Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Tablet may cost $50 more than Amazon’s Kindle Fire, but B&N has no trouble explaining why that extra $50 is worth it. The brick-and-mortar bookseller will engage in mighty battle with Amazon and iPad-maker Apple this holiday season, with no other competitor even coming close. When you’re shopping for your dream tablet, it’s important to keep in mind the strengths and weaknesses of each platform.

Barnes & Noble
Though this retailer was on the ropes a few years back, it is projecting Nook devices to be a $1.8-billion business this year. The company beat its online rival Amazon to launching both a 7-inch color tablet and a touchscreen e-ink reader, and now they’re challenging Amazon again with major upgrades of both, and similar pricing.

Selling points: The Nook Tablet may cost $50 more than the Kindle Fire, but B&N says that additional RAM and in-device storage are worth it. Offering in-store support at locations all over the nation, and a potentially more aggressive library of books, magazines, comics and kid titles, mean that it’s going to hold its own in the lit department. And leveraging partnerships with Netflix, Hulu and other streaming media providers means that people who subscribe to those services will be drawn to this device.

On top of that, the $99 Nook Simple Touch reader is priced to challenge the ad-supported $99 Kindle Touch reader — but comes unencumbered by ads.

Weak spots: B&N doesn’t have its own multimedia offerings, so people may look to other devices for similar Netflix and Hulu experiences. The Nook Cloud service doesn’t do what Apple and Amazon cloud services do, such as back up personal files, or store your personal music collection.

And while the Nook Tablet’s $50 step up in price sure seems justified, there’s a chance it will turn off deal-hungry shoppers. They could select the existing Nook Color, which now costs $199, but that’s just confusing, and is apt to under-deliver on some experiences, even when its major update arrives in December.

Amazon
We’re pretty gung-ho about the Kindle Fire tablet, since the $199 price point and Amazon’s ecosystem of books, movies and music are a compelling pitch. And let’s not forget that Amazon is the dominant player in the e-book world, and the focal point of impulse buying during the holiday season.

Selling points: Not only does Amazon have a pretty devoted audience already, it is working hard to lock them in tight. Amazon Prime, for $80 per year, not only gives people “free” two-day shipping, but streaming TV and movies, a la Netflix. The company just announced that the membership would also include a lending library of recently released books, available “free.” In other words, just buying the device and signing up for Prime is enough to guarantee you plenty of activities, and that’s before you add in all of the free apps you can get at the Amazon Appstore for Android.

And without more on-board memory, I’m wondering how I’d use it to watch movies when I’m on an airplane — I sure as heck won’t be paying for Wi-Fi so I can stream a trickle of video off of a satellite to a jet flying at 500 mph somewhere 32,000 feet above America.

Weak spots: Barnes & Noble derided the Kindle Fire for being underpowered, and the e-ink tablets for being cheap only because they show ads when you’re not reading. Both of these could factor into people making holiday buying decisions, along with the fact that Amazon has no in-person support program, while both B&N and Apple do.

Apple
Almost anything you can do on a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet, you can do on an iPad, with a screen that’s twice the square inches. Even if the iPad isn’t a direct competitor, it’s safe to say it will lure many bigger spenders away from the reader-focused tablets.

Selling points: Besides the Apple halo of design, quality and service, and the evolving iTunes/iCloud ecosystem, the iPad really is a more grown-up product. It’s got cameras that developers are using in many ways beyond just video conferencing. It has apps that do real work, from word processing to video editing. And it has Netflix and Hulu Plus for video, not to mention B&N Nook and Amazon Kindle e-reader apps. They don’t do everything, but they serve the majority of needs. And they’re likely not going away.

Weak spots: Both B&N and Amazon are aware of Apple’s threat, so having a Nook or Kindle app for iPad doesn’t guarantee full service. Many of the Nook magazine and kids’ book features are not available anywhere but on the Nook Tablet and Nook Color, and Amazon’s Prime lending library is exclusive to Kindles, both the Fire and all of the e-ink versions. Apple has its own iBooks service, but the very existence of other options from major booksellers renders it all but moot.

