CES 2010 may have been the place to see smartbooks with the official launches of the Lenovo Skylight, Mobinnova Beam, and Pegatron Neo – but there was also a trend that saw the revival of the tablet form factor. And could this be the biggest threat of them all?
The much-rumored Apple Tablet took several significant steps towards reality today after the Cupertino company announced it will hold a major launch event on 27 January. Perhaps most tellingly, it teased journalists with the promotional message: “Come see our latest creation” – which certainly indicates a new product, rather than an upgrade to an existing line.
Further backing up tablet rumours is the news the event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco – a location leaked for the potential tablet launch back in December. It all kicks off at 10am PST (6pm GMT).
Of course, as far as smartbooks are concerned, any Apple tablet/iTablet/Slate is unlikely to trouble them directly since it is expected to carry an asking price far in excess of the $299 – $399 price bracket typically targeted by smartbooks. That said, should Apple create a device to get the public at large excited about the form factor then cheaper alternatives – particularly Windows and Linux based models – could well present smartbooks with a whole new challenge…
Gordon
