pen-based computer

HP Compaq tablet PC with rotating/removable keyboard

In general terms, tablet PC refers to a laptop or slate-shaped mobile computer, equipped with a touchscreen or graphics tablet/screen hybrid to operate the computer with a stylus or digital pen, or a fingertip, instead of a keyboard or mouse.

This form factor offers a more mobile way to interact with a computer. Tablet PCs are often used where normal notebooks are impractical or unwieldy, or do not provide the needed functionality.

Specifically, Tablet PC refers to a product announced in 2001 by Microsoft, and defined by Microsoft to be a pen-enabled computer conforming to hardware specifications devised by Microsoft and running a licensed copy of the "Windows XP Tablet PC Edition" operating system or a derivative thereof.^[1]

Forms

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Booklets

Booklet PC’s are dual screen tablet computers that fold open like a book. A typical Booklet PC is equipped with multitouch screens and pen writing recognition capabilities. They are designed to be used as a digital day planner, internet surfing device, project planner, to watch videos, live tv, play music, and for e-reading.

Slates

Slate computers, which resemble writing slates, are tablet PCs without a dedicated keyboard. For text input, users rely on handwriting recognition via active digitizer, touching the screen with a fingertip or stylus or by using an external keyboard can usually be attached via a wireless or USB connection.

These tablet PCs typically incorporate small (8.4–14.1 inches/21–36 centimetres) LCD screens and have been popular for quite some time in vertical markets such as health care, education, and field work. Applications for field work often require a tablet PC that has rugged specifications that ensure long life by resisting heat, humidity, and drop/vibration damage such as the Canadian made AcuTab that is manufactured by Acura Embedded Systems

This added focus on mobility and/or ruggedness often leads to elimination of moving parts that could hinder these qualities.

Consumer requirements are supported by less rugged Tablet PC's, similar to the Handii Go!! Generation

Convertibles

Convertible notebooks have a base body with an attached keyboard. They more closely resemble modern laptops, and are usually heavier and larger than slates.

Typically, the base of a convertible attaches to the display at a single joint called a swivel hinge or rotating hinge. The joint allows the screen to rotate around 180° and fold down on top of the keyboard to provide a flat writing surface. This design, although the most common, creates a physical point of weakness on the notebook.

Some manufacturers, however, have attempted to overcome these weak points. The Panasonic Toughbook 19, for example, is advertised as a more durable convertible notebook. One model by Acer has a sliding design in which the screen slides up from the slate-like position and locks into place to provide the laptop mode.

Convertibles are by far the most popular form factor of tablet PCs, because the convertibles still offer the keyboard and pointing device of older notebooks, for people who are unsure about the practicality of using the pen as the primary method of input.

Hybrids

Hybrids, coined by users of the HP/Compaq TC1000 and TC1100 series, share the features of the slate and convertible by using a detachable keyboard which operates in a similar fashion to a convertible when attached.

This is not to be confused with slate models that have a detachable keyboard—detachable keyboards for pure slate models do not rotate around to allow the tablet to rest on it like a convertible.

With a loyal following of users, the hybrid form factor has received new recent updates after the TC1100. HP has launched an array of tablet pc convertible notebooks over the last few years. Their latest being the tx2 which brings multi-touch capabilities to a consumer aimed notebook.^[2]

System software

Microsoft

The operating system on which most tablet PCs used to run was Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.^[3][4] Tablet PC Edition is a superset of Windows XP Professional, the difference being tablet functionality, including alternate text input (Tablet PC Input Panel) and basic drivers for support of tablet PC specific hardware. Requirements to install Tablet PC Edition include a tablet digitizer or touchscreen device, and hardware control buttons including a Ctrl-Alt-Delete shortcut button, scrolling buttons, and at least one user-configurable application button.

Service Pack 2 for Windows XP includes Tablet PC Edition 2005 and is a free upgrade. This version brought improved handwriting recognition and improved the Input Panel, allowing it to be used in almost every application. The Input Panel was also revised to extend speech recognition services (input and correction) to other applications.

