Ceding the Field?
Looks like people are ceding the tablet field to Apple:
HP has conceded the tablet war before it even engaged in battle by terminating the HP Slate project.
This device was supposed to be one of the major Windows based answers to the iPad - now it's a non-answer. Whatever you think of Apple's moves on Flash and language development restrictions, it looks like they'll win the early stages of that battle - simply due to the fact that they'll be the only ones playing the game.
Comments
Re: Ceding the Field?
[Tom Small] May 1, 2010 1:10:30.846
I think it's probably a bit premature to say they're "ceding" victory. HP just bought Palm and said that they're "doubling down" on WebOS, and I believe their Slate tablet was based on Windows 7. It seems to me that they're gearing up to compete with their "own" (purchased) tablet OS.
Re: Ceding the Field?
[W^L+] May 2, 2010 19:42:38.543
Also, HP has had a Windows-powered touchscreen computer for years. I don't think it sold well. It could be that their take on Win7 / WinPhone7 was such that Microsoft's OS wouldn't cut it in competition with the iPad. That could be why they agreed to buy Palm.
If they take what they learned from the "Slate" project (minus any Microsoft-proprietary information, of course) and apply it to a WebOS-powered tablet device, they may have a more compelling device (that they otherwise would have offered) in a shorter period of time.