Tablet computing is a very small pond, and it's now home to a very big fish: Dell.
The Round Rock, Texas-based PC maker on Tuesday is introducing the Latitude XT Tablet PC, its first product in the category.
Though it's just one notebook, Dell's entry is sure to cause a stir. It's a modest niche of computing that hasn't really gotten off the ground yet. And the interest of the second-largest PC maker in the world can't help but have an impact on the market.
"It puts the product in limelight," said Richard Shim, PC industry analyst with IDC. "It has potential to bring down pricing on key components that are being priced at a premium."
The Latitude XT at work.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News.com)Currently tablet PCs comprise just 2.4 percent of the worldwide notebook market, according to IDC. That's about 2.5 million units shipped total. But as Dell joins other high-profile tablet makers like Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Gateway, and others, the category is expected to grow to 12.3 million units and 6.3 percent of the notebook market by 2011, IDC said. And as volumes go up, prices are sure to go down.
That Dell would delve into tablets was one of the worst-kept secrets in the PC industry over the last year. The company confirmed the rumors in May and then briefly showed the product during Michael Dell's keynote speech at Oracle Open World in November.
The Latitude XT is aimed chiefly at commercial markets, and Dell says it initially tried to address several of the key complaints expressed by typical tablet users: that they're too bulky, the screen isn't viewable in direct sun, poor handwriting recognition, and inadequate battery life.
Although tablets in general are not marketed toward consumers right now, Dell's entrance could bring component prices down enough to make building and buying tablets affordable for, say, students one day, noted Shim. "Lately we've been seeing manufacturers start to look at the consumer market as an audience for this type of tablet," he said. Particularly because the profit margins are much higher for consumer devices.
For now, the price is not what you would call friendly to the mainstream notebook buyer. At the starting price of $2,499, the Latitude XT has a 12.1-inch LED-backlit screen, a 1.06-gigahertz Intel Core 2 Solo processor, 1GB of memory, and a 40GB hard drive. It comes with Windows Vista Business edition or XP Tablet Edition. The whole device weighs 3.57 pounds, and has about 5 hours of battery life. It uses capacitive touch input, which recognizes both fingers and an included pen for inputting data. The pen also comes with a right-click button.
The Latitude XT at rest.
(Credit: Dell)To target outdoor, all-day commercial users, the Latitude XT comes with upgrade options of an extra bright outdoor-viewable LCD display (which adds to the thickness of the notebook), an extended battery, which clips on the bottom of the device, as well as the option of an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a 32 or 64 GB solid-state drive.
Dell calls its capacitive touch technology, which picks up on the electrical current in a person's hand, the "breakthrough" in the device. It also recognizes the difference between the touch of an errant palm or a purposeful press of a fingertip on the screen.
Touchscreen interfaces are a technology area with huge potential, and mainstream interest in multitouch technology skyrocketed this year with Apple's iPhone and Microsoft's demonstrations of its Surface PC technology. Dell has its cooking up its own multitouch technology, which it showed at Oracle Open World, in which all five fingers can be picked up by screen sensors. That won't be available until at least next year, said Glenn Keels, director of Dell's commercial product group.
The biggest delay is the availability of software applications that take advantage of touchscreen technologies. And it's not just Dell, but all makers of tablets. "The (manufacturers) making progress are the ones getting closer to customers, like Motion Computing," Shim said. Dell, HP, Toshiba, and Gateway "have to come up with applications that are a little more mainstream or mass market. The hard part is they're not used to thinking that way, in terms of applications, as (tablet computing) is less and less about speeds and feeds, and more about the experience."
Dell says it will begin to take orders and ship the Latitude XT by the end of the year.
Fujitsu U810 mini-notebook
(Credit: Fujitsu)You'd be forgiven for classifying Fujitsu's U810 notebook as a slightly clunky ultramobile PC.
After all, it weighs a pound and a half, has the Intel A110 processor used in Samsung's UMPC, and allows for fairly easy and accurate thumb typing. But you'd be wrong. Fujitsu prefers to call it a mini-notebook, mostly because it's essentially a scaled-down version of its other convertible notebooks.
It opens like a notebook, but has a rotating screen, which can be swiveled and locked down like Fujitsu's other Lifebook products. The U810 has a lot of features--biometric security, Webcam, keyboard light, stylus and a touch-screen interface, and some decently sized keys for such a small keyboard. It's equipped with slots for SD cards, compact flash, USB, and has a port for an included Ethernet dongle and can connect to a docking station. It's 802.11 a/b/g and Bluetooth capable, with Wireless WAN (wide-area network) coming in February, courtesy of AT&T.
Fujitsu T2010
(Credit: Fujitsu)There's also not a lot of choice here. The tiny notebook will only be available in black, and will come with a standard 5.5-hour battery, 40GB hard drive and 1GB of memory. Buyers will have a choice of Windows Vista Home Premium, Vista Business or XP Tablet PC. The U810 starts at $999 and ships September 18.
Fujitsu has also updated its T series line of convertible notebooks. The T2010 is 3.5 pounds with a 12-inch, LED-backlit wide screen. It's designed specifically for tablet use, so the 9-hour battery stays in the front, but the latch is moved nearer to the notebook's swivel hinge.
Fujitsu has scrapped the optical drive so it weighs less. It includes an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, has PC and smart card slots, is Bluetooth-ready, and also will have Wireless WAN in February. The T2010 is slightly more customizable than the U810. Buyers can choose between a wireless chipset from Intel (802.11 a/b/g/n) or Atheros (802.11 a/b/g), and Vista or XP Tablet PC.
The T2010 goes on sale Tuesday, starting at $1,599.
Dell confirmed Friday that it will sell a tablet PC before the end of year.
Jeff Clarke, senior vice president and general manager of Dell's business product group, made the announcement in a short video posted to the company's Direct2Dell blog.
"I'm here to end much speculation in the industry about our plans in the tablet marketplace," says a casually attired Clarke, while holding the tablet. The device will be a Latitude tablet PC designed specifically for the education, health care and corporate markets, he said.
On the video, Clarke gives a brief demo and offers a few details. It will be one of the lightest tablets on the market and will have a pen and touch-screen interface. He demonstrates how it will open like a notebook, and will have a screen that twists and shuts to become a tablet.
Intel and Motion Computing recently announced a slate-style tablet PC specifically for the health care field. It will be priced at just over $2,000.
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