Taiwan-based Micro-Star International (MSI) unveiled two tablet PCs at Computex Taipei 2010, one based on Intel architecture and the other on the ARM-based Nvidia Tegra processor.
MSI chairman Joseph Hsu indicated that while the company will begin launching its tablet PC lineup in the second half of this year, the market will not really take off until next year.
The Wind Pad 100 will be the first MSI tablet PC to hit the market. The Wind Pad 100 features the Intel Atom Z530 CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium, a 10-inch screen, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 3G and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity, GPS, g-sensor, an HDMI port, 8-hour battery life, a weight of 800 grams and pre-installed software including Wind Touch UI, EasyFace 2.0 face recognition and an e-reader application.
In contrast, the Wind Pad 110 features the Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU, Android 2.1 operating system for which more than 50,000 applications are available for download, and a 10-hour battery life.
According to Hsu, MSI is releasing the Wind Pad 100 first because the PC market is more familiar with the Wintel architecture, and MSI is in discussions with potential European partners for joint marketing operations.
In line with Hsu's expectations that the tablet market will take off next year, Intel announced during its keynote speech at Computex Taipei 2010 that its next-generation Oak Trail platform for Atom will be available for customers in 2011.
The upcoming SoC Intel Atom platform will be optimized for tablet and netbook designs, and will deliver up to a 50% reduction in average power consumption from the company's current processors. Oak Trail will also feature full HD-video playback.
However, Intel is not the only chipmaker excited by the tablet market. The announcement by MSI that it would be using Nvidia's Tegra 2 solution in its Wind Pad 110 was not Nvidia's first announced design win at Computex. Asustek Computer launched a 10-inch Eee Pad based on the Tegra 2 processor. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang commented just before Computex began that the stars are aligned for the tablet market to take off because of three things: the development of affordable and high-quality touch screen solutions, a robust operating system ecosystem and true mobile CPUs, meaning low-power CPUs that deliver battery life over 10 hours.
In terms of Nvidia's Tegra solution, Huang noted that he likes the company's position in the market, as Tegra is a graphics based solution and can deliver much longer battery life for user looking to run a lot of multimedia applications such as Flash .
Interestingly enough, Asustek's Tegra 2 solution will run Windows Embedded Compact 7, while MSI's Tegra 2 solution will run on Android. However, Asustek announced an expected price of US$399-499 for its solution while MSI's solutions were said to be priced over US$499.
Acer will offer yet a different type of solution. Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci joined Intel's keynote speech to discuss how future Intel Atom-based tablets from Acer will run the MeeGo software platform.
No player is expected to take a side in the processor and OS battles, meaning multiple lineups are expected from each vendor in 2011.
US-based Qualcomm is also highlighting tablet/smartbook solutions at Computex, including the recently launched Dell Streak, a 5-inch tablet and the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Compaq Airlife 100 smartbook.