[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

HP’s flirtation with Google continues with the HP Slate, an  Android Jelly Bean tablet that costs $169.

With a 7-inch diagonal screen and weighing 13 ounces, the HP Slate features a stainless-steel frame and soft black paint in gray or red on the back. It also is the industry’s first tablet to offer embedded Beats Audio.

The Slate is powered by an ARM Dual Core Cortex-A9 1.6 GHz processor, and includes a 3-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front. It also comes with a micro USB, and the HP ePrint application, a native printing capability that lets users print directly from applications.

Alberto Torres (Senior vice president, Mobility Global Business Unit, HP): To address the growing interest in tablets among consumers and businesses alike, HP will offer a range of form factors and leverage an array of operating systems.  

HP’s tablet offerings reside in the company’s newly formed Mobility Global Business Unit, established in September 2012 with the hiring of Mr. Torres, who joined HP from Nokia.

The HP Slate is expected to be available in the United States in April with a starting price of $169.