Courier tablet was a two-screen folding tablet device, which was supposed to facilitate both Touch computing and Pen computing on the same device and was more inclined to be a productivity device, rather than Just-for-fun device.

As it was certain that Microsoft would use its own Operating System, Windows 7 in Courier tablet as well, its Killing of Courier project reaffirms HP’s decision to drop the idea of Windows 7 based Courier tablet. All this concludes that there must be major pitfalls in Windows 7 as a tablet OS and therefore, both the companies felt it right to stop investing on something that’s weak from its roots.

This also makes pretty sure that Apple iPad is going to make some serious domination in the evolving Tablet market, before any of its competitors makes it to the stores.

Source

It doesn’t mean that HP will not bring its own Slate. It’s just that Windows 7 will not power the much awaited HP Slate. It appears that HP realized the unsuitability of using Windows 7 as core OS for its first touch-enabled tablet.

It’s a proven fact that hardware will not sell like hot cakes if there’s a poor software setup at its core and HP doesn’t want to take any more chance here.

With recent acquisition of Palm, it could a possibility that HP would also consider Palm’s WebOS power its Slate device but the chances are slim as there’s no established eco-system around WebOS as such.

Will HP turn to Google for Android OS ? Chances are minimal but HP seems to be having little choices here.

Things will get clear after sometime but this is for sure that HP Slates will not make it to market anytime soon and all those tablet lovers can comfortably buy an iPad or WePad if they aren’t willing to wait for really long time, say until end of this year.

Source : TC

One such country where gadget freaks are roaring to get this spectacular piece of hardware is India. And all those folks who don’t want to wait for the iPad to launch officially in India (it will take months for sure) and get their gadget right away have got an not-so-affordable option for doing so.

Apple iPad 16GB/WiFi version is available in India for around Rs.38k. 32GB version would come at Rs.44k and 64GB version would come at Rs.50k. The Apple iPad will, of course, be imported to India so the buyer will have to bear custom duty and shipping charges as well(both the charges are included in the price mentioned). The shipping will start April 15 onwards.

Honestly, it’s a costly affair to import the iPad right away from U.S. and it sounds more sensible to wait for the official launch of the device in India. By that time, the WiFi+3G version will also be available to the users, which will be much better option than a WiFi only iPad. And don’t forget the WePad, HP Slate and loads of other slate devices to come in the near future, which will provide plenty of options to pick the best one from. You are going to buy just one slate device so choose wisely.

Of course, the final call is yours !

At the moment, it’s easy to realize the plight of ebook reader manufacturers such as Amazon(kindle), Sony(Reader), Barnes&Noble(Nook), as the fate of their e-reader devices is endangered with the recent arrival of iPad and powerful tablet devices such as HP Slate.

It’s easy to foresee e-reader device sellers going out of business if upcoming generation of tablet devices(iPad, Slate), that actually includes e-reader functionality as one of the many functionalities, start selling to mass consumers.

Till now, there was no tablet from HP, Apple or anyone else and e-reader devices like Kindle was the only option for consumers to get a light-weight and handy device for reading ebooks on the run. Now that one can read ebooks and do a lot more stuff such as photos, videos, web and most of the computational tasks through iPad or Slate or any other available tablet, why would anyone buy a single purpose device such as Kindle, Nook or Sony Reader.

Another fact is that the advent of tablet generation will soon result in multiple tie-ups with major book publishers and bestselling authors, which would mean that ebook retailers such as Amazon and Barnes&Noble will loose control over the territory that’s predominantly controlled by them(mainly Amazon) at the moment.

For Amazon, it is like surrendering their flourishing Kindle oriented business which Amazon will never let happen. So what can they really do ?

Amazon needs to compete head-on with Apple. Amazon needs to transform its single tasking Kindle to a touch-sensitive e-Ink/LCD Kindle that’s equally capable as iPad or HP Slate or any other tablet device out there.

And with recent buyout of a startup that specializes in touchscreen technology, Amazon seems to be in full swing to make its Kindle, a Super-Kindle.

Sony seems to be having similar plans for its e-Reader device as well, transforming it to a Super e-reader, basically a powerful tablet, nothing less.

For miscellaneous tablets like JooJoo , the scope of growth is next to nothing now.