The device is a 7" slate running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on a 1.6GHz dual-core ARM chipset. The front and rear cameras are VGA and 3MP respectively. HP's press release isn't too specific, but we do know that there is Beats Audio built in and that red backing will undoubtedly catch a lot of people's attention.
The device's biggest selling point, though will be the $169 starting price and if you're interested in the tablet it will be available from May this year and it should arrive in red, black or silver (steel)! You can sign up for updates and you can find more information here.
HP's Alberto Torres, in an interview with The Verge, said that this was only the beginning he said that "HP is the number one PC manufacturer in the world, and we want to be the number one computer vendor in the world. That means we need to be in the tablet space." So with that in mind Torres said that, "On the tablet side, it's entirely our intent to have a broad set of products on the market... to cover more segments of the market we'll need more products, and you'll see us aggressively pursue that over the year."
Things didn't get too much more specific than that, but he did tell The Verge "that we might see a "work and play" tablet to go along with the entertainment-focused Slate 7," the ultimate goal obviously is to retake the crown of 'number one pc manufacturer' and tablets count towards that at the moment, so we can expect to see HP offering both "Android and Windows tablets at a variety of different price points."
The full press release is available here!
Interview quotes via TheVerge.
This is
is just the beginning. The company sees the writing on the wall: if you add in all the iPad sales, Apple — not HP — is selling the most computers these days. So, faced with declining sales and the growing popularity of Apple's slate, HP has decided to build an entire portfolio of tablets, both Android and Windows, to maintain its position in personal computing this year.
"WE NEED TO BE IN THE TABLET SPACE."
"HP is the number one PC manufacturer in the world, and we want to be the number one computer vendor in the world. That means we need to be in the tablet space." That's Alberto Torres, the man tasked with making it happen. Eighteen months ago, HP's tablet and smartphone business sputtered out of existence. Six months ago, it began anew: under the leadership of SVP Alberto Torres — formerly of Nokia — the new HP Mobility business unit started designing the company's future.
So far, that future is starting slow: The HP Slate 7, shipping this April, isn't exactly a flagship device. Instead, HP is targeting a $169 price point. "We're targeting the consumer who really wants an entertainment solution," Torres says. "We're far more competitive [than the Nexus 7], but it won't be competitive with something that's $300 today."
However, later this year, Torres says that will change. "On the tablet side, it's entirely our intent to have a broad set of products on the market... to cover more segments of the market we'll need more products, and you'll see us aggressively pursue that over the year."
While Torres is holding the cards close to his chest, he suggests that we might see a "work and play" tablet to go along with the entertainment-focused Slate 7. HP wants to produce both Android and Windows tablets at a variety of different price points, Torres tells us, and gave us a general range to expect: he says that the devices HP is looking at are "bookended" by the $169 Slate 7 and HP's ElitePad 900, which retails for $699.
When Apple managed to win the market with a single all-purpose device, why is HP building a whole range?
"I'm a big believer you need to have a focused portfolio of great products, not carpet-bombing the world... but whatever is the winning product in the US might not have the same success in India and China, and we're a global company," Torres says.
"You'll definitely see more products from us this year."
