As anticipated Apple talked about iPhone (and iPad) OS 4.0 today.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/
Neat stuff. Multitasking done in a way to preserve battery life and maintain performance and much more.
Check out the keynote presentation.
Oh, regarding the HP Slate. iPad is something different. It's not a desktop OS shoehorned to fit on a touch screen. It's funny how now that Apple introduced the iPad all these wannabes are coming along with touchscreen computers. It's not just about the form factor of the hardware. If running Windows on a touchscreen was so great then why did they wait for Apple to make their move? At least Google's Chrome running on a touchscreen has some originality.
As Arshad rightfully pointed out it's about the entire user-experience and not just about touchscreen form factor. The iPad is about simplicity and functionality. It's kind of deja vu with the iPad because I remember the same things were once said about the Macintosh in 1984 when compared to a "real" computer such as the IBM PC.
The Mac was derided as a toy. No real computer uses a mouse. No real computer can rely on pretty little pictures (icons). No DOS command line prompt?! - Clearly the Macintosh is not a serious contender. No expansion, closed architecture, blah, blah, etc.
Well, the Mac was indeed the prototype for all personal computers that we have today. Today's Windows 7 owes most of its heritage to Apple and the Macintosh. When you look at today's PC just about every attribute was inspired or adapted from the Macintosh.
The iPad has a long way to go and it may never be the prototype of future computers as was the Macintosh in its day, but there are clear signs that Apple is once again providing innovative solutions. For a lot of people the Windows-based PC and indeed the Mac OS is way too complicated. And much of the complication serves no useful purpose. The iPhone 4.0 announcement today shows that the iPad will be advancing at a quick pace.