A Tablet PC is a portable computer with a touch screen interface which is typically smaller than a notebook computer but larger than a smart phone. Think of it as a morph between the two. It is operated either by finger touch on the screen, or by using the stylus to write directly on to the screen.

The tablet PC does not only fill a niche market for executives on the go but also has become the latest computing trend with masses. Many companies today are competing to build the most advanced and innovative kinds to fulfill and enhance the tablet market.

3 types of Tablets:

The Slate Tablet: It has all the electronics integrated into a relatively thin touch screen unit itself and lacks a hardware keyboard.

The Convertible Tablet: It is like a small notebook with a touch screen that can rotate 180 degrees and can be folded to close, screen up, over the integrated keyboard. It is slightly thicker than the slate as it accommodates the keyboard.

The Hybrid Tablet: It is like a regular notebook but with a removable display that functions independently as a slate.

Tablet Features to consider while buying:

Operating System: The Tablet OS provides a totally different experience than a conventional PC OS. Incorporation of motion sensor technologies has allowed the Tablet OS developers to offers a variety of Gestures. Despite of providing a great User Interface experience, the operating system developers of tablets also offer thousands of useful and creative ‘Apps’ (mostly free).

The two major competing platforms are iOS for Apple and Android by Google. The latest version for Apple is iOS 4.3.5 with iOS 5.0 to be released by the end of 2011. Android’s latest OS is the 3.2 Honeycomb with 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich expected to be released in October or November 2011.

Computing Power: Here the processor speed which is measured in GHz, the amount of RAM which is in GB and the resolution depth are to be kept in mind.

Display: Standard display size for Tablets is considered to be 10” but almost every company offers small variations in size and aspect ratios. While all tables have touch screens the display technology like True Colors, TFT WXGA, viewing angle etc. are to be looked into.

Other Attributes:

• Network Technology – 3G, 4G or True 4G
• Storage capacity - Measured in GB
• Camera quality – Front & rear-facing cameras
• Audio technology & speakers quality - Such as Dolby Mobile audio and "HiWave's flat speaker
• Ports & Slots – Such as HDMI port, a MicroSDHC slot, microUSB port
• Wi-Fi - Bluetooth - GPS
• Battery Backup Time
• Thickness & Weight
• Warranty