Tablet PC Buzz

Mobile Health Data: Survey: Future is Not PDAs

Information technology leaders increasingly believe that the ubiquitous PDA will be eclipsed by other mobile hardware, according to respondents to the Health Data Management 2005 CIO Survey.

Asked which mobile computing device will have the greatest impact on health care, 43% of the I.T. leaders surveyed picked the Tablet PC. In addition, 21% chose smart phones as the mobile hardware likely to have the biggest impact, followed by subnotebooks (20%) and PDAs (14%.).

In addition, here is another good resource for you to bookmark for health and tablet pc news:
http://www.mobilehealthdata.com/portal-tablet.cfm

url: http://www.mobilehealthdata.com/article.cfm?articleid=1274

PC World: Microsoft Tries to Nudge Tablet PCs Into the Mainstream, new HP convertible

"Some two years after its introduction, Microsoft is seeking to drive its Tablet PC technology into the mainstream with lower prices. But some analysts say that alone won't do the trick--and not many PC vendors are helping Microsoft's effort.

Microsoft and vendors including Toshiba and Acer want to move beyond niche markets, so they will no longer target Tablet PCs chiefly at mobile professionals and specific industries such as health care and insurance. This year, both Acer and Toshiba will start selling tablets that are not as thin, light, or powerful as their predecessors, but that are up to 25 percent cheaper.

"We're right on the verge of seeing a lot more competitively priced tablets on the market," said Robert Williams, director of business development and partner engineering in Microsoft's Mobile Platforms Division. "This spring, you will see tablets go into retail in the $1500 to $1600 price range."

For the past year or so, Microsoft has been working with PC makers and component suppliers to push down the cost of manufacturing Tablet PCs, Williams said. As a result, the new tablets should only be $100 to $200 more expensive than comparable notebooks, he said.

Toshiba America plans to ship a new Tablet PC in its Satellite consumer and small business notebook line in the first quarter of this year. The $1599 Satellite R15-S822 will be the first Toshiba Tablet PC to be sold widely in retail stores, said Terry Cronin, director of product management in Toshiba's digital products division.

"The market is expanding. Tablet is becoming just another feature on top of notebooks. 2005 is really a take-off point for going mainstream," Cronin said.

Newcomer Averatec is ahead of the curve. The San Diego company in mid-2004 shipped a $1350 Tablet PC that is sold in retail stores. At Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, several employees took a corporate credit card and bought all the Averatec machines on sale at a local Costco Wholesale store. "

Looks like Acer is entering the Consumer market, as well.

"Acer, which has been selling Tablet PCs since the launch of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition in November 2002, later this year plans to join Toshiba and Averatec with a lower-cost Tablet PC, said Sumit Agnihotry, a product marketing manager at Acer America.

"What we're heading to in 2005 is to drive Tablet PC to an optimal price point, basically bring Tablet PC to a traditional notebook price, and we believe that is below $1500," Agnihotry said. Acer's new Tablet PC may be sold in retail stores, a first for Acer, he said. "

And here is a key bit of news for those looking for info on new HP Tablets:

"On February 2, HP plans to introduce two new Tablet PCs in its business notebook lineup. One of the devices will be the company's first convertible notebook, a machine that resembles a traditional notebook but that has a screen that swivels around to support pen-based computing. The device will cost just over $2000, Mazzantini said. "

I've heard what this new convertible looks like. If its' true, it'll be hot!

url: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,119499,00.asp

eWeek: Tools Give Tablet PC New Life

"The Tablet PC platform got a boost this week when Microsoft said that several of its partners have announced support for both its Tablet PC platform and BizTalk Server. During his keynote speech at VSLive Monday, S. "Soma" Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Developer Division, said Microsoft Corp. had made enhancements to the Tablet PC software development kit and that Microsoft partners had taken the platform and delivered new functionality around it."

The article goes on to mention several new applications and tools that have been announced/released for the Tablet PC platform. There isn't alot of brand new information, but it does cover several of the announcements made this week at the Microsoft Windows Anywhere Conference.

URL: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1763218,00.asp

WebProNews: What Tablet PCs Can Do For You

This is a good introductory to Tablet PC's article:

"Tablet PCs are great. If you are a mobile person, and you have never considered getting a tablet PC in the past, now is as good a time as any to start checking them out - the technology is cutting-edge, the usability is superb, and prices are starting to drop.

