The UK Mobile Phone Blog

2010: The year of the tablet?

With Apple’s tablet now almost a foregone conclusion could this year see the rise of an all new platform? Apple now look a dead cert to release their long awaited tablet at an upcoming press event on the 27th of January but they’re not the only ones entering the market this year. This months Consumer Electronics Show (CES) saw big announcements from Microsoft, HP and several others all on the subject of tablets, but why the sudden rush to release devices that have seemingly failed in the past?

With no official specs on the table for the Apple tablet (likely to be called the iSlate), it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who the product is aimed at. The obvious target market is netbook users. An ultra portable, user friendly touchscreen device sporting Mac OS or Windows could conceivably replace a netbook. Couple this with Apple’s stunning design and unrivaled ability at generating market interest and the tablet could be a runaway success. However, the lack of a physical keyboard could deter some whilst others may wish to avoid the early adoptor phase to see how third party support develops.

Along with netbooks, the tablet could also have the high end smartphone fixed firmly in its sights as it looks to enter the market this year. Whilst very few cold hard facts are known about the HP tablet or proposed iSlate, one company who have laid their cards on the table are DigitalRise, a little known company specialising in home entertainment solutions. Debuting their X9 tablet at CES earlier in the month, DigitalRise confirmed the device will feature built in 3G connectivity and Wi-Fi, GPS and a webcam along with a rather tasty 10.2 inch multi-touch touchscreen display. In terms of size, the X9 is more than double even the largest smartphone (currently the 4.3 inch HTC HD2) and is unlikely to handle voice calls but a superior web browsing experience and powerful (relatively speaking) Intel Atom processor could put the smartphone under some serious pressure.

Will Apple risk cannibalising their crowning glory, the iPhone, in an attempt to coax users on to the tablet or do they see the iSlate as the perfect companion to the iPhone capable of more heavy duty computing? Obviously the emergence of tablets won’t have people abandoning their smartphones in favour of the device but will tablets offer enough to encourage us to carry both? Only time will tell.