Rumours in the last two days have been pointing to a certain $200 HP Slate device. HP just announced not one but two devices under its Slate moniker. The 6 inch HP Slate 6 VoiceTab and the 7 inch HP Slate 7 VoiceTab are a phablet and a tablet respectively that HP will be pushing this year alongside the Venue devices running both Android and Windows that it launched towards the end of 2013.
Wonder what the “Voice” in the name is for? The devices despite their huge size can make voice calls and with the 8 inch category increasingly being the sweet spot for what can be considered as “rightly-sized” tablets, it won’t be hard getting used to. We already have the Ascend Mates, Z Ultras and Galaxy Megas of this world that pushed the boundaries earlier on so the Slate 6 is not misplaced neither will it be lonely there. Question is, is it as desirable as say the Xperia Z Ultra? That’s callous from me since the target market of the Slate 6 and 7 VoiceTabs is different but then again you should always be compared to the very best.
Both devices run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, have front-facing stereo speakers and IPS displays (1280 x 800 for the tablet and 1280 x 720 for the phablet) for better viewing angles. Front (5 megapixels) and back (2 megapixels) cameras are also built-in, as expected of any device today.
Fancy laying your hands on these two devices? You may have to wait a little longer or forever if you don’t live in India since these will be available in India from February and HP insists that it will focus on the Indian market first before exploring the possibility of launching these devices in other markets.
The 6 inch Slate 6 is HP’s first serious stab at the smartphone market in a long while. Let us hope it is the first of many more to come.
Via: /Recode/
