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Could this be HP's Windows 8 business slate?

Hewlett-Packard is known to be planning to release at least one Windows 8 tablet this year. Is this "HP Slate 8" the real deal?

Mary Jo Foley
Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 30 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). She also is the cohost of the "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWiT network.
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Mary Jo Foley
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If this is a real image of a real mock-up of a real Hewlett-Packard Windows 8 tablet, business users might see an impressively thin, multitouch device with between 8 to 10 hours of battery life before the year is out.

Could this be the promised x86/x64-based Windows 8 slate from HP due later this year? sources
Yes, there are lots of ifs attached to the image of the "HP Slate 8," which first appeared on Neowin.net earlier this week. After a bit of investigation, I am inclined to believe this is a real mock-up and is part of HP's lineup of business desktops and laptops it will be touting this year. (I asked HP for comment on the slide. Update: An HP spokesperson said: "We don't comment on rumors or speculation.")

It's no secret that HP is working on an Intel-based Windows 8 tablet. CEO Meg Whitman said as much earlier this year, noting that the device would be out before the end of 2012.

But this latest slide includes a few more details as to what to expect with this tablet, which would be the apparent successor to the HP Slate 2 Windows business slate introduced in late 2011.

First off, it would be running Windows 8 Professional, one of the handful of newly announced Windows 8 SKUs detailed by Microsoft recently. That means it will include the Desktop, allowing it to run existing Windows apps. It also will include encryption, virtualization, PC management, and domain connectivity. The HP Slate 8 will be 10.1 inches, 9.2mm thin, and weigh .68 kg (1.5 pounds), according to the slide.

The battery life claims on the slide -- between 8 and 10 hours -- are in line with whatIntel has promised will be available on Windows 8 tablets running the Clover Trail Atom processor later this year.

Other listed features include "enterprise-level docking" and both multitouch and stylus support. There are no hints on pricing.

What do you think? If this slide is real, is HP moving in the right direction with at least one of its Windows 8 offerings?