Some people prefer the lighter weight and smaller 7-inch screens on the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire, in part because they’re better for reading books and watching movies by yourself.

And let’s face it, the iPad is $500 — baseline. Until it’s $399, or even $299, it’s not going to reach the greatest number of people who want it, even if its merits are abundantly clear.

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Information Builders upped its ante in mobile BI (business intelligence) software on Tuesday, announcing a product suite that includes native capabilities for Apple and Android devices.
The company had already offered Mobile Favorites, a browser-based product. It and the new WebFocus Mobile release use Information Builders’ Active Technology capabilities, which offer an embedded analytics engine and an interactive user experience.

WebFocus Mobile provides device-specific features for the iPad, iPhone and Android-based phones and tablets, including native menus, controls and gestures, according to a statement.

In addition, the software can automatically detect a device type and screen size, then morph the views accordingly. This feature cuts down on development effort normally expended on supporting multiple device platforms, Information Builders said.

Those features seem aimed at overcoming some of the obstacles to adoption mobile BI has faced.

For one, many smartphones don’t have the right form factor for BI, notes an upcoming Forrester Research report.

“While many BI apps can easily deliver text messages, email based alerts, and even document attachments to mobile devices, truly analytical BI applications require certain amounts of screen real estate to display, interact and analyze all relevant information on a single small screen,” it states.

BI applications also involve “complex interactions” with data, such as “drill across (to another dimension), hierarchy drill down/up, drill through (to another source, to another dashboard, or to a detailed report), filter, group, pivot, rank, and sort,” the report adds. “Tiny mobile keyboards and pointing devices limit such high levels of complex interactivity.”
However, the bigger screens provided by tablet computers will change the game for mobile BI in rapid order, according to Forrester. About 30 percent of respondents to a recent survey by the firm said they have already or are planning to implement business software on tablets, and another 41 percent are interested but have no plans, the report states.

In fact, tablets will overtake standard laptops for mobile BI within three to five years, according to Forrester.

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Apple’s iPad 2 won’t have two key features that some folks have been hoping for, a new report claims.

Citing unnamed sources, Engadget reported late yesterday that the iPad 2 won’t launch with a high-resolution display or with an SD card slot. Apple initially planned on delivering those two features in the updated tablet, Engadget said, but apparently “engineering issues” caused the company to modify its plans at the last minute.

Earlier reports suggested that the iPad 2 could feature the Retina Display, Apple’s high-resolution screen found in the iPhone 4.

As with any Apple-related rumor, it’s important to take Engadget’s claims with a grain of salt. Apple is one of the more secretive companies in the tech industry, and rumors surrounding its products run rampant for months prior to a big announcement.

In fact, Engadget’s report follows several others claiming the tablet will come with a more-powerful processor and a thinner body. Yet other rumors claim the device will feature both front- and rear-facing cameras and won’t be available until June.

For its part, Apple isn’t talking. The company did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment. But we should find out everything we want to know about the iPad 2 at an Apple event on Wednesday.

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ARLINGTON, Texas–NFL teams including the Dallas Cowboys could soon be abandoning their traditional paper playbooks and game-day printouts of plays in favor of iPads or other tablets.

Pete Walsh, head of technology for the Cowboys, said his team and at least a “couple” of others are currently considering abandoning their playbooks in favor of iPads, a move they feel could save them as much as 5,000 pages of paper printouts per game.

Walsh explained this potential philosophical and technological shift to CNET during a discussion about Cowboys Stadium technology at Super Bowl Media Day here Tuesday. The stadium will play host on Sunday to Super Bowl XLV between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.

For tech-friendly sports fans, it’s an appealing image–coaches and players sitting on the sidelines of the giant Cowboys Stadium, iPads in hand, studying likely plays for the next few series, or sifting through overhead photos of the last plays in order to assess their performance, or that of their opponents.

In a lot of ways, this is exactly what tablets are meant for: easy access to data via wireless networks, high-quality photos, and portability. And from a coach’s or player’s perspective, imagine being able to quickly sort through a large set of plays, look at them in a stylish graphical presentation, see animations of them in action, and more–or to download a photo of the last play seconds later.

