Another Tablet Roundup: The Hype Just Doesn’t Stop

If it’s not official yet, it should be. Netbooks and Tablets are the CES 2010 show stoppers, and ever since the buzz about an alleged Apple tablet started, every consumer electronic maker has been rushing to beat Apple at its own game. HP was one of the first out of the gate this year at CES, and Steve Ballmer was happy to display the new tablet.

Of all the places to report it, MacRumors had a nice little piece. Basically, Ballmer showed off the tablet running a Kindle app, and a few screenshots show it running a form of Windows 7. Ballmer didn’t give any crazy details about prices, but did say it was coming later in the year. They also offered this very unexciting teaser video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIIjTDnX2Y0

Meanwhile, MacRumors is reporting that some inside sources who’ve seen the mythical tablet have said some interesting things. Everything from “It’s an iPhone, but not an iPhone” to explaining the GUI as having “a good bit of new sexy in it.” No one had said if it’s running a full blown version of Mac OS X, but most suspect that it’s an all new hybrid version of OS X.

Something worth noting: while a lot of new Tablets are shown running Windows 7, or some form of Linux, it’ll nearly goes without saying that you’d have access to doing and installing nearly anything you’d like on them. If Apple releases something closed source and restrictive like the iPhone, it could have some interesting implications for the devices usability. Many complained that first iteration of the iPhone was nearly useless until Apple gave the green light on apps.

Meanwhile, MacRumors had a story that Dell has launched their own little competitor in the Tablet area. And it’s literally quite little. It’s a 5 inch tablet running android. Rumor has it it’s got a phone dialer, so there’s the fair chance it’s sporting a 3G unit. There’s no official word on when and where the device will see the light of day. The name isn’t even decided. It’s still a prototype. A tablet this size, however, clearly isn’t meant to be a laptop replacement like some other tablets.

Let’s just say that when the CES dust settles, Q4 of 2010 is going to be littered with Tablets for holiday shopping.