Last May 10, 2013, HP Philippines had their Partner’s night at the flashy Solaire Resort and Casino. The event was attended by HP’s partners, guests and media friends.
This particular Partner’s night revealed two things – one, that the HP Philippine team can really sing. Led by their General Manager Albert Mateo Jr., the team performed in the delight of the audience. Although they are not professional performers, its obvious that HP prepared for this presentation as if it was a concert. Not to show off their hidden talents, but to make their guests feel special. And for that, I give the HP team an A+.
Another revelation that night was the introduction of HP Slate 7, HP’s tablet powered by Android. The first time I saw the Slate 7 was when it was introduced sometime February in Barcelona Spain, and this news makes me wonder a bit – why would HP release a tablet that is powered by an Android OS?
So what’s wrong with that you may ask? Well its because HP has its own OS – WebOS and its a known fact as well that HP has a strong partnership with Microsoft. Most of its PC and notebooks are WindowsOS powered and even the Elitepad is a Windows8 business tablet.
Not only is the HP Slate 7 powered by the Android OS, The HP Slate7 comes with services like Google Now, Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive and Google+ Hangouts for multiperson video chat as well as access to apps and digital content through Google Play.
So first we heard of the HP Chromebook, then the HP Slate 7, and guess what – HP again announced that it is adding a second Android tablet, the SlateBook x2.
The SlateBook x2 will have the Envy x2 design and loads Android 4.2.2 and Nvidia’s brand-new Tegra 4 chip inside a sleek 10.1-inch tablet that can double as a laptop. The SlateBoook x2 “detachable” will come with 64GB of storage standard. This device will become available sometime August in the US, so expect it to arrive in the Philippines in time for Christmas I guess.
Let me just say that HP led by its CEO Ms. Meg Whitman is making the right move, or should I say a brilliant move in adopting Android. Android has a big following and no company can afford to ignore this plus the fact the partnering with Google is definitely a huge advantage.
HP going Android prevents them for being another Nokia. With all due respect, Nokia is a good company and produces good devices. In my humble opinion, the downfall of Nokia started when they stuck with their Symbian OS. Nokia failed to capitalize on the growth of Android and continuously produce Symbian OS powered devices which I think is normal because they own Symbian. But because of this fact, Nokia failed to innovate and when they decided to join forces with Microsoft, I feel its already too late.
HP is not abandoning Microsoft that’s for sure, and HP will have devices running on their own WebOS, but adopting Android will bring them more good than bad. In effect, HP becomes a force to reckon with now that they have their Android offerings. Did I mention that the HP Slate 7 will be priced at around PhP 8,000.00+ or even less here in the Philippines?
Will HP be a threat to other Android tablet makers? Maybe yes, maybe no. But one thing is for sure, HP is joining the Android community and anything can happen. Who knows? We might see an HP Android phone in a couple of months.
I am logging off. Stay cool and God Bless!
By Jerry Liao
