Bumper US tablet sales expected

Some 14% of US online customers plan to buy a tablet computer within the next 12 months, according to a new study from Forrester Research, reports PC World.

The 14% was ahead of the 13% planning to buy a laptop, 11% planning to buy an e-book reader, 8% planning to buy a netbook, and 8% said to be planning to buy a desktop computer.

The survey, which questioned almost 4 000 consumers, could translate to 43 million tablet sales in the US by the end of 2011.

The Malaysian government will soon acquire 877 000 more units of the 1Malaysia netbooks under its next distribution phase for students from needy families nationwide, says Daily Express.

Deputy information communication and culture minister, Datuk Joseph Salang, said 123 000 units had so far been distributed.

"The distribution is in furtherance of the promise made by prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to give away one million units," he said.

KT says it will introduce a tablet computer powered by Google's Android operating system in South Korea on 10 September, before Apple's iPad device goes on sale in the country, writes Bloomberg.

KT, South Korea's largest provider of phone and Internet services, aims to sell 100 000 of the handheld computers by year-end, Kim Sung Chul, a vice-president at the Seongnam-based company, said.

The device, called Identity Tab, will be made by Seoul-based Enspert, KT said.