Will HP deliver on tablet dreams?
Maggie Shiels
Next week all eyes will be on HP as it holds a news conference on 9 Feb to make "an exciting webOS announcement". It is expected that the company will take the wraps off a long awaited tablet device that was expected to go head to head with Apple's iPad last year.
After HP bought Palm for $1.2bn last year, the original company that designed the mobile operating system, it had hinted that an iPad rival was on the cards. Instead the company introduced a slate running Windows 7. At the same time there have been new Pre phones with webOS and a new version webOS 2.0. Still no dedicated tablet.
A number of HP execs have refused to talk explicitly about such a device however Phil McKinney, vice president and chief technology officer for HP's personal systems group did not pour cold water over the prevailing view that 9 Feb will put all the talk to rest.
"We have been on the record saying we will ship a webOS slate in the year 2011 and we recently sent out the invites for the press for a Feb 9th event."
While he refused to be drawn on specifics, Mr McKinney said there are a number of things that need to be taken into account when designing a tablet product that will excel in the marketplace. And remember at this year's gadget fest that is the Consumer Electronics Show, there were over 100 slate or tablet devices on display.
"Any slate or tablet device has to be looking at the applications catalogue that is available to it. What is it's connectivity option. How good is that online experience. And then how does it work across the eco system of devices.
"It can't be a stand alone data island. It's how does any slate device synchronize with your phone or your pc and how that all plays together. That is what the consumer is interested in.
"At HP labs we have been working on a concept called "liquid media" which is this concept of how do I make it feel like all of my files, documents, media, whatever is on all my devices simultaneously without them residing on those simultaneous devices. So therefore you don't think 'oh man that powerpoint is on that laptop and that music is on that phone and it's never on the right device'. How do you make all that synch and come together?"
Like it or not any tablet or slate device that hits the market these days is constantly compared to Apple's iPad which has been credited with reigniting the market with its15m plus sales.
Motorola's Xoom device was hailed as an iPad killer at CES and will really be put under the microscope when it comes out later this month. There was a sneak preview of the device at Google this week, when the search giant unveiled its new Honeycomb operating system for tablets and slates.
HP will also face similar scrutiny.
Mr McKinney clearly thinks it is too early to judge winner and losers in this space.
"I think any new form factor can survive four to five players. We are in the first inning of a nine inning game of what slates and tablets are going to look like."
It also seems that he is pretty sanguine on HP taking its time to deliver a webOS tablet, if of course that is what they do next week.
"From the standpoint of a long term category, there is still a lot of runway left for anyone wanting to come into this space. Long term it's about creating a set of delivery options so the consumer can pick and it's about giving the consumer choice.
"For us, we have been very keen on the segment and started our work in the slate tablet space almost four years ago. It's been a long level of research. We could have built a slate tablet device back then but it would have cost $2500.
"We are at a unique convergence now. Last year we made the prediction that we felt 2010 and 2011 were going to be the tablet years because we saw this kind of convergence on size, scale, processor performance and software and cost."
So far the industry watchers have said that tablet devices have not cannibalised the market for netbooks or notebook. Mr McKinney said going forward he is not worried.
"Pads and tablets are great from a content consumption point of view. Read a magazine, watch a movie, listen to music etc. They are typically not optimised for content creation.
"I have a column on Forbes. I have to crank out my 1,100 words and I am not doing that on a touch screen. I need a full keyboard. So from that standpoint, people will pick and choose.
"My prediction is that the average consumer will carry two to three devices. Those are going to be their mainstream arsenal they will use day in and day out. We think the slate tablet is going to be one of those three devices."
For Mr McKinney the number of devices he carries at the moment defies these predictions.
"I carry five phones. All active. Right now my favourite is my Palm Pre 2. The other four include two Palms and two that I can't talk about because they would be classified as 'not yet announced products'."
He also has a "pretty tricked out" HP NV laptop and an HP slate 500 as a tablet. At home, Mr McKinney is equally hooked up with four TV's, including a connected TV and six computers.
Mr McKinney is also a big gamer but is presently addicted to casual games.
"I am a big Angry Birds fan. Peter Vesterback runs Rovio here and is ex-HP. I told Peter he needs to create a 12 step programme for people who are addicted to Angry Birds.
Credit: BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
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