HP has been rumoured to be re-entering the phone market with an Android phone and today the company edged closer to that reality by launching a 6-inch phone-come-tablet called the HP Slate6.
On first impressions the Slate6 is a striking device, featuring a shiny gold trim and an interesting digital ‘speckle’ finish on the back which both certainly set it apart from most other devices we’ve seen lately. With a screen size of 6-inches, the Slate6 is capable of making phone calls and is designed for use in portrait mode but its true definition is rather ambiguous – it could be a phone, or a small tablet.
The 6-inch display is an IPS panel of 720p HD quality, beaming a 1,280 x 720 resolution, with the three standard Android soft keys at the bottom. The OS is Android Jelly Bean 4.2, with a skin of customisation from HP which looks to include lock screen widgets and a few other features.
The Slate 6 features dual cameras – a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front facing camera for video calling and such. There’s 16GB of internal, expandable storage, two SIM card slots and stereo speakers. It all adds up to be a large smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy Note, but HP isn’t calling it a phone or a tablet for now.
Going back to the interesting pattern on the back, HP says it is a “premium pixelated, scratch resistant back cover design” – so not just a pretty design!
The company also revealed a 7-inch tablet, again with voice calling capabilities, called the Slate7 VoiceTab. This device sports a 7-inch 1,280 x 800 display; otherwise it’s identical to the Slate6 internally and also runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
Unfortunately both devices will not be coming to the UK or even the US for the time being and instead they’ll be launching in India, where HP says its following is strong.
