It seems as if HP is about ready to launch the first ever Android-powered laptop, the HP Slatebook 14.
Up to now Google’s Android OS has been reserved for smartphones and tablets. We’ve seen the odd tablet hybrid, but nothing that you’d call an out and out laptop computer.
The HP Slatebook 14 looks to be just that. A video of the unusual device appeared on HP’s own website, where it was picked up by Notebook Italia.
Specs for the HP Slatebook 14 include a 14-inch 1080p touchscreen display, a quad-core Nvidia Tegra CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and Beats Audio.
In terms of connectivity it seems as if you’ll get Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, three USB ports, a single HDMI port, and a SIM slot enabling HP DataPass (the company’s contract-free 3G internet service) usage.
As of the Android OS itself, that appears to be the now-outdated Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Presumably there’ll be a KitKat-shaped upgrade in the near future.
Of course, the elephant in the room here is Google’s Chrome OS. The company has been making major efforts to crack the laptop market with its lightweight browser-based operating system and the affordable Chromebooks it comes preloaded on.
Is Google really okay with its smartphone OS being pitched directly against its dedicated laptop OS?
It seems so, yes. The aforementioned demo video revealed the presence of the Google Play Store on the HP Slatebook 14, which suggests that Google has given the all-clear for its App Store to appear on the device.
We may well see the HP Slatebook 14 launched at the Computex 2014 show being held in Taipei in May.
Read More: HP Chromebook 14 review
Via: BGR