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Dec 11

eWeek: Forrester’s Five Futuristic Computing Form Factors

Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps puts aside the tablet talk to discuss five computing form factors she sees possibly gaining momentum in the future.

With Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad selling close to 40 million units since its April 2010 launch, ostensibly birthing the tablet form factor, you can forgive high-tech punditry for reveling in tablet talk and prognostication.

Fortunately, some analysts are given to skate to where the puck will be, not where it is, a common refrain in the torrid venture capital sector.

While tablet talk is hardly cooling, Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps is looking ahead to some consumer electronics computing form factors she expects to rear their heads at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show next month. For context, these devices and gadgets are early nodes on the Internet of Things—the notion that all devices rely on Web connections to process and relay information.

First, Epps envisions wearable devices, or those worn on or near the body as fresh form factor candidates. She cited the Lark sleep tracker and BodyMedia wristband, which sync with Apple’s iOS devices for health and fitness scenarios. On the Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android OS side of the camp is a wristwatch from WIMM Labs, which relays information on news, social networking, health and personal finance.

More of the eWeek article from Clint Boulton