Apple iPad under threat from Eee Pad and Portege

This summer will see an increase in the congestion and competitiveness of the tablet computer market. Alongside the Apple iPad, the tablets also vying for control of the market will be the ASUS Eee Pad and Toshiba Portege M750. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Pah iPad, don’t forget me’ says HP TouchSmart

After the success of the first touch-enabled notebook aimed at consumers, HP has honed the design with the arrival of the HP TouchSmart tm2. It’s a convertible notebook comfortable both in laptops or tablets form thanks to the swivel screen and it’s multitouch enabled for all zoom, scroll and rotating manoeuvres.

The idea behind the HP laptops machine is that it’s adaptable for all environments and includes a digital pen for writing on the screen when in tablet form for note taking purposes.

It runs a low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a discrete ATI GPU and the rest of the specs are the consumer’s choice when you get to the online store. The six-cell battery offers a reported 9 hours life, there’s a finger print reader and it’s all wrapped up in an aluminium chassis thermodynamically designed to keep the computer cool.

It’s out in the States now in all sorts of colours and starts at $949. Doubtless a UK and EU version will follow.

Apple iPad set to create third sector between laptops and smartphones

Industry experts say Apple’s long-awaited iPad tablet could reverse the fortunes of the tablet PC industry.

Microsoft introduced a failed tablet computer in 2001, but advances in touchscreens and wireless technology mean that the market could now be right for products such as the iPad, analysts said.

“Tablets have been around for a long time and tablets have failed for a long time. This is a winning product,” said analyst Van Baker of Gartner Research. “I was nervous when they first started talking about this and thought it would be nothing more than a giant iPhone but it’s hard to argue against. I can use it in the living room, the classroom, for light work and at the coffee shop,” Baked added.

Apple said its aim was to try to create a third category of product that sits between laptops and smartphones, which is the traditional interpretation of a tablet computer.

Apple drumrolling to end tomorrow with tablet launch

Apple is to announce its new product, the iTablet tomorrow. The name of the gadget is still not officially known. The new creation may be called iTablet, iSlate or perhaps even iPad.

Apple is not revealing any details on the new laptops/touchscreen/tablet gizmo. However Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO has explained: “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”

The new gadget will be a tablet computer which will allow users to surf the web, send emails, read newspapers, stream videos and download files. Similar to the iPhone, it will be a touch-screen device without a keyboard, running the MultiTouch OS.

German electronics retailer MediaMarkt leaked the price of the new gadget on Twitter earlier today. Apple’s new gizmo is to cost 499 Euros (£436) on a T-Mobile contract and 899 (£789) without. The tweet was probably accidental and has since been deleted.

Some critics argue that Apple’s iTablet will not become a bestseller, questioning its functionality vs price.

Apple fans will have to wait until tomorrow for the new product to be revealed.

Microsoft and HP announce touch-screen ‘Slate’ tablet

Microsoft and HP laptops have unveiled a new touch-screen tablet computer they hope will overshadow a similar device that Apple is expected to launch this month.

To add insult to injury Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer referred to the gadget as a ‘slate.’ Technology pundits think Apple will call their gadget ‘iSlate’ after filing for the trademark.

The 10inch HP tablet is a touch screen computer that runs Windows 7.

It doesn’t have a physical keyboard and is geared towards customers who want one device for reading books, browsing the web and playing computer games.

‘It’s a beautiful little product,’ Steve Ballmer told the audience at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. ‘It is almost as portable as a phone and as powerful as a PC.’

The tablet will transform into an interactive eReader using Blio reader software. This will allow embedded videos and create audio books using text-to-speech technology.