Despite talk back in April suggesting HP had dropped support for Windows 7 in its forthcoming line-up of tablet devices, it would appear the HP Slate 500 is still very much a reality.

The device was spotted by PC World hidden away on HP's website – the page apparently now since removed, but still evident via Google's cache – with six separate models listed in all.

The webpage suggests the Slate 500 will come with an 8.9-inch touchscreen, two cameras - one for still snaps and one for video - and a 1.6GHz processor, all running on Windows 7 Premium.

HP has since gone on to confirm the device still forms part of its planned tablet line-up, telling the site that the Slate is currently in the middle of customer evaluations with the company moving on to determine the next steps for its release in the near future.

"We hadn't anticipated the Palm acquisition when we first shared our plans for that product," spokeswoman Marlene Somsak told the site.

Spreading across the Slate

In all, the re-emergence of the Slate paints a rather complicated picture.

While it's certain HP will employ webOS in its tablet releases – the OS is widely regarded as the primary reason HP picked up Palm - TechCrunch's earlier suggestion that Android had been picked over Windows 7 as an alternative OS now appears to be little more than hot air.

At the time, TechCrunch reported the HP Slate 500 had effectively been confined to the pages of history following concerns regarding Windows 7 as a suitable OS for tablet devices.

Now it would appear Windows 7 is back in the frame, leaving many questioning whether HP is genuinely likely to support a third separate tablet OS in the form of Android.

[source: PC World]