It’s all about staying connected on the go—at least, that’s the major theme that emerged at the 2011 International CES. The world had its eyes on Las Vegas as major and minor companies alike arrived to announce their next big things. And this year, the buzz was about tablets and 4G.

Tablet Dominance

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, more than 80 new tablets were announced at this show. Does this plethora of products mean the death of the PC and laptop? No. Our ubiquitous computers won’t go away, but tablets are going to take a bite out of the market.

Apple’s iPad is a huge hit, with more than 14 million sold. Also, people are finding out that they can do most of what they do on their PCs or laptops now on a smaller, lighter, more mobile, but not so less expensive tablet—or smart phone for that matter. The tablet beats the smart phone because of its more generous screen size, but the smart phone is aiding the end of the PC and laptop reign as well.

Figure 1. Motorola Mobility took CNET’s Best of Show prize with its Xoom tablet, which boasts a 10-in. screen and Google’s Honeycomb Android operating system. Apple’s iPad better watch its back.

What do you use your PC or laptop for most of all? For most consumers at least, the answer is e-mail, Internet access, and social networking. It isn’t word processing, Power Point, or the other usual applications. You can do all that consumer stuff on a tablet anyway. Best of all, it’s portable and wireless with 3G or 4G speeds. How good is that?

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