HP is a hilarious mess. They were once the leader of Windows Mobile smartphones, but when people started switching to Android, they ignored the platform. Instead, they decided to buy Palm’s webOS, release a handful of phones and tablets, and then suddenly kill the platform because the CEO who championed mobile was let go due to a sex scandal. Anyway, the company has changed their tune and launched a handful of Android tablets, but they haven’t really done anything in the mobile phone department.
That’s soon going to change according to an entry on the Bluetooth SIG’s website. See, if you want to launch a phone or tablet these days, various standards groups (Bluetooth, WiFi, FCC) need to approve it before it goes on sale. Some people obsessively crawl through the databases of these groups in order to find out about new hardware. And the guys at Phone Arena have discovered the “HP Slate 6 Voice Tab”. What do we know about this tablet? Judging by the name, it’ll have a 6.0 inch panel. Several leaked specifications say the panel will have a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, and that a quad core processor from Marvell will be under the hood. That means this is going to be a budget device, probably under $300. The Marvell chip also means it might be targeted solely at China, but that’s just an assumption on my part since I’ve yet to see a Marvell powered Android device sold in Europe or the United States. Here’s hoping HP moves faster, because everyone else is running laps around them. Note: The photo above is of an HP Slate 7.
