July 2005
InStat: Tablet PC Market To Exceed $5 Billion In 2009
A new InStat report, "Tablet PC 2005: Increasing Shipments Amid a Cloudy Future," predicts an increase in shipments from US$1.2 billion in 2004 to US$5.4 billion in 2009, but mixed overall success. According to InStat, vertical markets continue to be the driving force. InStat also says an integrated next-gen Tablet PC OS in Microsoft's Longhorn would have a significant impact on TPC sales, and that the recently announced Ultra Mobile 2007 portable PC form factor could have a significant impact on future TPC shipments. -- Posted Tuesday, July 26, 2005 by chb
Get involved in the Tablet PC product development process at Microsoft
Microsoft Usability Research group is currently seeking Tablet PC users from the Seattle area to participate in a 2 hour usability study for the Tablet PC team. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to make a direct impact on the product design and development of future Tablet PC applications and/or form factors. All scheduled participants for our usability studies will receive a software gratuity for their time.
Please contact Derek St. Laurent at 1-888-261-8488 (or 425-722-0574 direct line) if you’re interested. Derek can also be contacted at a-dereks@microsoft.com. -- Posted Monday, July 25, 2005 by chb
Microsoft's free Education Pack
Microsoft has made available a special Education Pack for the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. -- Posted Sunday, July 24, 2005 by chb
Sharps develops "anti-snoop" LCD
Everyone loves wide-angle LCDs, especially Tablet PC users, but a side-effect is that the person sitting next to you can see what's on your screen. Which isn't always what you want. So Sharp developed a new LCD that can be switched between wide and narrow viewing angle. Very clever (but we hope that the wide angle setting is really wide angle). [click to see] -- Posted Friday, July 15, 2005 by chb
Motion introduces smallest Tablet PC
Motion Computing introduced the LS800, a stunningly small and light Tablet PC slate that breaks with the company's tradition of full-size slates. The new LS800 measures just 8.94 x 6.69 inches and weighs just over two pounds, yet offers all of the performance of a standard Tablet PC slate. The display, of course, is smaller: 8.4 inches in 800 x 600 pixel format. The US$1,899 device is powered by an Intel Pentim ULV 753 running at 1.2GHz, includes 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth, a SD slot, 256-512MB of RAM, and even a fingerprint reader. We saw a final preproduction model and were blown away (which isn't easy to do with our seasoned editors!). The device is ultra-elegant and should be the perfect answer for many applications where carrying a full-size slate just isn't practical. For Motion;s LS800 press release, click here. -- Posted Thursday, July 7, 2005 by chb