A few days back we heard how TechCrunch’s Arrington announced how the group he was working with to design a simple slate (NetTablet) decided to go on with the product without him now calling it JooJoo priced at $500.  I do note expect it to be anything more then yet-another-netTablet given that its a custom OS tablet that must compete with Apple, many Andriod/Chrome and MS versions coming out, makes no sense.

So now are down to three.  And if you are thinking; ‘this seems a lot like the PC wars of old’ you would be correct. Although we have 3 major players instead of two.  And this time, MicroSoft is looking to go the Apple way by building married OS/hardware systems.  So you have MS and Apple building married devices and Android as the ‘open’ platform.  So who is going to win?  Well, lets have a look at the battlefield shall we?

First off, we have a brave new world of ‘Cloud’ computing returning. This is not your fathers cloud computing, where the device is useless without a connection, but close.  The NetTablets will be VERY thin devices that will only perform the basic tasks on their own.  A sort of compromise between the Personal Computer (PC) and the Terminal Computer.  With 128gig USB devices floating around out there, storage will not be an issue and we will find the graphics cards will be more powerful then the CPU.   These NetTablets will focus on two things.  Running a browser and displaying media.  Also, we are entering a new age starting with HTML5 where browsers can operate application even if they are offline.  Its almost as if you download an application that runs through the browser and that application is updated each time you refresh. Cache not withstanding.

We also are in the ‘iPhone’ age.  Not the best name I know, but you have to admit that the iphone completely changed how we think about mobile keyboard-less devices. {Update: just heard the term AppPhone.  Love it.} Between the iPhone and App store, we can see a platform that can perform a large number of tasks that before were relegated to PC (not just windows) only.  Android is simply another expression of this new understanding of mobile computing

And finally, we are FAR more connected then we have ever been before.  With 3G and unlimited plans, most users can connect to the web anywhere and at anytime.  The stage is set.  We can finally explore ‘Slate’ computing as it was invisioned almost 10 years ago.

The problem is simple, lack of capability vs. price.  As noted by Piper Jaffray (senior analyst Gene Munster) and other posts via techmeme;

• Be similar to an iPod touch, only larger, capable of running most of the 70,000 applications on the iPhone App Store plus a new category of apps designed for the bigger screen.
• Will be used primarily for Web surfing, e-mail, and digital media, competing with netbooks without being a netbook.
• Will be priced between an iPhone and a MacBook — between $500 and $700.
• Is likely to include a 3G cellular modem and could be subsidized by a carrier — either AT&T (T) or Verizon (VZ).

Ok,  so I’m can already get a netbook for less then $500, and its only a matter of time before the crunchpad comes out, which if I understand correctly, will have a thin linux OS.

Now, that being said, if the price point is under $400, OR its has way more graphics power for video, then we may have a different story here. In fact, if it was say $500, and I could watch video and play graphic rich games AND good battery life, then I would buy it.  If I basically have my iphone (assuming they will have a more open SDK; which means richer apps or a least a subset of Apple apps I can run) with a way larger screen, and USB (or bluetooth) import for a keyboard, then I can see it. So far, the rumor mill says it will not be that powerful. However, if the crunchPad runs linux AND android apps.. Well, then we have a different story again.

As for now, I will continue to love having my TC1100 (which I paid $350 for) as my tablet.

TC1100’s rule!!!