With the succession of Windows Vista, the Tablet PC functionality no longer required a separate edition. Tablet PC support is built into all editions of Windows Vista with the exception of Home Basic and Starter editions. This extends the handwriting recognition, ink collection,^[5] and additional input methods to any computer running Vista even if the input device is an external digitizer, a touch screen, or even a regular mouse. Vista also supports MultiTouch functions and gestures (originally developed for the Microsoft Surface version of Vista) and is now usable by the public with the release of MultiTouch tablets. Windows Vista also significantly improved handwriting recognition functionality with the introduction a handwriting recognition personalization tool as well as an automatic handwriting learning tool.

The steady improvements in tablet functionality continue with Windows 7, available in all editions of Windows 7 with the exception of the Starter edition. It introduces a new Math Input Panel that recognizes handwritten math expressions and formulas, and integrates with other programs. Windows 7 also significantly improved pen input and handwriting recognition by becoming faster, more accurate, and supportive of more languages, including East Asian writing systems. Personalized custom dictionaries help with the recognition of specialized vocabulary (like medical and technical terms), and text prediction speeds up the input process to make note-taking faster. MultiTouch technology is also available on some Tablet PCs, enabling more advanced interaction using touch gestures with your fingers the same way a mouse is used ^[6].

Windows applications

There are many operating systems in use on devices marketed as tablets. Note that most tablet PC software is targeted particularly for the Microsoft Tablet PC API, and will not run on devices without Windows Vista or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Care should be taken when researching a tablet system or any device or software that claims to be designed for tablet PCs, as the phrase does not guarantee compatibility. In fact, many of Microsoft's own application, written exclusively for tablet PC's, no longer work with Microsoft Vista.

Applications developed for the tablet PC cater to the form factor and functionality available on the platform. Many forms of applications incorporate a pen-friendly user interface and/or the ability to handwrite directly in the document or interface.

A brief description of the applications included follows:

Experience Pack

• Ink Desktop: an Active Desktop control designed to run in the background and allow the user to write directly on the desktop.
• Snipping Tool: a screen capture application which allows the tablet pen to be used to select a portion of the screen and then annotate it and save as a file or send in an email.
• Ink Art: a painting application developed by Ambient Design originally as ArtRage, licensed to Microsoft for release to Tablet PC users.
• Ink Crossword: a crossword application developed to mirror the experience of a paper crossword puzzle on a tablet PC.
• Media Transfer: a synchronization utility designed to download music, pictures, and videos off of computers in the same network.

Education Pack

• Ink Flash Cards: an application designed to assist memorization by using a flash card approach, enabling the user to handwrite their own flash cards and display them back in a slideshow.
• Equation Writer: a recognition tool specializing in converting handwritten mathematical equations to a computer-generated image for pasting into other documents.
• GoBinder Lite: an organization and note-taking application developed by Agilix Labs.
• Hexic Deluxe: a game with a tablet PC specific gesture enabled for easier use with the tablet and better

Linux

Running Linux on tablet PCs is as practical as on conventional notebooks. More recently, tablet PCs may also be configured with Linux pre-installed.

One early implementation of a Linux tablet was the ProGear by FrontPath. The ProGear used a Transmeta chip and a resistive digitizer. The ProGear initially came with a version of Slackware Linux, but could later be bought with Windows 98. Because these computers are general purpose IBM PC compatible machines, they can run many different operating systems.

Xorg now supports screen rotation and tablet input through Wacom drivers, and handwriting recognition software from both the Qt-based Qtopia and GTK+-based Internet Tablet OS provide promising free and open source systems for future development.

However, little mature desktop-oriented software of the sort has arisen, leading many users to rely on on-screen keyboards and alternative text input methods like Dasher. There is at least one handwriting recognition program available, CellWriter, but it requires users to write letters separately in a grid.

TabletKiosk currently offers a hybrid digitizer / touch device running SUSE Linux. It is the first device with this feature to support Linux.

Apple

The aftermarketer Axiotron has introduced aftermarket, heavily modified Apple MacBooks called Modbooks, a Mac OS X-based tablet computer. It uses Apple's Inkwell for handwriting and gesture recognition and bundles additional digitization software from Wacom.

While Apple Inc. legally forbids and doesn't sanction running their operating system Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware,^{[citation needed]} there are a large number of computer enthusiasts who are running slightly modified copies of Mac OS X on various x86 architecture PC models, among them Tablet PC computers.^{[citation needed]} To get Mac OS X to talk to the digitizer on Tablet PC systems they use a free open source driver named TabletMagic originally written to support serial tablets for which Wacom no longer supplies Mac drivers.

