It should come as no surprise to anyone that Google is working on a tablet but even so, I can’t contain my enthusiasm for this news. Why? Because it’s Google and Android together in the MID/Pad/CID/Tablet space and that means that they’re actively thinking about getting Android, their apps AND THE MARKETPLACE on to other platforms. Marketplace is critical for seeding development and further interest in the sector.

There has been a lot of talk about ChromeOS being the choice for pads, MIDs and smart-books but I don’t see it happening that way. Chrome doesn’t have any of the excitement that a dynamic, finger-friendly UI, location-enabled OS with app-store brings. Chrome is for the table-top. Android is the mobile OS and that fits like a glove on a handheld device.

The news comes from the NYTimes (via Laptopmag) and highlights a number of interesting consumer internet device developments. The best of which is:

Google, for example, has been working with several hardware manufacturers to push its Android software, which was originally designed for mobile phones and is a direct competitor to Apple’s iPhone operating system. The company also hopes to make its own apps marketplace available for new slate-like devices.

The article goes on to mention Dell, Acer, Microsoft, Nokia and Lenovo along with a device from HP known as the ‘half pint’ a device measuring 6 inch diagonally. I like that thought. Check out the full article and the Laptopmag blog for more.

Meet:Mobility Podcast 47 is now available. Recorded on 9th April 2010.

Chippy, JKK and Sascha cover news about the iPad, the JooJoo, ICD Gemini, Hanvon Tablet, HP Slate and other consumer and mobile internet devices.

Full show notes, playback and download info at Meet:Mobility.

SUBSCRIBE

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please rate the show on iTunes.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

Meet:Mobility Podcast 47 is now available. Recorded on 9th April 2010.

Chippy, JKK and Sascha cover news about the iPad, the JooJoo, ICD Gemini, Hanvon Tablet, HP Slate and other consumer and mobile internet devices.

Full show notes, playback and download info at Meet:Mobility.

SUBSCRIBE

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please rate the show on iTunes.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

At last a bit of ultra mobile PC news to talk about. The last three days were swamped with consumer ‘pad’ news and UMPCPortal feels like it’s been abandoned. (Note: Having a son 7 days ago doesn’t help with my availability right now either so bear with us if news takes a little longer than usual)

HP Slate Full specs, comparison and information now in the database

The HP Slate news has been around for a while but apart from a few viral videos and a presentation by Microsoft which heavily linked it to a Windows OS (!) there hasn’t been any concrete info. Today though, Engadget have published what could be the full spec list for the device. You’re looking at a grown-up Archos 9 with, potentially, all the errors corrected.

• 1.6Ghz Menlow platform (HD video decoding included) Check!
• SSD drive Check!
• 2GB RAM OOPS!

OK, you can’t have everything and the lack of the mouse pointer found on the Archos 9 really knocks it back in the two-handed usage department. Just like the iPad, it’s form over function again.

So it looks like we’ve got something similar to Archos 9 in form factor and a Viliv S10 in specs although the battery life could be significantly less than the S10. Expect 4hrs of usage time. A capacative multitouch display (I’m personally still looking for a good use for Multitouch on Windows 7) and an accelerometer are also included.

Entry-level pricing of $549 matches the Archos 9 so Archos will have to re-think their pricing on the 9 and also think about the fast SSD requirement that we highlighted in our full review.

See our Viliv S10 review for a device with almost exactly the same internals.

As for comparisons with the iPad, forget it. The HP Slate will be more of a ultra mobile PC than a consumer mediaslate and when partnered with keyboard (of any sort) will turn itself into a netbook style device offering all the flexibility you’d expect from a PC but, like the iPad, if you think you need a keyboard, take a look at the Viliv S10 or ASUS T101MT

All-in-all the device isn’t that thrilling but it looks like it will improve on the sub-10" slates we’ve seen before and offer a good quality, well-priced option. This sort of true TabletPC value would have been unthinkable just 2 years ago.
We’ve already confirmed that Win 7 on the 1.6 Menlow platform is not the smoothest and if we’re honest, multitouch doesn’t add much to the experience but with Aero off, it does run acceptably in 1GB and gives you a full, productive desktop operating system to play with. 700gm is a good weight too. We’re looking forward to testing this one out when it launches. (Date unknown)

Update: HP Slate information, comparison, specs and links now in the database

‘Always-on’ is going to be a seriously important weapon in the fight for the netbook market for ARM-based ‘smart’ devices. I’m 100% sure that the first manufacturer that brings this seamless experience to customers in a fast, well-designed, well-priced device will cause waves in the netbook market. Customers that switch to the ‘always-on’ model aren’t going to go back to anything less.

Not only is always-on going to allow mail and social network polling and instant-use scenarios, it’s also going to enable a whole new range of applications. From a simple alarm clock to video and voice calling, these applications just won’t be possible on Intel-based netbooks with the current platform.

I spent a long time with the Airlife 100 today. It’s a 100% ARM (Snapdragon 1Ghz) ‘smart’ device being offered by Telefonica in Spain. Pricing and availability is not known at the moment but we’re estimating that this one will be free on a 24-month contract.

The 10-minute video below shows the user interface, applications and a look round the design of the device.

We had heard that HP were going to unveil a new ‘3G’ device on Monday at MWC and we suspect this is it.

Extended battery life, light weight, touchscreen, 3G and a lower price (or at least some very cheap ‘free with data’ offers) means this is one for us to check out at MWC. No confirmation on the processing platform yet and clearly there’s a question over Android makes a good productive platform. It will be interesting to see if the Google apps are on  this one.

Compaq Airlife 100 puts Android OS, Snapdragon CPU, and an SSD behind 10.1-inch touchscreen — Engadget.

I was considering using the phrase “who isn’t? inch somewhere in this post, but I would be remiss not to mention that I’m actually happy to hear this news. There are already a bunch of random no-name devices out of Asia that will boot Android, but when a big company steps in, others take notice, and generally this leads to competition, which breeds innovation, and in the end we get devices that users actually want.

TechCrunch has revealed that HP is working on a slate device that will run Android. You may have seen that an HP slate running Windows 7 was revealed yesterday during the Microsoft keynote. Apparently the Android version is quite similar, possibly a bit smaller. There isn’t a lot of info at the moment, but you can catch a quick teaser below (supposedly of the Windows 7 HP slate, but as we’ve heard, they should be very similar).

[youtube]IIIjTDnX2Y0[/youtube]

I’m looking at this and wondering if Microsoft and HP simply jumping on the wave of tablet hype and trying to break through with some viral marketing. There’s no real information available being given on this tablet so I can only assume it was a marketing move.

It looks like a 10 inch tablet with multitouch capacitive screen running Windows 7 and not dissimilar to a device I had hands-on with tonight.  It’s not a bad thing at all and I’m happy to see it but I wish this crazy tablet marketing race would end now.

Don’t expect too many details to surface on this one very soon but we’ll do our best to try and find out what’s going on here. Maybe it will appear in the Intel keynote at CES tomorrow.