HP Details Windows 7, webOS Tablet Delivery

An HP tablet using Windows 7 could be in the offing relatively soon, company officials confirmed this week, in a rare hint of how HP's tablet strategy is taking shape even as new competitors circle.

Speculation had been rampant regarding HP's plans to tackle the burgeoning tablet PC market, and how it intends to juggle competing operating systems -- Microsoft's Windows and its own Palm webOS -- in building devices for both business and consumer needs. Despite some indications in recent months that it was favoring webOS as the basis for its tablet PC strategy, though, HP officials got more specific, describing timing that seemed to indicate the Windows 7 tablet is still on track for this year.

"You'll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a webOS product in early 2011," Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG), said during yesterday's earnings call.

It's the latest hint on how HP aims to make headway in a nascent but closely watched industry. While the market for tablet PCs is currently dominated by the popular Apple iPad, a host of other IT giants, including Dell and Cisco, are eyeing the segment as a way to extend their reach into the mobility space.

HP's plans for a tablet PC have been something of a moving target, however.

First, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off a prototype of an HP "slate" (the company's preferred term) device running Windows 7 at the January Consumer Electronics Show. At that point, HP's plan was to deliver the multimedia tablet by the end of the year, in time for the holiday season.

A few months later, in April, HP bought Palm for a whopping $1.2 billion in a move that led to wide speculation the company would dump Windows in favor of Palm's webOS. Fueling the rumors was the fact that HP (NYSE: HPQ) made clear when it made the acquisition that it intended to extend the Palm OS beyond smartphones to other devices.

But more recently, company execs speaking at trade events clarified that HP still plans to ship a Windows 7 tablet, though not one with the consumer emphasis Ballmer had showed at CES. Instead, the Windows 7 tablet will be geared to enterprise customers, while a webOS-based device is planned for consumers, they said -- though the two tablets would share the same hardware design.

Last month, HP filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the term "PalmPad, which could end up being the name of at least one of the devices.

"Palm gives us the ability to leverage the webOS in a variety of devices," Cathie Lesjak, HP's interim CEO, said during yesterday's conference call. Lesjak is also holding down her position as CFO while the company continues its search for a replacement to former CEO Mark Hurd.

Windows 7 in Demand on Tablets

But it's Windows 7 that will power the company's first slate, a decision that HP is betting will attract enterprise customers in several key segments.

For instance, Phil McKinney, CTO of HP's PSG, said at the AlwaysOn conference last month that he expects the enterprise slate to be in demand in industries like healthcare and retail. "There's a lot of interest in the enterprise for a slate that can run applications locally, particularly now that Windows 7 is gaining a lot of ground there," McKinney told InternetNews.com.

HP's comments on its mobile plans come during a swirl of tablet-related coverage in media reports, though few real products have shipped to challenge Apple's hot-selling iPad. One that did become available this month is Dell's Android-based Streak. Cisco's Android-powered Cius tablet, meanwhile, isn't likely to ship until early 2011. And when it does, it may be joined by yet another big name in tech.

Earlier this week, a report surfaced that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) plans to release a tablet based on its forthcoming Chrome OS that would be built by HTC and distributed by Verizon. Google had no comment on the report, of which some industry analysts were skeptical, since such a move could likely confuse buyers and developers already awaiting Google Chrome OS-powered netbooks later this year.

David Needle is the West Coast bureau chief at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.