By Luanne Teoh on 11-10-2011

Just two months after plans and announcement to ditch the PC market and selling off its WebOS TouchPad for $99, HP has announced its comeback to the tablet market with a Windows 7-based Slate 2.

The Slate 2 is aimed squarely at business and vertical markets such as education, healthcare, government and retail. Starting at $699 the Slate 2 will make its worldwide debut later this month.

Specs of the HP Slate 23

• 1.5 pounds, 8.9-inch diagonal capacitive multi-touch display for touch and pen input.
• Swype keyboard.
• Intel® Atom Z670 processor with mSATA SSM technology.
• Battery life of up to six hours on a single battery charge.
• 3-megapixel back camera.
• Front-facing VGA camera for video calls.
• Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity.
• 2 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM.
• SD card slot.
• 2 USB 2.0 ports.
• HDMI port.
• Headphone/mic jacks.
• The Slate 2 measures 9.21 x 0.61 x 5.9 inches.
• Optional accessories include an all-in-one Bluetooth Keyboard and Case and an HP Retail Mobile Point of Sale Case with an integrated magnetic stripe reader and barcode scanner for retailers.

According to Dan Forlenza, vice president and general manager, Commercial Managed IT Segment for HP, “The HP Slate includes the right mix of rich features, support for custom-built applications, and the security and connectivity needed for today’s highly mobile and rigorous day-to-day professional environment.”

This entry into with a business focused Windows-based tablet shows a new business to business strategy since Meg Whitman (former eBay CEO) took the helm of HP. Since then, Whitman has decided to keep HP in the PC business. However there has been no indication that the fate of the webOS and TouchPad will be reversed as well — a decision to can the WebOS business was made by former HP CEO Leo Apotheker.

HP’s introduction of a Windows based tablet certainly makes it more interesting. However, based on Gartner’s prediction of tablets for the next three years, MeeGo, WebOS and others (which include Windows) – will have a minute 4.2% combined market share.

It will be interesting to see the development of HP’s tablets into the business-focused vertical — a move that could potentially serve to revive its low margin product line of its mobile O/S business.

Images courtesy of Google Images.

Chart courtesy of Gartner.

About Luanne Teoh

Luanne is a senior correspondent for BizTechDay focused on Small Business Tech, Mobile and China based in San Francisco. Apart from a keen interest in technology, Luanne is also and avid explorer of the globe, cultures and people.

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