HP Slate iPad rival brings Flash support

Posted on 9 Mar 2010 at 10:51

The world might be going ga-ga over Apple's latest device, the super-slender iPad, but rival HP's slate-format PC has something Apple's version doesn't: support for Adobe Flash.

The company yesterday demonstrated its simply-named Slate device - a keyboard-free, tablet-style touchscreen computer - not only running videos from sites such as YouTube and MTV, but also running applications built around Adobe's Air technology - including an official New York Times app, complete with crosswords.

The Flash playback is described by Laptop Mag as "smooth and useful," offering something which the Apple variant cannot. With Apple's Steve Jobs and Adobe still at loggerheads, it's unlikely that the iPad will ever get Flash support - pushing those who want streaming web video or Facebook games towards HP's product.

It's not all doom and gloom for the iPad, though: with the HP Slate running Microsoft's Windows 7 - an operating system better suited to a desktop or traditional laptop environment, despite improvements made in recent versions for touch-screen use - the interface is significantly more cluttered than the iPad's, and the on-screen keyboard isn't as easy to use.

If you'd like to make your own mind up, Adobe and HP have posted the demo walkthrough on YouTube, which you can watch above - although if you're the lucky owner of a pre-release iPad you'll have to find another way to watch it.

Author: Gareth Halfacree

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