HP re-enters smartphone market

HP today announced the release of large-size smartphone hybrids in India next months, marking the company's re-entry into a market it abandoned two years ago.

HP's new Slate 6 and 7.

The new devices, which will run on the Android operating system, are six and seven inch hybrid devices - somewhere between a tablet and a smartphone - named the Slate 6 and Slate 7.

The 3G devices offer a quad-core processor, front and back camera, 16GB expandable storage and a high definition camera.

HP's personal systems group senior vice president Ron Coughlin said Indian consumers in particular were looking to consolidate their mobile phone and tablet. 

The company is yet to list the price of the devices.

HP's first foray into the smartphone market began with its 2010 US$1.2 billion acquisition of Palm and its proprietary webOS operating system, with a goal to integrating it with its own hardware.

But the business unit was shuttered in 2011 when the company decided to discontinue production of webOS devices.

Early last year HP sold the operating system to fellow technology vendor LG for an undisclosed sum.