2. Tablets
More likely to throw a spanner in the works is the tablet. In 2010 this is less likely to be essentially a notebook with a swivel screen and should look more like a giant touchscreen smartphone.
Microsoft's new operating system - Windows 7 - has created a lot more opportunities for developing touchscreen software than were previously available. This could mean that we begin to finally dispense with the ‘hard' keyboard and move entirely to touchscreens, but we won't be holding our breath.
As is so often the case, hover, the tablet pioneer is expected to be Apple, which is expected to launch something early in the new year. The company's ruthlessly enforced culture of secrecy has ensured the usually rumour-mill frenzy is well underway, and the technology - from low power processors, to screens, to software - is already there.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the tablet form-factor, Apple or otherwise. Are end-users ready to forgo the keyboard? Is it possible to make a touchscreen that is both responsive and durable enough? What is the demand for a device that is neither a smartphone nor a PC?
This last question applied equally to smartbooks. Ever since the launch of the UMPC (remember that?) and probably before, the tech industry has been experimenting with form-factors that have a screen size somewhere between four and eight inches. These are too big to fit in a pocket, but too small to be full-blown productivity tools.
Given that most people these days are happy to have both a smartphone and a notebook, what unique functionality do these hybrid devices offer and are users prepared to pay extra for it. This applies especially to Apple, which his likely to put a premium price on its tablet. After it has once more exploited its brainwashed fanboys, how will it persuade the rest of us to dip into our pockets?
