Nokia 770 Tablet PC
Another go at the Wireless Tablet
The Tablet PC is an idea that might just be getting started. It's a technology that hasn't exactly caught on although it's been around for a number of years. These are usually book sized portable computers, a little large to be considered a handheld but smaller than a notebook. The main ingredient of the Tablet is the ability to write on its screen with a stylus like a PDA but with a heck of a lot more on screen real estate. The screens on tablet PCs can be the most beautiful things outside a full sized monitor and sport breathtaking resolutions and color.
These days many Tablets are powered by Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. Using XP Tablet, Microsoft gives Tablet PCs the functionality of vanilla Windows XP. But not all tablet PCs have to feed at the Microsoft trough, as we will see. One of the boldest advances of this genre in computing is the Nokia 770, a Linux powered miniature tablet that might just have you re-thinking what a tablet PC really is.
The Nokia 770 Tablet PC looks like an oversized handheld but operates like a PDA -- it fits into your hand at a size just smaller than a squished peanut butter sandwich. At 5.5 x 3.1 inches and just under an inch thick it could be the smallest tablet on the market. The touch screen display is 4.3 inches and features a resolution of 800x480 with a whopping 65,536 colors. One unique feature setting this device apart from most seems like a no-brainer: it's wifi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth ready. Although it's not the first wireless tablet, we saw them fail years ago and never really take off.
But this wireless tablet pc has a little more going for it. A fine brushed metal cover and deep gray gives it a classy look. It looks more like a substantial piece of equipment by avoiding the esthetic pitfalls of plastic controls and buttons that make other handhelds look and feel cheap by comparison. It's a linux powered tablet too, running off the Internet Tablet 2005 Software Edition operating system. With a wireless internet connection you get full email functionality and you can surf the web at the press of your stylus. Nokia's support of an open source operating system is a departure for their Symbian based cell phones. By moving into the wifi tablet PC market, Nokia brings a reinvention of sorts, by making tablets smaller and more, shall we say, palm friendly.
Outlook
Nokia is not one to shy away from a challenge. It's clearly going out on a limb, forging ahead from the handset market where it safely dominates the world. By reinventing the Tablet PC in the image of something Nokia knows well, miniature wireless handhelds, the Finnish manufacturer might just continue its dominance of everything wireless. But there is a risk, and it's difficult to say if it will take off.
The problem with the Tablet is it seems to be a perennial second best solution. It's not quite a handheld computer so you won't fit this tiny tablet into your pocket. It's not quite a notebook either. Until we get reliable voice recognition software, mini computers will only be fully serviceable if you can attach a keyboard and that's the Notebook PCs forte.