Still, it’s also a bit difficult to imagine old-school NFL coaches agreeing to carry around a shiny gadget like an iPad instead of their trusty playbooks–or reviewing glossy color photos on the 9.7-inch screen rather than shuffling through paper printouts of the last passing play. One can imagine such coaches agreeing to hand over their playbooks only through tightly gritted teeth.

But Walsh suggested that this migration could well be coming, though he didn’t say how long it would be before we see football pros stalking the sidelines with tablets.

On the up side, there’s the potential savings of paper. For another, Walsh indicated, there’s the feeling that if a tablet could be remotely wiped, it means that a lost iPad wouldn’t necessarily result in all the plays for the next Sunday’s game potentially falling into enemy hands.

However, Walsh said that one delay in the implementation of the shift is that the iPad isn’t seen in the NFL’s technology circles as being secure enough yet. That’s why tablets, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, or others running the Android operating system could end up being selected if teams, or the NFL, decide they’re more secure.

Walsh did not say which other teams were considering the move to tablets, but did say that “right now, all my counterparts [in the] league are discussing” the issue of how to secure the devices. Presumably, there’s concern about whether hostile parties could break into them wirelessly and about whether a lost tablet could be remotely locked down or erased.

For Walsh, who reports to famous Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the mandate is clearly to protect the Cowboys’ intellectual property, and so he seemed prepared to wait to make the switch until he and his peers feel that devices like the iPad or its competitors can be used without causing anyone to lose sleep over how they might expose a team’s plans.

“I’ve got that responsibility to the Jones family,” Walsh said, “to make sure those [football] assets don’t get out there.”

Congratulations to Ms. Yvonne Kershner –  Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer with Brazos Valley Schools Credit Union!

She is the WINNER of a new Apple iPAD from the Percento Technologies drawing at the Texas Credit Union League 2010 Leadership Council.

Thank you to everyone who joined our drawing.

The term “disruptive,” a common buzzword in tech journalism, is typically used to describe something that jars people out of existing ways of doing things, and provides them with both new ways to do the old things and new things to do. Weather-beaten as the expression might be, it fits when talking about two products that took personal computing by storm over the past couple of years: the iPad and the netbook.

There has been a lot of talk about whether the iPad will take the place of the netbook — or, in fact, whether it will eat into the market share for more mainstream desktop and laptop computers. Netbooks have already formed a market of their own alongside and apart from other PCs. But the iPad has a long way to go before it becomes a netbook killer — if only because it has created a space all its own.

New tech for old

In the abstract, both netbooks and the iPad are nothing new — there weresmall laptops and tablets available long before either of these more recent devices appeared on the market. But what made all the difference was the degree of fit and polish brought to the new products.

For example, current technology made it possible to offer far better communications capabilities than before. The ubiquity of high-speed wireless networking, via both current Wi-Fi and cellular networks, made it much easier for people to take those devices along with them and not be limited by what was actually on the hard drive.

In addition, for many users, desktop PCs are taking a back seat to high-end laptops. With each passing year, the performance gap between a “small” machine and a “big” machine shrinks that much more. And as raw power matters that much less, convenience and connectivity matter all the more.

Netbooks’ rise and fall

When netbooks first appeared in late 2007 — kicked off by the introduction of Asus’ Eee PC 701 — sales for the devices exploded by 872%, according to Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa. For a while, it looked like PC sales in general would shift heavily toward netbooks and that conventional PCs would lose out.

But things have tapered off since then, with netbooks or mini-laptops at 18.4% of total worldwide PC sales as of the first quarter of 2010. Shortly before the introduction of the iPad, Cliff Edwards of Bloomberg Businessweek wrote thatthe explosion in netbook sales in 2008 was fueled by the recession, but that consumers “were disappointed by flimsy keyboards, unfamiliar operating systems and a lack of programs that could be run on the machines.” (This was most likely an allusion to many of the first-generation netbooks beingLinux-powered.) “After a remarkable rise,” he continued, “netbooks’ popularity may already have peaked.”

