HP webOS "Hurricane" Slate Tipped With Ambitious Release Rumors

HP's tablet plans are prompting numerous rumors at the moment, and as with the best speculation they're glibly ignoring what's likely in favor of what's exciting.  Having heard last week that development of the Windows 7 HP slate was on hold, there's now talk of a webOS based tablet, the codenamed the HP Hurricane, which is tipped for a launch across various dates in the second half of this year.The Examiner reckons the Hurricane tablet could be released in Q3 2010, having supposedly heard from an insider at HP.  Meanwhile other sources reckon the mysterious webOS slate isn't due until Christmas (though admittedly there could be some confusion over announcement dates and releases).

However, what makes us doubt the speculation is that HP's acquisition deal – while announced – won't be finalised until July 31st; although there has been talk of Palm quietly working on a tablet form-factor device in recent months, it seems unlikely that the two companies would be able to work together and bring out an HP branded product so quickly.  While we'd love to see a webOS tablet sooner rather than later, to have one on sale by the end of 2010 seems unlikely.

[via PreCentral]