There are two main types of tablet PCs: convertible and slate. Convertible tablets look a lot like normal laptops except the screen can be rotated all the way around and laid down flat across the keyboard. You then input information through the screen using a stylus. Slate tablet PCs include only the screen interface - though they are fully integratable with peripherals like keyboards and mouses, the computer itself does not have them. Both types are viable options, depending on your personal preferences and what you'll be using it for.

As with any technology, tablet PCs have advantages and disadvantages. Thanks to the last few years of development and enhancement, the disadvantages are shrinking in number, and the perks are becoming more and more enticing. "

url: http://www.webpronews.com/it/applicationdevelopment/wpn-19-20050209WhatTabletPCsCanDoforYou.html

smh.com: Tools for power players

"Today's electronic gadgets used by executives are smarter, more powerful and more portable than ever. And there are just so many of them: PCs that fit in your pocket, phones for email that connect to the web, fold-up keyboards. There's a universe of cordless gizmos and PC accessories that interact with each other wirelessly: global positioning systems (GPS), biometric devices, universal card readers and wallet-sized hard drives to store the contents of your desktop, plus your music and videos.

Chris Carroll is another for whom technology has made a world of difference. As an on-the-road sales consultant for Metro Communications, he says he virtually runs his office from the car and only needs to call into base for "a PR visit".

Wireless technologies in particular have made the biggest difference. Most of the devices Carroll uses have the Bluetooth wireless standard, which means they operate together without having to be physically hooked up. He has a Toshiba M200 tablet PC, a HP450 battery-powered portable printer, a Sony Ericsson T610 phone and Platronics M1000 headset. He prints quotes on-the-spot, sends files between phone and PC, uses the phone as a modem and fax for the PC and even uses the phone as a remote control for PowerPoint demonstrations with software called Floats Mobile Agent.

He's waiting for the day when Melbourne sits under a wi-fi envelope, but in the meantime he is looking to make cheap calls using a voice-over-internet system in cybercafes and a 3 wireless broadband card."

url: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/04/1096871805560.html?oneclick=true

Chicago Tribune: Tablets the next hot tech product

Although the writer is concentrating on more of the low end solution, he has hit a lot of the reasons why Tablet PCs will succeed.

"The huge Consumer Electronics Show concluded in Las Vegas Sunday with what boils down to a single word of advice about what could be the hottest stuff in personal technology this year:
Tablets.

That�s tablets along the lines of yellow legal pads or Big Chief grade-school notebooks. But these are equipped with digital technologies that are supposed to replace our laptop computers, our television sets, our iPods and even our yellow legal pads.

I don�t know about the high end of miracle tablets like the $2,000 portable media PC pads displayed by Microsoft�s Bill Gates, but a local tech entrepreneur in suburban Willowbrook, Ill., showed me a true miracle for about $115.

Jerry Oreluk, chief executive of iDynta Systems Inc. at Dymensions.com, is a distributor of a legal-size electronic tablet called the DigiMemo A501. It may be a dream come true to everybody from lawyers to journalists, cops to carpenters, sales reps to school kids - anyone who dreams of putting their handwritten notes onto a computer for further action.

...Both the high end and low end in this revolution stem from the converging digital technologies that are combining to create another revolution in technology.

If you�re as tired as I am of hearing some pundit talk about looming high-tech revolutions, please stick with me for one more sentence.

The revolution isn�t from anything new but stems from gradual evolutionary advances in miniaturization, low-powered transistors, long-life batteries, wireless Internet and phone service, and ever-improving manufacturing know-how. In essence, if you can dream up a gadget, today�s tech factories can turn it out."

url: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/01132005/biz_nati/58847.htm

Engadget: Might not seem like it, but Microsoft is still pushing the Tablet PC

"Anyone else notice that the Tablet PC has become sort of invisible lately? Hardly any new ones were announced at the big ol� Consumer Electronics Show a few weeks ago (Bill Gates didn�t even hardly mention it during his big keynote there), sales have been mad sluggish (all 1.3% of all PCs sold are Tablet PCs, and it doesn�t help that they almost always cost more than a comparably-equipped laptop), and it�s almost like Microsoft has just lost interest in the whole thing. Well, maybe not entirely. It might not seem like they�re pushing the Tablet PC platform very hard, but PC World has an article about how Microsoft is working with Toshiba, ViewSonic, and AveraTec (i.e. spending some marketing dollars) to get more budget Tablet PC on the market. Everyone seems to think that the problem is poor marketing�that Microsoft et al. have done a poor job explaining what a Tablet PC is and what makes it different than a regular laptop�but maybe it�s time to admit that beyond a few niche markets, there just aren�t that many people who want to write by hand any more. Nothing wrong with that."

