HP Slate isn't rumored to be switching from Windows 7 to webOS
By Chris Ziegler 
posted May 24th 2010 12:14PM
posted May 24th 2010 12:14PM
At this point, we don't even know if HP's Slate is still hitting the market -- but one thing we do know is that there's no evidence to suggest that the company will be releasing it with webOS instead of Windows 7. In fact, the two platforms are so wildly different and targeted for such disjoint devices -- never mind the fact that HP and Palm aren't yet united in the legal sense of the word -- that there's virtually no chance that the existing Slate hardware could be effectively used in time for a near-term webOS tablet launch (at least, not a tablet that anyone would want to buy). There's word on Gizmodo today that the Slate will be offered as a webOS device, but that appears to be a misinterpretation of a DigiTimes report from HP Taiwan that the company intends to use Palm's operating system to underpin both "smartphones and tablets," while avoiding porting it to netbooks since they're "more similar in functions with traditional computers." Given the Slate's lukewarm reception, we can totally understand HP canning it in its current incarnation -- but you can't just drop a flashy mobile platform onto it and call it good. Interestingly, the DigiTimes report goes on to say (on an unrelated note) that the Slate will come to market before October, but it's unclear whether they're taking into account the most recent round of rumors that it's been deep-sixed; guess we'll know soon enough.
I though it got cancel?
Wait . . . WHAT? Gizmodo got something wrong? More poor "journalism?"
It's the 7th sign, people! End of days! End of days!
@Smart People Play Tuba Uh..=GIZMODO= got it wrong?
What's THIS!!!?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/22/hp-taiwan-reportedly-reaffirms-pre-october-launch-for-webos-tabl/
Lol!
@Smart People Play Tuba
See what people forget is that WebOS currently doesn't have an on-screen keyboard, the software would need a total overhaul in order for it to be useful on a slate device, I wouldn't hold your breath boys (and ladies). Still, when it does happen it should be all sorts of epic
@Freakin Ijit
Hey, at least Engadget made it pretty clear it was a rumor.
"Reportedly" . . .
"Don't mind us taking a few grains of salt on this one . . ."
"everything we know about it so far comes via words and whispers to third-party sources"
So, yeah, Engadget reported it too, but they made sure to let us know it was unsubstantiated rumor. That's fine with me.
@techlord Never came from HP or confirmed that it got canceled. Same story thus far with any WebOS version.
FYI, "never mind the fact that HP and Palm aren't yet united in the legal sense of the word" this doesn't matter at all, HP can pay a licensing fee that'd go right back into their books upon acquisition, or have Palm give them the OS for free (it might even be a good strategic move even if the merger gets blocked, which it wont IMO).
@techlord All signs point to Nope! I can't wait for this!
@Spaldinggreat It's a very, very simple hack to add in an on-screen keyboard to the Pre. In fact, I think possibly that the keyboard is already on the phone, it's just a case of enabling it.
@Maxwell Oh really? Well this is something I did not know! Besides, I'm sure it wouldn't scale that well... It's going to require a partial rewrite I presume.
No WebOS means no tablet for me...
@techlord
"but you can't just drop a flashy mobile platform onto it and call it good"
*gasp*
YOU CANT?!?!?!
But isnt that what Apple did?
=O
@Spaldinggreat Onscreen keyboard? One of the first patches for Webos. I think Palm- even with it's limited resources could whip one up in about 5 minutes. You do know Webos is built on Linux?
i guess phone Os' are the standard for slate devices now? i will be sticking with tablets then
@SteveyAyo not saying WebOS is bad, just would rather have a full PC experience on the go
@SteveyAyo That's what a laptop is for.
@soooted yeah but if im carrying around a tablet (elitebook) why the need for a slate? idk i guess im just not a slate user... seems, pointless?
@SteveyAyo
every product has its target market. your need for a device has no reflection on how a product will do with the general public. tablets coming out with phone os's (iPad and WebOS tablets) are targeted towards a demographic that wants apps and web browsing in a compact package. engadget could use less negatives like yourself.
@BecauseItsNotGoogle i was talking about the slate devices, tablets are a completely different entity, and if this is released with webOS then it is the standard... also i dont like apple so that was hurtful
@condimentstation sorry i forgot that the only people allowed to voice their opinion were those that fall into the exact target audience... ill keep that in mind, youve been a real help
@condimentstation and there is already a device for people that want apps and web browsing in a compact package... its called a phone, and its MUCH more compact.
@SteveyAyo
screen size makes a huge difference in usability of apps and internet browsing.
@SteveyAyo
Asus, MSI, HP, Archos, ExoPC, and iiView have all announced or are making Windows 7 slates. ExoPC Slate looks to have the best hardware specs thus far. Check out www.Exopc.com The dedevice is coming out September 7th.
