Touchscreen tablets are a new area in mobile computing. Designed to be the first all-purpose truly mobile device, they are somewhere between the size of a mobile phone and a laptop. They have most of the features of a typical laptop, including a powerful, non-watered down operating system, and provide complete mobility - they can actually be used while you walk, unlike a laptop.
Apple released their first such device in early 2010, which they called the iPad. Featuring a 10 inch screen at a resolution of about 720p, entry level models offer Wi-Fi and 3G, a 1 GHz Apple A4 processor, 16GB of Flash memory and 256 MB DRAM. This compares reasonably well with a typical laptop. Battery life is around 10 hours.
Reviews have generally been favourable, with popular US broadsheet writers Walt Mossberg and David Pogue describing using the iPad as a pleasurable experience. The iPad mostly compares well with laptops, except with regards printing and file sharing, which are clunky and not intuitive. Current versions do not have a camera, USB port or HDMI output, and cannot multitask, although this feature is soon to be supported with a software update.
The iPad was selected by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of the Year 2010 and the top gadget by Popular Science.
The tablet market is already being coveted by the big players in computing. Recent entrants to the tablet family include the Samsung Galaxy Tab which is little larger than a mobile phone and runs Google Android, and the Quaduro QuadPad 3G Plus Tablet PC, which runs Windows 7.
Buy & compare touchscreen tablets [http://www.touchscreentablet.co.uk/].
