The Philippine Online Chronicles

You see them everywhere: in coffee shops, at the mall, even in offices. A lot of newscasters are using them in place of old-fashioned “cue cards”, teleprompter or news scripts. Yes, almost everyone has them.

Welcome to the age of the Tablet.

Once known as a pharmaceutical powdered mixture for medication or vitamins (made into easier to swallow solid form), today’s folks now often think of the Tablet in a different way. Popularized by the “almighty” iPad a few years ago, Tablets (or portable mobile computers that often employ a touchscreen interface and are as thin as air) are now starting to flood the market. The device has become so popular that almost all electronics manufacturers are offering their own take on the Tablet.

But what exactly can you do with this mobile device? Would its seemingly small size and paper thin demeanor cramp your style when working or playing?

Here are some of the cool stuff that the Tablet has to offer:

Speed

If you think that small dimensions mean slow-as-a-turtle processing power, think again. A lot of today’s Tablets come with lightning-quick dual core processors. Just like your trusty PC or notebook, with dual-core powered tablets, you have can seamlessly play videos, chat, surf the web, do office-related work (via word documents, spreadsheets, etc.) and enjoy hours of music.

Surf the Net

Unless you’ve been living on Pluto, you’d know that one cannot seem to do anything these days without going online (a.k.a. being connected to the internet). Tablets allow you to do this with ease thanks to their standard web browsers and easy connectivity via Wifi, or data connection through your mobile network. Sites like Facebook, Youtube, and any website are now just one tap-on-the-screen away.

Stay connected

As previously mentioned, staying connected is now the name of the game. That’s why a lot of tablets offer built-in email support, chat functionality and can even login into your favorite social network. What’s more, you can easily sync your contacts for easy access whether on your PC, phone or Tablet, thanks in large part to such features found on the Android OS. You can even find your way around via built-in Global Positioning Satellite or GPS. Most tablets even allow you to use your device like a regular phone. Send and receive text messages with ease thanks to the larger-than-a-cellphone’s screen. Make and receive calls instantly, as long as you’ve got your SIM card plugged in. You may want to use a headset, though, lest you look comical with a large rectangular device that’s bigger than your face held up against your ear.

Multimedia

Just like any modern-day gadget, the Tablet allows users to get an authentic multimedia experience. Want to watch a video? No problem. Listen to music? Try the built-in music player or even get your own by downloading one from the Net. Edit photos? Of course. Play games like on your favorite portable gaming console? Check. And you can even take your own photos and videos on the built-in camera that every tablet comes with. Moreover, these aren’t low-resolution types, mind you. The minimum standard nowadays is 3 MP. While that may not be as robust as your favorite digital camera, it can still hold its own against the best mobile device-com-camera out there. Oh, and did I mention that you can chat, with video? The latest Tablets now come with front-facing cameras for this function. You can even install your favorite chat software like Skype.

Get productive

Yes, your Tablet isn’t just for play, you know? A lot of Tablets come pre-installed with “Office” suite software for word, spreadsheet, PDF, and the like. And while it may not be as easy as pecking on a regular physical keyboard, today’s breed of virtual keyboards make typing while touching a breeze (check out Android’s “Swype” keyboard that lets you, as the name suggests, swipe your way through the letters). If you still can’t do without those physical keys, keyboard accessories come as an option. Asus even has a full-fledged keyboard dock for its EEE Pad Transformer. So there’s no excuse to miss that deadline.

Customization

The real heart of any Tablet, they say, is the Operating System or OS installed. Just like Windows, OS X, or Linux OS that’s installed on your PC or notebook/netbook, the tablet’s OS is what makes it run and do all the good stuff. Whether it be iOS, Android or even Blackberry (for the recently unveiled Blackberry Playbook), one can easily customize the Tablet to their heart’s content. Choose from the slew of Apps (or applications) that let you do almost everything on your Tablet. While a lot of apps are paid apps, there are lots more on the Android market or App Store that come free for all the world to download. As the late great Steve Jobs said, “There’s an app for that”.

With all these and more, working and playing on the go will never be the same again.

Image from Bike and Mobile. Flickr.com. Some rights reserved.