The tablet weighs in at around 680 g and measures 9.2 mm thin, making it a bit thicker and heavier than rivals tablets such as the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity (8.5 mm; 598 g) and Galaxy Note 10.1 (8.9 mm; 600 g).

In terms of optics, the ElitePad 900 offers a front-facing camera capable of full HD (1080p) video recording as well as an 8 MP rear-facing snapper with a LED flash.

Also onboard is a 2 GB of RAM, up to 64 GB of internal SSD storage, which can be expanded upon via the microSD memory card slot. Connectivity options includes NFC (near field communication) support, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

This tablet has been designed for the corporate-, government-, healthcare- and retail sectors and offers enterprise-grade features the likes of Smart Jackets, which are optional add-on cases that snap onto the tablet to boost battery life and expand on its functionality including an integrated keyboard, HDMI out and SD card reader.

 

Differentiating apps

Beyond its hardware specifications, HP’s ElitePad 900 sports the company’s new PageLift application that automatically trims, orientates and correctly lights a captured image of a document, so that these are ready to use or share without requiring manual editing from the user.

By using CyberLink’s included Media suite, users can manage and create audio as well as video content, whilst information management will be made simpler by the inclusion of Evernote and  Skitch software. The former enables users to capture, saves and synchronises info across their devices, whilst the latter allows you to mark up images with captions or sketches.

The HP ElitePad 900 is expected to become available Stateside in January 2013, but no local release info is available yet. HP stated that it will only share the pricing info closer to the tablet’s release date.

“Many organisations are forced to trade design for functionality when making technology purchasing decisions,” said Gerwald van der Gijp, director of commercial products for the Personal Computer Business Unit of HP EMEA. “By combining the style and user experience consumers demand with the features IT requires, the HP ElitePad shows that customers can have it all.”

In other Windows 8 tablet related news, Sony recently revealed its own, rather unique approach to mobile devices with its Vaio Duo 11 hybrid ultrabook and tablet device.