Tablets vs. traditional notebooks

The advantages and disadvantages of tablet PCs are highly subjective measures. What appeals to one user may be exactly what disappoints another. The following are commonly cited opinions of the tablet PC platform:

Advantages

• The ability to use in environments not conducive to a keyboard and mouse such as lying in bed, low lighting when a lighted screen is the input source, standing or with one hand.
• Recording non-character based information such as diagrams and mathematical notation and symbols.
• Lighter weight, lower power models can function similarly to dedicated reading devices like the Amazon Kindle.
• Touch Environment makes navigation much easier than conventional use of keyboard and mouse or touchpad .

Disadvantages

• Higher cost — convertible tablet PCs can cost significantly more than their non-tablet counterparts although this premium has been predicted to fall.^[7]
• Input speed — handwriting can be significantly slower than peak typing speeds which can be as high as 50-150 WPM, though Swype and other technologies provide alternate, speedier methods of input.
• Screen damage risk - Tablet PCs are handled more than conventional laptops yet built on the same frames and since their screens also serve as input devices (like PDAs) they run a higher risk of screen damage.
• Wrist futility - Does not let your wrist rest on something. You have to move your arm constantly. Applies only to some touch screen tablets and not digitizer tablets.

Features

New Tablet PCs may have:

• Capacitive technology, which senses touch of finger with no pressure required for system to recognize input.^[8]
• Digital palm recognition technology prevents inadvertent contact from disrupting pen input.^[8]
• Multi-touch recognizes multiple simultaneous touches, allowing for enhanced manipulation of on-screen objects.^[9]
• Sunlight readable displays that are clearly readable in bright and direct sunlight due to their use of high contrast, anti-reflective and high brightness screen technology.^[10]
• Docking station can improve the extensibility of tablet PC such as: battery,Keyboard, USB, RS232, LAN and VGA. It is usually designed for using tablet PC as desktop computer.^[11]

Popular models

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Major tablet PC Manufacturers include AIS, Acer, Asus, Bosanova, Fujitsu, Gateway, Inc.,G-NET, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lenovo Group, LG Electronics, NEC, TabletKiosk, Quaduro-Systems, Motion Computing, Panasonic, and Toshiba.

Popular models include:

Slate

• AIS Rugged Tablet PC
• PaceBlade SlimBook 200
• Quadpad Slate Style Tablet PC
• Fujitsu Stylistic ST5010
• Fujitsu Stylistic ST5111
• Fujitsu Stylistic ST5112
• Fujitsu Stylistic ST6012
• Fujitsu Stylistic ST1010
• Electrovaya Scribbler SC4000 series (older: SC2000, SC3000, SC3100)
• G-NET Rugged Tablet PC
• MobileDemand xTablet T8600 Rugged Tablet PC
• Motion M1200, M1300, M1400, LE-Series, C5, LS800, LE 1700 and C5 which is targeted towards the healthcare industry
• JLT8404 Field Tablet PC
• Panasonic Toughbook 08
• TabletKiosk Sahara Slate PC i400 series, Sahara NetSlate, eo Ultra-Mobile PC
• Samsung Q1 (Q1 Ultra)
• Xplore Technologies
• COWON Q5W
• Axiotron Modbook

