Today, you can pick up HP’s newest piece of hardware, the Slate 7, an Android-powered tablet complete with licensed Beats Audio software on board. The tablet is powered by a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 chip clocked at 1.6GHz, 1GB of RAM, features 8GB of internal memory, runs Android 4.1, and sports a not-so-hot 7″ WVA display. What redeems this tablet’s sub-par specs is the price though, set at just $170.

While we would probably recommend you spend the extra $30 and pick up a Nexus 7, this is the beauty of options. 

Specs:

• 7″ WVA 1024 x 600 display
• Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean”
• ARM Cortex-A9 Dual-Core (1.6 GHz)
• 1GB DDR3 RAM
• 8GB internal storage
• 3,500mAh battery
• VGA front-facing camera
• 3MP back-facing camera
• Beats Audio

It might not be an over-powered super slate, but it does have a very reasonable price tag. Thinking about checking one out? You won’t be alone in saying “no.”

Via: HP

HP Slate 7 Tablet Now on Sale – Beats Audio and Nice Design for $169.99 is a post from: Droid Life

In Barcelona, at Mobile World Congress, HP just unveiled their first ever Android tablet, the Slate 7. The device carries a 7″ display, has access to Google Play and the rest of Google’s suite of apps, weighs 13 ounces, utilizes Beats audio, is powered by a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 3MP rear camera, VGA front camera, runs Android 4.1, and drops in at a ridiculously low price of $169.

The device will be available in April of this year. 

HP Unveils Android Consumer Tablet

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 24, 2013 — HP today announced the HP Slate7, an affordable Android Jelly Bean consumer tablet that provides customers with easy access to Google Mobile services.

With a 7-inch diagonal screen and weighing 13 ounces, the HP Slate7 is an ideal trusted personal companion, featuring a stainless-steel frame and soft black paint in gray or red on the back. It also is the industry’s first tablet to offer embedded Beats Audio, for the best-sounding, richest audio experience available on a tablet.

The HP Slate7 delivers the Google experience with services like Google Now, Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive and Google+ Hangouts for multiperson video chat as well as access to apps and digital content through Google Play.(1)

“To address the growing interest in tablets among consumers and businesses alike, HP will offer a range of form factors and leverage an array of operating systems,” said Alberto Torres, senior vice president, Mobility Global Business Unit, HP. “Our new HP Slate7 on Android represents a compelling entry point for consumer tablets, while our ground-breaking, business-ready HP ElitePad on Windows® 8 is ideal for enterprises and governments. Both deliver the service and support people expect from HP.”

The HP Slate7 joins the recently introduced HP Chromebook as part of HP’s push to offer access to the Google experience.

HP’s tablet offerings reside in the company’s newly formed Mobility Global Business Unit, established in September 2012 with the hiring of Torres. Torres joined HP from Nokia, where he was executive vice president and oversaw the MeeGo products and platform.

HP Slate7 makes computing easy while on the go

Powered by an ARM Dual Core Cortex-A9 1.6 GHz processor, the HP Slate7 is fast and responsive. Integrated wireless allows customers to access email, the internet and key applications, while the High-aperture-ratio Field Fringe Switching (HFFS) panel offers wide viewing angles that provide easy viewing of documents, games, photos and videos—even in outdoor lighting conditions.

The HP Slate7 includes a 3-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front for chatting, videos and photos.

With the HP ePrint (2) application, customers can easily print while at home or on the go, and the exclusive native printing capability enables customers to print directly from most applications. A micro USB port allows customers to easily transfer files, and a suite of applications from HP spans exclusive games to productivity tools.

HP will provide an array of simple and easy-to-access support tools and resources to help customers take full advantage of all of the features the HP Slate7 has to offer. In addition to extensive phone and online support offerings included with the HP Slate7, HP is offering customers the opportunity to add to the standard product limited warranty with its HP Care Pack services. HP Slate7 customers will have the option to protect their investment with a two-year HP Care Pack for $29 or a two-year HP Care Pack with Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) for $49.(3)

Pricing and availability

The HP Slate7 is expected to be available in the United States in April with a starting price of $169.

Additional information about the HP Slate7 is available at www.hp.com/slate and The Next Bench.

HP Announces Its First Android Tablet, the Slate 7 for $169 is a post from: Droid Life

Up until today, the only reason HP and Android would be in the same device is if you jumped on the TouchPad fire sale and hacked Android into the thing. However, The Verge and ReadWrite are reporting that HP and Android might be making things a bit more official. Citing multiple unnamed sources within the company, HP is working on an Android tablet and maybe even a phone that we should see sometime this year.

HP’s Android tablet has apparently been in the works since last Thanksgiving, but now is rumored to be launching with NVIDIA’s new Tegra 4 processor packed inside. Details on the smartphone are even less concrete, but in the past HP has expressed a serious interest in getting back in the market.

