This is a sort of second coming that ageing film-stars and out-of-work models would long for. The tablet was an all-but-dead product category, one that never really got off the ground sales-wise, despite the big push from Microsoft way back in 2002. But with the iPad, Apple's wiped the slate clean, opening up the flood gates for a slew of contenders that promise to revitalize an almost obsolete form factor, or to say, completely change the way we interact with our computers. Here's a small peek at what on the cards in 2010.
HP Slate :
Squint a little, and you could easily confuse the HP Slate with the Apple iPad. With a similar sleek profile and a large 8.9 inch capacitive display, it almost is. But it runs on the touch-enabled Windows 7 platform. Along with the netbook specs, it supports Flash and has got multi-tasking capabilities which the iPad lacks. It also packs in 2 built-in cameras (front and back) along with video recording. Looks like HP has all he iPad's bases covered, and then some more.[Update : This was the specs and info that was available before. But HP has shown dissatisfaction with the capabilities of Windows 7 for a tablet, so it might put off all plans for the Slate. Otherwise, it might surprise everyone by going forward with the plan with the newly acquired Palm WebOS. ]
Notion Ink Adam :
Here's one from my country, India. Notion Ink, a small Indian start-up is talking big with the Adam. This Android based slate not only boasts of a sleek design, but also of the 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 chip that acts both as a chip and a graphics card, allowing you to playback videos at 1080p on the 10 onch display. The real genius is he Pixel Qi screen which can switch from backlit LCD mode for web browsing to a low-power electrophoretic reflective mode for power saving (16 hours) and becomes easier on the eyes.
Fusion Garage JooJoo :This is from the Singapore-based Fusion garage. Other than iPad, JooJoo is the only other slate that is commercially available at the moment. With a 12 inch screen this Intel Atom/Nvidia ion powered tablet promises full Flash HD and a decent interface over the custom Linux platform. But it misses out in many things - No Apps, no multi-tasking, no e-books and a 5 hour battery life.
More models to come in the next post.
