For the last week or two, all the talk has been about Apple.  That in and of itself is not unusual; however, it’s not another version of the iPhone or iPod that’s getting all the attention.  What’s got the Internet buzzing is the idea that Apple might be entering the tablet computer market.  Looking to beat the rush, and looking to firmly seize the cheap tablet market is Freescale, which is rolling out a $199 tablet computer at CES this year.

Freescale is a semiconductor company at heart, but they’re the company pushing the smartbook revolution.  Smartbooks are like netbooks, but even smaller and lighter.  Despite being tiny, the Freescale tablet packs 512MB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, a 1GH processor, a 3 megapixel camera, and, crucially, that tiny price tag.  We all know there’s no way Apple’s putting out a tablet for anywhere near that price.

Freescale seems to be positioning the device as more of a chance to push their PC guts, rather than actually producing tablets themselves.  I have no doubt someone’s going to pick up the design (though it’s probably not Apple).  I just hope that $199 price point stays intact, because that’s a pretty tempting little device for that price.

Image: CNet