If the trend in the past was to miniaturize devices, 2010 will see screen sizes going bigger, in part due to higher resolution displays, the demand for multi-touch technology, and for new burgeoning markets like the e-book sector. This trend for larger screen real estate will continue as rumors are circulating that HTC will be exploring tablet computing, an area that the Taiwanese manufacturer has dabbled in before with its Windows XP powered HTC Shift, a tablet with a sliding and tilting screen factor similar to the Windows Mobile HTC Tilt, Tilt2, and Touch Pro2. The latest HTC rumored tablets will be sporting some version of Google’s operating system, either Android or the Chrome OS.

Some of the rumored specs for the HTC-sourced tablet could include some new software from Adobe–which some believe to be some version of Flash player–and a Qualcomm, possibly Snapdragon, chipset. Various Android versions of the tablet may be available for private viewing at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in about a week.

It seems that Google and HTC are furthering their relationship if these rumors are true. The two have worked closely together as HTC was the first Android licensee to bring a device to the market in the form of the T-Mobile HTC G1, and more recently HTC is the manufacturer of the Nexus One, a device which is believed by many tech bloggers to be the official Google Phone.

It looks like Google may be poised to dominate the consumer segment of the tablet market that Microsoft had spurred. Microsoft had released the Tablet Edition of its operating system in years past hoping to change mobile computing paradigm to a more touch and pen-enabled user experience with little success to mass market adoption. As software and hardware technologies begin to mature, including multitouch, capacitive touchscreen, better on-screen keyboards, faster processors that are minimally power-hungry, more storage and RAM, and a more connected experience evolve, lighter operating systems like the iPhone OS, Google Android, and Chrome OS may be beginning to adopt UIs and experiences to be reflect consumer usage. These lighter operating systems are faster to start up, and still allow consumers to consume content–mostly browse the web, watch online videos, respond to emails, and view photos. On the other hand, tablets running the full Windows version are more apt at content creation and may be a bit clunky for content consumption for the mass market.

The tablet market will be an interesting one to follow–with a lighter operating system, it sits somewhere between a netbook–which can run a full-fledged Windows operating system–and a smartphone. If the HTC tablet does run Android, there will be little, except for the larger screen size, to differentiate the HTC tablet from an HTC Android phone. Has convergence now taken us on the path to divergence? With a crowded smartphone market dominated by Nokia, RIM, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, are manufacturers trying to create niche products in hopes of mass market adoption? Desk space and home space are about to get overcrowded in the next few years between desktops, laptops, netbooks, smartbooks, smartphones, mobile internet devices, portable media players, and now tablets–all of them share a similar trait: wireless connectivity to some invisible cloud somewhere, aching for a moment of your eye’s time.

(via: SlashGear)