Hewlett-Packard will bring out a tablet-style computer running Windows after all.
That was the word today from HP’s third-quarter earnings call, which should reverse speculation around the time of HP’s Palm acquisition–and its accompanying enthusiasm for Palm’s WebOS mobile operating system–that the company was killing the Windows slate.
“You’ll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a WebOS-based product out in 2011″, said HP personal computer division head Todd Bradley.Mr Bradley’s comment came after analysts pressed executives to spell out what they were going to do about HP’s weakness in consumer notebooks, which have been hurt by Apple’s successful launch of the iPad.
While HP has been candid about its plans to bring Palm’s software onto devices with a fuller figure, the fate of its Windows project had been left a mystery until now.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer showed off a prototype of the device in January at the Consumer Electronics Show and HP had prepared for a launch early this summer.
Then came Palm, and reports of HP frustration at the performance of Windows on the tablet, and finally the planned launch date’s passing. HP stayed mum throughout.
Now though, it seems pretty happy to talk about its intentions in mobile, in services, and pretty much everything else that doesn’t involve former executives, their expense reports, or the company they keep.