The iPad rises

There’s no denying that the iPad has, more than anything else, the power to command attention. It’s a trend-setter. Even before the iPad was released, speculation raged about what competing products might already be on the way.

In contrast to netbooks, the iPad seems likely to experience a long, steady growth in its popularity, in much the same way Apple’s other flagship products have become market cornerstones that are nearly impossible to displace. TheiPhone and iPod may not be the biggest sellers in their respective markets, but they command incredible brand loyalty. Fans of any one particular iteration of the device almost always buy the next one — a trend that seems likely to continue when a new edition of the iPad is introduced.

Although initial sales were impressive, it’s not yet clear how many non-Apple users will opt for the iPad. One possible point of reference is how many of Apple’s earlier auxiliary products — the iPhone and the iPod — were used by people who were not Mac users. In NPD Group’s 2009 Household Penetration Study, 36% of computer-owning households overall owned an iPod, which, given the general percentage of Macs to non-Mac computers, means that the odds are there that there are quite a few PC/Windows users with iPods.

In addition, according to Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheil, there are approximately 5.6 times the number of non-Mac Apple devices in use than Macs — even taking into consideration those Mac users who may own more than one non-Mac device, that probably includes a good number of PC users.

That said, those with an existing investment in a Windows PC and its software may not opt for the iPad when they can get a full-blown laptop for the same money or less. Or they may. As Gottheil puts it, “The choice of device depends more on the use than the user.” In other words, it isn’t always possible to predict what someone’s usage of a secondary computer is going to be based on what they already use.

Whether or not existing Windows users will choose the iPad is about to get even more complicated by the impending introduction of tablets powered byAndroid and Windows 7. It’s hard to say what impact they will have, especially since it isn’t clear yet how they’ll stack up against their biggest common competitor, but there’s little doubt that the iPad set an example for them to follow, and possibly exceed.

Are iPads displacing netbooks?

Few analysts believe that the iPad will eat into netbook, laptop or desktop PC sales in a significant way. “The iPod Touch was probably the largest victim of iPad sales,” says Gottheil. “Cannibalization of other devices, includingsmartphones and netbooks, will increase as the market shifts from early adopters, who tend to buy one of everything, to buyers looking to fill specific needs. As new lower-priced tablets enter the market, they will put a larger dent in the netbook market.”

Longtime Windows analyst Paul Thurrott came to a similar conclusion in a blog entry in May of this year. He quoted a Wall Street Journal article that asserted that netbooks have actually had some of the wind knocked out of their sails in the past year or so by higher-end lightweight laptops, which are often used as both auxiliaries and replacements for desktop machines.

In short, changes in the netbook market cannot exclusively be attributed to the iPad. They’re symptoms of the natural limitations of the market for those devices. Few people expected the original netbook growth spurt to be sustainable (and, sure enough, it wasn’t). Likewise, no one expects the desktop/laptop PC market to be subsumed by either netbooks or tablets.

There remains the possibility that future (rather than present) netbook sales are at risk. If by the end of the year the iPad’s sales hit 6 million (sales currently stand at 3 million-plus, and they’re climbing), that would be roughly one-tenth of the projected sales for netbooks this year. It’s again not clear that such sales would come at the expense of netbooks; even apart from users’ buying habits, the netbook market remains an order of magnitude larger. But Apple is less concerned about cornering a whole market; it would much rather sell a hotly desired brand.

Complements rather than replacements

Netbooks and the iPad have typically been described as “complementary” devices. They generally aren’t replacements for a main computer, but rather are an adjunct. They allow people to take basic computing and connectivity on the road without a lot of extra weight.

However, the average computing capacity of netbooks has risen dramatically since their introduction — and with that, so has the way netbooks complement their desktop (or full-size laptop) counterparts. With netbooks, the main constraint isn’t processing power or storage, but screen size. Most people don’t use them for work that demands a large display or multiple displays. The fact that, while away from their main computer, they have access to the vast majority of programs they normally run more than compensates.

