HP to return to the smartphone world with hefty Android smartphones

15 Jan 2014

After ignominiously departing the smartphone world after buying Palm for US$1.2bn, computer giant HP is returning to the fold with 6-inch and 7-inch smartphone/tablet devices that will run on Android.

The new handsets will be entitled Slate 6 and Slate 7 VoiceTab and will run on Android JellyBean.

According to re/code, the new devices will feature a quad-core processor and will have 16GB of storage and a microSD card with a further 32GB of storage.

Both devices will come with front-facing stereo speakers, a 2-megapixel webcam, and a 5-megapixel primary lens.

How HP will fare in its latest foray into smartphones is anyone’s guess, but not having a presence in an increasingly mobile-first world is a glaring omission and could be disastrous on countless strategic levels.

However, the company is going about things differently, opting to launch the devices initially in India, where it sees a demand for them.

After the computer giant acquired Palm in 2010, it initially rolled out a number of smartphone models on Palm’s webOS operating system.

HP exited the smartphone world in 2011, when it also revealed plans to exit the PC business.

Since then, HP has sold off parts of the former Palm but webOS lives on, forming the core of the operating system on LG’s latest 4K TVs revealed recently at CES in Las Vegas.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com