Dell and Intel readying a tablet

It will compete against Amazon Kindle e-book reader

The tablet PC is fast becoming popular amongst manufacturers, users can expect a series of such devices in the starting of year 2010. First, it was Apple who was getting ready with a tablet PC, then news came that CrunchPad (a tablet from TechCrunch) is also ready to roll out this Christmas. Now, Dell and Intel are teaming up to launch a 5-inch touchscreen tablet that will be used for displaying newspapers, magazines, and other media – reports Wired.com. It will be provided free of charge to users who sign up to one or more digital content subscriptions and hence it will pose tough competition to Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader which retails at around the $500 mark.

There are also rumors that this tablet will be powered by the Intel Atom processor and will run a version of Windows 7 operating system. Some people think that it would be wiser to use an ARM processor (more energy efficient) and Google Android operating system on such a device. Others suggest that this device will be powered by the Intel’s upcoming Moorestown platform. Intel has already revealed its plan to develop five new MIDs (mobile internet devices) based on the Moorestown platform, so it might be possible that the Dell tablet runs on this platform.

Intel and Dell have not commented on this so users can treat this as pure speculation until an official announcement is made.