The application mix for the iPad also reflects its complementary nature. While many of the top apps for the iPad are games or readers/browsers of one kind or another — Netflix, iBooks, USA Today — three of the top downloaded apps for the iPad, as of April 2010, were productivity applications, namely Pages, Keynote and Numbers, all from Apple’s iWork suite. It’s likely that iPad users aren’t downloading those programs to create new content so much as to access and edit existing content — for instance, to take a presentation on the road.

That being said, when people have a laptop as their primary PC to begin with — something that is happening more often — they may opt to skip buying an auxiliary device entirely, especially if what they already have is portable enough for their needs.

Creating vs. consuming

“Form follows function” is an old adage about design. But the reverse is also true: Function follows form. This especially applies to the iPad, according to some. “The iPad is not designed for content creation, but more for content consumption,” claims Kitagawa.

But do “consumers” opt for the iPad, while “producers” opt for netbooks, because of their respective designs? It’s a tempting theory, since it makes it that much easier to predict who will want what.

The problem with this idea is that “producers” and “consumers” aren’t static categories. People freely wander between them all the time, even within the course of their chosen activities. A programmer with a two- or three-screen workstation may opt for the iPad as her secondary device because she doesn’t want to crunch code when she’s away from her main PC. Likewise, someone who reads e-books on the go may end up opting for a netbook because the keyboard lets him make annotations or write critiques of the books all the more easily.

And while the iPad may not allow content creation in the same manner as a netbook, it’s making new kinds of content creation possible. Consider Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro, a drawing app that allows users to create remarkable-looking art with only a finger — something made possible by the iPad’s touch screen.

In other words, the “producer vs. consumer” argument that has been so popular is something of a misfire.

All apps vs. some apps

A major contrast between the iPad and netbooks generally has to do with where they get their apps. Windows-based netbooks can run almost any Windows application; they’re open-ended. The iPad, with Apple’s App Store, is closed-ended for the sake of creating a tightly managed end-user experience.

How users react to this seems to revolve around how they see the device generally. If they see the iPad as a larger version of, say, the iPhone (which has always run its own proprietary app collection), it’s less objectionable. If they see it as a laptop equivalent and consequently expect some access to their existing apps, it’s easier for them to be annoyed.

Based on the path the iPad has taken so far, it seems likely that rather than imitating netbooks, laptops or desktop computers, it will continue to exist in its own category and be shaped by the types of applications that are developed specifically for it.

As Jenna Wortham of The New York Times puts it: “The iPad is a chameleon, ready to be transformed by the software running on it.”

Where are we going from here?

Now that netbooks have found their niche as travel devices rather than PC replacements, and the iPad is already a trend-setter, what comes next?

For one, desktop PC sales aren’t going to be directly decimated by any of this. If anything, netbook and iPad sales may help the primary PC market in the long run. Gottheil describes it this way: “Netbooks displace some sales of the least expensive PCs for price-sensitive purchasers, especially in emerging markets, but they also expand the low-end market [for PCs] by lowering the entry price, so the net effect to primary PC sales is positive. The same will be true as less expensive tablets enter the market. Useful portable non-PC devices will enhance desktop sales, as purchasers choose to pair a larger, stationary device with a smaller, portable one.”

It may take two or more years for the tablet market to reach that competitive a price point, but the effect on PC prices is still clear: It’ll force them down that much further. What’s tougher to predict is how the two-or-more device model might be offset by those who buy a portable device as their one and only machine, and relegate the full-blown desktop — the default “PC” form factor — to just one niche among many.

The most disruptive threat posed by the iPad is that it’s still in the process of finding and cultivating its niche. The established presence of netbooks — and the introduction of slates in the spirit of the iPad — won’t allow that disruption to go unchallenged at first.

What’s really shaking up the computer market — and that includes the continued presence of netbooks — is how the palette of computers out there has become so broad that no one form factor is the default. Netbooks won’t be runaway bestsellers like before, but only because they’ll just be one form factor among many — with each kind potentially being the primary computer for a different class of user. One size no longer has to fit all.

