HP Slate 500 Arrives in Philippines, No Touchpad Yet [Updated]

Okay. So I sat in front of my computer table early this morning and have this tip from a reliable source of mine whom I trust ‘coz he is actually working for HP Philippines.



I got a word that the HP Slate 500 is already here in the Philippines and will be launched officially showcased (see update below) in Manila this Friday, April 8th. If you can still remember, the HP Slate 500 is a Windows 7 Tablet PC that was announced late October, last year.

HP Slate 500

Characterized by the Palo-Alto based company as the ideal tablet device for “professionals who don’t usually work at traditional desk”, what would make this slate win over other tablets is its operating system – which of course a preferable choice for those who always want working in Windows environment they are accustomed with. Of course, that will also depend on its price point, which until now I’m still waiting for my source’s updates. What we know so far is it’s priced at $799 in the US. But I’m expecting Philippine price would be cheaper due to the tight competition.



Just in case you forgot what are from within the HP Slate 500, it actually features:

• 32-bit Genuine Windows 7 Professional OS


• 1.86 GHz Intel Atom Processor Z540


• Intel SCH US15W Chipset


• 2 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM


• SSD Storage up to 64GB


• CD/DVD R/RW via External USB 2.0


• 8.9-inch WSVGA touchscreen display


• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500


• Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator


• Integrated 3MP Camera; Integrated VGA webcam


• HP Slate Digital Pen


• HD Audio, Integrated Stereo Speakers,


• Integrated Mic, Combo Stereo Headphone/Mic Jack


• USB 2.0


• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n


• Bluetooth 3.0


• 2-cell (30 WHr) polymer battery, with 5+ hours life

Hopefully, I can take my hands on this slate; probably when HP follows its event schedule here in Cebu, which is set on the last week of April. By the way, my source also mentioned the HP Touchpad probably won't hit the local shelves until next quarter. So that's going to be a long wait until we see that first webOS tablet. Surely, we'll let you know once we get more updates of its release. So, just stay tuned!



Update: I received another update after the said HP event in Manila earlier today and the HP Slate 500 has just been showcased, but was never launched. No, not yet in Asia-Pacific; just in the US for the time being.

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HP TouchPad, the First webOS Tablet in History: Full Specs and Features Unveiled

This is going to be another Tablet PC to consider in your buying list, folks. What they are yelling as “Topaz” turns out to be the HP TouchPad, a 9.7-inch slate from the merger Hewlett Packard and Palm.

From HP’s “Think Beyond” event in San Francisco, unveiled is the first tablet to run on webOS platform called TouchPad. It comes with decent specs that indeed getting itself ready for a battle with Apple’s iPad, or with the soon-to-be-released BlackBerry PlayBook from RIM, and the first Honeycomb slate – the Motorola Xoom.

HP TouchPad

Powered by a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, the TouchPad will run on webOS 3.0 with what is said to be a “vibrant 9.7-inch diagonal flush capacitive multitouch display”at 1024 x 768 pixels. Exciting features the TouchPad brings include its ability to transfer a website (HP touch-to-share), SMS, multi-media files, and even phone calls to HP’s latest smartphones – the Pre 3 and Veer. Though like the first gen iPad, this slate doesn’t come with rear camera; however, it flaunts a 1.3 MP front-facing camera for video-calling and conferencing.



You may check out HP TouchPad Full Specs and Features after the break.

• HP webOS 3.0


• 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 processor


• 9.7-inch diagonal XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 1,024 x 768 resolution display


• 1GB RAM


• 16GB or 32GB internal storage


• Support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content


• 1.3 front-facing camera


• 3G/4G


• Wi-Fi, 802.11 b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication


• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support


• Internal stereo speakers and Beats Audio


• GPS, A-GPS (3G only)


• Micro-USB


• Accelerometer, gyroscope


• 6,300 mAh battery, Built-in HP Touchstone technology for easy charging


• 740 g


• 7.54 x 9.53 x 0.54-inch

HP says the TouchPad is scheduled for release comes summer and prices and availability will be announced later. Surely we'll let you know... For the meantime, do share your comments below.

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