Convertible

• Acer TravelMate C100/C300/C310
• Asus R1F
• Asus R1E
• ASUS Eee PC T91
• Averatec C3500 Series
• Dialogue Flybook V5
• Dell Latitude XT/XT2
• Fujitsu LifeBook P1610, P1620, P1630 (8.9" Ultraportable)
• Fujitsu LifeBook T4020, T4210, T4220 (12.1" Thin and Light, Business)
• Fujitsu LifeBook T1010 (13.3" Thin and Light, Consumer)
• Fujitsu LifeBook T2010, T2020 (12.1" Ultraportable, Business)
• Fujitsu LifeBook T4310 (12.1" Thin and Light, Consumer)
• Fujitsu LifeBook T4410 (12.1" Thin and Light, Business)
• Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 (12.1" Thin and Light, Business)
• Fujitsu LifeBook U810, U820 (5.6" Ultra-portable)
• Gateway C-140X (aka S-7235/E-295C)
• Gateway C-120X (aka S-7125C/E-155C)
• HP TC4200/TC4400
• HP Compaq 2710p
• HP EliteBook 2730p
• HP Pavilion tx1000z
• HP Pavilion tx2000z
• HP Pavilion tx2500z
• HP TouchSmart tx2z
• Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet
• Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet (known popularly as "X60t")
• Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet (12.1" MultiView/MultiTouch XGA (1024x768) TFT)
• Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet (12.1" WXGA (1280 x 800)) Released September 2008
• LG XNote C1
• LG XNote P100(C1 Upgrade Model)
• LG LT-20-47CE
• Panasonic Toughbook 19
• Toshiba Portégé 3500/3505
• Toshiba Portégé M200
• Toshiba Portégé M400/405/700/750
• Toshiba Portégé R400/405
• Toshiba Satellite R10/R15/R20/R25
• Toshiba Tecra M4/M7

Hybrid

• Compaq TC1000
• HP Compaq TC1100
• Tatung Tangy

Application software

• Comfort On-Screen Keyboard - advanced on-screen keyboard for Tablet PC
• Microsoft Windows Journal
• Microsoft Office OneNote
• Einstein Technologies Tablet Enhancements for Outlook
• GO Corporation
• Agilix GoBinder
• Mobilis - Protectis Range
• EverNote
• InkSeine: Prototype Tablet GUI/Interface - Microsoft Research
• IHMC CmapTools - a free concept mapping application
• Xournal - a linux notetaking application
• OnSite Companion Construction Software for Tablet PC
• MusicPad Pro: MusicReader - Electronic Music Stand - sheet music display on Tablet PC
• Documentor: A Documentation Engine for Health Care Professionals

Screen size trends

Many Tablet PCs makers have standardized on a 12" widescreen format that runs at a 1200x800 resolution for their Tablet PCs. As of October 2009 the only Tablet PC with a resolution greater than 1280x800 was the Motion Computing LE1700 with a 1400 x 1050 12" screen^[12]. The Fujitsu T5010 also has a larger 13.3" but still runs at the 1280x800 pixel resolution^[13].

The 12" form factor is optimal for the power, size and weight considerations required for portability. Although there is some demand for larger Tablet PC screen sizes from consumers, larger screens add significant weight and bulk to Tablet PCs. They also require more power, therefore larger, heavier batteries or shorter battery life.

History

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The Tablet PC and the associated special operating software is an example of Pen computing technology, and thus the development of tablet-based PCs has deep historical roots.

The depth of these roots can be quite surprising to people who are only familiar with current commercial products. For example, the first patent for an electronic tablet used for handwriting was granted in 1888.^[14] The first patent for a system that recognized handwritten characters by analyzing the handwriting motion was granted in 1915.^[15] The first publicly-demonstrated system using a tablet and handwriting text recognition instead of a keyboard for working with a modern digital computer dates to 1956.^[16]

In addition to many academic and research systems, there were several companies with commercial products in the 1980s: Pencept, Communications Intelligence Corporation, and Linus were among the best known of a crowded field. Later, GO Corp. brought out the PenPoint OS operating system for a tablet PC product: one of the patents from GO corporation was the subject of recent infringement lawsuit concerning the Tablet PC operating system.^[17]

The following timeline list gives some of the highlights of this history:

• Before 1950
  • 1888: U.S. Patent granted to Elisha Gray on electrical stylus device for capturing handwriting.^[14][18]
  • 1915: U.S. Patent on handwriting recognition user interface with a stylus.^[15][19]
  • 1942: U.S. Patent on touchscreen for handwriting input.^[20][21]
  • 1945: Vannevar Bush proposes the Memex, a data archiving device including handwriting input, in an essay As We May Think.^[22]
• 1950s
  • Tom Dimond demonstrates the Styalator electronic tablet with pen for computer input and software for recognition of handwritten text in real-time.^[16]
• Early 1960s
  • RAND Tablet invented.^[23][24] The RAND Tablet is better known than the Styalator, but was invented later.