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced a number of products during his company’s Sept. 1 presentation in San Francisco, devoting asubstantial chunk of time to the now-annual refresh of the iPod line. In particular, the revamped iPod Touch—which Jobs joked was an iPhone “without a phone”—will receive a number of features already present in the iPhone 4, including the FaceTime videoconferencing application and the high-definition Retina Display.

But do those additions make the iPod Touch, traditionally the most “consumery” of consumer electronic items, ready for a boosted role in the enterprise?

That question may not make or break Apple’s fortunes with its newest products, but it could affect how some companies choose to procure and distribute devices to their employees in the coming months.

Some of the new iOS features—notably Game Center, a multiplayer-centric gaming platform—remain firmly in the consumer realm, and thus outside the consideration of business mobility. Three other aspects of the iPod Touch, though, have possible relevance: FaceTime, Retina Display and HD video recording .

HD video recording and FaceTime could increase the iPod Touch’s use as an “in the field” device for workers, while Retina Display would certainly boost the visual clarity of work-centric apps. Chances are good, however, that the potential audience already owns devices capable of video- and image-taking; and the WiFi-powered FaceTime and Retina Display, while certainly selling points for Apple, may not offer enough utility to justify a mass device-purchase for an office.

On top of that, the new iPod Touch’s price point—the 8GB version will retail for $229, the 32GB for $299, and the 64GB for $399—could prove a sticking point. Although business IT spending has increased in recent months, in the wake of the global recession, it may be hard to justify that sort of spending on a device when the 16GB iPhone 4 retails for $199, and the 32GB version for $299.

However, Apple’s Sept. 1 announcements surrounding the iPad may make that device an even more viable option as an enterprise item. Jobs told the audience that the upcoming iOS 4.2 will give the tablet new features: wireless printing, multitasking, apps folders, a unified e-mail inbox, stronger security and device-management capabilities, and tweaks to the keyboard and dictionaries.

Apple may intend those tweaks to head off an all-but-certain challenge from other manufacturers, some of whose upcoming tablet PCs may attempt to target the enterprise. During Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference July 12, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company was developing Windows-equipped tablets designed to appeal to a variety of demographics.

“They’ll come with keyboards; they’ll come without keyboards—there’ll be many devices,” he told the audience. “But they will run Windows 7, they will run Office, they will accept ink- as well as touch-based input.”

Hewlett-Packard is developing tablets with its recently acquired Palm webOS,and company executives have indicated that an enterprise-centric version running Windows 7 is in development. Manufacturers such as Samsung and Dell have either released, or are preparing, similar hardware that runs Google Android. That means the coming months will see iPad competitors with more robust productivity options.

Those competitors’ moves, combined with any tech company’s urge to constantly improve its product lines, likely led Apple to the particularimprovements in iOS 4.2. The question now is how hard the iPad, having already made inroads in a business context, will need to fight to hold onto the majority of that might.

Because it is based on the established iOS mobile operating system — and because it is relatively cheap and increases productivity — the iPad has found uncharacteristically quick approval from many information-technology managers at U.S. corporations.

Highlighting the success of the iPad in the business world, The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday noted that while many companies would not approve the iPhone for corporate use when it debuted in 2007, the iPad has quickly found acceptance with IT departments at companies. Part of that is because the iOS mobile operating system, previously only available for the iPhone and iPod touch, has been updated with business-friendly features such as Exchange e-mail and remote erase capabilities.

“Apple has addressed these and other issues, including the ability for companies to encrypt information on iPhones and set up secure ways for employees to connect to corporate networks,” author Ben Worthen wrote. “The latest version of the operating system used by the iPhone and iPad adds features that make the devices easier for a tech department to manage, including the ability for businesses to distribute internally developed apps without going through Apple’s App Store.”

The report noted that more than 500 of the more than 11,000 applications currently available for the iPad are business-oriented. One free application from Citrix, which allows employees to access corporate programs on the iPad, has seen more than 145,000 downloads.

Other advantages to the iPad: its $499 starting price makes it less expensive than a traditional business laptop, and more functional for activities like working standing up or giving a presentation.

