In Today, devices are changing according to the needs of the consumers. There is a huge convergence of user devices which enable consumers to connect quite conveniently. However, the Indian market is not far behind when it comes to adopting new technologies. Consumers are constantly on the look-out for devices which help meet their digital needs, combining entertainment with functionality. One such device is the tablet PC.
Since the launch of the Apple iPad, the tablet market has come a long way; and with new players emerging every day, the league of tablet makers seems to be growing at a fast rate, with Apple, Samsung, Research in Motion (RIM) of Blackberry and others yet to enter the local market. In the recent past, India has seen tablets from Spice, a handheld internet tablet called MI700 which runs on the Android 2.2 Froyo OS, the Olive Telecom tablet called OlivePad VT100, followed by Infibeams Phi, Binatone's HomeSurf tablet, SMC StylePad and the Android run Dell Streak tablet. Off late, the Indian governments proposed $35 tablet expected to hit the market towards the end of 2011 and Hyderabad-based Notion Inks Adam, to be released in the first quarter of 2011, are also expected to fire up the local market.
Touchscreen computing devices as a form factor are not new. Pen-based touchscreen computing devices have been around since the 1990s. And laptops with swivel touchscreens that can fold over to make a tablet (convertibles) have been around for a while too, made by vendors like HP, Lenovo , Dell, Panasonic, Fujitsu, LG and Acer, Toshiba to name a few. According to Pallab Talukdar, CEO, Fujitsu India, The market for entry level is still at a very nascent stage. Fujitsu offers high end tablets for enterprise segment. The difference between entry level and our convertible tablet is that our tablet has a base body with an attached keyboard. They more closely resemble modern laptops, and are usually heavier and larger than slates. Typically, the base of a convertible attaches to the display at a single joint called a swivel hinge or rotating hinge. The joint allows the screen to rotate 180 degrees and fold down on top of the keyboard to provide a flat writing surface. These are by far the most popular form factor of tablet PCs, because they still offer the keyboard and pointing device (usually a trackpad) of older notebooks, for users who do not use the touchscreen display as the primary method of input.
According to Sumanta Mukherjee, Lead PC Analyst, IDC India, As per the IDC definition of tablet PC, a tablet PC is a notebook-style PC with a digitized screen (for pen input) and Microsofts Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system. The slate version had no embedded keyboard or pointing device. The convertible version has the ability to swivel the screen on a hinge and snap it into slate mode or notebook mode.
In the words of Gartner, media tablets are slate devices that support touch and run a lightweight OS such as iOS, Android, WebOS or Meego. Examples of media tablets are the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Cisco Cius.
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