A ‘source’ has told Techcrunch that the HP Slate project has been stopped based on issues to do with the operating system.
It doesn’t surprise us although naturally, we’ll be sad if this is true. Pricing, weight and features were good although we never expected it to be a ‘performer’ because of experience we’ve had with similar builds.
If this is true, it speaks strongly of the mismatches we have in the market right now. The fact is, dropping Windows 7 on an Intel Menlow platform is a relatively easy thing to do. The OS is rich with support for hardware and includes good touch and class-leading productivity features and 3rd-party software but it is NOT a socially-focused OS and the combination of weighty OS with lightweight platform, doesn’t result in the best user experience. The social element is completely missing from Windows 7 too.
The end result is that the HP Slate is/would have been a mismatch of 2009 hardware and 2009 software in a 2010 marketplace that is moving towards an always-on, dynamic, touch-friendly, social and sensor-aware requirement. Yes, we would have enjoyed the device as a ultra mobile PC but we know that the ultra mobile PC market won’t bring big sales. For a device like the Slate, you’re probably only looking at 100K global sales maximum.
[Our initial HP Slate Analysis]
HP have other projects on the go now. Not only do they have Palm and WebOS to think about but they’re already experimenting with touch, mobility with a dynamic sensor-aware product in the AirLife 100 which is definitely launching. If that works out for them, it makes sense to release a second AirLife without the keyboard, watch, learn and ramp-up the project internally to hit the market in 2011 with exactly the right ingredients.
We hope the news about the slate is wrong but we understand the reasons if it’s true.
Source: Techcrunch.
New article: HP Slate Mis-Match http://bit.ly/alcByj
RT @umpcportal: New article: HP Slate Mis-Match http://bit.ly/alcByj
Courier abandoned
HP Slate, the one paraded to counter the iPad, abandoned too
Atom-based tablets (JooJoo…) seemingly offering unacceptable battery life
a reboot of Windows Mobile
I understand Intel are doing their best in a quite new segment for them.
I don’t understand how MS, which started out with an OK phone OS and a multi-platform desktop/server OS a few years, managed to screw thing up so badly.
Looking at WinMob7, I fail to see, for now, a compelling reason to choose it over Apple for sexiness nor Android for openness, especially with UIs like HTC Sense or Motoblur. Rebooting WinMob is courageous, but for now I’ve got the same feeling I get when an OK TV show is cancelled: top executive shenanigans, no clue what users want.
Phone reboot is a direct counter to apple, which was incredibly needed in order to regain market share. Winmobile has always been played as a “professional” os for your phone. The problem is the majority of phone users are not using them for professional uses.
Very brave move by HP and very wise. They decided to do it the hard way, which is going to be a long way for them. Very few can succeed in the game of vertical integration and bring hardware, software and services together in a coherent whole. They will have to work hard, systematically and be prepared to be the underdogs for quite some time. But at least now they have the chance to succeed in this post-pc era.
As for MS, they gradually lose their dominance and they have only themselves to blame. While they were in charge, mobile computing ended up being a hobby for the hacking community and some gadget lovers. Today it takes center stage. All it required to take off was the clear thought and vision of some forward-thinking individuals. And MS with all its glory and muscle seems to be lacking both of these traits..
CRAP! =(
hahaha i accidentally typed “umpcportal”
but this was supposed to be my next machine!
I heard, it’s not completely out yet. But it’s still to big for me.
6″ screen max. without bezel is pocketable. 8.9″ is not.
http://www.slashgear.com/hp-tablet-not-so-dead-after-all-3083866/
marketing strategies that play with our emotions
I wonder:what thinks MS about this? :)
It’s sad to see people no longer care about the versality of wintel platform compared to Apple. Sad people only care about some slick appearing interface ahd not about the underlying versatility. Android.and iPAD won’t be able to do a lot of things which my X70 can.do. Android may get there eventually but not yet. Wintel is not w/o flaws but there is definitely alot of good software which you can’t really recompile for an O/S based on a phone O/S.
Bad news for UMPC. Less choices/competition can only mean less innovation and highen price. Let’s just hope that com. like viliv will carry it on.
I run win7 on my X70 and S5 just fine so I don’t know what the complaint about
Makes sense since the hardware was essentially the same as all the other Atom based tablets. For me, the performance of the Atom CPU is too slow. I want to be flipping through program windows, web pages and browser tabs as fast as I can move my finger. Instead, things lag more than I like as I open more programs or tabs. Even though Windows 7 allows multitasking, the hardware essentially doesn’t.
Of course there’s people who don’t mind the lag or are okay running one program at a time. For those people, there are already devices that exist (Archos, Viliv, etc.) and are likely to have cost less then the HP Slate due to their smaller company size.
The problem with making a Windows 7 + Atom based Tablet is that there are better alternatives out there. It’s not smaller than a Netbook, or more functional so why pay 2x for the same thing.
In order to be popular there should be some “extremes” about the product. Netbooks sold well because it offered exceptionally low price, and excellent battery life.
Devices like Viliv might have similar hardware, but they have differentiated themselves by making it much more portable. Viliv specifically, also offers decent battery life, and generally don’t cost more.
At the moment, Atom meets none of these extremes on a Tablet. It’s not low power enough, the costs aren’t low as ARM based devices, and while it may have better performance, still not perfect for Windows. If you get current Atoms on closed platforms, performance will matter less because it doesn’t need to run legacy devices or have problems with viruses, etc.
I am normally towards Windows, but I can see why Windows based portable devices don’t succeed.
well the answer would be a stripped down win7 core system …. just the needs for the device and not the bell and whistles with the ability to stock up for users who whant to go for the full system – therefore NO win7 embedded! ….. tricksters and hackers showed how this has to be done with the first eee pc’s and win xp by optimizing installation and narrowing the system down to a mere 200-300 gig core. and it worked. unfortunately neither intel nor big boring redmond did take up the message ….
in fact, it would be so easy … a win7 premium “touch” core, optimized for the one device and a slick gui on top together with the option to open up the full system for those who want to do it. and enough memory – 2 gb! – for starters
A quick ‘thank you’ for the detailed comments. Far more valuable than my post and I hope people take the time to read them through.
Chippy