The Other HP Slate Runs On Android
Last night, during his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off a prototype for a new HP Slate computer running on Windows 7. It was supposed to be an Apple-stealing moment and it was Microsoft’s moment, which is probably why Hewlett-Packard has not yet publicly mentioned that it is working on another tablet/slate computer that is running on Android. You know, Google’s mobile operating system.
HP did announce an Android-powered netbook yesterday, but that has a keyboard. A source who has seen a prototype of HP’s Android Slate says it looks just like the Windows-powered one Ballmer held last night (see image below), maybe a little smaller. “It is almost identical in every respect to the one he showed off except for the OS,” says my source.
And that, my friends, could be all the difference in the world. Already, developers have created more than 10,000 apps for Android mobile phones, and the launch of the Nexus One will keep pushing the OS into more and more hands. These apps might have to be modified for a tablet, but it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Already, a number of Android tablets are on the way from Archos, Dell, and Notion Ink. It looks like you can add HP to that list.
The bigger question that all of these Android tablets raise is what about Chrome OS? Maybe these are just stop-gaps until the Chrome Netbooks and Tablets are ready for the market.
What would you rather buy, an HP Slate that runs on Windows 7 or one that runs on Android?
(The video below is a sneak peek at the Windows HP Slate, which is where the image above is taken from):
Company: Website: code.google.com/android Android is a software platform for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in Java that utilizes… Learn More
Website: hp.com Location: Palo Alto, California, United States HP is a seller of computer hardware, network software, printers, and other technology and imaging products.
According to Gartner, HP is the world’s largest seller of personal computers. Learn More
Information provided by CrunchBase
Bump Brings Digital Contact Exchange to the Masses
This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.
Name: Bump
Quick Pitch: Bump makes connecting as simple as bumping two phones together.
Genius Idea: Applications supporting the electronic exchange of contact information, of which there are many, promise a much more convenient and environmentally-friendly experience than the standard business card swap alternative. Digital information sharing, however, is a great-in-theory concept that has yet to become standard-in-practice.
Thanks to a little bump from Apple and the novelty of the app itself, Bump — an iPhone and Android app for instant contact and photo exchange with a bump (literally) — could be the app that actually follows through on that promise and converts us all from paper to digital digits.
The just-bump-it app lets you swap photos and contact details, supports Facebook integration, stores your bump exchange history, and even lets you bump phones with friends to compare mutual contacts.
The application has become pretty darn popular by mobile standards, with 7 million downloads across iPhone and Android devices. Plus, Bump just recently launched their iPhone API, which means iPhone application developers can integrate Bump functionality into their own apps.
The API practically guarantees that Bump will continue to become even more prevalent and prove to be a practical and viable alternative for information exchange at events (even those outside the Valley).
Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”
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