Tablets that Fold

What you need to know, what you need to buy!

#Foldables!

Blackberry Questions Whether Tablets Will Survive

Interesting

Pandigital's New Tablets are Under $200

Pandigital is the latest company hoping to cash in on the budget tablet market. It just announced three new Android tablet devices, all are going to retail for $200 or less.  The tabs are boldly dubbed Planet, Star, and Nova and will feature 7-inch touch screens, Cortex A9 CPUs, plus 3D graphics.

While the new tablets sport similar size displays, some differences separate them. Specifically the Planet and Nova ($189) will use 800 x 600 resolution screens and have both front-facing and rear digital cameras. The less expensive Star ( $159) is expected to feature a lower-res 800 x 480 pixel display, a front camera only, but a thinner design. One drawback is all three slates will use outdated resistive touchscreen technology and not modern (and typically more responsive) capacitive solutions.

Additionally the Planet and Star will come with 2GB of internal storage and run Android 2.2 Froyo, while the Nova ups on-board memory to 4GB and uses Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Sorry, no Android Honeycomb here. A microSD slot, which accepts memory cards of up to 32 GB, will be included on all three tablets.

Here's the Pandigital Planet, available on Amazon.

What Will the Story Be at CES 2011?

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will descend on Las Vegas next week as 100,000+  attendees will get a glimpse at some of the new gadgets and gizmos that companies like LG, Sony, Motorola and Samsung plan to offer later this year or in the future.

Each year, certain products garner more attention than others and draw the biggest crowds, clogging up the narrow convention center aisles.  I've been to CES seven-times and have seen all sorts of products that became staples of our lives and even more that we never saw again.

Here's what to expect this year.

Tablets, tablets, and more tablets.  With the success of Apple's iPad, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, look for a HP-Palm product running webOS, RIM’s PlayBook, the much talked about Droid Xoom and countless other pretenders to the throne.

3D TVs and Content.   Prepare yourself for much lower cost active-shutter 3D glasses, big drops in 3D TV prices and lots of stunning content for both.  Customers main complain about 3D televisions has been the lack of content to watch.  We might even see how we can convert out regular DVDs to #D capable DVDs.  That sounds interesting.

Superphone Smartphones.   Smartphones are all going multi-tasking while improving both single- and multi-threaded application performance. These phones will offer 4G as well, providing what may be the biggest single bump in performance ever, and giving us an early look at what might be in the fifth-generation iPhone.  Mobile phones are where it is all happening and handset makers are racing to showcase the latest innovations.

Smart TVs.  Hoping to steal some of the attention from smartphones, Smart TVs will be at the show this year, in full force.  The vast majority of which will be DLNA compliant. These TVs have been quietly getting better all this year, and advance press materials I've received have me impressed.  Watch for them to be wrapped with products like Skifta, which allow you to seamlessly move your content from any source to any player, be it a DLNA-compliant TV or stereo.  Ease of use will be a key for this product.

Auto innovations.  Head on over to the automotive pavillion this year and you'll see what you may soon be doing in your car.  Expect to see  in-car hotspots, and some incredible sound systems ane touch screens that will allow you to control your life from the dash of your car.

More e-book readers.  Thought you saw it all last year when it comes to e-book readers?  Think again.  Will the next generation of e-book readers offer video, or also act as tablets?  E-book readers continue to be a popular category of consumer electronics.

Who knows, maybe something we've never herd of will steal the show this year.  By this time next week well be on electronics overload, but we'll have some idea of what to expect in the coming months.

Tablets are Hot, There is No Doubt

I need a PC, I need a tablet.  But for those trying to decide on what to buy for their next computer purchase, tablets are making inroads.

Global computer sales are on track to set a new record this year but tablets like Apple's iPad are taking a bite out of the sector, technology research firm Gartner said on Monday.

Worldwide PC sales are forecast to total 352.4 million units in 2010, up 14.3 per cent over last year, Gartner said, but down from the firm's previous 2010 PC sales forecast in September of 17.9 per cent growth.

In 2011, worldwide PC sales are forecast to reach 409 million units, up 15.9 per cent over this year but down from Gartner's earlier estimate of 18.1 per cent growth next year.

"These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer demand, due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad," Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal said in a statement.

"Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10 per cent of PC units by 2014," Atwal said.

Tablet computers like the iPad are expected to soar from nearly 20 million units this year to 55 million next year and over 208 million in 2014.

Apple began selling its iPad in April and a number of other companies have since begun producing the multimedia devices, which can be used to surf the web, read electronic books, watch video and more.

The computer industry as a whole is growing for many reasons.  The question now is how big of an impact will tablets have on traditional desktops and laptops?

"Media tablets are rapidly finding favor with PC buyers who are attracted to their more-dedicated entertainment-driven features and their instant-on capability," the research firm added.