In yet another sign of rapidly changing consumer behaviour, eBay UK recently reported that sales of tablet PCs have overtaken the traditional desktop computer.

Combined with sales of eReaders, in May 2011 alone, 18,308 handheld computers were sold, contrasting strongly with 13,155 desktop PCs sold, while laptop sales were down from 80 per cent in 2010 to 70 per cent.

Consumer use of the tablet PC in the retail sector is, undoubtedly, going to see a dramatic surge in the bid by retailers to boost the shopping experience. As the dramatic shift from static website access to on-the-move search continues apace, the ultramobile PC is now joining the use of the smartphone by savvy shoppers to price compare, find more information, buy online and share with friends on social networks.

According to the State of Retailing Online Report (SORO) 2011, released by Shop.org and technology and market analysts, Forrester Research, the handheld PC now accounts for 21 per cent of a retailer’s total mobile traffic. As most tablet PCs weigh just a few pounds, and are easy to carry around, it’s not surprising to find that other studies reveal that nearly three quarters of tablet owners state they have bought or would purchase online using their mobile tablet PC. Also, over a half claim they use their tablet PC to share online shopping sites, offers and discounts with family and friends.

The other huge customer service benefit to a large supermarket or department store is providing the staff with a highly user- friendly technology for fast and easy online stock checking and availability, customer ordering/purchasing, product demos/info collecting, customer ratings, etc

Similar to an interactive information kiosk, a touchscreen PC can also be mounted throughout a store for customer browsing and finding the required product information when shop floor staff are unavailable – increasing the possibility of an immediate purchase! The additional use of a fixed position PC as an online catalogue also allows out-of-stock items or online-only products to be ordered while the customer is still physically in the store.

Self-service checkouts are already standard and being used by shoppers everyday in most UK supermarkets. But a key advantage of using a tablet rather than the fixed checkout terminal is the opportunity to offer mobile POS for one or two item shoppers. A mobile tablet is a highly efficient and cost effective method to retain customers by reducing waiting time for the 1-2 item purchaser and thus, decrease multi-item queues.

Whether front of store or in the warehouse, handheld computers are fast becoming the essential retail service tool to help drive up sales and provide better customer service  - in the convenient mobile  style that the tablet-using customer already has shown they absolutely want!

Unofficially, this is the year of the Tablet PC! Have you noticed how they’re appearing on any number of  television programmes, being used by both presenters and those featured in the programme?  Very casually, they literally, point to open up and highlight an item on the handheld pc screen, which can be clearly seen by the viewer at home.

This week alone, tablets have been seen on active duty in a variety of situations such as a medical research lab, on an archaeological dig and aboard a sailing yacht. Not to mention that the super sleek, ultra mobile PC is definitely the No.1 cool tech of the design studio and media lounge.

Since the advent of the iPhone leading the march of the smartphone across the consumer landscape, it was all too readily assumed that this was the beginning of the mobile era. Market surveys record that in 2010, global sales of portable devices reached a staggering 581.5 million. While smart phones accounted for 52 per cent of sales, leaving notebooks with 39 per cent  and tablet PCs with just over 3 per cent (roughly 18 million units), the landscape is rapidly changing.

Experts are forecasting that by 2014, sales of the mobile tablet PC will have overtaken notebooks. Of the 1.07 billion portable devices predicted to be sold worldwide, the figure for the motion tablet PC will have risen 10.4 per cent while smartphones will have fallen to around 49 per cent, leaving notebooks trailing with a reduced 36 per cent. There’s already been news in May from Canadian analysts that Blackberry smartphone sales are ‘slowing’ and in the UK, tablet sales are reported to have already overtaken traditional PCs on some websites by consumers drawn to the portable alternative.

Undoubtedly the retail sector will be transformed by tablet PCs influencing both consumer shopping behaviour and retail/ wholesale suppliers using as a fast, efficient operational tool. Recent studies suggest that mobile commerce is about to explode by four times its’ present usage over the next five years as consumers grow more comfortable with shopping via smartphone and tablet PC.

So it’s actually looking like the decade belongs to the touch screen tablet PC! The super enhanced convenience of having a 10 to 13in screen size to access the web and share media files leaves the mobile phone 4in way behind! Or at least, the ultrafast, on-the-move UMPC fills a vital gap between an ‘all fingers and thumbs’ mobile and the more heavy, more hassle notebook.

