Tablet PCs run the Tablet PC Edition of Microsoft Windows XP, which includes stylus input through a touch-sensitive digitizing screen, and handwriting recognition. There are typically two form factors: the slate with only the screen, with all input through the stylus or through an on-screen keyboard; or a convertible model with a keyboard on a center pivot so that the unit can fold into a laptop, or the keyboard can be hidden under the screen to create a slate. The chief market has been vertical applications that already made use of proprietary tablets (or manual clipboards, for that matter) such as health care, field sales and support staffs, insurance investigators, etc.
In terms of software, Microsoft has not issued a second generation yet, and therefore the 'second generation' label stems purely from a year's worth of hardware developments. And, in hardware terms, the chief difference between the first and second generation has been the adoption of the Intel Centrino, noted Rob Enderle, head of the Enderle Group, a market research firm in San Jose.
The Intel Centrino is a package which includes the Pentium M low-wattage processor intended for mobile platforms, a chipset, and Intel 802.11b wireless circuitry. When the first generation of Tablet PC's was designed, the choice for the processor was between the Transmeta Crusoe chip, and the Intel Pentium III-M. 'The Pentium III-M was re-purposed desktop chip that ran very hot, and you had to slow it down to get good battery life and survivable heat,' Enderle said. 'Most of the Tablets PC's that used it had good performance but horrible battery life. One unit, if you left it at full power in the docking bay, would cook the screen digitizer and your mouse cursor would go crazy until you turned the unit off and let it cool down. The other choice was the Transmeta Crusoe, which had decent battery life and thermal properties but was incredibly slow.' Since Centrino does not support 802.11a or 802.11g, those who want those speeds will need Tablet PC's with ports for wireless add-in cards.
As for battery life, there have been no breakthrough in the second generation - users are still lucky to go four hours, especially if they are on-line constantly. That's not enough to get through a full work shift. Electrovaya Inc. built their first generation Tablet PC around one of their lithium ion super-polymer batteries, and it can run more than eight hours. But the unit was rather bulky. The second generation unit uses slimmer batteries, and lasts about five hours.
That design decision matches other sources, who indicate that the users would prefer a light carrying weight to longer batteries. Anyway, they have to recharge the batteries at some point, be it after 4 hours or 40 hours.
As for the screen, the vendors continue to use cheaper transmissive screens that work better indoors, rather than transflective screens, which cost more but would work better outdoors.
'Some of the vendors are advertising that their second generation screens are markedly improved - 50 percent better,' noted Ken Smiley, an industry analyst from Kansas City. 'I think it would be generous to say that they are 10 percent better."
For dramatic improvements, Enderle was looking to the third generation, which may have to wait until the next generation of Microsoft Windows (code-named 'Longhorn') comes out - which may not be for at least another 18 months, if not until 2006. And the big thing he is expecting at that time is better batteries - and fuel cells. The latter should run off alcohol and generation water and hydrogen as waste products. A possible obstacle is the aviation authorities, who want any fuel cells brought aboard airplanes to be 80 percent diluted for safety's sake. This would hurt their efficiency, and Enderle noted that lithium ion batteries - which are allowed on planes - cannot be extinguished if they do ignite.
Other sources said that fuel cells are probably not as close to the market as Enderle thinks, and when they do appear they will be too bulky to be built into a Tablet PC. Instead, they will be used to recharge batteries in the field. Meanwhile, battery technology will continue to improve at about ten percent yearly - meaning it will be about eight years before we see batteries that can routinely last for an eight-hour shift.
One aspect that has promise for future Tablet PC's is the 1.8-inch hard drive, currently used in the Apple iPod. Using them could reduce the overall weight of a Tablet PC by several ounces over the current 2.5-inch drives, and additionally would use less battery power. But production volumes need to go up before they will become cheap enough, sources indicated.
Beyond that, 'Sometimes I see clients buying ruggedized Tablet PC's when they really do not need them - they are buying them for peace of mind,' complained Smiley. 'But a ruggedized unit costs $ 500 to $ 1.000 more, so for volume purchases they might be better off getter standard units and buying some extras as spares.'
Lamont Wood