The HP Slate will cost $549, have 1.6GHz Atom Z530, 5 hour battery and and an accelerator for 1080p video playback, reports Engadget.
There’s also a $599 version with 64GB of storage, and both models will have a five-hour battery, an SDHC slot, two camera, a USB port, a SIM card slot for the optional 3G modem, and a dock connector for power, audio, and HDMI out.
The HP Slate runs multi-touch Windows 7, but will have a smaller, lower-resolution screen than the iPad, coming in at 8.9-inch and 1024 by 600 pixels against iPad’s 9.7-inch, 1024 by 768 display. The HP Slate, along with numerous Android and Chrome tablets, is expected to arrive this summer.
Upcoming Asus tablets, for example, will likely include one running either Android or Chrome OS and the other Windows 7.
The HP Slate will also have competition from the much smaller Sprint WiMAX phone with a 4.3″ screen (800 x 480 pixels). It also has two cameras, runs Android OS, has a mobile hotspot feature and makes phone calls. A device with a 4.3″ screen may be stretching the definition of “tablet”, but HTC could, it has been rumored, offer 7″ to 9″ screen versions in the coming months.
Kyocera’s newly announced Android phone is to be the first pre-paid Android smartphone in the USA. It will be sold for $169 at Virgin Mobile, Cricket and MetroPCS. No contracts. Why pay $529 for an unlocked Nexus One?
