HP to Bundle Tablet With Printer

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HP has announced a new Photosmart eStation multi-function printer for $399... and it comes with a free 7 inch Android tablet. The tablet is really the controller to the printer, that is loaded with the Android operating system.

The tablet is a WiFi enabled basic version of an Android tablet that can run a few specialized Android applications, including incorporation of Yahoo and Facebook. Even though the tablet runs Android 2.1, unfortunately it will not support the Android Market, and only supports Yahoo search, and not Google (strange, when on Google's operating system).

Specifications of the printer also include the following:
     -printer, scanner, and fax capabilities
     -supports direct printing from iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
     -33 pages per minute in black, 32 ppm in color.
     -125 sheet input tray, 20 sheet photo tray, and 50 sheet output tray
     -connect with multiple PCs via network.
     -uses HP 564 cartridges

This is an interesting idea from HP, and will likely be a popular one. It is also rumored that HP will be coming out with WebOS and Windows based tablets, so having OS choices with printers is likely just around the corner.