The PC-centric is drawing to an unceremonious close, with smartphones, tablets and other mobile app-enabled devices expected to outpace PC sales over the next 18 months.
PC market forecasters have lowered their previously enthusiastically high sales forecast for 2010 from an annual growth (over 2009) of 18% down to 14% - which is a 32% reduction.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini has acknowledged that the company's entry into the smartphone and tablet markets is likely to be an uphill battle as it struggles to compete against entrenched ARM-based devices.
Nvidia's CEO isn't satisfied with the current generation of smartphones. No, Jen-Hsun Huang says there is "room in the market" for a new breed of sleek devices known as "superphones."
A high-ranking Google exec recently insisted that Android 2.2 (Froyo) was optimized for smartphones. But TouchDown Exchange developer NitroDesk believes Froyo is more than ready to support fully-functioning tablet applications.
A recent survey jointly conducted by Appcelerator and IDC indicates that (Titanium) developers favor Android over iOS for next-gen TVs and other embedded devices.
Remember all those talking heads who predicted that tablets and low-cost laptops would kill off the humble netbook? Well, consumer interest in such entry-level devices has apparently shown little sign of waning.
Will the adoption of media tablets reach a mainstream tipping point during 2010? Well, not according to principal ABI researcher Jeff Or, who predicts the devices will likely fall short of "mass market" adoption.
