How would you rate a piece of technology which is supported by 24 hardware OEMs, 8 original design manufacturers (ODMs), 32 software application and services vendors—five of them Indian, four semiconductor technology companies, 11 component manufacturers and one design and manufacturing company? Sure they must be dreaming something big, something that could dazzle the whole world. Dazzle it certainly did—more than the Times Square with its million watts of neon lights put together.

Despite the fact that the Tablet PC details have been known and posted on innumerable sites for months, there was a huge population of corporate customers, partners, media, reviewers and technology enthusiasts, besides onlookers who gathered at the Ambassador Theatre in New York to hear it from the horse’s mouth—the chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft, Bill Gates. Hundred others thronged the Crowne Plaza Hotel across the road to gauge for themselves what Microsoft and its partners have been claiming for months would change the face of mobile computing. Not satisfied with just roping in its partners for the gala show, complete with laser displays and maverick Gates introductory speech, the company also decided to bring in writer Amy Tan, actor Rob Lowe and Dr Steven Covey of ‘The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People’ fame to share and talk about their experience with the product.

So does that qualify the Tablet PC as a disruptive technology piece? While it may be too early to pass judgment, it’s certain that the $400 mn and 10 years spent by Microsoft on this project has realized a long held desire—for over twenty years scientists have been dreaming about creating a real PADD, the slate device that the inhabitants of Star Trek used to record and access data as they moved around the starship Enterprise. And while there have been attempts to duplicate it over the years, the Tablet PC may be the first successful incarnation. For beginners, the Tablet PC starts out as a simple ultra-light Windows XP compliant notebook, complete with keyboard—detachable in some cases—and capable of running all Windows programs.

Ranging between Rs 80,000 to Rs 150,000, these Tablet PCs generally come in two versions—convertibles or hybrid types that appear to be regular laptops until one rotates or folds their screens and the slate type. While some Tablets may snap into optional docking stations, many others boast of integrated wireless networking.

Ink goes digital!
"The Tablet PC is a great example of how computers are adapting to how people really work, whether they’re taking notes in a meeting, collaborating wirelessly with colleagues or reading on screen. We’re just scratching the surface of what is possible," Gates said during the launch.

Answering media questions about the killer application that would force a laptop user to shift to the Tablet, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of the Tablet PC division Alex Loeb said that it’s important to understand that notebook users don’t give up anything when they switch to a Tablet PC. "The Tablet PC runs on Microsoft’s most powerful operating system. It’s also one of the most mobile computers ever developed. There are no compromises with the Tablet PC—it has all the functionality of a traditional laptop, plus more," he added.

That "more" Loeb cites will allow users to choose how they input and manipulate data. The Tablet PC is built with an electromagnetic screen that allows users to write or draw with a digital pen. The screen digitizes the pen movements and displays them as handwritten or drawn ‘ink’, and makes the hand-scripted text available to a handwriting recognizer, which translates the handwritten words into standard text in typeface.

The Tablet PC is also built on a new Microsoft operating system, the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, a superset of Windows XP Professional. This means that the Tablet PC platform has the same level of functionality as other computers running Windows XP Professional, besides supporting all legacy Windows applications. But this also means that the new platform provides a powerful foundation—including the .NET Framework—for developing new Windows-based applications that support Tablet PC digital pen and ink capabilities. And that is what can trigger the growth of this product; Microsoft expects 500,000 to 1 million Tablet PCs to be sold over the next year. No wonder then, the company has tied up with so many partners.

The new apps
While a lot has been written about what a Tablet PC is, very few have actually talked about the applications being developed around it. One of the breakthroughs of the Tablet PC is its support of ‘ink as ink’. The Tablet PC not only features a highly accurate handwriting recognition engine—with support for US and International English, French, German, Japanese, Korean and traditional and simplified Chinese—it also gives its users the option of preserving digitized handwritten text as digital ink.

That means they function as a data type, such as numerals or text in typeface, which can be exchanged, manipulated, saved and searched across Windows-based applications and devices. For instance, handwritten text on the Tablet PC can sent and received—as handwriting—in e-mail, while documents with handwritten notes and doodles can be saved as Word files. A Tablet PC user can also employ—or attach—more traditional input mechanisms, such as a keyboard or mouse, to operate the computer. The Tablet PC also includes voice-recognition software that enables the use of voice to command and control applications as well as input text.

A Windows Journal utility lets the user store, organize, search, and modify handwritten notes and drawings.

But that’s not all. The Zinio Reader, developed by the San Francisco-based Zinio Systems, can help readers simulate the magazine-reading experience on this high-tech device. One just needs to download a free reader and subscribe to digital versions of the magazine of choice. The rest is taken care of by the software which not only delivers the magazine issues complete with ads and images, it also helps one zoom in and out, instantly search and scribble handwritten notes on the pages, without permanently marking up the pages.Then there is the SketchBook from Alias|Wavefront, a wholly owned SGI company. This digital tool for artists of all skill levels, allows one to change brushes, colors and pen pressure, undo and redo, manipulate image layers and integrate digital sketches. Yet another tool, Corel Grafigo from Corel Corporation, allows user to collaborate visually with colleagues. Groove Networks, on the other hand, has come out with the Groove Ink Chat tool that can be used to exchange written messages during meetings, presentations and training sessions. The digital ink support to Grove Workspace, also means that Tablet PC users can now create secure "shared spaces" in which they can interact with colleagues, customers, partners and suppliers, on the fly using variety of communication and collaboration tools. Also, companies like Stentor and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions have announced the Tablet PC editions of their electronic medical records management tools—iSite Enterprise and TouchWorks respectively.

Not to miss the likes of EDS and SAP. While EDS announced the deployment of its Teamcenter software on the new operating system, SAP said that it has integrated the Tablet PC features on the Windows XP OS into mySAP CRM. And if you thought that’s all, check out the e-version of the paper-based FranklinCovey Planner that is being introduced by FranklinCovey and Agilix Labs. The Planner uses digital ink to enable one to store, organize and prioritize notes, appointments and tasks, beside helping one to quickly find them at a later stage.

While Microsoft’s early attempts to get pen-based computing off the ground had failed, the company is determined not to take any chance this time. Besides 10 years of hard work, the company is also relying on the timing of the launch. "Looking back, we can say the hardware and the software weren’t there. This time it really is ready for prime time," Gates said replying to questions from analysts, technology vendors, and reporters during the press conference.

Though experts and analysts have been saying that the Tablet will not be able to create an impact until more software applications are created to take advantage of the Tablet PC’s pen and portability, the world’s richest man is optimistic. "The Tablet PC is a great example of how computers are adapting to how people really work, whether they’re taking notes in a meeting, collaborating wirelessly with colleagues or reading on screen. We’re just scratching the surface of what is possible."

SHUBHENDU PARTH