HP: Our Flash-enabled Slate will beat the iPad to the tablet

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An ad war between HP and Apple is looming on the horizon, just in time for the iPad’s April 3 US debut. Forget about Verizon’s nasty ad attacks on Apple and AT&T, the computer giant Hewlett-Packard has taken aim at Apple and its iPad. HP’s sales pitch? Their forthcoming Slate tablet runs Adobe’s Flash and AIR technologies while Apple’s iPad does not.
When Steve Ballmer briefly held a Slate prototype at the CES 2010 conference two months ago, industry watchers interpreted this as a tell-tale sign of the product’s significance. Even though we know little about the Slate’s features besides the fact that it’ll run Windows 7 and do multitouch, HP has put in motion a carefully staged marketing campaign. The computer maker released two teaser videos (here and here) to prove that the device can play Flash videos on the sites like Hulu and the New York Times and run resource-demanding AIR applications with ease.
The next phase of that campaign is a blog post which exploits the iPad’s biggest perceived weakness – the lack of Flash and AIR support. HP wrote that bloggers “lit up the Internet” with positive comments about the Slate, re-iterating how the device offers non-compromised web experience:
With this slate product, you’re getting a full web browsing experience in the palm of your hand. No watered-down Internet, no sacrifices.
Responding to a YouTube user bati555’s comment wondering whether “this thing has Flash support,” HP wrote the following:
A big bonus for the slate product is that, being based off Windows 7, it offers full Adobe support.
Offering the full Flash and AIR support on the device will let users enjoy tons of free Flash games, watch Flash-encoded videos, and run AIR applications. For example, HP reminded that “most casual games on the web run in Flash” while adding you’ll be able to use AIR apps like photo editing at Photoshop.com. The company hopes the notion will strike a chord with the folks who resent the Apple-controlled App Store as the exclusive venue for Apple-approved software on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
HP has pledged to release more Slate videos on YouTube. If Verizon’s anti-Apple advertising campaign is any indication, Slate teaser videos could be just a prelude to a full-scale ad attack on Apple’s iPad. The FCC hasn’t authorized the Slate for sale yet, HP warned, so the device most likely won’t hit the stores before the iPad’s April 3 US debut. Nevertheless, the computer maker will undoubtedly try to steal as much steam from the iPad as possible in the coming days and weeks.
 
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