is it as finger friendly as the iPhone? Who the f*** cares? It's a computer not a phone. For browsing the web is it as good? I'd say there are no touch limitations imposed by the OS and is therefore good enough. Can your iPhone run Photoshop? No, and you don't care because that not what phones are for.
@werty1432k
Really? The keyboard looks tiny to start and it has... no App Store.
Fail.
@Wesscoast
1) You can resize the keyboard.
2) It has real apps. Millions of them.
Fail indeed.
@Dick Lynch
name wise, the Slate sure beats the iPad.
@Dick Lynch: Present status is stasis until the the presence of ""A Magical and Revolutionary Product at a Unbelievable Price."
@zetasoul
Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Zetasoul. Your sad devotion to that ancient OS has not helped you conjure up the stolen UX or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Flash's real power.
@brillow I guess you haven't used handwriting recognition in Vista (or 7, for that matter). It's in a league of its own - no comparison to XP Tablet Edition.
@Dick Lynch what is this madness multitasking, flash, actual desktop apps, we should destroy this thing before it hits the streets
/sarcasm
@cobaltage
The funny thing about people clamoring for Flash support is that the slate form factor is particularly unsuited for using Flash (other than for watching videos). One thing many people haven't considered is, how do you execute a "mouseover" with a slate? Seems like a minor detail but almost every Flash app (including games but excluding videos) makes use of mouseovers to some degree, and that functionality is broken on a slate.
@MarkAnderson
Wow, windows tablet fail to marketing for years.
Now it just remove the keyboard change its name from MID to slate,
then suddenly people expect it will take off ?
Tell me why it will success despite the failure of MID concept .
Serious, why nobody answer this question?
Why you m$ fanboy busy fighting with Apple fanboy but can't admit
the truth about the failure of tablet/MID whatever. 'It's software, stupid' .
How blind these hardware manufactor are ? They believe Adobe can
be savior ? What ? I just can't believe they demo flash with full of
advertisement . The first video is absolutely target for advertise business man/developer. How dare you show stupid flash adv in full page to consumer ? They forget the "flash blocker" is always one of the hottest browser plugin ?
@zetman
First of all, I don't completely disagree with you. I'm not sure that the slate market will be that successful. However, it is different from the old UMPC/MID market in a few ways:
1) much cheaper. component prices have come down enough to make products within the price range of most consumers.
2) better performance. original UMPC's were just awful and couldn't do anything useful like watch movies or play games.
3) screen size. as component prices come down, screen sizes and resolutions have gone up. this make the experience of using a slate much more enjoyable.
4) connectivity. mobile broadband and 3G has reached sufficient adoption levels now that high-speed internet access - the killer feature of any mobile device - is practical.
@tonicboy
You still don't get it. No matter how hardware is good it can't magically turn terrible software to good experience. This time HP seems get it, but they choose wrong OS/Hardware and even silly is they choose wrong partner - Adobe flash - as their savior. HP still can sell to their royal tablet users (if there is ), but for new larger normal average person? No, tablet/MID will fail again. Choose ARM/Android may have chance, but ATOM/Win7? Never!
@Wesscoast
LMAO!
Why have fart apps when I could download a real app like Chrome?
@zetman
"Now it just remove the keyboard change its name from MID to slate,
then suddenly people expect it will take off ?"
Why not? That's what Apple are doing with the iPad. You can't damn one and praise the other.
I'm not a fanboy of anything other than reality either, sport. Rooting for a multinational corporation is stupid.
@tonicboy Mouse over functionality can be easily replaced with press and hold like on the iphone or android, even some symbian apps have it...
@MollyC
Microsoft. Listen. Different people have differently-sized hands/fingers. On a touch screen, the keyboard doesn't have to be ridged. Just... guys, add a drag handle or something!
That thing sure has a big border around it. LOL!
@The Madman
Err... The keyboard is completely resizable. What else do you want?
Try using Windows 7 on a tablet before you say nonsense.
@werty1432k I agree to the extent that you can technically DO MORE. But is that functionality? The OS looks messy in the video, hardly functional to me.
@Wesscoast u obviously havent used a windows 7. u can change the size of the keyboard and drag it around the screen. not something stuck at the bottom.
I hope this outsells the useless iPad.
@Javindo It would be nice but its not gonna happen, Apple can hype a rock and people will buy it. Both are nice but apple is destined to win this one.
@Javindo
Yes the iPad just looks like a bigger iPod touch/iPhone (without voice).
@Javindo How can you say ipad is useless. When you use that word, it means ipad cannot do ANYTHING.
@Javindo It won't because it doesn't have a fruit on it. However that is fine by me. I don't need a device to be trendy. I need a device to do what I want it to do. Which is exactly what the slate does. If I was ever given an iPad I would drop kick the thing into traffic assuring that no one would EVER use the damn thing. Apple is a cancer on the tech industry that should be destroyed one way or another.
@Javindo : not with that broadcom crap in it.
@bazookafx3
They can only in absence of competition that is willing to make as much marketing noise.
Apple hasn't had that so soon after they release a product as they have here with HP and the viral appearances of the Courier. And on top of that the iPad hasnt really differentiated itself to the point where other tablet PCs and the like have no sun to stand in.
@bazookafx3 What?! There's an iRock? Where do I buy?
Apple invented the rock! Awesome!