TABLET PC’SBy: Jonathan Moffatt

What is a tablet PC?

Medium sized mobile computer that is integrated with touch screen or stylus

Has storing capabilities, internet access and allows the owner to control what is installed

History

First patent for a tablet used for handwriting was granted in 1888

The first patent that was used for recognizing handwritten characters by analyzing the writing motion was in 1915

The earliest demonstrated use of a tablet and handwriting recognition is dated to 1956

Modern Tablet PC

The first modern models of the tablet PC came into existence around 1980’s

Pencept and Linux had some the original tablets available

One of the earliest Linux systems was the ProGear by FrontPath

(later model of the ProGear)

Modern Tablet PC

In 2000 Microsoft coined the term “Microsoft tablet PC”

They were targeted to address business needs such as note taking and rugged devices for field work

These early devices proved fairly un-popular because they were bulky and cumbersome

The Demand For Tablets When Apple introduced the Ipad in 2010 the

popularity of tablet PC’s exploded and has caused a huge boom in the market

Companies like RIM (blackberry), Samsung, Toshiba and Motorola have made announcements for their own tablets

The market for tablets is expected to go from 7.6 million in 2010 to 46 million in 2014

Touch Screen Interface

The key and common component of Tablets is the touch screen interface

This gives them a more natural user interface instead of a command line interface or the traditional mouse

Accelerometer Another key feature to tablet PC’s is the

accelerometer The accelerometer is what detects the physical

movements of the tablet It allows greater flexibility because tablets do not

necessarily have a fixed direction of use

Ipad

Produced by Apple, was developed before the Iphone but released after because they essentially served the same purpose with the exception of no phone capabilities on the Ipad

Controlled 95% of the market on tablets at the end of 2010

Ipad The Ipad is primarily a platform

for audio-visual media such as books, movies, music, games and web content

Weighs only about 1.5 lbs. heavier than a phone but lighter than a laptop

Though there is a built in touch keyboard there is an option for a plug in traditional keyboard

Blackberry Playbook Considered to be an improvement on the Ipad Lighter and sleeker Has been met with positive reviews from

technology critics, including from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

Tentative release date in fall 2011

Playbook vs. Ipad

There has been a lot of hype saying that the Playbook is the Ipad killer

The Playbook has a slightly smaller, but higher resolution screen and is lighter

It uses Blackberry Tablet OS, powered by QNX technology, the same company used by Cisco and GE

Playbook vs. Ipad

The playbook will have “true” multitasking

On the Ipad apps can not fully run in the background

The Playbook will have the ability to allow apps to run in the background freely

Playbook vs. Ipad

The Playbook will also have a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and 3 megapixel forward facing camera

It supports a handful of video formats like, DivX, WMV, MPEG

It also has a small HDMI port and a standard micro USB port

Playbook vs. Ipad

Another major feature is that the Playbook can be used to look at anything on your phone without syncing

Email, calendars and BBM (blackberry messenger) are the same on your phone and Playbook

The Future Of Tablet PC’s

The future of tablet PC’s looks be very successful and popular

With advancing technology and hardware capabilities perhaps someday larger tablets may surpass laptops in popularity

With these technologic changes who knows what a tablet could do next…

References

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/accelerometers.htm

http://gizmodo.com/5649238/blackberry-playbook-tablet-an-ipad-killer-for-the-suits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_personal_computer

http://www.tabletpc2.com/ http://us.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/