@cool8man thank you, thats awesome and something i could actually use but i think at the end of the day i want my portable pc to be able to 3d model so run rhino3d and zbrush... the exopc might actually run one of those on low settings and ssd is awesome btw
@condimentstation i know screen size matters, thats why i traded my iPhone for an HD2... soft keyboards should be as big as possible if they wanna be as usable as qwerty keyboards
We need some serious competition to the ipad!
@ChairmanMeow
Or maybe we don't need the iPad to begin with... ?
@ChairmanMeow I agree competition is good but if webos ends up on the slate then won't it just be a big palm pre? Apple haters can unite behind something that is like an ipad but not made by Apple... It's funny really
In my purest opinion, I would like a WebOs slat from HP.
I like windows 7 and all but plz jst a WebOS version. Plz HP!
Gizmodo: uhha
Engadget: naha
Gizmodo: uhha
Engadget: naha
.....
@Chroma
Engadget vs Gizmodo: MEEEEOW!!
@Chroma TechCrunch: waha?
A challenger appears!
@Chroma I could have sworn that within the last three days engadget themselves reported that the WebOS tablet was coming in October, quite a change of pace to this article...
Thank God somebody's trying to report this accurately.
I seem to be getting conflicting information today...
"HP Taiwan confirms plans for WebOS-based mobile devices"
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100521PD200.html
"The HP Slate will hit the market before the end of the fiscal year ending in October"
I doubt the Slate in its current state is simply going to switch from W7 to WebOS, but I wouldn't be surprised if they kept the basic dimensions, the name, changed the internals, and threw WebOS on it. Is that going to happen this year? Maybe.
Is the Windows 7 running HP Slate dead? Probably.
@kenny goo
I hope for HP's sake you are wrong. A webOS slate would not be capable of doing most or any of the things that they highlighted in all of their Youtube videos. Firefox browsing, Skype video chat, Rhapsody and iTunes support, etc. would all be false advertising for a device running webOS. It would be pretty sad if HP marketed a device as being everything the iPad is not and then it turns out to do even less than an iPad can.
If HP is smart they will just use a webOS UI to replace their TouchSmart UI on Windows machines. They are already using webOS to replace TouchSmart UI on their printers so hopefully they will do the same for their touch based Windows computers.
Boom goes the dynamite! Way to go, Chris.
I am really hoping to see WebOS go to tablets. I think could really be the competition the market truly needs to take tablet computing to the next level. Personally, I've played with the iPad and got board with it really quickly. I'm pretty upset about the Courier plan being canceled. And I don't think Android is going to be that great until you see Chrome OS integrate heavily with it. Android is possible but its going to need to heavy duty customization which then will fragment it pretty much off the marketplace unless they make a specific one for tablet computers.
So that leaves me with the hope that WebOS can really create a rich user experience that provides additional functionality that you won't see on a phone but is still somewhat comparable to a netbook without having to throw a full blown OS on it.
I guess we will just have to wait and see.
On Computex HP will announce a DualCore-Tegra2 driven WebOS-Slate with... wait for it... PixelQi-Screen, starting Q3.
Lets hope someone announces something like this on computex...
@user47alpha
how about that? http://www.notionink.in/
@user47alpha
AT Computex not on.
If it's not WebOS just wait.. Windows 7 on this isn't worth the time
Sign me up for a WebOs tablet.
So NOW you're reading press releases and statements carefully, Engadget? ;)
The real news here is how late Gizmodo is on this news. Engadget, you covered this 2 days ago. I think most of us wanting a Windows 7 slate, have already moved this into the "don't care category" especially after seeing the EXOPC.
Still, www.savehpslate.com
"isn't rumored" sounds kind of very wrong in itself...
either something is rumored or something isn't planed ....
i know what you wanted to do here but it's so under ur niveau
Still no decent competition for the ipad and none on the immediate horizon either and still I can't help but wonder why people want fully fledged op systems on these things when everyone and grandma has laptops and netbooks, personally I'd want massive battery life, fast instant on use and a huge established app Market
@Bongo123
The "apps" are only a way to steal your money for simple applications that are available FOR FREE on a full featured os, or can be replaced by simple links to the internet.
Apple is proud of themselves that they've brainwashed you into this "apps" scam.
"HP Slate isn't rumored to be switching from Windows 7 to webOS". HP Slate IS rumored to not be switching from Windows 7 to webOS. Doesn't the second sentence make more sense?
@joelaf How about, Rumor (update): HP Slate is not switching from switch from Windows 7 to WebOS.
@juanvaldez
HP Slate rumored to get a good switching if it doesn't finish it's peas
@joelaf
"isn't rumored to switch"
"rumored not to switch"
are logically not equivalent. After "isn't rumored" you can put just about any statement which hasn't been remored (yet). For example, "slate isn't rumored to have the power of vertical lift off"... Nobody rumored it, although I've heard somewhere that it might have vertical lift off. As you can see, now it's been rumored...
At this rate, engadget has a LOT of posts to make about all the things about which rumors don't exist yet.