Take Your Computing in Tablet Form: Developments from CES
Tech lovers that we are, we have been watching the CES with great interest to find out which gadgets we’ll likely be buying next. Independent correspondent Oliver Cox reports.
Recent months have seen a very active tablet market, with
an increasing number of providers scrapping for market share. The advances in
this area promise to diversify the portability of work, while further
questioning the PC’s monopoly on computing. The Consumer Electronics Show
(CES), which is held in Las Vegas, has hosted many distinctive examples of the
early 2010s tablet explosion. While, perhaps meaningfully, the company which
forwarded tablet computing in the market place – Apple – does not attend.
The company rep who climbed up onto stage and accepted
the Cnet award for the best tablet of CES 2012 stood on behalf of Asus, who
were recognised for their MeMo 370T. The tablet can, reportedly, stoically
withstand data-heavy browsing and other tasks without flagging, thanks in part
to the astonishing quad-core 1.3GHz processor, part of the processing-power
arms race which has established itself in the market.
Cnet’s people’s choice award – one which is elected by
the people who visit the Cnet site – was the ‘Project Fiona’ gaming tablet from
Razor. This device, in being intended for gaming usage, carries the processing
brawn necessary to render the graphics and speed which this usage needs;
packing an Intel i7 at 3.2 GHz. This tablet has broken the permafrost in terms
of what kind of power can be squeezed into a tablet, leaving the next stages
open to the manufacturers of business machines. Moreover, it is devices like
this which challenge the hair dryer stereotype which some portable devices have
earned.
One of the disadvantages of tablets has always been,
though touch-screen keyboards are fun to use, that users can always type faster
using a regular keyboard. Super-fast typing is and will for a substantial time
be very necessary for work and communication. Sony sidesteps this stumbling
block with its concept hybrid tablet. Sony’s tablet can dock with a netbook
base, giving the user the sound system and typing capabilities which tablets
can lack. Although this design has existed previously, this concept gives it a
more comprehensive look and feel.
Another interesting direction which the companies at CES
have explored is the idea of an outdoor tablet, one like the Pantech Element
which is fully waterproof. Conference attendees could spy the device as
displayed ostentatiously in a water tank. The device will also come with LTE 4G
connectivity – for people who love to take work with them on their hikes and
when they go swimming.
Jason Hiner of TechRepublic has an interesting
theory regarding the success of the
notably-absent-from-CES company in the tablet market, one which occupies a 73%
share of the tablet market. He comments that the difference between Apple and
its less successful rivals is that Apple’s main aim with its tablet products is
to make an interface which is appeals to the senses and works well, where the
tendency for the other providers is to go a little geeky and concentrate on the
capabilities such as the number of ports and other features. Rather, the nature
of a tablet computer is that it is intuitive and – for now – people don’t use
all the trinkets like HDMI outputs and 8 megapixel cameras as much as they
could.
The tablet interface is one of the features which make
this technology capable of changing the way in which we compute and do business
to such an extent. In as much as the explosion of mobile devices marked the end
of the Wintel paradigm, these devices will carry a new paradigm of the way in
which we interact with our computers. The first recognisable computers were
text-based, in that the user interacted with the machine with text commands;
this was succeeded by the graphical user interface, allowing the user to
control the computer with far more intuitive inputs; then arrived tablets and
smartphones; using their touchscreens they allow the user to control the system
using gestures which are derived from the real world, so that they can use
these machines with the same familiarity as that with which they manipulate the
natural environment. For the first time, users can access a computing system
which combines impressive computing power with an interface which works as they
expect it to work.
CES has given customers an idea of what they
will be able to expect from the tech companies in the approaching months.
Through the interface, capabilities and, very importantly, the price of these
devices, they will enable more customers to access, in a more effective way,
machines with increasing capabilities. With processors getting smaller, and
screens packing more pixels, the next stage is an exciting prospect.
Tell us what you think! Email us on [email protected].