The bumpy saga of the HP Slate took another turn this week with the revelation that the product is still destined to launch with Windows 7, albeit with a focus on the enterprise market.
Originally unveiled at CES earlier this year by Steve Ballmer, the HP Slate was touted by Microsoft as evidence that the Windows 7 platform was viable for touchscreen mobile computing products. HP initially aimed to launch the device this year at a price of $1,500, but the hardware maker appeared to change course after its high-profile acquisition of Palm. HP confirmed a few months ago that it was dumping Windows 7 in favor of Palm's webOS on the Slate. The news this week that the Windows 7 slate has risen from the dead comes as a surprise.