The antiPad: HP Slate tablet makes its video debut

HP will be the first real computer company to offer competition to Apple’s iPad. The HP Slate isn’t anything particularly groundbreaking, but it does offer a marketing budget that can compete with Apple. From the looks of these two videos, that’s exactly what HP has in mind. That and touting the Flash capabilities of the Slate tablet.

HP is firmly planting itself on the pro-Flash side of the fight — which is smart. One of the handful of blunders found in the iPad is Apple’s lack of compromise when it comes to the internet’s most popular media programming language. The HP Slate will represent the antiPad to most — a full OS, Flash support, the ability to load programs (not just apps) and no crippled storage or streaming constraints. And if HP can tap into the iPad backlash properly, they could see the Slate launch itself as a viable contender for tablet computers.

We still think there are much better tablet offerings than the HP Slate — all the new Tegra 2 powered tablets and the Notion Ink Adam immediately come to mind — but there’s no doubt HP could tap into the mainstream market easier than smaller companies with less marketing budgets.

Source: Engadget