As New iPad Debut Nears, Some See Decline of PCs

The chief executive of Apple, Timothy D. Cook, has a prediction: the day will come when tablet devices like the Apple iPad outsell traditional personal computers.

His forecast has backing from a growing number of analysts and veteran technology industry executives, who contend that the torrid growth rates of the iPad, combined with tablet competition from the likes of Amazon.com and Microsoft, make a changing of the guard a question of when, not if.  Full story

Tablet and E-Reader Sales Soar

There was no must-have toy of Christmas 2011 — for youngsters, anyway.

For adults, tablet computers and e-readers were the gifts of choice, judging by a new report that indicates the number of adults in the United States who own tablets and e-readers nearly doubled from mid-December to early January.

The report, which is expected to be released on Monday, confirms what book publishers say they have experienced in the last few weeks: a big jump in e-book sales after the holidays. A similar e-book boom came immediately after Christmas 2010.

The report, from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, found that the share of adults who owned tablet computers increased to 19 percent from 10 percent, with the same increase for adults who owned e-readers.  Full article

An Invisible Keyboard Aims to Improve Touch-Screen Typing

A Jerusalem-based start-up is trying to eliminate a problem that you didn’t know existed: the visibility of a keyboard.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show, the company, Snapkeys, demonstrated its invisible keyboard, which it is hoping will become the default typing method on smartphones and tablets, replacing the traditional qwerty layout.

“We wanted to get rid of the qwerty keyboard, because all these technologies have changed, and qwerty is the only thing that hasn’t changed,” said Ryan Ghassabian, a business development manager at Snapkeys. He added that typing on a touch-screen device, especially a tablet, is too cumbersome, and an invisible keyboard would increase speed and comfort.  Full story

Hands Off, Mom and Dad. This Tablet Is for Children.

Created specifically for children, Nabi is a $200 Android tablet from Fuhu that doesn’t kid around when it comes to things like the ability to plug into a HD screen, by way of a mini-HDMI port, or a multitouch screen that plays “real” apps like Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja.

Available in time for the holidays, it starts up in Kid Mode — a password-protected gated community of sites, apps, music and videos of your choosing. Unlike an iPad, this tablet runs Flash, so your bookmarks can include sites like PBS Kids. There’s a front-facing camera that can be used to Skype with a grandparent, and accelerometers that let you steer a race car in Need for Speed Shift — one the 15 apps that were preloaded on the unit I tested. The sound is so-so; stereo headphone jacks supplement the audio.    Full article

New Nook Is Latest Entry in Tablet Wars

Barnes & Noble answered Amazon’s challenge in the tablet wars on Monday, introducing a $249 color device called the Nook Tablet.

Speaking at Barnes & Noble’s store in Manhattan’s Union Square, William Lynch, the company’s chief executive, set the new Nook directly up against Amazon’s recently released Kindle Fire, promoting what he described as the Nook’s advantages in memory and multimedia capability.

“The Kindle Fire, and they do a lot of things well, is a vending machine for Amazon services,” Mr. Lynch said. “We’re going to partner with the world’s most popular music services. We’re going to let the consumers choose.”   Full story

The Nook Enters Tablet Territory

The new system upgrade for the Nook Color e-reader from Barnes & Noble does more than improve its usefulness as an electronic book — it adds new features that you’d normally associate with a tablet. That includes the addition of apps, new e-mail capabilities and improved social features.

Maybe the most significant change is the addition of apps. The store currently counts 137 apps (and the number is growing quickly). Some apps like “The Art of the Slow Cooker” are more like rehashed books, but there are also offerings like Angry Birds, solitaire, a PDF reader, Epicurious, and Flight View, a flight tracker. Prices range from free to $100 for an app especially for doctors, but most are in the $3 to $6 range.

Full story.

Tablets for Tots From Vtech and Leapfrog

Soon, it will be possible to hand your child their very own tablet computer, providing, of course, you can pry your smartphone out of their hands.

At this week’s Toy Fair, two such devices were previewed, scheduled to be in stores later this year.

Vtech’s InnoPad ($80) comes with a 5” color LCD mono-touch screen, microphone, headphone jack plus an SD card expansion plus a USB connection to your to a computer, letting you fill the memory with your child’s favorite songs, movies or additional games, through a new store called the Learning Lodge Navigator.

For $20 more, Leapfrog’s LeapPad Explorer ($100) has nearly identical features, but adds an additional set of game controls and a camera. It can also run an library of existing Leapster Explorer cartridges.

Both come with a stylus, are powered by four AA batteries and run additional $25 software cartridges that feature many of the same characters your child watches on TV. In addition, built in accelerometers permit such grown up capabilities as automatic screen rotation, and a new bread of motion-sensing games.

Can such toy possibly compete with a $230 iPod Touch, backed by growing library of more than 10,000 $1 apps? In terms of content, probably not; but you’ll be less likely to care if the screen gets covered with applesauce.