HP Slate Is Dead On Arrival, Says TechCrunch

HP is killing its Windows 7 "slate" tablet project, says TechCrunch, citing a source "briefed on the matter."

Business Insider already posted a less sourced report on its demise. Now that there's some insider confirmation, we're inclined to believe it. (We sent a note to HP to confirm for sure, and can update if we hear anything.)

Given HP's acquisition of Palm—and an early report of the first edition being a generally disagreeable machine—this all makes sense. Sure hasn't been a banner day for Microsoft-powered tablets, though. [TechCrunch]

UPDATE: HP replied to me with a standard "We don't comment on rumors or speculation." This seems to me to be further confirmation however, because if the product was still on target for this summer, surely HP's sales and marketing people would beg that PR affirm the thing's continued healthy existence. Letting it die in the public eye wouldn't be good if it actually was still kicking.