Forecast Gadget Tablet Maniac

Yearning for an Internet-linked gadget maniac tablet bigger than a smartphone but smaller than a laptop merged with always-connected lifestyles to make tablet computing a defining trend for 2010.

The iPad launched for gadget maniac tablet in April by Apple became the must-have device of the year and has rivals intent on dethroning the culture-shifting California company before it can lock in the market gadget maniac tablet the way iPods became the ruling MP3 players.Internet Age lifestyles set the stage for the rock star debut of gadget maniac tablet computer done right, according to Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.Work weeks have grown steadily longer with the proliferation of gadgets keeping people connected to bosses and offices nights and weekends.

"Consumers are working maniac all the time, have less leisure time and less money to spend but still want to maximize enjoyment they get out of life," Rotman Epps told AFP.

"Tablets maniac fill that demand for devices that fill those in-between moments and minimize your unconnected time for the gadget," she said.

Forrester data shows that 26 percent of US consumers who bought iPads use the tablets for work as well as personal purposes.

The top spot for using an iPad is the living room, with the bedroom being the second most common, according to Forrester.its picture for the person maniac doing with the tablet.

"People are using tablets maniac to read the Wall Street Journal or watch TV in bed," Rotman Epps said. "It is replacing, in some circumstances, laptop computers, television and print media."

Apple benefited by focusing on regular people instead of businesses, adding its hip cache and having real-world stores where people could try iPads before committing to buying devices, according to Rotman Epps.

The tablet trend will put downward pressure on laptop computer maniac prices, based on Forrester research indicating consumers think it's not worth paying a lot more to get a laptop instead of a tablet.or the gadget

Analysts said the other big consumer electronics stories of the year were the continued growth of gadget smartphones and Microsoft's Kinect, the Xbox 360 videogame console that players control using gestures and spoken commands.

Microsoft said it sold more than 2.5 million Kinects for Xbox 360 devices worldwide in the 25 days after they hit the market.

Google, meanwhile, said more than 300,000 smartphones running its Android software are activated daily as it builds momentum in the hot gadget mobile market.