Redmond, Washington — Microsoft Corp. is joining hands with Hewlett-Packard to produce a tablet computer that operates on Windows 7 software for the enterprise business market this year, a senior HP executive has revealed.
The news from the US-based computer giant appeared as speculation heightened that HP had deserted a Windows 7 “slate” in favor of a tablet computer based on an operating system from freshly-acquired Palm.
HP executive vice president Todd Bradley said: “The US computer behemoth was developing tablet, or slate, computers using the WebOS operating system of newly acquired Palm but had not abandoned the US software giant.”
“I think you will surely notice us with a family of slate products, clearly Microsoft for the enterprise, and a WebOS product,” he said at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference here.
Apple’s iPad has captured the imagination of consumers and rival manufacturers alike.
Senior HP vice president Jon Rubinstein said an HP tablet computer would be able to utilize Flash, the popular video software from Adobe which Apple has excluded from the iPad.
“Our focus is working with still our biggest software partner, Microsoft, to create a tablet, a slate, for the enterprise business,” said Bradley. He continued “Slates are going to be an enormous category,” he said of touchscreen tablet computers like Apple’s popular iPad. “This is just in its infancy.”
“With reference to a Windows 7-based slate, we are in process of customer evaluations now and will make a determination soon on the next step,” HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak, said in a statement.
Customer evaluations could involve providing a prototype HP slate to businesses to get feedback and learn how they might use it.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said last week that the technology colossus is making alliance with nearly two dozen hardware makers to release Windows-based tablet computers, devices like Apple’s popular iPad.
“This year one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates and Windows 7 phones,” Ballmer said.
The list of potential Windows 7-based slate partners given by Ballmer included HP, Lenovo, Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba, and Sony.
Bradley added that HP, the world’s top computer maker, is “still Microsoft’s largest customer.” “We have a profound partnership with them, from distribution to development that we are very, very seriously committed to,” he said.
Apple has sold more than three million iPads since it went on sale in April and Microsoft and other technology giants have been seeking to develop products to rival the touchscreen device from the California gadget maker.
The news follows as Microsoft revealed a record $4.52b profit with a fourth quarter revenue of over $16b dollars.
The American tech company credited the strong sales figures in part to the successful launch of its latest-generation Office 2010 software and to continued strong demand for its new Windows 7 operating system.
Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner said: “We anticipate continuing our product momentum this fall with the upcoming launches of Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Kinect.”