The paper recalled that Mercedes-Benz dealers have been equipping employees with iPads to help them sell cars. The car maker began using the iPad at 40 dealerships in May, and earlier this summer said it was considering using the iPad at all 350 of its U.S. locations.

Other specific corporate uses of the iPad mentioned in the Journal’s report include:

• Baush & Lomb Inc., maker of eye-care products, had about 50 employees using an iPad soon after its launch. The company built its own application for salespeople. The company likes the fact that the device starts quickly and has a long battery life.
• Kaiser Permanente, an Oakland, Calif., health-care organization, has been testing the iPad in a 37,000-square-foot technology lab for viewing medical images such as X-rays and CT scans.
• Though Chicago law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP banned the iPhone when it first came out, it preordered 10 iPads before it was released. The company now has more than 50 attorneys equipped with iPads, and plans to issue them as an alternative to laptops next year.

Earlier this summer, Apple revealed that the iPad is at use in more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies. Companies such as SAP and Wells Fargo.

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BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is testing a tablet that could act as a “companion” to its BlackBerry phone, says the Wall Street Journal.

The BlackBerry tablet is reportedly in the early stage of development and will tether to the the phone. Last month, the Boy Genius Report web site said the BlackBerry tablet is likely to have an 8.9-inch screen and include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Since Apple introduced the iPad in April, other PC and smartphone makers have announced that they are working on tablets of their own. In less than 60 days since the iPad was launched, Apple said it sold more than 2 million of them.

Earlier this month, Dell announced it will introduce a tablet called ‘Streak’ that will have a 5-inch display and run Google’s Android operating system. The Streak also has a SIM card so users can make calls with it. The device is currently available in the U.K. now and is expected to launch in the U.S. next month for $500. HP is also working on a tablet computer called the HP Slate.

RIM hopes to introduce its tablet to complement its BlackBerry phones. The move evokes Palm’s failed experiment with the Foleo. In 2007, Palm announced the Foleo as a companion device to its Treo phone. The Foleo priced at $500 would sync wirelessly to Treo phones. But, after much criticism, Palm cancelled the device even before it could make it to retail shelves.

RIM’s tablet might be better received. A tablet could help RIM compete better with the latest generation of smartphones. Except for the BlackBerry Storm, RIM hasn’t released any smartphones with touchscreens. A tablet could help bridge the gap between its keyboard-focused phones and the fast growing market for touchscreen devices.

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Offers $15 for 200 megabytes

AT&T Inc plans to stop offering an unlimited pricing plan for new subscribers to its mobile data services, a move that it says will cut prices for as many as 98 percent of its customers.

The exclusive U.S. provider for Apple Inc’s iPhone said the new metered pricing, which takes effect June 7, means the more customers use their phones for web surfing the more they will have to pay for the service.

Current customers can continue to use the company’s $29.99-a-month unlimited data plan, but new customers will be shunted to the new plan, which benefits light users of the data service but costs more for heavy users.

The company is betting that by curtailing downloads by heavy users, it can make the wireless Web more affordable for more people. If it reduces downloads, the new pricing plan may also ease capacity constraints that have caused network problems for the company in high usage areas such as New York.

The new plans would start at $15 a month for downloads of 200 megabytes of data. That equals about 400 web pages, 1,000 e-mails with no attachments, 50 online photos online or 20 minutes of video, according to AT&T.

If users exceed the 200 megabytes usage they will automatically be charged another $15 for another 200 megabytes. The company said 65 percent of its users use less than 200 megabytes of data per month.

The next tier costs $25 for 2 gigabytes of data, which is ten times more downloads than the 200 megabytes plan. AT&T said 98 percent of its customers use less than 2 gigabytes of data.

The $25-a-month customers will be charged another $10 a month for another gigabyte of data in the same month.

Users of Apple’s iPad, for which AT&T is also the only U.S. service, will be offered $25-a-month plans for 2 gigabytes of data, replacing the current $29.99 unlimited plan.

AT&T shares were up 17 cents to $24.50 in premarket trading.