Inking
Similar to Journal, Inking is one of the features that Microsoft believes could become one of its strong selling features.
Through Inking, tablet PC users will be able to make hand-written notes or draw diagrams in Microsoft office documents, such as a Word file, or a PDF file. A Word document, for example, could be written by one person then mailed to another who edits it with handwritten annotations and then sends it back to the originator.
Non-Tablet PC users who have Microsoft Office, sources report, can view the annotations.
As another method of input, some tablet PCs will also have built-in voice recognition capabilities. Motion Computing, said its tablet PC will include speech recognition.
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While Microsoft shows off its software next week, hardware makers also will show off their prototypes of the device.
The list includes Hewlett-Packard, which announced its Compaq Evo tablet PC on June 2, Acer, Toshiba and Sony.
Others, including Dell Computer and IBM, have been skeptical of tablet PCs. Part of that skepticism comes from the expected price. Because of the need to incorporate a touch screen and other add-ons, tablet PCs are expected to cost roughly US$150 more than a similarly configured ultra-portable notebook, putting them at a starting price of about US$2,000.
While a number of tablet PC prototypes have been floating around for the last two years, companies such as HP are expected to begin wider field trials with their tablet PCs this summer.
One possible disappointment on the hardware side may be battery life, sources said. The first crop of tablet PCs will have about the same battery life as the average ultra-portable notebook, or about three hours, sources said.
Analysts have expressed reservations about the tablet PC, especially because of the difficult conditions in the PC market right now.
"We're still in a situation where price matters," said Toni Duboise, analyst with ARS. "That's the biggest problem. It's going to be prohibitive of (tablet PCs) going on to penetrate the market."
That's because, if you're after mobility, "You can still get that through a notebook and pay a lot less," she said. As a result, "I think it's going to be hard to get consumers to step up to bat."
Most tablet PCs are expected to come with, at a minimum, an 800MHz low-power processor, 128MB of RAM and a 20GB hard drive. HP's Compaq Evo tablet PC, for example, will sport a 1GHz Crusoe processor from Transmeta.
Most, if not all, also will include wireless networking capabilities, such as 802.11b, a short-range wireless protocol.
Manufacturers are expected to deliver tablet PCs in two different styles: a traditional tablet or slate design, with no keyboard or mouse, and a "convertible" design.
Convertibles, like those shown off by Acer, will resemble a traditional notebook PC. The device would open as notebooks do, but its screen would be able to rotate and to fold back down to create a tablet-like shape.
The tablet PC software is one of a growing number of variants on the standard Windows XP theme. Later this year, Microsoft will also introduce software called Freestyle that will make it easier to edit videos and record TV shows. Freestyle will appear on only a select few consumer PC models.
Joe Wilcox and Michael Kanellos contributed to this report.
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