nt2. Better keyboards
ntFor anyone who has to write a lot, the virtual keyboards on every tablet I have tried are inadequate. I realise that onscreen keyboards are probably fine for those who can text at the speed of light. But for those who have to do a serious amount of writing — authors, students or simply anyone who writes more than a single page of information — a real keyboard is a necessity. Unless you want a bad case of numb fingers, sore wrists or worse, a physical keyboard is a must.

nt3. Better integration with printers
ntPrinting from a tablet is a real pain. Usually, third-party applications are required, and some of that software and the accompanying services must be paid for. Certainly, on Android you can use Google Cloud Printing and set up printing reasonably quickly. But it’s not ideal in every situation. Tablets need the ability to print easily before they can be considered viable devices for everyday computing.

nt4. Improved browsers
ntThere’s no shortage of browsers. On my Xoom tablet, I use a combination of Firefox and Chrome. I choose to use two browsers because Chrome is fast, but lacks some of the features I like in Firefox.

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ntAnd Firefox has trouble with Flash on the Xoom tablet. We need a single browser that is fast and secure and which can be used for every job. At one point I would have said Chrome is the best choice, but it has developed a few issues that prevent it from being my default.

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ntPhoto credit: pixelbully

nt5. Built-in handwriting recognition
ntIn theory at least, built-in handwriting recognition is on its way. Tablet PCs have had this feature for years, so I was shocked to see tablets being released without this facility.

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ntIn fact, tablets should offer more than just this basic ability. They should really come with the fully-featured recognition that’s offered by tablet PCs: handwriting, input and drawing. Now that would make tablets really effective and useful.

nt6. Lower prices
ntHP’s fire-sale pricing of the discontinued TouchPad notwithstanding, tablets are costly. The iPad and the Xoom are more expensive than far more powerful laptops. If those current high prices fell to netbook levels, tablet adoption would soar.

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ntPhoto credit: _tar0_/Flickr

nt7. More internal storage
ntSD cards are not the best way of attracting more people to tablets — even though they may be better than the simple fixed-size storage offered by most slates. Internal storage in tablets needs to be significantly greater than that found in higher-end smartphones.

nt8. Less of a phone, more of a laptop
ntOne of the issues with most tablets is that manufacturers and platform developers are still locked into treating them as oversized smartphones.

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ntThey need get out of that way of thinking. Smartphones serve a specific purpose that tablets do not. When tablets are nothing more than big smartphones, they are viewed less as the productive tools they can be and more as expensive toys, better suited to social networking than work.

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ntPhoto credit: Ben Woods

nt9. Better USB support
ntSome Android tablets such as the Xoom have support for USB — but it is minimal support. In the case of the Xoom, it only extends to USB flash drives. Offering more support for standard hardware such as keyboards, mice, and CD and DVD drives would be a major step forward.

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ntOf course, it would involve negotiating certain substantial hurdles — the installation of drivers, for one. But these issues could be easily resolved by the collective intellect of the developers on all platforms.

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ntPhoto credit: Victorinox

nt10. Easy access to SD cards
ntSome tablets have done a reasonably good job of giving users access to SD cards. But the iPad and many Android tablets have no SD card slots, which diminishes their effectiveness. Since internal storage is often limited, SD cards can be vital to intensive users. Without them, users are obliged to spend more time house-keeping, constantly removing files to save space.

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ntOther issues?
ntTablets are on the rise, but they could be even more popular with improvements to certain aspects of their design. What do you think? Are tablets on course to outshine laptops? What other issues should be added to this list?

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ntThis story originally appeared as 10 ways tablets must improve to become fully accepted on TechRepublic. 

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ntPhoto credit: Andreas/Flickr