HP: back in the tablet business

As news starts to flow in from Mobile World Congress, a surprise to some is the announcement that Hewlett Packard is back in the tablet game. HP's new Slate 7 will be an Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) device with a 3megapixel camera, Dual-core Arm A9 processor and a stainless steel chassis with "Soft touch" backing. All this and a projected price of $169

With the last HP consumer tablet, the TouchPad,  a flop it looks like the giant PC maker is trying a different strategy. With the TouchPad, HP used it's own software and custom OS, which meant it couldn't take advantage of Android's market (now Google Play) and it was hyped as competition for the iPad. The Slate 7 is targeted more at buyers considering the Nexus 7 or Samsung Galaxy Tab and uses Android but with a few custom apps, including one that will let user print wirelessly from that Slate 7 to a wifi connected HP printer.

Since current HP Slate tablets are Windows 8 business devices it's been strongly hinted that HP will have Windows 8 consumer tablets and even smartphones coming soon as well. The Slate 7 is due to be released in April 2013