HP re-enters the tablet market

Microsoft's operating system, Intel's chip, this is the standard configuration of the PC; but as a Tablet PC listed in October 2010, this configuration is a bit strange?

This is HP's Slate 500 launched on October 21, 2010. The computer is priced at $799, which is $300 more than Apple's iPad. Hewlett-Packard hopes to use this product to impress business customers. Therefore, it uses the Windows 7 operating system to ensure that it has the same experience as a PC.

Prior to this, Apple seems to have defined this market: Tablet PCs to provide users with a different experience than the PC; long standby time; and, the screen is larger (iPad is 9.7 inches). But the Slate 500's screen is 8.9 inches, exactly what Apple CEO Steve Jobs had mocked before. Jobs believes that competitors to the iPad's footsteps "will get a bitter lesson because their tablet is too small." He predicted: "They must increase their size next year."

In addition, the Slate 500 uses Microsoft's system is also confusing. Tablet PC makers who choose Google Android are far more than Windows. People think that Android will be faster and more power efficient than Windows, and it can also add more third-party applications.

Even without Steve Jobs's cynicism, HP launched a tablet computer at this time has also been quite embarrassing. HP has always been a leader in touch control technology and has developed touch screen PCs since the mid-1980s. In 2002, it launched a tablet computer with a Microsoft system, but no one cares. At the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in January 2010, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer’s high-profile tablet was the Slate—it was a few months before Apple introduced the iPad, but the last limelight was still grabbed by Apple. gone.

But this time, HP's idea of ​​targeting commercial customers may work. Because Apple attracts individual consumers, they use the iPad more to watch videos and play games. HP installed a camera for the Slate 500 to support video conferencing; it also supports the USB interface. "It's really like a full-featured PC," said Carol Hess-Nickels, HP's business notebook marketing manager. In his commercials, Hewlett-Packard showed doctors and businessmen working on tablets.

According to market analysis agency Gartner, the sales of tablet PCs will exceed 50 million units by next year. Although Steve Jobs dismissed the flocking tablet product, application developers, wireless operators and technology analysts welcomed this trend. They believe that in the retail, insurance, medical, catering and other industries, the use of tablet computers has unlimited potential. Other vendors, such as Dell, RIM, and even Cisco, are also preparing to launch tablets for commercial customers.

Darren Cross, director of commercial development at Fandango, a movie ticketing service company, described the iPad’s performance as good, “but it’s only half the game with a baseball game.”