OUT SOON: The HP Slate 6. The phablet has a 6in display and built-in stereo speakers but is just 9mm thick.
The HP Slate 6, as its name suggests, boasts a 6in display, albeit one with a 720p rather than full 1080p HD resolution, and runs version 4.2 Jelly Bean of Android's operating system.
Despite its huge screen, and the fact that it has integrated, front-facing stereo speakers, it's only 9mm thick, so it should be great for watching video clips and streaming TV show on demand - two huge mobile trends in India at least.
A recent Google study of consumer trends in different territories found that in India, more than in any other country, consumers were turning their backs on television in favour of smartphone-generated entertainment.
But as well as consuming content, creating it shouldn't be a problem either. The phone boasts a 5-megapixel rear-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Taking things up another notch is the Slate 6's big brother, the Slate 7 VoiceTab, which thanks to a 7in screen is a tablet that can be used to make voice calls. It has the same hardware specs in terms of speakers and cameras but is marginally thicker - 9.5mm - compared with the Slate 6.
HP is yet to confirm what else is under the hood in terms of processors etc, but the devices do support microSD cards for further storage expansion. Likewise it is yet to say exactly how much either handset will cost, but during an interview with Re/code HPdid say that the handsets are earmarked to roll out further afield following the initial launch in India.
The fact that the company is targeting India first suggests that the phablets could be priced very aggressively indeed in order to compete with mid-range smartphones and entry-level tablets.
According to an in-depth report form Mediacells, India is poised to become the world's second largest smartphone this year, with predicted device sales of 225 million, knocking the US into third place in the process. - AFPRelaxnews 2014
