MANILA, Philippines — As of this writing, retailers in the United States were busy preparing what could be the biggest Black Friday sales event in that country’s retail history.

Never mind that the U.S. economy, along with the rest of the world’s, was (and still is) mired in the worst slowdown ever since the pre-World War II depression.

Among the expected bestsellers for this year’s American great sale nirvana are the tablet computers. While the slate market is currently ruled by the iPad, there has never been a shortage of bravado-filled challengers.

Leading this assault on the iPad’s domination are the Android-powered tablet computers. Judging from the forecast demand for tablets for the coming holidays, there might be enough room for everyone.

What Slowdown?

The U.S.-based Consumer Electronics Association expects American consumers to spend an average of $246 on electronics this holiday season. A big portion of that money is expected to be spent on tablets.

In 2010, tablets started appearing on some gift wish lists. Most of the givers and recipients, however, were early adopters, otherwise known as geeks. This year, mainstream consumers are leading the charge.

Analysts believe that the iPad will win the largest share of purchases, which market research firm Gartner thinks will reach 64 million worldwide by end of 2011. The company also says that Apple will grab about 73 percent of the market.

Some non-Apple tablets, however, are expected to sell well also. Most noteworthy of these are the $199 Kindle Fire from Amazon and the $249 Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble. While not as popular and features-filled as the iPad, the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are ready to wage a price-based war.

HP’s Late Tablet Touched Many Consumers

While Apple has always turned its nose up at the notion of competing on price points, going low-cost has proven itself a successful strategy, on several occasions.

One of those instances would be HP’s fire sale for its aborted TouchPad line of tablets. Data from market research firm NPD Group shows that after its selling price went down from $499 to $99, the TouchPad became the second bestselling tablet computer in the United States, after the iPad, in the first 10 months of 2011.

Of course, HP’s price cut for the TouchPad was rather extreme, one that is fueled by management’s conclusion that it was a doomed product. The general idea, however, is highly workable.

Ergo, the Kindle Fire from Amazon and the Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble.

Data Encryption Blues

Law enforcement agencies are powerless against commonly available hard-disk encryption technologies. This was the finding of a joint U.S.-UK research group’s study published in the Digital Investigation journal.

Unlike what Hollywood movies and TV programs have led us to believe, police investigators cannot easily hack or crack an encrypted hard-disk drive.

The only consolation that consumers can get from the report is that hard drive encryption also protects law-abiding computer users from prying eyes.

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