HP preparing to announce first Google-blessed touchscreen Android notebook
In a hidden video (embedded below) discovered on HP's website by Notebook Italia shows off HP's upcoming Slatebook 14. As the name implies, the machine comes with a 1080p 14″ touchscreen display.
Context & Ripple Effects
HP's Android hardware line has been stop-and-start for four years: the company had an Android slate on the table in early 2010 before shelving it, then returned to the OS in earnest through 2013 with consumer Slate tablets running Jellybean and the $479 detachable SlateBook x2 pitched against the iPad. A leaked spec sheet also put HP's first Chromebook on record in January 2013, meaning HP was already hedging across both of Google's PC operating systems.
First-order effects
- The rumored Slatebook 14 would extend HP's Android slate family into the clamshell notebook form factor, giving buyers a 1080p touchscreen laptop that runs phone apps rather than Windows.
- For Google, a 'Google-blessed' Android notebook would be the first time the OS gets an OEM endorsement in the laptop category, complementing rather than replacing its Chromebook program.
Second-order effects
- HP now sells competing Google-OS laptops side by side, forcing its own product teams to position Android notebooks against Chromebooks on price and app availability.
- Rival PC makers watching the launch face pressure to seek similar Android-on-notebook blessings or double down on Chrome OS instead, splitting OEM allegiance between Google's two platforms.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the meaningful boundary for laptop makers shifts from which OS they license to which form factors they run it on, with mobile operating systems treated as a legitimate notebook option alongside Windows and Chrome OS.
The trend: PC makers are pulling smartphone operating systems into traditional laptop form factors, with Google's blessing becoming the gatekeeper for each new entry.