多媒體平板電腦(media tablets)無疑是 2011年國際消費(fèi)性電子展(CES)期間最熱門的話題；但實(shí)際上，今年CES的焦點(diǎn)并不只是平板電腦本身，而是一系列平板裝置所帶來的變化──由蘋果(Apple) iPad 領(lǐng)頭──正為整個電子產(chǎn)業(yè)開啟一個龐大的新商機(jī)。 變化一：眾人焦點(diǎn)突然從Google TV跳到iPad 產(chǎn)業(yè)界對 Google TV 商機(jī)的躍躍欲試，一下子被那些想把電視內(nèi)容帶到家庭中每個屏幕的、越來越強(qiáng)烈的企圖所取代，平板電腦正是帶來這種巨大轉(zhuǎn)變的關(guān)鍵。 Cisco Systems資深產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理Kip Compton表示，制造商為電視加入連網(wǎng)功能的努力(例如Google TV)，與服務(wù)業(yè)者目前試圖將視頻內(nèi)容推到家中每個屏幕(包括平板裝置、手機(jī)、PC與電視機(jī))的行動(例如Comcast的線上視頻服務(wù)Xfinity)是相對立的。 讓電視能連上網(wǎng)際網(wǎng)絡(luò)，是消費(fèi)性電子廠商推動了多年的構(gòu)想；但由于Google TV軟件改版的延遲，連網(wǎng)電視產(chǎn)業(yè)看來并不那么容易實(shí)現(xiàn)。更糟的是，雖然有專為電視機(jī)量身打造的新使用者接口與Google的搜尋功能，對于那些已經(jīng)習(xí)慣傳統(tǒng)電視機(jī)操作接口的消費(fèi)者來說，吸引力并不是很大。 而現(xiàn)在，蘋果搶先Google一步解決了以上困境。隨著iPad等平板電腦的崛起，消費(fèi)者可以輕松地透過這樣的裝置觀賞搜尋自YouTube的視頻短片，同時還坐在客廳沙發(fā)上看自家的大屏幕電視。更重要的是，Comcast等業(yè)者已經(jīng)開始推廣線上視頻服務(wù)，不需要同時安裝他們的有線電視服務(wù)或是機(jī)上盒。 很多供貨商都已經(jīng)看到為電視機(jī)、PC、平板電腦、移動裝置提供視頻服務(wù)的商機(jī)，只需要透過一個通用的IP網(wǎng)絡(luò)平臺；包括Cisco的Videoscape。Comcast也在去年11月首度推出iPad專用的Xfinity應(yīng)用程序，能為使用者提供電視節(jié)目表，以及當(dāng)做可兼容數(shù)字錄像機(jī)(DVR)的遙控器使用。 總而言之，平板電腦讓網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻服務(wù)業(yè)者能搶盡Google TV的風(fēng)頭；隨著線上視頻服務(wù)需求成長，消費(fèi)者看來會花更多時間透過平板電腦觀賞視頻(以及上網(wǎng)瀏覽)，而把電視機(jī)冷落在一旁。 變化二：無線視頻再度成為熱門話題 平板電腦也讓產(chǎn)業(yè)界重新燃起對無線視頻的興趣；那些推動WiGig (60GHz)、Wireless HD (60GHz)技術(shù)的芯片廠商，以及Quantenna Communications (4x4 MIMO 802.11n)、Amimon (5GHz的WHDI)，都開始加緊與平板電腦、smartbook與PC等產(chǎn)品開發(fā)商洽談合作關(guān)系。 這無非是因為從現(xiàn)在開始，視頻正被傳遞到消費(fèi)者家中各種尺寸的屏幕，也讓無線播放/分享這些內(nèi)容的技術(shù)需求日益成長。過去眾家無線視頻技術(shù)開發(fā)商極力為自家技術(shù)推銷各種使用者情境，例如在電視機(jī)與數(shù)字錄像機(jī)之間的無線連結(jié)，以及能將PC上的網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻傳送到客廳大屏幕電視播放的、多房間的無線連結(jié)技術(shù)。 Quantena與Amimon 亦是積極搶攻此領(lǐng)域商機(jī)的兩家廠商；前者是期望以電信業(yè)者等級(carrier-grade)的4x4 MIMO 802.11n芯片組，滿足傳遞多重HD視頻流至家中電視機(jī)、各種顯示器的需求。Amimon則是為各種裝置提供WHDI解決方案。 變化三：平板電腦為企業(yè)用計算機(jī)市場帶來永久性改變 市調(diào)公司Accenture最近針對企業(yè)信息長(CIO)展開了一項調(diào)查，詢問是否會以平板電腦來替代公司用的筆記本電腦或是臺式電腦；雖然這項調(diào)查結(jié)果尚未出爐，但不可避免的，對各企業(yè)用戶來說，像是 Android平板電腦安全性是否足夠等問題也會接踵而來。無論如何，Accenture主管Mitchell Cline表示：“我們認(rèn)為企業(yè)用戶會逐漸接受這些新裝置。” 根據(jù)Accenture表示，2010年是個人科技支出(平均1,100美元)首度超越企業(yè)平均每員工科技投資金額；消費(fèi)性市場的技術(shù)更新速度比企業(yè)市場高出許多，因此后者勢必會受到影響。而目前行動裝置操作系統(tǒng)市場上已經(jīng)看到百家爭鳴的情況， 2011年也將會是PC市場“Wintel”模式開始崩潰的一年。 隨著平板電腦的興起，PC廠商需要開始思考，該如何將已經(jīng)發(fā)生在家庭的運(yùn)算典范轉(zhuǎn)型，移植到辦公室環(huán)境；而且這并不是接下來幾年需要考量的投資項目，而是馬上就會發(fā)生的。 《國際電子商情》授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載！ (參考原文： CES Wrap: Blessings and curses of media tablets，by Junko Yoshida)

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{pagination} CES Wrap: Blessings and curses of media tablets Junko Yoshida Media tablets were the talk of the town at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. No question about it. The real story of the show – shown, discussed and hinted on the show floor and behind closed doors in hotel suites in Las Vegas last week – was not really about tablets themselves, but a host of changes tablets, especially pioneered by Apple’s iPad, are triggering big time in the entire electronics industry. Change #1: A great switcheroo from Google TV to iPad Gone is the industry’s ravenous appetite for Google TV, replaced by a growing excitement for bringing TV to every screen at home. Tablets are the key to this great switcheroo. TV manufacturers’ effort to bring Internet content to TV (a la Google TV) “stands as a polar opposite” to service providers’ initiatives (i.e. Comcast’s online video service called Xfinity, for example) to bring video on every screen (tablet, mobile, PC and more TVs) at home, observed Kip Compton, senior director, strategy and product management at Cisco Systems, Inc. Bringing the Internet to TV is an idea CE manufacturers have pushed for years. Amid recent delays in software revisions by Google TV, Internet TV has proven to be hard to implement. Worse, despite the revamped UI and Google “search” capabilities tailored for TV, it’s even harder to get traction with consumers accustomed to the conventional TV user interface. Now, Apple may be solving this dilemma, faster than Google. With the emergence of tablets like Apple’s iPads, a consumer can now easily search for a YouTube video clip on his tablet, while sitting on the sofa in a living room with a big- screen TV. More important, service providers like Comcast have begun pushing online video services -- neither tied to their physical cable plants nor cable set-top boxes connected to a big-screen TV. Many service providers see opportunity in piping video services to TVs, PCs, tablets and mobile devices, all off a common IP platform. Cisco, too, is pitching “Videoscape,” its own version of “network-is-the-platform” idea. Comcast also launched its first Xfinity iPad app in November last year, giving users a TV guide and the ability to use it as a remote control for compatible DVRs. In sum, tablets are enabling service providers to steal the show from Google TV. As online video services grow, consumers are likely to consume more video (and surfing the Net) on their tablets, while leaving the TV alone. Change #2: Wireless video is hot again Tablets are also renewing the industry’s interest in wireless video. Wireless chip vendors ranging from those pushing WiGig (60GHz) and Wireless HD Change #3: Tablets will change the enterprise computer market forever Accenture has begun to ask CIOs at corporations, including its own, if they have considered replacing netbooks and desktop PCs with a single device like a tablet. The survey results are not in yet. Inevitably, questions like whether Android-based tablets are secure enough for enterprise applications will crop up. But “we believe that they are going to be open to the idea,” said Mitchell Cline, managing partner at Accenture. According to Accenture, 2010 marked the first year that personal spending in technology ($1,100) surpassed that of the investment in technology per head at a corporation. The refresh cycles of technology are much faster in the consumer market, destined to affect the enterprise market. So much innovation is also taking place in tablets. As the whole market has already seen in the mobile OS market where a number of viable OSes are fighting it out, 2011 will be the year when the Wintel model in the PC market will finally start collapsing. “It’s free-fall,” said Kumu Puri, a senior executive in the consumer electronics practice within Accenture’s Electronics & High-Tech industry group. With the emergence of tablets, “PC companies need to be thinking about how to morph the computing paradigm shift already happening at home into the office environment,” she explained. “We are not talking about investments in a few years. This is the year that investment needs to be made.”