Inventec HP webOS Tablet & Oak Trail Slates In Q1 2011; ASUS Core i5 Tablet By End Of Year Tipped

A few tablet tidbits seeping out of Taipei today, with reports that Inventec is on track to secure a deal with HP for a Palm webOS tablet in Q1 2011. According to DigiTimes' industry sources, HP plans to order 6-7 million Inventec-made webOS tablets; it's unclear whether this is a different model to the webOS tablet Foxconn was tipped to be producing, or if HP has switched its OEM allegiances. Meanwhile, Intel-based ASUS, Acer, Dell, Samsung and Toshiba tablets – including high-end Core i5 machines – are also tipped as incoming, potentially as early as the end of this year.

The five manufacturers are believed to be waiting on Intel's Oak Trail platform – consisting of the Atom Z670 processor and SM35 chipset – to use in slates come Q1 2011. The first evidence of those wares is expected at CES 2011, with commercial launches suggested for February and March.

Meanwhile, ASUS is said to be readying a range of 12-inch tablets using Intel Core i5 processors, and priced between $1,000 and $1,299 for the high-end market. Believed to be due at the end of December 2010, the company will apparently target the US and European markets.