Move over iPad — here comes the competition

With the Apple iPad out of the way (at least in the US), attention is now shifting to the other slate computers scheduled for launch later this year.

Actually, the first of the competitors, the Fusion Garage JooJoo, has just started to arrive in the hands of reviewers, but it looks like this device won’t pose much of a threat to Apple’s newest gadget for the time being.

Engadget’s review of the JooJoo says positive things about the hardware, but the software seems to be this slate’s big failing and the operating system sounds like a half-baked effort that wasn’t quite ready for release.

Still, these are problems that can be easily fixed with an update or two and since the JooJoo is little more than a keyboard-less netbook with readily accessible innards, there’s even the chance of better third-party operating systems popping up. The problem, of course, is that at $499, the JooJoo costs as much as an entry-level iPad and for all its perceived flaws, Apple’s effort is a far better bet if you want a slate computer that actually works.

Next up is the Notion Ink Adam — a 10.1” slate that uses Pixel Qi display technology to offer the best of both TFT and e-ink worlds. There’s still no concrete news on when the Adam will be available and the anticipated June launch date looks like it’s going to be missed, thanks to the need to agree subsidisation deals for 3G operators.

Finally, while HP continues to tease with its slate device, someone with close ties to the company seems to be tired of all the secrecy and has leaked an internal presentation that purports to show its specification.

If the details are to be believed, the HP Slate has an 8.9” capacitive touch-screen with a 1024 x 600 resolution and runs on an Intel Atom Z530 processor with 1Gb of RAM. The slide also mentions Windows 7 Home Premium with a bespoke finger-friendly UI and an anticipated price of $549.

The details don’t sounds too far-fetched to us and the attraction of the HP Slate will obviously be that it’s a full Windows 7 PC that can run any application, subject to the constraints of the Intel Atom processor and screen resolution, of course.

We suspect, however, that the Slate’s success will also hinge on the effectiveness of HP’s bespoke interface — Windows 7 isn’t that much fun to use with a touch-screen of any kind, but any of UI overlay will need to go pretty deep if it’s to hide such things as tiny close window buttons and fiddly dialog box elements. Still, it’s all speculation at this stage, since HP is sticking with slick marketing videos that give nothing away about its Slate at this stage.