Business
HP just blew up Android tablet pricing (with a printer)
Officially, HP isn't in the Android tablet market. Unofficially, HP is going to be a real pain to Dell and its Streak and potentially Samsung's Galaxy Tab.
![larry-dignan-eic.jpg](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/ad5eaccb545ef683588243a9891d5f678df042df/2017/04/26/eb462fe7-e39e-43ba-abbd-c4ca2442306e/larry-dignan-eic.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)
Hewlett-Packard may have a very disruptive Android tablet on its hands courtesy of its eStation printer of all things.
Officially, HP isn't in the Android tablet market. Unofficially, HP is going to be a real pain to Dell and its Streak and potentially Samsung's Galaxy Tab.
![hpestation2.png](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/2014/10/04/b3365fc6-4bb6-11e4-b6a0-d4ae52e95e57/hpestation2.png)
- HP's eStation console runs on Android 2.1 and will be upgraded to 2.2. That fact makes the whole WebOS equation even more curious. Why did HP buy Palm exactly?
- HP's stealth Android tablet gets battery life of 4 to 6 hours.
- This "tablet" is connected to the Barnes & Noble e-book store.
- The printer/tablet will be available by the holidays.
- Yahoo has skinned the console for the most part. Gmail accessible via browser, but the Yahoo integration simplifies things a good bit.
Related: HP big printer plan targets living room, detachable tablets
But all of that said HP's Android tablet is good enough (assuming HP works out a few responsiveness issues). And since it rides along with a $399 printer it may be pretty damaging to rivals. Why?
- HP's tablet is Wi-Fi only, just what some folks want. Samsung's tablet is tethered to the carriers and the data plans for now.
- HP is subsidizing its tablet to sell a printer (and the ink that goes with it). It's quite genius. HP doesn't have to negotiate carriers subsidies because ink profits can cut the tablet pricing.
- The tablet console is probably about $250 or so if you assume the actual printer part is $150.
- In any case, HP's Android tablet works and a bundle with a printer may just move a few of these devices. The device itself had a few hitches---it was a prototype---but you could see your kid playing with it. In fact, you'll have to hunt them down just like you would for the remote.
Here's a video of HP's console/tablet: