2010: YEAR OF THE TABLET?

Businesses are always looking for  ways to make employees more productive, and on the heels of Apple's iPad release, the booming tablet market could be just the ticket for businesses looking at increasing productivity and connectivity. While many businesses plan to forego tablets in favour of netbooks, that could change as tablet prices drop and allow for increased portability. In a survey from retail website PriceGrabber, 55% of respondents didn't see netbooks as a true laptop, while 63% thought a netbook's primary use was as an extra device on the road. This means that although netbooks are reasonably priced, most users still don't regard them as truly mobile devices, which is where the tablet can step in. New Zealand Computer Society (NZCS)CEO Paul Matthews says because Apple's iPad has 3G capability (assuming its new  mico-SIM card is made available here), it can truly be considered a mobile device, which will allow its users to be more productive on the go. Matthews himself uses a tablet and says he has experienced significant productivity gains. "If you're writing a big document, you don't want to be doing it on an iPad; you want a keyboard. But in terms of the vast bulk of what most people use a computer for, doing it on a tablet is a much more efficient and productive way," Matthews says. Though the iPad will likely cater more to consumers, there are a number of tablet devices in the prototype stage  whose capabilities range beyond browsing the internet and consuming media, and could be better suited for businesses and organisations. The onslaught of tablets doesn't just signal a change in the kind of devices used, but also the way we use them. The multi-touch interface favoured on tablets tends to save time and be more intuitive and portable, meaning that users can ditch the standard mouse and keyboard hardware that can make devices cumbersome. The spectrum of tablets varies widely, but ABI Research, a US-based technology market intelligence company, predicts there will be four million tablets sold by the end of 2010 and expects that number will jump to 57 million by 2015. As tablets become more predominant in the market, their uses will likely evolve, which is a boon for businesses and employees, as these user-friendly devices will boost productivity and make their mark as truly mobile devices.