All the bets for 2012 seem to be on the tablet PC as the hot mobile favourite to go gold with the UK user! Despite whisperings about the Ultrabook, their generally hefty price tag is unlikely to stop the stampede for increasingly competitive tablet PCs dominating in the home, workplace and on the move.
Estimates claim that 10 per cent of the UK received a handheld computer over Christmas and it is predicted that tablet ownership could reach 25 per cent by this time next year as sales of tablet PCs are expected to reach 8 million! As many as 45 per cent of those who intend to purchase a handheld PC in the next twelve months say their desktop or laptop will see less use as a direct result.
In 2012, key purchasing of rugged tablet PC and its' ultramobile tablet PC counterpart is set to equal the smartphone and increase across many professional organisations and commercial enterprises including, manufacturing and retail distribution, healthcare and education.
In the age of the online multichannel, some researchers have found that touchscreen tablet PCs are now growing even faster than the mobile commerce market as an online shopping tool. However, the high-end of handheld PC use is increasingly being taken up by the professional user who constantly demands critical data, online access and communication to be constantly available for immediate personal viewing or person to person, whenever required.
Currently, the latest must-have technology is on display at the 2012 CES ( Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas where major tablet PC producers such as Motion Computing are featuring their Motion J3500 Rugged Tablet PC, Motion CL900, and Motion C5v Mobile Clinical Assistant.
Designed and built for 'field service', rugged tablet PCs are fully capable of carrying out valuable tasks simply and easily by touch or digitizer while on the move. Crucial tasks can be carried out at high elevation on a construction site or in a jet engine cockpit, or at a life or death moment at a patients bedside or in the law courts!
It is expected that tablet PCs will continue to dramatically grow in use for online browsing, and shopping and leisure among the general user. However, there is no doubt that key project management applications will become increasingly reliant on the handheld computer as the mobile technology of choice during 2012.