Hewlett-Packard is all set to re-enter the smartphone market after it had exited the market in 2011 with a pair of phablets to be released in the Indian market sometime this year.
Ron Coughlin, vice-president for HP’s consumer PC business, in an interview with Re/code confirmed company’s plans of releasing Slate 6, a six-inch voice enabled tablet and Slate 7, a seven-inch voice-enabled tablet initially in the Indian market only.
Coughlin told Re/code that “We think there’s an opportunity to enter a growing market where there’s an unmet need.”
“We see a need in India that we can meet.”
“Consumers are looking for a way to consolidate devices. We think there’s an opportunity to enter a growing market where there’s an unmet need.”
Both the “phablets,” combined with the functions of a smartphone and a smaller-sized tablet, will run Android 4.2. The devices will be powered by quad-core processors, 16GB storage, support for external SD cards, and 2-megapixel front and 5-megapixel back camera.
Both the devices will have an IPS display: Slate 6 with 1,280 x 720 pixels resolution and Slate 7 with 1,280 x 800 pixels resolution. The devices will have front-facing stereo speakers too.
Slate 6 will be slightly less than nine millimeters thick while the Slate 7 will be 9.5 millimeters thick.
HP is yet to announce the actual prices, but the prices are somewhere expected to be around $200 SIM-free. The phablets will be available from next month.
