Tablet computers define this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Or to be more precise, the 2011 edition of the world’s biggest consumer electronics trade event is marked by manufacturers’ efforts to catch up with Apple’s nearly insurmountable lead in the tablet PC market.

Ultimately, these too late, too little, and too misguided efforts are bound to fail. This corner foresees an iPad-dominated tablet computer market persisting for a time much longer than these wannabes, both the big name and obscure varieties, would want or like.

Should other electronics vendors then give up the fight, and stop making their own tablet computers? No. This corner espouses no such notions.

There is nothing wrong with coming up with new, powerful, and fully featured tablet computers at this stage of the game. But manufacturers, and their marketing executives, should refrain from christening their latest slates and tablets as iPad slayers. (This piece of advice goes to smartphone vendors, too.)

These tablets should compete based on their own worth. Their makers should let these tablets show off their features and capabilities, and wow audiences using their own merits. Stop comparing themselves with and to iPad or any other Apple products.

Stop playing Apple’s game.
 
Kinect for PCs

Microsoft might have committed another costly mistake. Or it could be another case of the software giant failing to see another opportunity to make the most of an existing technology, or one that it currently owns.

Did Microsoft forget about its stronghold (stranglehold?) in the PC market? Or was its foresight missing and found wanting again?

The software giant should have developed a PC version of its Kinect technology, which enables Xbox 360 gamers to wirelessly control their plays via their gestures. The company should have done this at the same time it was doing the gaming console edition of the technology.

Now, Asustek Computer Inc. seems to have beaten the company to the draw. Partnering with PrimeSense Ltd., whose 3D camera technology was used in the Kinect system, Asus has developed a Kinect-like system that works for PC gamers, in the same way that Microsoft’s Kinect does on the Xbox 360 platform.

Like Kinect, Asus’ system uses a 3D camera, depth sensors, and voice-recognition technology to detect PC gamers’ face, voice, and gestures, allowing gamers to control their avatars wirelessly and sans the keyboard and mouse.

PC gamers have always prided themselves with having access to games editions and PC technologies that are consistently more advanced than those offered by Nintendo and Sony game-console platforms. For a while, Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Kinect platforms have sort of leveled the playing field.

Asus’ gesture-based game controls system, however, returns the bragging rights to PC gamers.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.