HP to launch its 'voice tablets' in India

HP's Slate Voicetab will go on sale in India as the company tries to regain some market share in mobile phones. Image: Phone Arena

The devices will be the first smartphones from the US computer company since it stopped production of Palm devices in 2011.

The California firm said in a statement it would market a six-inch and seven-inch screen HP Slate VoiceTab, which use the Android operating system, and has been designed to help the next generation of mobile customers multitask on the go.

The move brings HP, which sells Slate tablets in the United States and elsewhere, into the growing market for "phablets," which are devices that offer features of both a smartphone and a tablet computer.

Samsung, LG, Huawei and others are competing in phablets, which are generally considered smartphones with screens bigger than five inches, measured diagonally.

"Consumers are looking to consolidate their phones and tablets, which is propelling the voice tablet market," said Ron Coughlin, senior vice president at HP.

"This is an exciting new category that represents meaningful growth for HP. Our Slate VoiceTab provides consumers with a high-quality product at a great value," Coughlin said.

The HP devices will have dual SIM card slots to allow for use as phones, and will have front and rear cameras.

HP has been undergoing a major restructuring under chief executive Meg Whitman, amid a severe slump in PC sales globally, as it loses ground amid a shift to mobile devices.

HP bought Palm in 2010 and was selling devices using the Palm webOS operating system, but ended production a year later. It sold the webOS system to LG in 2013.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge