Apple and Microsoft tablets are looking sweeter than chocolate tablets

If some of you are already starting to be bored just by hearing the word 'tablet', you'd better get used to it. Because it looks like this word is here to stay. And along with the word itself, frantically used in the last couple of months, come some pretty interesting devices...

The product category as such existed already, with manufacturers such as Toshiba, HP and Fujitsu trying to grab a piece of this pie. However, the market didn't quite take off, being estimated at a mere 1.4% of the global portable PC market, according to research company IDC. But as it happened before (with MP3 players and smartphones), word that Apple might launch its own tablet immediately drew everyone's attention to this category.

Most were expecting the "iTablet" (the name predicted by many bloggers) to be launched as ready as September 9th, when Apple launched its new line of iPods. However, this did not happen. But according to recent news, there's no doubt an Apple tablet will be launched in early 2010. There are several clear indications of this: Apple apparently developed a multi-touch OS X version some years ago. Then Steve Jobs came back to work, and according to WSJ, the tablet is his number 1 priority these days. And then there are the leaks of selected suppliers, who confirmed that they already received order for components. And there are some nice previews of the tablet online, to complete the picture and satisfy our curiosity.

As you can see from the photos below, there is no clear indication of how the tablet will actually look like. Most observers predict a larger version of an iPod Touch.

 

And then, in the midst of all this excitement, BAM! comes Microsoft. Gizmodo leaks some rumors that the Redmond giant is also launching its own tablet, named "Courier", and it substantiates the rumor with some videos (see below).




Courier User Interface from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

We're obviously looking at yet another Microsoft - Apple showdown (few days before, rumors of Microsoft's own smartphone model also surfaced the blogosphere), which is more than likely going the make this emerging tablet PC category a whole lot more interesting. But what I think is particularly interesting (if most of the rumored features of iTablet and Courier turn out to be true) is that the two giants are following two completely different strategies: Apple is playing the entertainment card, while Microsoft chose the business & productivity card.

Now, mobile entertainment is growing like crazy and the iPhone and App Store's success are there to prove it. Entertainment on the go, available outside one's living room is here to stay. For a while at least. There is a lot of content that is being consumed more frequently in digital form, starting from music and TV programs to books and newspapers. But I think the business segment will also embrace a tablet with enhanced capabilities compared to a smartphone and more advanced that a netbook.

So there's no telling who chose the right strategy. Given the incipient stage of this product category, it looks like there is plenty of room to accommodate both Microsoft and Apple. Especially since the two tablets satisfy different needs and are at most complementing each other, instead of competing against each other.

As a final consideration, I just want to give a thumbs up to Microsoft for finally stopping to step in Apple's shoes and copy it at all costs. Courier seems like a valuable future product, with which Microsoft might take back some credit, that it partially deserves (for having actually invented the tablet concept and dedicated software back in 2001).