This is turning out to be a rough week for Microsoft tablets. First the Courier gets scrapped, leaving many to wonder what might have been of the dual-screen tablet, and now HP is abandoning its much hyped Slate, at least in its current form, according to TechCrunch.
HP hasn’t yet made an official announcement, but TechCrunch feels pretty confident its “source who’s been briefed on the matter” is right on the money. And really, we half expected something like this anyway. Earlier this week HP announced it had signed a definitive agreement to purchase Palm for $1.2 billion, a deal that brings Palm’s webOS into HP’s stable. HP was very blunt on where it goes from here, saying it plans on “doubling down on webOS,” meaning we could very well be looking at a webOS-based tablet in the near future.
This makes perfect sense if, as TechCrunch’s source says, HP isn’t satisfied with Windows 7 as a tablet OS. If that’s the primary reason, however, then it’s a little surprising that HP waited this long to scrap the project. Prior to the cancellation, HP had been focused on drumming up excitement over the Slate, posting teaser video clips and talking about all the things the Slate could do, with a particular emphasis on the features Apple’s iPad lacks (like Flash, USB, cameras, and expandable storage).
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Rumor: Hewlett-Packard Kills Microsoft Tablet Project (Slate)
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