Flashy HP Slate videos show off Flash

Posted by | 03/08/2010 | 12 Comments

Well, well, seems Apple wasn’t the only company showing off their flashy slate this weekend. HP managed to sneak a couple of videos into their YouTube channel as well. The first is a demo of Adobe Flash and AIR on the slate running Windows 7. The second, uh, reminds me of something else I’ve seen recently.

So let me get the grumbling out of the way: I am never going to like cursor control and scrollbars on a touchscreen interface. Throughout the whole Flash demo, all I could see were slightly askew cursors, loathsome scrollbars, and other desktop-specific UI elements. Popping the Windows 7 TIP manually was a clear sign that text boxes in Flash still won’t be automatically recognized as text boxes.

That said, like what we’ve seen for the iPad, these video demos should impress folks who don’t know tablets. Sadly, this could lead inexperienced users to discover for themselves the pitfalls of running desktop-designed apps on a tablet. It looks like HP will be offering a custom app launcher for easy access to apps and perhaps a custom version of Firefox which hopefully is pre-loaded with add-ons like Grab & Drag to make it decent for tablet web browsing.

However, it doesn’t look like this slate completely avoids the issues we Tablet PC users have seen for years. I suspect the excitement for a slate that runs Flash will fizzle as users discover that their favorite Flash apps work great when they have a mouse (or active digitizer) for cursor control but not so well without it. The silver lining is this may force HP and others to finally get serious about tablet-specific app development. Perhaps an updated version of Ink Crossword.

Via Engadget

Tags: , , ,

Category: Mobile

About the Author (Author Profile)

My name is Mark Sumimoto; I am Sumocat. I dabble in all areas of mobile computing, but my focus is Windows-based Tablet PCs and pen input. They’ve been part of my arsenal since 2004, and I’m proud to have pioneered the field of ink blogging, earning a spot as a Microsoft MVP for Touch and Tablets in the process. My current tools include a Fujitsu Lifebook T900, TEGA v2, and iPhone 4. Email me: sumocat [at] notebooks.com
  • Raphael

    Adobe could stop making a flash player and all the other apps for Apple if they continue to bash Adobe in the media.
    Apple is nothing without Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.

    And about this HP ad. It’s far more intoxicating than the Apple one you showed earlier.

    • http://sumocat.blogspot.com Sumocat

      That’s a loaded statement. The HP teaser looks really slick but it also shows no sign of the Windows 7 interface. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

  • http://www.nooksurfer.com NookSurfer

    Still not sold. Other than supporting Flash, I really don’t see the Slate as being a better device compared to the iPad. There seems to be a few seconds delay between the actions, is that caused by the OS?

    • http://sumocat.blogspot.com Sumocat

      Not sure what you mean, but the content in the demo is from the web so it’s probably just load time.

  • Joe

    I’d love a new version of Ink Crossword, but don’t see it happening, especially since it’s my guess that this HP Slate doesn’t have pen support.

  • http://www.segal.org/tablet/ Mickey Segal

    I like the size better than the iPad because you could really fit it into a jacket pocket. But from the videos I can’t figure out two crucial things that would be needed to qualify as “son of Motion LS800″:
    1. Is it dockable?
    2. Is there a pen?

    • http://sumocat.blogspot.com Sumocat

      Can’t figure it either but a pen is highly doubtful.

  • jl

    I have & use TC1100s, so I understand what you mean about TIP, but I think you have to compare not having Flash at all (big problem) vs. having Flash and having to press something to bring up TIP (an inconvenience)… I can’t see replacing my TC1100s, with an iPad… I could with something like an HP Slate…

  • Osiris

    This being news just kind of irrates me to be honest. Its running a full OS why wouldnt it run Flash?? of course it was going to run flash. What next ‘New HP video shows Slate running Microsoft Office’…

    And yes I get the comparison and im not actually directing these comments at Sumocat for publishing it (its over alot of the tech sites).

    Anyway congrats the HP slate has flash, you know what it isnt gonna have….the battery life of the iPad and thats gonna be the real issue with the HP tablet thats gonna remind everyone of the limitations of Windows based tablets.

    Im not an apple or ipad fanboy by any stretch, no intention of buying either of these devices but if we wanna draw obvious conclusions about the two products thats where the real difference is going to be imo not this flash nonsense.

    • http://sumocat.blogspot.com Sumocat

      No worries. I’ve been thinking the same. The commentary from bloggers on the keyboard and “ripple effect” from tapping the screen have been humorous and sad. It’s like they’ve never seen Windows 7 on a tablet before (probably true).

  • Eric

    “I suspect the excitement for a slate that runs Flash will fizzle as users discover that their favorite Flash apps work great when they have a mouse for cursor control but not so well without it.”

    This is absolutely retarded. The mouse pointer is simply a crude proxy for your finger. Anything that works with a mouse will work just as well, if not better, with your finger.

    • One Potato

      And you know where you can put that finger.

«
»