The traditional newspaper and magazine industry has been quick to recognise a tremendous opportunity to migrate from the declining world of physical print to the rapidly spreading culture of handheld computers via the downloadable tablet app.

Recently, a type of newreader app has become popular on the UMPC, which collects social network site feeds with selected news channels and converts the content into a stylish magazine format for a personalised reading experience.

Consumer research consistently points to the tablet PC overtaking sales of the PC in less than 18 months as tablet PCs become the ultra portable, everyday web access and media file share device of choice. Currently, over 75 per cent of handheld PC owners can simply go online and check their emails anywhere, anytime, and around 65 per cent will watch videos and read online publications while on the move.

With an estimated 17 million tablets sold in 2010, the tablet has already outstripped sales growth of the smartphone four times over and an incredible five times more than the traditional deskbound PC. General public consumers have undeniably taken to the tablet PC because of its’ lightweight mobility, absolute economy of space and clear, detailed screen viewing, at least a third to four times larger than the size of a smartphone.

Advances in tablet technology also means products are being manufactured to be highly adaptable to multiple working environments as well as for leisure, entertainment and social networking. Tablets are being designed in a variety of sizes and types, each best suited to be used in a number of specific applications. A tablet PC which combines key qualities quickly becomes an indispensable, multi-disciplinary tool.

Serious professional and commercial applications range from manufacturing,  retail distribution and architectural survey to education and healthcare.

Most usefully, each field can call upon a specific tablet utility ranging from the pure touchscreen tablet PC without a keyboard to a dual mode PC, a model similar to a notebook with a connected keyboard but able to be converted into a touchscreen version by simply reversing the display screen and setting it flat above the keyboard. The rugged tablet PC with IP rated screen and waterproof body are manufactured to robust specification for heavy use out in the field, challenging locations and all-weather environments to meet industry, engineering or defence requirements.
 

In just twelve months, since tablet PCs were first launched by global brands, the marketplace has seen a rapid population by a variety of handheld computers from both mainstream and emergent tablet PC manufacturers. According to recent industry analysts, it will be the likes of a Motion tablet PC or a Paceblade slimbook that are set to be making their presence felt, and the tablet of choice with both professional and public user.

With studies consistently showing that over half of consumers, when asked, state they are interested in purchasing a hand held PC, sales are expected to rise from 19.7 million last year to reach 61.9 million units by the end of 2011. Boosted by the growing take-up of devices based on the Android mobile operating system, market observers forecast  that alternative brand sales of tablets will grow by some 134 per cent during the year ahead.

The prediction that tablet PCs will become “ ... the No. 1 internet-enabled consumer electronic devices on the market” is tantalisingly close! Surveys also reveal that over half of tablet owners say they are far more likely than e-reader users to engage with in-app advertising – a slightly higher number than hard copy magazine readers who tend to respond to advertisements. According to some reports, nearly a quarter of tablet owners say they have already engaged with advertising content, compared to less than 1 per cent by e-reader owners.

According a 2011 2Q  survey of online shoppers, around 9 per cent said they owned a tablet PC and most prefer to use their tablets to using smartphones when buying online as they find their tablet as easy to use as their computer when searching and ordering goods. Amongst tablet owners, around three quarters own a smartphone as well, which means that 7 per cent of online shoppers own both a tablet and smartphone.

Shopping online is a popular activity with tablet PC owners with nearly 50 per cent claiming they already purchase online via their tablet while a further 13 per cent have searched for goods online using their tablet without purchasing. According to Forrester Research, as adoption grows, tablets will likely become the essential device, “ ... for at-home and portable shopping experiences... “, while the role of the smartphone will likely be to dominate the “in-store shopping experience”.

The prospects for significant retail revenue opportunities via tablet advertising look promising in the next twelve months as the research seems to suggest that tablet magazine adverts have a significant capacity to motivate and engage consumers.

Latest figures from Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, estimate that 2 per cent of the UK are already proud owners of a tablet PC with 1.5million tablet PCs having been sold in the UK, to date.

