The last few months has seen the market for tablet devices heat up with several vendors having launched their devices, and many more announcing their plans to enter the category. The industry pundits are now watching the growth of ?Tablets? (multimedia slate devices which support touch) with interest. In many a sense, one has to give credit to Apple for creating the category with the launch of its iPad. As with the iPhone, Apple created the oomph for the category and others followed. Surprisingly, touch screen technology on PCs has been around for some time, but its only with the launch of the iPad that the segment is seeing traction. It takes an iconic brand like Apple to start a trend, and others follow. In India, while the iPad has not been launched officially several vendors have quickly thrown their hat in the ring?Samsung with ?Galaxy Tab?, Dell with ?Steak?. We also have value for money products from Indian vendors?he ?Olive pad? is already in outlets. As in the handset arena, one can expect more competition with Indian vendors launching tablet devices at lower prices. A positive rub off of the popularity of the tablet devices could be the increasing popularity of touch screen on PCs and Laptops. Players like HP (with their ?touchsmart? technology) on desktops are working on building on this trend.
Social scientists claim that humans have taken to touch technology much faster because it?s much more natural at a subconscious level. Moreover, the average age of the handset user continues to drop. The first phone that the younger customer often picks up is now a touch phone, and the next upgrade happens on the same technology interface. Hence, one can expect traction to continue building up for ?touch devices?? either phones or tablets.
Of the various tablets available, the iPad is the most sought after. An informed user will note the fact that for the experience to truly come alive on the device, one has to use the Apple App store, which interestingly has thousands of iPad specific applications. The 9.5 inch x 7.5 inches brilliant screen makes surfing the Net, gaming and watching videos a pleasure. With a battery life above eight hours it?s a great companion on the move.
Samsung?s tablet device?the Galaxy Tab has been launched officially in India, at Rs 35,000. Compared to the iPad its a smaller device with a 7 inch screen, with a camera which allows video conferencing. The device runs on Android operating system, which is definitely becoming the most popular operating system around. Moreover the device allows phone calls to be made on the GSM network. Although as a consumer you would want to use a Bluetooth for making and receiving calls, because of the 7 inch size of the machine. Samsung has worked hard to make the Tab a challenger to the iPAD. You can drag and drop HD videos, copy work on Word, Excel and PPT files. On the move its a GPS device with maps. Many would rate it as the best convergence device currently available.
The ?Streak? tablet by Dell has an interesting form factor. At a screen size of five inches, it can be easily carried in your pocket, and it appears to be a large smart phone which can also work as a tablet. On the plus points, it has a 5 MP camera and the battery can last through day. However, because of its smaller screen size, viewing and surfing is not in the case class as the iPad and Tab. The price of Rs 35,000 may put off consumers.
The consumer can expect many more launches in the days ahead. The market is abuzz with the expected launch of Playbook by RIM (Blackberry). Indian vendors like Spice are expected to launch tablets at competitive prices soon.
The typical tablet allows the customer the luxury of not carrying a heavy laptop, while allowing surfing the Net, sharing documents, reading e-books, exchanging e-mails, using maps, listening to music, watching videos, and also making calls. What we are witnessing is the evolution of convergence devices. However, it is not yet a substitute for the laptop, which is more powerful. What we could witness is the fall of the netbook category, as tablets become more powerful and functional.
The evolutionary path of the tablet category is still not clear. Will it be the perfect CXO companion, or could be the device of choice for the young networked consumer? Or as price points fall, could it become a mass device? Time will tell. One fact is clear? the category is here to stay.
The writer is CEO, Spice Hotspot