slate

LAS VEGAS--Call them tablets or slates, but companies at CES seem obsessed with showing off the possibilities of PCs stripped of their keyboards and touch pads. These slate devices are essentially handheld screens that do some or most of what your laptop does, but with touch controls and, often, 3G data access.

We've seen several versions this week, in situations ranging from extensive hands-on demos to arms-length sneak peeks of devices that may or may not ever see the light of day. Of course, all of these products are operating under the very long shadow of Apple's still-unannounced tablet. (… Read more

Though the conference opens for the public today, this is our second live show from CES 2010. Leo Laporte joins us on stage to discuss the impressive penetration of 3D at this year's show, Skype on your television, and the soon-to-be growing catalog of Netflix streaming titles.

HP: ‘Slate’ PC shown by Ballmer set for some time in 2010 http://www.betanews.com/article/HP-Slate-PC-shown-by-Ballmer-set-for-some-time-in-2010/1262879692 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8444672.stm

Microsoft promises Natal for 2010 … Read more

Update: Hands-on impressions added below.

LAS VEGAS--At its Thursday morning CES press conference, Dell briefly announced plans to release a slate-style tablet PC, in the same vein as the rumored Apple Tablet or the HP/Microsoft prototype tablet shown earlier in the week.

Details are scarce, but the 5-inch device would be smaller than rival ideas coming from HP and (presumably) Apple. Describes as a "tablet concept," there's no guarantee the product would ever reach the public in its current form.

Update: We had a chance to check out the device behind closed doors after the press … Read more

You'll know we're recording this episode from the stage before the show has actually begun because of the loud machinery crunching away in the background as vendors ready their booths. In the meantime, we cover Google's official introduction of the Nexus One, a 3D network arriving on your TV, and Microsoft's tablet computer. You heard me right: Microsoft.

CES Unveiled http://ces.cnet.com/

Sling unveils a quartet of new devices http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10426064-269.html

Microsoft … Read more

While many have been fixated on when Apple will announce a new tablet product, The Wall Street Journal says it has found out when the device will actually be available to customers.

Sources have told the Journal that a 10- or 11-inch touch-screen tablet computer will begin shipping in March. Another source says that there are at least two different finishes for the device that Apple is either still deciding on or perhaps planning to charge different prices for each.

Though there's been a lot of speculation about the tablet, there are no confirmed details yet. Industry observers are anticipating a late January announcement (… Read more

Because excitement has now reached beyond the red area on the dial, it is important to emit every single possibility about the alleged Apple tablet for instant world examination.

So I am delighted to report that the diligent sleuths at MacRumors have discovered a possible new name for the Apple product that is about to sweep all before it, should it ever actually materialize.

Please now tuck your hands beneath your hamstrings, move slightly further from your screens, and remove all items of sharp jewelry. For the name that, like iSlate, has apparently also been trademarked by a mysterious Delaware … Read more

Verizon is looking closely at "slate" computers as it plans to expand its portfolio of offerings in 2010.

In an interview, Brian Ullem, who heads emerging devices for Verizon Wireless, discussed slate computers (aka tablets) and Netbooks and what these mean--and could mean--to Verizon's future.

"I do think that slates are going to be emerging in rapid succession in 2010," Ullem told me. "What remains to be seen is how people use them. And the operating systems that manufacturers and carriers will select."

Verizon is looking at the slate computer as an emerging … Read more

"Sherlock Holmes" is not a wonderful movie. Despite the fact that so many ditheringly unstable people in the movie theater I wandered into on Christmas Day applauded when the final scene slithered away.

However, if you were to ask Robert Downey Jr.'s violently amusing Holmes to tell you discern the truth about the new Apple tablet, he would surely repeat his words from the movie: "Data! Data! Data! I can't make bricks without clay!"

So because there are many who are still groggy after the week's festivities, I thought I'd scour around for data that will separate the rumor from the definitive fact.

Apple's new tablet will be called the iTablet. And it will be launched last September. Yes, last September.

But wait, last September was a few months ago. So perhaps that information wasn't quite correct.… Read more

If the Apple tablet emerges as expected, this will be another big device market, following media players and smartphones, that the PC industry cedes to Apple.

The writing is already on the wall already for Microsoft and smartphones, as spelled out in a previous post and as documented in shrinking market share numbers.

That's not to say that Microsoft, Compaq (later Hewlett-Packard), and Intel didn't have a chance. Remember the Compaq iPAQ PDA that debuted way back in 2000, powered by an Intel StrongARM chip running an early version of Windows Mobile?

That device had a lot of … Read more