HP rumoured to unveil ‘cheap’ smartphones by end of 2013

Could we be getting more of these soon?

The end of the year is fast approaching but it seems HP wants to make one last hurrah, if rumours are to be believed that is. The Verge cited a report from The Information claiming the IT company will be unveiling at least six new handsets before the year closes. The devices will be targeted at emerging markets such as China, the Philippines, and India and will be priced somewhere between US$200 and $250 sans contract. Of course, this rumour has to be taken with a grain of salt as we have about a week left until the New Year.

First look at the HP Chromebook 11

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Chromebook is a bona fide product category. The inexpensive (relatively) browser-based and cloud-powered notebooks have all but replaced netbooks as the lower-end option for users. The evolution of the Chromebook and Chrome OS has been steady but consistent. Create an affordable notebook that requires an always-on connection to the Internet and let the cloud servers do the heavy lifting. 

The latest Chromebook 11 is made by HP and it is a marked improvement over the Samsung made Chromebook Series 3 we checked out a year ago. With a shiny, white polycarbonate casing (supported by a magnesium frame) the new Chromebook 11 look and feels like a polished product even if the CPU is similar to last year's model

Canada will be getting the Chromebook 11 on November 8 for $299 (plus tax) and we will be getting white with blue accents version from the Google Play Store, HP Online and Best Buy. Things that stand out about the Chromebook 11 is the weight (2.30 pounds), it uses microUSB port for charging and while it comes with a stingy 16GB of onboard storage, Google will give 100GB of cloud storage for two years.

That said, while there's a definite market for such a device and HP has done an outstanding job with this particular version. The Chromebook is still a device I wouldn't personally buy nor is it something I can recommend to anyone but the most avid Chrome OS user. It features last year's hardware on a newer body and still has the same limitations in terms of storage and processing power. Any tablet plus keyboard combination would be a better use of $299.

Quick Contest: Win an exclusive red HP Slate 7 tablet!

Everyone likes a giveaway, right? Right. So, despite the fact that we're concurrently running a contest for not one but two brand new BlackBerry Q10 smartphones, we decided to spice things up courtesy of HP Canada and throw in another contest for good measure.

On the docket today is a brand new Android 4.1-powered HP Slate 7 tablet in exclusive red for our CanadianReviewer.com readers! For those of you not familiar with the HP Slate 7, read some obligatory copy below to getter a better feel for what the tablet is all about:

- 7-inch

- weighs just 13 ounces

- the industry’s first tablet to offer embedded Beats Audio™ for the best-sounding richest audio available.

- front-facing webcam and 3 MP camera on the back.

- Running on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

- built-in HP ePrint app that allows you to send important documents and memorable photos to any ePrint-enabled HP printer and have them waiting for you at home or the office.

Intrigued? You should be. Read below on how to attain this hot new tablet from HP:

1. Leave a comment below letting us know "how you would use your new Android-based Slate 7 tablet if you won?

2. Tweet out: "I want to win an exclusive red #HPSlate7 tablet from @hp and @creviewer"

3. Follow @Creviewer on Twitter

4. That's all.

Contest is open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec) and ends this Friday November 1st, 2013 adn 11:59 sharp.

Good luck to all who enter!

HP introduces ultra-thin Chromebook

 

HP has unveiled a new, ultra-thin Chromebook 11 equipped with an 11.6-inch IPS panel and a Chromebook-first USB charging feature. Made in collaboration with Google, the Chromebook 11 is a 2.3 lbs. machine with a touted six-hour battery life, ARM processor, and 100GB Google Drive storage. It comes in a white with blue, red, yellow, or green accents, or traditional black form factor.