HP lists Slate tablet on its Web site, still running Windows 7 Premium

The Rasputin of iPad competitors, HP's Slate tablet appeared to be a goner after the company bought out Palm and suggested it was building tablets around webOS. And yet, there it is, listed in the labyrinth that is hp.com as the Slate 500.

Don't crack open your wallet yet. There's no pricing or availability details listed; in fact, there's little more than a descriptive paragraph and thumbnail image of the device. We do learn that it's still running Windows 7 Premium, has an 8.9-inch touchscreen that can support stylus-based "writing" and "drawing," and sports video and still cameras.

Further sleuthing by PC World reveals that the Slate is listed as one of HP's Energy Star-qualified computers. The Energy Star site lists the Slate 500's processor as running at 1.6GHz, which Engadget says may refer to an Intel Atom Z530 CPU.

The Slate listing may just be an outdated piece of content on HP's site, but the company's Energy Star document is dated July 12. So is this tablet killed off, or will it actually see the light of day? And do you care?