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"BARCELONA \u2014 As previously rumored, HP is back in the tablet game \u2014 and this time, it's set its sights on Android. After striking out with early Windows 7 slates and the webOS-based HP TouchPad, will the third time be the charm for HP's tablet strategy?\nThe night before Mobile World Congress officially kicks off, HP revealed its first Android-based device, the HP Slate 7. The 7-inch device runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and weighs just 13 ounces. \nWith the Slate 7, HP is focusing on what it sees as the most promising market: the mid-sized tablet space. HP faces a lot of competition, however, from rivals such as the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7.\nThe company hopes to challenge those devices by coming in at an aggressive price point \u2014 $169.99 in the U.S. \u2014 and by bringing what it dubs a \"premium build experience\" to the Slate 7. The tablet includes Beats Audio speakers, a micro-USB port, a soft-touch rubber back and two cameras (3 megapixel rear, VGA front-facing). \nAs for specs, the Slate 7 isn't the most full-featured tablet we've seen in this price range, but it's relatively competitive. It has a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor clocked to 1.6GHz. Its 7-inch screen has a resolution of 1024x600, which is lower than the Nexus 7, but about right for devices in this price range. \nThe device only has 8GB of on-board storage, but users can extend that with a built-in microSD slot. As for battery life, HP said the device will be good for about five hours of video playback.\nI had some hands-on time with the HP Slate 7 tonight, and my instant take-away was that it feels more expensive than it actually is. Most sub-$200 tablets have a plastic feel; the Slate 7 does not.\nThe other thing that impressed me about the device is that HP is very hands-off in its approach to customizing Android. Users will basically get as close to a pure Google experience as they can outside of the Nexus line. Speaking with Omar Javaid, HP's VP of product, I learned that this was by design. \n\"We wanted to keep the best parts of Android, and only improve or make tweaks to what we knew we could make better,\" Javaid said. \nWhile HP wouldn't talk about future products, it was clear that this isn't the only Android device the company plans to debut. If HP can put some of its ideas with the Slate 7 into practice with more aggressively specced hardware, the company could make a mark for itself.\nThe big question, now, is whether the HP Slate 7 make a splash in the market. Despite being out-specced by the Nexus 7, I think this device has a shot. It's attractively priced, and HP's retail reach should make it more available to consumers throughout the world.\nStill, the company is entering this market late. In addition to Amazon and the Google Nexus 7, the sub-$200 tablet space has plenty of competition from other companies. HP's brand alone won't sell products (we saw that with the HP TouchPad), and it will need to prove that it can be consistent on offering Android updates and adding value in other areas.\nLook for our hands-on video with the HP Slate 7 in the next few hours, but you can see a key question about it answered in the video below.\nLet us know what you think about the Slate 7 in the comments.\n\nImage courtesy of HP"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/02/24/hp-slate-7/>