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Switched On: TabCo's tease
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology Tomorrow, we will find out whether TabCo is a FabCo, a DrabCo, or a skunkworks LabCo, ending the best guessing game to hit the tech industry since the identity of Fake Steve Jobs. The significant spend on the PR campaign (to quote TabCo's Web site, "That skywriting stuff isn't cheap, you know. Neither are these videos.") as well as a reference to "a large colony of nerds" have led many to believe that TabCo is a large corporation. (Its Web site says it is a global company and TabCo is planning to launch in the US in August and Europe in September.) But there are also signs to the contrary. Take, for example, TabCo's founder and CEO -- the Google-elusive Ian "IQ" Quincy (TabCo has used pseudonyms such as "Beige Foul" -- a clear reference to Apple engineer Gray Powell), who has played a major part in the campaign. Let's dive a little deeper.
TabCo answers your tablet questions with more questions
How to differentiate your tablet in an already severely overcrowded marketplace? Well, you could simply launch the best device out there -- or you could embark on a mystery campaign, answering a curious populace with cagey responses. Whoever is behind the TabCo tablet claims to have done both. The company, thus far best known for a series of befuddling YouTube videos, is set to make a full reveal on Monday. In the meantime, a representative has taken to gdgt to answer questions about the product -- sort of. There are bits and pieces of information scattered here and there, but the responses are mostly attempts not to "spoil" anything, followed by a promise that more will be revealed on August 15th. Here's what the company will say, starting with the simplest first: TabCo is short for "Tablet Company," a business set to launch a new tablet in the US this month, followed by a roll out in some European countries come September. The company won't say whether the product is running some version of Android, but has promised that, whatever the OS is, the final form of the product will "offer a new way to interact with your device," including a "predictive UI" that apparently knows what you want to search for and buy before you tell it. The tablet has an SD slot, 3G and WiFi, and a "unique" physical design and resolution. There's no 3D or HTC Flyer-style pen functionality on the thing, however. Oh, and the build quality? TabCo says it's "as good or better than Nokia and Apple devices." So, what is it? The new tablet from the people who brought you the Tabasco line of hot sauces? A big Improv Everywhere-style prank? An actual, you know, tablet? Lots and lots of viral-type videos for the international tablet of mystery after the break. And feel free to speculate your guts out in the comments
