HP axing Android tablets in favor of webOS

It looks like Hewlett-Packard (HP) has shelved its plans for an Android tablet. While reports say it’s “delayed,” I wouldn’t expect HP to pump out an Android tablet any time soon because it will want to focus on the newly-acquired webOS.

According to All Things D:

Sources in position to know tell me that HP’s Android slate has been delayed and won’t ship before the end of the year as planned.

Why? That’s not entirely clear, but evidently the tablet has been tabled–at least for the time being.

This shouldn’t be much of a surprise though, as HP is preparing to “double down” on webOS. The company was poised to become a major player in the tablet space with a variety of operating systems – Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer even held up an HP Slate tablet during the keynote at CES – but the success of the Apple iPad has shown that tightly integrated hardware and software appears to resonate with consumers.

We’re already waiting for an HP tablet with webOS and this device, the “Hurricane,” is reportedly on its way later this year. It won’t be as simple as stripping off Windows 7 on the Slate and slapping on webOS due to the types of chips it uses but I can’t wait for a webOS tablet.

I thought webOS was the best 1.0 smartphone operating system I’ve ever seen. There’s an elegance and ease to controlling these devices that just feels right and I dig the notification system more than Android’s. Unfortunately, Palm wasn’t able to give this OS the proper hardware, as the Palm Pre was just clunky and don’t even get me started on the Pixi.

I’m drooling at the thought of an HP tablet that has an iPad-like form factor with USB ports, a front-facing camera and webOS. HP could even maybe undercut the Apple iPad on price too, which would make this device even more appealing.

[Via All Things D, Photo]