Microsoft Slate PC
Preempting Apple’s big iPad announcement
In preempting Apple’s big iPad announcement,
Microsoft and
HP announced a Slate PC they have been collaborating
on. Steve Ballmer at
CES announced the device during Microsoft’s
press conference. It will be running a traditional version of
Windows 7 with some slight modifications to introduce limited
multi-touch functionality.
The Windows 7 Shoe-in
It seems every Slate PC aims to tackle the same
issues: eBook reading, media playback, an improving browsing
experience as well as some capacity for gaming. To this respect, one
must question why HP and Windows have adopted the approach they
have. Instead of creating a standalone OS – or at the very least a
legitimately annotated one ala Windows 7 Slate – they’ve built this
form factor to Windows 7 specifications. This means this is a
touch-based device glued to an operating system originally built for
mouse and keyboard use, as opposed to a touch-based device with a
proprietary touch-based interface.
Aesthetically, the Slate PC looks decent. With the little data that’s been gathered so far, and from judging from screenshots, its seemingly wide-screen aspect ratio makes it tailor-made for media viewing, unlike the competition. Being in prototype mode, though, nobody from the media has managed to get hands on time with it and a release date has been tentatively scheduled for “some time in 2010?. The addition of a USB 2.0 slot as well as an onboard camera which seemed a no-brainer in a pre iPad world now seem to big, albeit unexpected, notches in HP’s favour.
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