• Late 1960s
  • Alan Kay of Xerox PARC proposed a notebook computer, optionally using pen input, called the Dynabook: however the device is never constructed or implemented with pen input.
• 1982
  • Pencept of Waltham, Massachusetts markets a general-purpose computer terminal using a tablet and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard and mouse.^[25]
  • Cadre System markets the Inforite point-of-sale terminal using handwriting recognition and a small electronic tablet and pen.^[26]
• 1985:
  • Pencept^[27] and CIC^[28] both offer PC computers for the consumer market using a tablet and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard and mouse. Operating system is MS-DOS.

• 1989
  • The first commercially available tablet-type portable computer was the GRiDPad^[29] from GRiD Systems, released in September. Its operating system was based on MS-DOS.
  • Wang Laboratories introduces Freestyle. Freestyle was an application that would do a screen capture from an MS-DOS application, and let the user add voice and handwriting annotations. It was a sophisticated predecessor to later note-taking applications for systems like the Tablet PC.^[30] The operating system was MS-DOS

• 1991
  • The Momenta Pentop was released.^[31]
  • GO Corporation announced a dedicated operating system, called PenPoint OS, featuring control of the operating system desktop via handwritten gesture shapes.^[32][33]
  • NCR released model 3125 pen computer running MS-DOS, Penpoint OS or Pen Windows.^[34]
  • The Apple Newton entered development; although it ultimately became a PDA, its original concept (which called for a larger screen and greater sketching capabilities) resembled the hardware of a Tablet PC.
• 1992
  • GO Corporation shipped the PenPoint OS for general availability and IBM announced IBM 2125 pen computer (the first IBM model named "ThinkPad") in April.^[35]
  • Microsoft releases Windows for Pen Computing as a response to the PenPoint OS by GO Corporation.
• 1993
  • The IBM releases the ThinkPad, IBM's first commercialized portable tablet computer product available to the consumer market, as the IBM ThinkPad 750P and 360P^[36]
  • AT&T introduced the EO Personal Communicator combining PenPoint with wireless communications.
• 1999
  • The "QBE" pen computer created by Aqcess Technologies wins Comdex Best of Show.^[37]
• 2000
  • The "QBE Vivo" pen computer created by Aqcess Technologies ties for Comdex Best of Show.
• 2001
  • Bill Gates of Microsoft demonstrates the first public prototype of a Tablet PC (defined by Microsoft as a pen-enabled computer conforming to hardware specifications devised by Microsoft and running a licensed copy of the "Windows XP Tablet PC Edition" operating system)^[1] at Comdex.
• 2003
  • Fingerworks^[38] develops the touch technology and touch gestures later used in the Apple iPhone.
• 2006
  • Windows Vista released for general availability. Vista included the functionality of the special Tablet PC edition of Windows XP.

• 2008
  • In April 2008, as part of a larger federal court case, the gesture features of the Windows/Tablet PC operating system and hardware were found to infringe on a patent by GO Corp. concerning user interfaces for pen computer operating systems.^[17] Microsoft's acquisition of the technology is the subject of a separate lawsuit.^[39][40]
  • HP releases the second MultiTouch capable tablet: the HP TouchSmart tx2z.^[41]
• 2009
  • Asus announced a tablet netbook.
  • Always Innovating announced a new tablet netbook with an ARM CPU.
  • Motion Computing launched the J3400.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tablet PC

Electronics portal

• Pen computing
• Graphics tablet
• 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth
• CrunchPad
• E-book
• HSPA
• MIL-STD-810F standard.
• Mobile Internet Device (MID)
• Nettop
• Notetaking
• Numeric keypad
• RJ45
• Solid-state drive (SSD).
• Smartbook
• USB
• WiFi
• V12 design

References

External links

This article's external links may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links. (July 2009)

• Tablet PCs at the Open Directory Project
• DIY (touchscreen-equipped) Tablet PC
• Jeff Han Talks About Touch-Driven Computer Screens at HowStuffWorks
• Annotated bibliography of references to handwriting recognition and pen computing
• Notes on the unknown history of Pen Computing – through 1992
• Comparison table of convertible tablets

Tablet PCs in healthcare

• The Case for the Tablet PC in Health Care (HP, Based on a Microsoft White Paper).
• Tablet PCs in Health Care.

Tablet PCs in education

• College of Engineering announces alliance with Fujitsu and Microsoft — News article from Virginia Tech
• Microsoft Center for Research on Pen-Centric Computing

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