HP is pioneering some interesting technology lately, and is putting out a bevy of beauties to be hitting the retail shelves hopefully by December 2010.
In December of 2009 HP filed for a trademark on the word “Zine” and now they have just filed an FCC Application for a new tablet device called the “HP eStation Zine”
Although there is no official word of the operating system, many people are alluding to this device has being the HP Tablet PC.
With the acquisition of Palm in the Books in July, HP admitted that Palm and WebOS will be a fringe programming group, perhaps dealing in smart phones exclusively, although they are developing some neat printers using WebOS.
From what we know, the eStation Zine will be a capacitive tablet using Google Android 2.2 Operating System. It will be using a exclusive skin layer, much akin to Motorola’s “Motoblur”
It will have a SD Slot, HDMI port, and a built in Web Cam. Its glory is perhaps the e-reading functionality of the device. HP will pair this tablet with the Barnes and Noble eBook Store. With two versions of this tablet coming out, one would be paired with a Printer called Zeus, which would allow you to print ebooks, or upload them directly to facebook, instead of wasting ink.
The Bundle with the Printers rumored price would be $399, and an unknown price on the device by itself.
Personally, I am hoping that we see some sort of tablet from HP by the end of the year. Remember to visit our E-Reader Forum for the latest E-Reader News and eBooks.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
