The Slate Wars

In techy
13/01/10
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Its not possible for anyone remotely interested in tech world to come across the word “Slate” recently. The mighty CES was the place where the word Slate resounded in the halls from many “Me Too” computer gear manufacturers. The credit goes to Steve Jobs & Co., who not only have revived the idea but have created such a motion that Jan 26 seems like the biggest announcement, yet for the year.

This space was so rightfully introduced, enjoyed and monopolized over a decade by Microsoft. But over a decade nothing changed. One OS for all solution didn’t made sense a lot. Indeed, products like Motion C5 have earned a niche in a specific domain. But that leaves rest of us to still rely on the ol’ notebook. Whats interesting to note is Apple Inc., didn’t participate in the rate race of Netbooks. A lot of people compare Apple Air with netbooks, but the closest product is Dell’s Adamo line.

Coming back to Slates. If 2009 was the year of Netbooks, 2010 is definitely going to be the year of the Slates a.k.a Tablet PCs. Apple’s impending release of the rumored iSlate has made everyone and anyone work on some sort of modified & glorified version of the old tablet pc.

Microsoft: Nothing, period. Just a new OS and that’s it. Ok! a lot of people say the final product is not out there yet but what we were able to see at CES with HP and other manufacturers, its same old machine lying somewhere unused because its a pain to use it.

Lenavo: The IdeaPad U1 is a neat idea of having 2 brains in one computer with a detachable screen. But here whats wrong with the concept. The tablet or slate will allow me to watch HD quality video, pictures and basically media. What about the work I do? That stays on the main board, the windows OS.

But the real winner at CES is Android: Yes! that’s right, just like the Netbook market is in love with the Google Mobile OS. it seems the upcoming slate market is also up for grabs for the OS. Many many manufacturer’s are lining up for using the Android OS.

This is just the start, Jan. 27 will dictate the terms of the this space and in time response of the rest of the industry. Let’s see the Star Wars – The Clone Wars once again, shall we