Wired Magazine has an article written by Brian Chen that pontificates that 2010 will be the Year of the Tablet. As partial proof of this he points out that sources tell him that Dell (and possibly Intel) are working on a forthcoming tablet that’s about 5″ in size and possibly will run Windows 7.
Uhm, since Intel is supposedly involved and considering the size and OS, the rumored device is probably a Mobile Internet Device, more commonly called a MID.
Since the article doesn’t metion the word MID at all, we may be seeing a marketing rebranding going on here in order to leverage some of the successes Apple is having.
For instance, calling the device a “tablet” rather than a “MID” might attract some of the Apple followers since many are awaiting a rumored Apple Tablet.
Also, the supposed Dell device will have multi-touch, like the Apple iPhone, which I guess makes it a “tablet” like a theoretical Apple Tablet with supposed multi-touch, rather than a MID with the more traditional resistive touch.
Anyway, it sounds like this small device will be focus on touch rather than the classic Tablet PC orientation towards inking, which the MIDs were never good at partly because of their size and partly because of the software. However, can you really imagine using Windows 7 on a 5″ device with capacitive touch? I’m wondering if instead there won’t be a custom shell wrapped around an embedded version of Windows.
Why?
Because the article also states that the price of the device will be subsidized by contracts to media publications, somewhat like cell carriers do with cell phones. In the name of selling as many units as possible, I’m guessing that this will be an option, rather than a mandate. But, let’s say the primary purpose of the device will be for reading or viewing content from these publishers, doesn’t it make sense that the OS shell will be optimized for the experience and that there will be a custom viewer? I’d expect this to be the case. So if that’s the case, I’d lean back towards an embedded OS.
Finally, what about the possibility of there being Tablet bits on the device if the OS is from Microsoft? Unlikely. Whether it be the inexpensive embedded OS or a cheap version of Windows 7, there isn’t going to be a full set of Tablet features. I wouldn’t expect to see a Math Input Panel or Tablet Input Panel (TIP) on this kind of device. Nor would I expect to see the smooth touch features in Windows 7’s more expensive versions. These features have yet to work their way down to inexpensive enough versions of the OS.
OK, another finally, let’s not all forget how long some of these rumors take to become reality. The Apple tablet rumors have been going on for much of this decade. And remember how long it was between the first leaks that Dell was working on a Tablet and when they actually released it….and then it turned out to be soooo expensive–and I won’t even bother with the hardware issues.
Sometimes leaks like this are to stall the market. They don’t want you to buy a CrunchPad and Apple Tablet and then have no money left for subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times (I just made that up–I have no idea what subscriptions they might offer) or to buy the product outright (again, no idea if that will be an option). I read rumors like this as pleas for me to save my money 
.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing what Dell is going to produce.
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