Computer market observers report that tablet PCs are now growing four times faster than smartphones - rising to five times faster for  PCs! Figures estimate that around 17 million tablets were sold worldwide in 2010 and forecasts are for 200 million handheld computers to be sold every year until at least 2014.

According to a new IT survey by Forrester, global technology and market researchers, around 26 percent of businesses across the UK, France, Germany, US and Canada plan to introduce a tablet PC into the workplace, while 4 per cent have already begun using a mobile tablet PC.

The surge of different tablet types, from slimbook to pen tablet PC, and the various screen sizes now available, means just about every type of user in any public service or private enterprise sector can have instant on-the-move web access and shared data. All viewed on a large, clear touch screen - user-friendly for any fingertips, large or small!

Different types of tablets are being designed to specification for diverse working environments and it’s important to know the basic differences and which type will perform the best for a specific user with a particular application.

Currently, there are three types of tablet PC:

• Convertible
• Slate
• Rugged

Key distinguishing features are between an extremely portable tablet with slim look design or a device manufactured to be a sturdy, robust, all weather, handheld rugged tablet PC.

Convertible: Similar to a laptop, with barely a discernible difference in functionality other than the ability to turn the screen 180 degrees and close flat down on top of the keyboard with the screen facing up. In this position, the convertible functions just like a tablet PC by responding to the touch of a finger or stylus. The on-board, full-size keyboard means carrying slightly additional weight, unlike other tablet PCs.

Slate:  Lightweight, sleek and highly portable with similar looks to an enlarged PDA, slates are user friendly to fingertip or stylus. Sufficiently powerful, slates pack a high level of functionality, including several USB ports to connect a keyboard, mouse, external hard drives, monitor or data projector for presentations and multiple viewing.

Rugged: Extremely durable and robust, rugged tablets are built to withstand the rigours of being used in challenging commercial, industrial, or exterior ‘field’ environments, on land at sea or in the air. This type of tablet comes with a tough, protective shell and screen, liquid and impact proof rated with a shock-mounted internal hard drive, impervious to being dropped or knocked.
 

There’s no doubting that finally, the age of the Tablet PC is well and truly here!  The handheld PC  now runs side by side with mobile and smartphone to be the must-have, smart technology of the on-Demand generation.

However, it’s a little known fact that the first tablet-type first saw light of day in 1888, in the USA, when Elisha Gray patented an electrical stylus device for capturing handwriting.

It wasn’t until the 1940s and 50s that touchscreen and tablet with pen for computer input and software for real time, handwritten text recognition started to evolve. Fast forward to the 1980s and the first commercially available tablet-type portable computers began to be seen followed in the early 1990s by Microsoft’s Windows for Pen Computing. In 2000, PaceBlade develops the first device that meets the Microsoft's Tablet PC standard and one year later, Bill Gates demonstrates the first public prototype of a Tablet PC.

By the end of 2010, it was being announced by IT business analysts that user access to the internet by mobile had overtaken the deskbound PC. As we move further into the age of handheld computers, no market sector, private or public will be unaffected by innovation technology driving the demand for scalable, multi-functional devices for fast access to the web.

The press and media industry has been highly visible in it’s rapid embrace of the highly desirable portability of Tablet PCs in a variety of screen sizes. It should not be forgetten that other key industry sectors like architecture, construction, education, healthcare and retail have also seen the immense benefits from web access, document processing and customised applications available anytime, anywhere on a screen many times bigger than standard smartphone size.

Today, a variety of screen sizes are being made available but generally, an useful guideline for Tablet PC screens are :

Small / Light: 5" to 8.9"
Compact: 10"
Mainstream: 12.1"
Large:  13.3"

Larger size tablet touchscreen simply makes life – and work – easier!  Using either a pen/stylus or fingertips directly replaces the mouse to select, drag, open files or use the pen to write notes and you can use it anywhere. That means, while standing up or sitting down without needing a flat surface.

Designed for today’s on-the-move industry professional who wants to connect and work in any environment, the mobile tablet PC is equipped with wi fi, bluetooth and long battery life -  so no problem in a crowded railway carriage, which has suddenly stopped between stations.

Work - or gaming can continue ...!