LAS VEGAS -- Forget everything you thought you knew about what constitutes a computer, for the age of the tablet is upon us.

At the Consumer Electronics Show here Wednesday, reports indicated that software giant Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Corp. will join forces to launch a touchscreen, tablet computer, marking the technology industry’s biggest step yet towards capitalizing on a potentially groundbreaking, but historically underwhelming, market.

Industry watchers say Apple Inc. is also planning to launch its own tablet device this month at an event on Jan. 27. Although Apple has not confirmed the rumours of its phantom tablet that have circulated online in recent months, the Cupertino, Calif. company is certainly the elephant in the convention hall at CES.

As a result, other PC makers are racing to bring their own version of the tablet onto the market before Apple sets about establishing the rules of the emerging category in the minds of consumers the way it did in 2007 with its iPhone smart phone.

Reports from Reuters and The New York Times indicate the Microsoft-HP tablet device will run on Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system and will feature a multi-touch interface as well as multimedia capabilities.

HP also unveiled Wednesday a new touchscreen netbook as well as a revamped version of its TouchSmart swivel-screen laptop at CES.

With the rising popularity of slimmed down laptop computers, or netbooks, combined with the explosive growth of the global smart phone market, technology companies are looking to blur the lines between computers and mobile phones with tablets.

Tablet devices are not new; several computer makers, including HP, have sold them in the past. Although they have never been a resounding success with consumers, manufacturers believe that the evolution of cellphone networks and WiFi technology has improved to a point at which the market displays greater potential and tablets with access to the Internet and multimedia become more attractive to buyers.

But whether it’s the touch-screen technology, swivel screens, detachable screens or dual screens, the idea of a mobile computer is going through a metamorphosis at CES this year.

PC maker Lenovo is the centre of a great deal of buzz after unveiling the Skylight device, which it is calling a smartbook — a sort of smart phone, netbook hybrid — and which will be sold through AT&T in the U.S.

Lenovo also debuted what it is calling the first “hybrid PC” at CES, the IdeaPad U1, which has a detachable screen. The company said the IdeaPad U1 is designed to give consumers two PCs in one, with each screen possessing its own processor and operating system that “work together and independently as either a clamshell laptop or a multitouch slate tablet.”

Other technology companies, including Qualcomm Inc. and Nvidia Corp. are also expected to debut their own smartbooks at CES in Las Vegas this week.

Part of the reason for the renewed interest in tablets has been the success of e-reading devices, most notably Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle device. The latest version of the Kindle, the DX, shares a number of characteristics with smartbooks, allowing users not only to download and read books, but also to connect to the Web through next generation cellphone networks.

But the Kindle is not alone, and other manufacturers are bringing e-readers closer to the domain of netbooks. Entourage Systems Inc., for example, debuted a dual screen e-reader this week here that closely resembles a netbook. Dubbed The eDGe, the device runs on the Android operating system backed by Google Inc., contains a large internal hard drive and allows users to make notes using a stylus.

mhartley@nationalpost.com