We all thought HP might have been done with the tablet PC market after the TouchPad was abandoned a few months back, but the company isn"t going to let one sour taste put them off. Today, HP announced a brand new "Slate 2" Tablet PC, according to The Verge.
The device is a refresh of it"s Windows 7 based "Slate 500" and sports an Atom Oak Trail Z670 (1.5Ghz), 64GB mSata drive, 8.9" N-Trig display at 1024x600 and a shiny new Swype keyboard. For those into BitLocker, they"ll be pleased to learn it"s got a TPM chip onboard too. Additionally, the device comes with a new Bluetooth keyboard dock, black cover and a battery that claims 6 hours of battery life. It"s also got a nice front-facing camera for video conferencing, and a 3MP camera on the back for taking photos of whatever else you like. Not too bad, for the low price of $699 USD.
According to the press release, the device also supports multitouch, so you get the added benefit of being able to write on the device, as well as resorting to the Swype keyboard if writing lets you down.
It"s a minor refresh from the previous device, and Verge points out that HP says they"re focusing on performance for their enterprise customers. HP obviously didn"t state if the device will work with Windows 8 yet, and it"s not clear why the company didn"t opt for something a bit more powerful for the processor either.
HP CEO Meg Whitman also hinted that there will be "plenty" of HP tablets when Windows 8 is ready.
The Slate 2 will be available sometime during November for the price of $699, for those that just love a good stylus.