Robert Scoble, a Micorosoft employee and Tablet PC evangelist, agrees about the marketing problem on his blog:

"But, Engadget is right. Microsoft is BLOWING it big time by not making the Tablet PC a bigger deal.

Most normal people haven't seen a Tablet PC yet. How do I know that? Because everytime I'm on a plane people want to play with it. Same thing at the conference. People wanted a look.

That tells me that we're leaving money on the table. Howso? Tell me, have you seen an advertisement on TV for the Tablet PC?

Let's go over this again. Why does Apple have a marketing budget to buy TV ad spots and billboard space and magazine space for the iPod but my company can't buy a Super Bowl commercial to show it off to normal people?"

Steve Rubel, WebProNews.com, also picked up on it:

"The solution here is, as you said, to show as many non-geek businesspeople as possible the power of the Tablet PC. Once folks lay eyes on it, they will be mesmerized (unless they already love Apple). I know I was. Unfortunately, we're standardized on Dell here, but if they ever come out with a Tablet PC I would be game.

What Microsoft needs to do here, Robert, is find non-geek influencers who will frequently evangelize the platform to others both offline and online. Microsoft should immediately identify 500 - 1000 influential business bloggers who are big thinkers and give them free Tablet PCs systems to use.

Pick folks who travel, speak, write and appear in the press frequently - e.g. people from outside the technology community. Pick leaders who others flock to for advice. Scoble, please stop reading here and get David Allen, Pat Croce, Mark Cuban and Tom Peters Tablet PC systems ASAP. Do not pass go. They should be at the top of your list. "

Its' hard to ignore the elephant in the middle of the room. Lets' get some serious marketing going on. What other ideas do you have?

url: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000947029540/

WebProNews: Making Tablet PC Evangelism Wholly Transparent

"Having bloggers evangelize Microsoft's Tablet PC is what Steve Rubel suggests as an answer to Robert Scoble's vexation on the seeming invisibilty of the Tablet PC ...

All I would like to add to this excellent thinking is related to making sure such an exercise would be wholly transparent, leaving no doubt at all in anyone's mind exactly what the deal is here.

Taking a leaf out of Marqui's book with its pay-the-bloggers campaign would be my suggestion.

Quick recap: Marqui makes a communication management system and they pay certain bloggers $800 a month to blog about their product, where each blogger is wholly free to write whatever they like about the product, supportive or critical. Each blogger is required to clearly disclose his affiliation on his blog, and Marqui publishes a list of all paid bloggers on their website, including an index of all posts made by the paid bloggers.

No, I'm not suggesting Microsoft pays bloggers (but that's an interesting thought...) to write about the Tablet PC and/or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 (what a mouthful!). Rather, any blogger who gets a free Tablet PC as part of such a suggested evangelism campaign should very clearly identify that fact. Microsoft, too, would name all the names. Also bring in the providers of the actual hardware, the Tablet PCs themselves - get Toshiba, Acer, HP Compaq, etc, involved.

In such an open way - one that re-defines marketing and PR - the business benefits could be huge as with such transparency comes greater credibility and trust in the writing, the writer and the sponsors. "

That's a great idea and innovative thinking. I agree that it would need to be transparent. I especially like the idea of putting them in the hands of non-geek bloggers, like the Michael Hyatt's of the world.

url: http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-45-20050201MakingTabletPCEvangelismWhollyTransparent.html

How many are going to Windows Anywhere?

Rob posted yesterday about the chances to win a Tablet PC at the Windows Anywhere conference coming up in February. I'm curious, how many folks from here are planning to attend the conference? I know Rob is going, as well as a couple developers who are pretty active in the forum. I may be going, but as of yet have not decided for sure. So, who is planning to be there?

VSLive: Exhibit Hall Only passes available

For those wanting to attend the VS Live and Windows Anywhere conference in San Francisco, but couldn't afford it, they are now offering Exhibit Hall Only passes for $25.00. This will give you an opportunity to attend the keynote, play with the hardware and software, and meet with the vendors.

With the Exhibit Hall Only Pass, you can get into the 9am Keynotes on Monday, February 7; Tuesday, February 8; and Wednesday, February 9 and have access to the vendor booths.

Exhibit hours are:

Monday: 12PM - 3PM
Tuesday: 11AM - 3PM
Wednesday: 11AM - 2PM

Thanks for the heads-up, Lora.

url: http://www.ftponline.com/conferences/register/vslive/2005/sf/sfreg.aspx