After HP pulled the plug on Slate PC, we knew someone else would hitch a ride to bring Windows 7 powered tablet PCs back on track. Though ExoPC took an initiative, but ASUS has jumped on this bandwagon with a bang with their Eee Pad which boasts an Intel CULV processor, an amazing 10 hour battery life with Windows 7 on top!

We were really willing to see the HP Slate PC in action but sadly HP pulled the plug on it, stating that Intel’s hardware is power hungry and Microsoft’s Windows 7 is not a good Tablet PC operating system. But now, ExoPC has come up with a similar Slate PC, that runs Windows 7 and does 1080p videos.

Now things are taking a U-turn again, or sort of anyway. If you thought that Microsoft has buried the Courier project somewhere in their labs, you might be wrong, as it now looks like that some parts of that ambitious Courier project may return in the upcoming Tablets from Microsoft. Recently, Bill Gates in an interview said that Microsoft is working on Tablets which would use a pen-based input method (as opposed to finger-only mechanism in Apple iPad) which would go mainstream in students.

According to the sources at TechCrunch, HP has dropped Windows 7 + Intel based hardware for its ambitious tablet project because “It’s too power hungry”. This news, which is yet to be confirmed by HP comes only a few hours after it was confirmed that Microsoft Courier Tablet wont see the light of day.

Sad news for quite a lot of people, including us. The Microsoft Courier Tablet won’t go into production and has been confirmed by Microsoft itself that they’re pulling the plug on the Courier Tablet project.

Designer Umang Dokey has come up with an awesome looking prototype concept of an Tablet (Slate PC) which runs on top of Windows Phone 7. With an 8’’ screen, foldable keyboard, built-in table stand and a finger friendly OS, this is what HP Slate should have been like right from the start. Video after the jump.

A trusted source has informed Engadget about the upcoming Microsoft’s Courier tablet/e-book device which was first surfaced back in September last year. With just under an inch thickness and weighing a little over a pound, Courier is designed to function as a “Digital Journal”. It is going to feature a dual 7-inch multitouch capable screen which will be designed to work with both multiple fingers-input and stylus.

Steve Jobs yesterday announced the most awaited and hyped Apple product in recent times – the iPad in his keynote address at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. On the other hand, HP Slate was first shown by Steve Ballmer at CES earlier this month. Both type of devices are of same form factor i.e. tablet/slate which many think may decide the future of general purpose computing.

As reported previously, Steve Ballmer in his keynote today at CES 2010 announced the HP Slate PC which is said to go retail later this year. What is interesting about this Slate PC is that instead of running a stripped down or a customized version of Windows or Windows Mobile, it will be running full fledged version of Windows 7 (Starter most probably). Here is what Ballmer had to say about it.

CrunchGear has got the latest scoop on the rumored Microsoft/HP built slate/tablet PC. According to their sources, Microsoft in partnership with HP is set to announce a portable Slate like tablet PC which will run on top of Microsoft software.