Making their presence felt in key professional industry sectors from education and  healthcare, to construction and architectural surveys, there are few applications, inside or outside, where handheld computers cannot provide an essential performance.

Nowhere is this more applicable than in aviation where the rugged tablet PC can supply robust support for both maintenance workers/engineers and pilots reliant on electronic flight bag applications (EFBs).

Electronic flight bags have  rapidly become the industry standard  tool in today's business and general jet aviation cockpits. A lightweight UMPC can now eliminate some 20 kgs of paperwork by replacing heavy paper manuals, charts and check lists.

A fixed position tablet PC, cockpit-mounted, can provide corporate pilots with on-board dynamic information such as en-route and approach charts, real-time weather and electronic equipment manuals. 

Assessing Electronic Flight Bag usability takes into account functionality characteristics that can be evaluated in the following categories:

• Physical ease of use :  visual, audio, and tactile, movement between pages, number of inputs to complete a task, ease of accessing functions and options.
• Planning and manipulating data/content : Susceptibility to error and error recovery, graphic icons/symbols, formatting and layout, use of colour, language, terms, abbreviations.
• Feedback (system state, alerts, modes) : Labels and controls,  responsiveness and automation (if any).

Key criteria in selecting EFB / Tablet PC Hardware include:

• Screen visibility :  Outdoor viewable, wide viewing angles.
• Power management :  Long battery life, fast charging.
• Ruggedness : Gorilla Glass,  drop tested, water resistant.

An IP rated vibration and impact resistant tablet, secured against moisture, dirt and dust, ensures critical, uninterrupted functionality, crucial for an entire flight navigation process.

Viewable under high sunlight conditions with large LCD TFT, high resolution screen range provides the same colour quality, image precision and unhindered use of an onscreen keyboard under any atmospheric, airborne conditions as would be expected in an enclosed working environment.
 

Dubbed the year of the tablet PC, the 2011 second quarter figures indicate all the predictions are on track – or on screen, to be more accurate! Since leaving the starter blocks in 2010, tablet PCs have captured some 19 per cent of all volume sales of computing devices and latest figures show around 237, 400 units sold.

As shipments of handheld computers increased by 331 per cent this year,  at the same time, studies from  retail and technology analysts report that, “notebook sales fell 14 per cent to 720,100, desktops declined over 21 per cent to 126,000 and netbook sales dropped 36 per cent to 185,900”.

From the UMPC on the move in the office, studio, high street and shopfloor to the rugged tablet PC out in the field, in the air or out to sea, more industry sectors are finding it easier to simply bring a touch screen tablet PC over and ‘show something from the web or the office to someone’ than trying to jump from smart phone to laptop or notebook.

Back in April, it was forecast that the handheld PC will account for 17 per cent of all wireless data demand by 2020, so big things are definitely expected of tablets in the immediate future. In fact, talking of big things, already there is industry talk of the next development in personalising tablets to be even more responsive and intuitive to individual usability.

While tablet screens come in all manner of screen sizes for scalability and clarity of detail way beyond the smartphone, plans are underway to boost touch typing for a variety of hand sizes more used to bashing away at a traditional keyboard. This means it will be possible for future tablets to be able to ‘shapeshift’ and become keyboards or game controllers, etc.

An on-screen keyboard would be responsive to an individual user’s physical anatomy, such as finger size, length and range of motion and thus, alter the size, shape and location of its’ keys to adapt to requirement. Other ‘user-friendly’ applications in the pipeline also include tactile enhancement which uses a keyless keyboard that sends acoustic pulses to let you know when you've touched something and vibrating screens that can simulate the feel of different textures.

Eventually, it is suggested, touchscreens will be able to ‘grow’ whatever input devices we need, whether it is a keyboard for email, a D-pad for games or any future IT innovation!

Undoubtedly, the possibilities will mean tablet PCs will offer an increasingly expanding range of versatile, vital applications ‘ready made’ for key commercial, educational and research needs unlikely to be available anywhere else on the ‘mobile’ market.