Promoted since the days of the Apple Newton pundits and press prognosticate this is the year

Freescale tablet computer

With the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Vegas this week, everyone is predicting a host of new tablet computers will shake the computer market out of its lethargy.

Tablets are computers you can easily carry, use an on-screen touch keyboard and connect to the world through wi-fi and 3G networks. You will be able to get your mail, compose a letter, watch TV and listen to music all in sub-10 inch format.

The iPhone is a miniature tablet. You can do all of the above but the screen is too small for serious work. On a trip in September I updated this blog from the car – not while driving – on the iPhone. It was possible but tedious due to the small screen and on-screen keyboard.

Everyone is predicting Apple brings out its tablet in February which has been dubbed the iSlate. Apple has a long history of trying to introduce flat screen small computers with little success. Remember the Newton? It was supposed to have handwriting recognition with a tiny stylus. The Newton was an expensive toy and could not be used for much.

The iPhone is what the Newton one of the original PDAs grew up to be. Having used most of the iterations of the hand held since then, I can safely say the iPhone is the best so far. It’s useable but still not useful enough to be picked up when a real computer is nearby.

The prototype from Freestyle (pictured above) will cost $199 they say, has “a 7in touch-screen, turns on quickly and connects instantly to the internet via Wi-Fi or the mobile phone network, and provides a full day of battery life.” Telegraph.co.uk

Amazon.com’s Kindle is a kind of tablet computer, although it is restricted to one task – reading books. If tablet computers take off, the Kindle will get serious competition from other e-book publishers. Of course, not everyone agrees reading a book on a computer is the goal. Most people still prefer to hold a book in their hands and turn the pages.

“Glen Burchers, director of consumer product marketing for Freescale, said his company’s tablet computer was aimed at people aged between 12 and 30, who wanted a web-friendly device with a bigger screen than a smart phone to surf sites such as Facebook and YouTube.”

“The tablet is the newest category of mobile device, and we believe it has the potential to be the fastest-growing,” he said. “Everyone who uses the internet finds value there.” Telegraph.co.uk

CES will generate lots of press releases. How many of the prototypes ship and how many people buy are bigger questions. No doubt if Apple ship a product it will validate the market since Apple have an excellent track record of delivering cool products that people like in a small form factor.