Surfacing on YouTube is a video that purports to be a demo of the forthcoming Hewlett-Packard Slate tablet.
Now, of course, it’s entirely possible that what we’re seeing here is something other than the Slate. Or it could be the Slate but in some form that’s different than what will ultimately be released to the public. My gut tells me that whatever it is, it isn’t the real thing. At least, it better not be.
The hardware design of the Slate seems convincing enough—it’s all very Apple-y, with brushed metal and flush switches, (although it deviates from the Apple minimalism with a textured, diamond-patterned rubbery back panel, a memory card slot and front and back cameras).
But it’s when the software comes into play that everything goes pear-shaped. Starting the Slate up takes… a while. Like, underpowered-PC while. It was 40 seconds! (And the narrator twice marvels how fast it is.)
And then, once startup has completed? A Windows 7 desktop. Not a touch-optimized Windows 7 desktop, just the same user interface that a desktop PC user would encounter, just now with touch capabilities.
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