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NEW YORK (AP) — The response by computer makers to the iPad
stealing sales from them: Make their PCs more like
iPads.
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The “if you can’t beat `em, join `em” strategy” is prompting a wave
of experimentation with the design of the laptop, which has been
largely unchanged for two decades. Touch-sensitive screens and the
use of Google’s Android system for mobile devices are two ways the
PC industry is adapting.
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About 50 million tablets are expected to be sold this year, and
that could double to as many as 100 million next year. PC shipments
worldwide grew just over 2 percent in the second quarter, short of
what research firms IDC and Gartner had expected. The popularity of
tablet computers was one of the main reasons.
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One way PC makers are countering the threat is with iPad-style
tablets running Android, but these haven’t seen wide success so
far. And in trying to emulate the iPad, they’re competing with not
just Apple, but also with phone makers such as Motorola Inc., which
are launching their own tablets.
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So PC makers are offering hybrids that try to offer the best of
both worlds. Some are tablet-like devices that come with keyboards,
which the iPad doesn’t have. Others are PC-like, combining the
tablet’s signature touch-screen with the ability to run heavy-duty
Windows programs for photo editing and design.
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Witness the Acer Iconia, a Windows laptop that looks like any other
when the lid is down. When you open it, you’ll find two
touch-sensitive screens and no keyboard, similar to a tablet
computer. To type, you bring up a virtual keyboard on the lower
screen. If you’re not using the keyboard, Web pages can flow from
the top screen to the bottom one.
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Another iPad-like laptop is the Dell Inspiron Duo. Its screen can
be flipped around to face outward when the lid is closed. When
folded that way, it works like a tablet.
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Lenovo Group also sells a Windows laptop with a screen that can be
detached from the keyboard to function as an Android
tablet.
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“We should learn some things from tablets,” such as the iPad’s
user-friendly interface and the ease of installing software from
outside parties, said Yang Yuanquing, the CEO of Lenovo, the
world’s fourth-largest maker of PCs.
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Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s largest maker of personal
computers, is giving its PCs the ability to run applications
written for its webOS software, which runs on smartphones and a
tablet, the TouchPad.
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In their experimentation, PC makers are reviving designs haven’t
been very successful in their previous incarnations. The laptop
with a screen that detaches to become a tablet is an idea that
dates to 2002, when a flurry of tablet computers debuted along with
Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Tablet Edition.
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This earlier generation of tablet PCs didn’t catch on because they
were expensive and too heavy for comfortable use in tablet mode.
“Windows Tablet Edition” wasn’t much different from regular
Windows, and it wasn’t fully adapted for tablet use. Microsoft
added more touch-oriented features when it released Windows 7 in
2009.
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Even with the improvements in Windows, however, the PC faces
hurdles in mimicking the tablet’s design.
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Windows isn’t a very friendly operating system for tablets, partly
because it needs Intel-style processors to run on. These chips
drain batteries much faster than the cellphone-style chips used in
the iPad, with a core designed by ARM Holdings PLC. ARM chips can
save power by turning off parts of themselves when they’re not in
use, among other tricks.
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“A lot of what makes the iPad an iPad is the long battery life,”
technology analyst Rob Enderle said.
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Windows-based PCs and tablet computers that use Intel chips need
bigger batteries, which make the devices heavier. Even then, the
batteries don’t last as long as the iPad’s. The Dell Inspiron Duo
weighs 3.4 pounds, or two and a half times the weight of the iPad.
It has four hours of battery life, compared with 10 on the
iPad.
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Microsoft is hard at work developing a version of Windows that will
run on ARM chips, and it’s expected to be ready next year. That
means the next generation of laptops could match the iPad for
weight and battery life.
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But while waiting for the new software, PC makers are in an
uncomfortable situation. The new software might be what they need,
but in the meantime, they have to try other means to distract
consumers from the iPad, such as borrowing tablet features. These
experiments with laptop-tablet hybrids are unlikely to be as
important as the advent of the new system, currently dubbed Windows
8. But something might stick, providing a model for the future of
PCs.
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“Right now the PC industry is fighting kind of a holding action,”
Enderle said.
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—
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AP Technology Writers Rachel Metz and Jordan Robertson contributed
from San Francisco.
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Online:
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Dell Inspiron Duo: “text-decoration: none; color: #000066;” href=
“http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-duo/pd” target=
“-blank”>http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-duo/pd
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Asus Eee Slate: href=”http://bit.ly/oZTTPv” target=
“-blank”>http://bit.ly/oZTTPv
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