New HP Slate Video Looks Amazing

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/Voodoo-Blog/HP-s-Slate-Device-Delivers-a-Holistic-Mobile-Experience/ba-p/54735' target='_blank'>http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/Voodoo...ence/ba-p/54735</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Up to now, we've given you only tiny glimpses of the HP slate device coming out later this year. You saw it first in a video we released during CES and most recently in videos demoing its Web experience and Adobe Flash and Air support. We've also blogged about the evolution of the slate category and our history in the space. So far, almost everything we've shared showcases how you'll consume media with the device. And by media we mean all types of digital content, whether it's a story from a major news outlet or videos and photos you've shot. But we also believe that media consumption is only half of the ideal mobile experience."</em></p><p><object width="600" height="360" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/AeDalRBjyJo&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;ap=%26fmt=18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AeDalRBjyJo&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;ap=%26fmt=18" /></object></p><p>One word: WOW. I've been cautiously optimistic about the HP Slate, and what was holding me back was the fact that Windows 7 isn't a touch-focused operating system, or is it an operating system that tends to work really well on low-end hardware. While I can't speak to the performance yet (and frankly I'm a bit worried about that), if the work that HP has done on this custom UI goes fairly deep, I could see spending most of my time inside this software suite. It's hard to judge the final product based on a slick marketing video, but I see a lot of things here that I like.</p>

[icatar]

I'm torn between the HP Slate, the Lenovo U1 hybrid, and the mysterious Microsoft Courier. I liked how this video emphasized some of the shortcomings of the iPad, such as the USB connection and support for removable media.

[Dyvim]

I love the little digs at the iPad like showing the memory card, USB cable, and using Skype for video chat! But the cover flow swiping and scrolling look choppy ... and that's in the (presumably mostly vaporware) marketing video. I guess it must be difficult to truly nail a super-responsive touch UI.

[jdmichal]

I'm not sure why you think Windows 7 is a bad interface for touch. I have a HP TM2 right now, and after boosting it to 125% size, it's great. Only things that are hard to hit with a finger are the minimize-maximize-close buttons, as those are still somewhat small.

Also, flicks and handwriting recognition rock.

[ptyork]

If you haven't yet, look at the specs:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/05/hp-slate-to-cost-549-have-1-6ghz-atom-z530-5-hour-battery/

I'm not 100% sure that this iteration will show the iPad to the door--battery life is just okay, resolution and screen size are just okay, etc.--but I am really excited to see that it supports pen/digitizer input. To me, this is the one thing that makes the iPad a luxury item rather than a truly useful business/student tool. I can't imagine tapping away on a monster touch keyboard to take notes, but I certainly can (because I did) imagine taking them using a pen. Bundle this with OneNote (or Evernote for that matter) and you've got your first killer app.

I still say this needs to run Windows CE and utilize smartphone parts. Most of the heavy lifting that you'd need a PC sized CPU for could/should be offloaded. But I am excited to see some competition that shows real advantages over the iPad. Not just a copy, but an advancement. Or at least a real alternative. We'll see.

[randalllewis]

I love the little digs at the iPad like showing the memory card, USB cable, and using Skype for video chat! But the cover flow swiping and scrolling look choppy ... and that's in the (presumably mostly vaporware) marketing video. I guess it must be difficult to truly nail a super-responsive touch UI.


I don't see the choppy problem that you noticed in this video. But I can say from experience that HP's Touchsmart UI operates very smoothly on my IQ526 model that has an independent graphics card. When I was exploring the Touchsmart last year, I noticed in the store demo units, the 524 model that had integrated graphics was sometimes choppy in scrolling those giant tiles back and forth and in opening and closing video. The 526 didn't have that problem and I assumed the difference was the separate GPU.

The Slate doesn't appear to have discrete graphics, but perhaps they have addressed that problem in another way.

[Dyvim]

I don't see the choppy problem that you noticed in this video.
I didn't express that well. It's not that it's choppy- it's the lag between touching and swiping your finger and the screen responding. On iPhone\iPod Touch\iPad, the screen seems to instantaneously respond to and track your finger as you swipe. In the HP video there's a clear lag between the gesture and the computer's response.

[JonnoB]

I just pickedup a TouchSmart PC not too long ago for my wife to use in the kitchen and I must say that it is very touch friendly. If this is an improvement upon that app, it will be very useful on a slate device. I will wait to see some reviews, but this may be something in my future.