Computers, Gadgets | featured news

In the world of tablets, some companies launch one model and stick to it (Apple). Others introduce several models and boast about their flexibility and desire to fulfill diverse customer preferences (Samsung, etc.).

Tablet computers are selling fast — but it’s starting to look like the stripped-down computers won’t eat the rest of the PC industry alive anytime soon. Worldwide shipments of so-called media tablets into sales channels fell 28% in the first quarter of 2011 to 7.2 million units during the first quarter, according to tech tracker IDC.

Here's the latest: The company reportedly is working on a new iPad, due out later this year, that will have a higher-resolution screen. Dubbed the "iPad HD" by a blog called This Is My Next, which is run by former editors from the respected tech site Engadget, the new iPad is said to be a "pro" device that could be used for high-end video editing and photography.

Yes, we all know that the iPad is an extremely successful product. It has invented, created, a new niche, a new product line, in computing. We can see the effects of the shipments on the bottom line of Apple: and the reflection in Apple’s share price.

Like the old Timex commercials — “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking” — torture tests featuring electronic tablets like the iPad are appearing on YouTube.

Intel unveiled a new category of laptops that it says will include the best features of tablets as the world's top chipmaker struggles to find its footing in the exploding market for mobile gadgets. Netbook pioneer Asustek showed its first new PC in Intel's "Ultrabook" class, the UX series, on Monday at the Computex computer show in Taipei. Intel said models made by other manufacturers would go on sale by Christmas and cost under $1,000.

The obsession with tablet computing will be on full display Tuesday as Computex, the world's second-largest computer show, begins its annual five-day run in Taipei. The prominence of tablets underscores a dramatic shift under way in the personal computer industry — and keenly felt in Taiwan, which is home to some of the world's biggest PC manufacturers — as many consumers opt to buy a tablet rather than a new PC.

Bidding to differentiate itself in the increasingly competitive tablet-computer market, Samsung Electronics plans this year to launch an Android-based tablet running on fourth-generation network technology.

Apparently, the iPad isn't the only tablet in town capable of selling out. While the Asus Eee Pad Transformer might not have the big-name appeal of its Apple rival, the $399 16GB Honeycomb tablet managed to sell out online at Best Buy's website in its first day on sale.

Sony is planning a tablet computer with a touch panel similar to Apple’s iPad for later this year that the Japanese manufacturer promises will make the best of its gadgetry and entertainment strengths.