Calling this a fashionably late entrance into the tablet market would be a massive understatement, but HP managed to turn heads at Mobile World Congress yesterday with its very own 7-inch system, the HP Slate7. It seems a little perplexing for such a delayed entry, but the price alone — an impressively cheap $169 — could make it a formidable foe for the Nexus 7.
When it comes to specs, the Slate7 runs on a 1.6GHz dual-core ARM but unfortunately sports the first version of Android Jelly Bean (4.1). HP has already said that they will be upgrading the OS as soon as possible, but it won't be ready for release. All other known features seem to be standard 7-inch tablet fare, except that the audio is supercharged, thanks to HP's longstanding partnership with Beats audio. Each system sports special audio tweaking capabilities that are designed to get the most out of Beats headphones, especially catering to the tiny differences between the company's over-ear and in-ear headphones. Still, even for the average user, there is a promise of plenty of bass within the tiny tablet.
Otherwise, the most obvious advantage to the Slate7 is its drastically low price. At a base of $169, it undercuts the Kindle Fire HD by $30 and Nexus 7 by nearly $100. It's unclear exactly what that low cost will get you in regards to memory, or how much more the premium tablets will cost. Still, it's a bold move for HP, a company that has focused primarily on their professional Windows-running tablets, to finally take a crack at Android consumer culture.
What do you think of the Slate7? Let us know in the comments.
Lauren Hockenson is a tech reporter and 8-bit enthusiast who dreams of being a wizard. She can be found on MyIGN at lhockenson or on Twitter at @lhockenson.
Source : ign[dot]com
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