There may be some good news for tablet fans that are looking to see a little competition for the iPad.  It appears that HP has a tablet device listed, albeit obscurely, on their website under the name Slate 500.

A story ran today through IDG News about the HP page that is listing the device.  The Slate 500 is listed as a Windows 7 Premium device with an 8.9” screen.  It further suggests that it will have two cameras (a still camera and a video camera) and a pen input device.  The folks at IGN News go on to explain that the device is also listed as being Energy Star qualified on HP’s site and that the Energy Star Website discloses the that the device runs a 1.6GHz processor.

As we have reported on in the past, HP purchased Palm for $1.2 billion last month.  This is big news and many are spending time speculating on how HP will incorporate many of the patents and features of the mobile device maker into their own HP culture.

One of the most talked about topics might be how HP plans to use Palms highly regarded mobile operating system known as webOS.  There are many possibilities including phones, tablets, and printers.  What?  Printers?  Would HP really put webOS, one of the most advanced mobile operating systems of our time on a printer?  Well, we don’t really know, but we do know that HP is looking into making more web ready printers and now that they have webOS, why not?

HP was on the verge of a significant release, a tablet computer to go up against the mighty iPad.

This project has been cancelled, mere months before it was scheduled to appear in stores.  We posted a popular video that previews HP’s tablet computer back in early April.  The Slate was a highly anticipated offering that many who trend toward being Anti-Apple were waiting for, as a viable alternative to the previously released iPad.

HP to Purchase Palm

After many long weeks of speculation and rumor about who might swoop in and purchase Palm, the dying smartphone manufacturer, HP appears to come out of nowhere to announce their agreement to make the deal.  HP and Palm have agreed, preliminarily, to a 1.2 Billion dollar purchase price giving HP ownership of Palm’s well known and respected WEB OS smart phone operating system as well as many patents that could give HP just the boost they were looking for to get into the smartphone market.  HP expects the deal to be inked before the end of its 3^rd fiscal quarter which ends on the 31^st of July.