It would certainly be a win for Android to have another big name manufacturing high quality devices. The TouchPad was a highly regarded tablet when it was released, but it was saddled with webOS running on it. This tablet is far from being official, but it sounds like HP has something good up their sleeve.

Via: The Verge

Is HP Planning on Manufacturing an Android Tablet and Smartphone Sometime Soon? is a post from: Droid Life

We have a new Chromebook to add to the family tree this morning. Teaming with HP, Google announced the HP Pavilion 14, starting at $329.99. The device features a 14″ 1366 x 768 HD display, is powered by a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron 847 processor, offers of 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and gets up to four hours and fifteen minutes of battery life.

If you are into or want to get started with the Chrome OS, you can pick up one of these starting today right from HP’s site.

Buy.

Via: Google

Google and HP Team Up for New Chromebook, Dubbed the HP Pavilion 14 is a post from: Droid Life

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now this is the progress I’m sure that many of you were hoping to see in such a short amount of time on the HP TouchPad after the firesale helped many of you land one for as little as $99.  We were actually starting to wonder if it would even be possible to get Android booted up on this tablet – thanks to the CyanogenMod team, we now know that there is a damn good chance.

As you can see in the video above, we still have a long way to go before this is ready to be booted up on anyone’s device.  That’s not the point of this though.  The CM team needs more devices in order to give this thing a ton of attention and has released this as nothing more than a publicity tool to draw more attention to their work on it, something we are happy to help out with.

In a letter to the internet, they break down the progress and future plans for the TouchPad.  

Here is some (older) touchpad progress from Friday. The Cyanogenmod team wanted to share it with the public as a blatant publicity stunt to bring attention to our need for a few more touchpads (for developers currently working without them).

As you can see from this quick demo, we’ve been working hard and have made progress. Since this video was created last week, the build has been more “tabletized” (tablet tweaks added, etc.), lvm support has been added, and 2d hardware acceleration should appear very soon.

The touchscreen driver issue is now the focus of our attention.

Our ultimate vision is to create a *multiboot* solution where the end user will be able to boot into WebOS, Cyanogenmod, and/or other OSes. This appears to be very possible, and we have discussed several potential implementations with our new friends in the WebOS development community to make it easy for an end-user to set up.

For the moment though, we need about 4 tablets, as we have talented and experienced developers who cannot contribute effectively due to a lack of hardware. If you have an extra touchpad and are willing to help the cause, please let us know in the comments below.

A BIG CAVEAT– PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR ETAS. For the uninitiated, this is the #1 rule for Cyanogenmod. It will certainly be a long while before our goals become reality. Our goals incidentally are not connected with any bounty– we are motivated to do it right, not do it fast.

And now the obligatory shout outs– Thanks to rootzwiki and all the devs and everyone else who are collaborating and contributing to this project. You know who you are, you.

The CM team
www.cyanogenmod.com

PS- Yes, this is gingerbread (Android 2.3.5). Everything you see, except for bootie the bootloader (a great kid’s show btw), was compiled from source.

I would just like to know how many of you were actually able to purchase a TouchPad?

Via:  RootzWiki

Cheers Michael K.!

CyanogenMod Boots Up on HP TouchPad in Alpha Stage is a post from: Droid Life

I’ll just start this off by saying, “be skeptical” as this is one of the more confusing situations we have encountered in quite some time.  As many of you know, the TouchPad and all WebOS products were given the axe last week by HP which lead to a firesale over the weekend.  If you were anywhere near Twitter on Friday and Saturday, then you likely saw the thousands of retweets and SlickDeals threads leading to $99 and $149 TouchPad deals – most of which were sold out in minutes.

The price drop also led to some developments on the Android front.  First, a team was formed with one goal:  bring Android to the TouchPad.  Following their announcement, a bounty of $1,500 was offered up to the first person that was able to actually make that team’s goal happen.  Fun, right?  Well, here is where it gets really tricky/confusing.  

The picture above and video below appeared yesterday on Reddit, from a user who apparently walked into a Best Buy to pick up a TouchPad and walked out with a device already running Android 2.2.  Now, droves of people have already claimed it to be completely fabricated and we tend to agree that the entire thing is incredibly odd and filmed in a way that makes us want to pimpslap all parties involved.  With that said though, there are some things we should point out.

First, the name “topaz” made its way into the build number.  Topaz just so happens to be the codename for the device.  Second, at bootup, you will see the QuIC logo which means Qualcomm Innovation Center, the same company who tossed a processor into the TouchPad.  And what should that mean to you?  Well, that there is a chance this device was used as a dev tool at Qualcomm’s Innovation Center and then somehow, some way, snuck into a box and then into a store to be sold.  Sounds like a stretch, I know.

To add to the story, the Reddit user who submitted this has been very cooperative with devs who are looking to get a hold of this device ASAP.

We should know in the next few days if this is legit or not.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  Reddit, Notebook Italia, Android and Me

Cheers to everyone who sent this in!

HP TouchPad Purchased at Best Buy Reportedly Runs Android Out of the Box is a post from: Droid Life