HP shelves ‘Slate’ tablet project indefinitely

In what might largely be seen as an upshot of HP’s acquisition move pertaining to Palm and its much-acclaimed webOS, published reports say that HP is cancelling its the Windows 7 powered ‘Slate’ tablet device which had been introduced by the Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show this year.

Though HP released a promotional video, in early April, underlining the key advantages of the Slate vis-à-vis the Apple iPad, Techcrunch reports say that the PC giant is probably not too happy with the Windows 7’s performance on tablet, and may likely leverage its newly-acquired webOS in a tablet device of its own.

Tech blog Gizmodo, which cited unnamed ‘inside’ sources who claimed that the ‘Slate’ project had been deferred for an indefinite period, said: “Microsoft execs informed the internal team that had been working on the tablet device that the project would no longer be supported.”

In the opinion of most industry observers, HP’s decision to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion - a move that makes HP a direct competitor of Microsoft in the key smartphone arena – has prompted the cancellation of the Windows 7 powered tablet; thereby hampering the HP-Microsoft association.

Meanwhile, with the Slate project being shelved, the Apple iPad will likely have a few months as a sole tablet device on the market; thereby giving it the opportunity to substantiate its leading position.