HP slides Slate into iPad slipstream

Color me Pink

Hewlett-Packard is riding on the back of Apple's iPad by touting features of its planned Slate rival, which runs Windows 7.

The company has released a video that demonstrates at least four features not included in Steve Jobs' iPad: two cameras - one for photos and one for video conferencing on Skype, a USB port to connect to other consumer and computing devices, and an SD card to expand the onboard memory and share content with devices like mobile phones also using SD cards.

The thirty-second, Euro-house pumping video also demonstrates Apple's iTunes running on Windows.

The HP Voodoo Blog playing the video also highlights the fact the Slate will work with Adobe's Flash and the Flash-based Air. Apple's chief executive and i-everying creator Steve Jobs recently slammed Flash for being a "CPU hog" and full of security holes.

The PC maker said on its blog: "Take a look at our newest video. As you'll see, we're putting a lot of thought into the design to make sure we deliver an optimal mobile experience."

HP's video comes just days after Apple launched the iPad, and is clearly timed to ride the meme of coverage on Jobs' latest creation powering through the internet's news sites, and generate greater interest and "excitement" in HP's Windows-powered tablet push.

When it was unveiled by Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, HP released no details about the Slate. Ballmer also showed off Windows-powered tablets from Pegatron and Archos at CES.

All we've known so far is that HP's Slate will run touch APIs found in Windows 7. Before Windows 7, HP used touch APIs in Windows in its Touch Smart PCs.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has also jumped on the iPad wave to promote a forthcoming launch of its own. The company is reported to have invited press to an event in San Francisco, California, on April 12 with a cryptically worded offer that said "It's time to share". The invite is understood to refer to the launch of Pink, Microsoft's social networking service for mobile phones. ®