Friday  Engadget got exclusive pictures and video on Microsoft rumored Courier device, which is Microsoft’s vision of a tablet device to rival Apple’s upcoming iPad.

It’s expected that the Courier will be a pen-based device running a version of Windows Mobile 7 OS. It will have a built in camera and headphone jack. The courier will be the everything device that every one  hoped the iPad should have been and will be a very big hit with everyday Microsoft Windows fans and business people alike.

The rumor is that the Courier will be released sometime toward the end of 2010. We predict that the timing will be perfect since it will be after Apple’s expected disastrous launch of the iPad. People will be screaming for something more advanced and in tune with the times, and Microsoft Courier will be right there to fulfill their needs. It will be the biggest selling device in 2010, starting the revolution of portable touch screen devices.

There’s an interesting editorial on the iPad’s need to have both multitasking and multiple user setup. While lacking both of these features is not necessarily a deal breaker, it could be a bit of an inconvenience for those who intend to use the iPad as a laptop replacement. While we won’t exactly know how well the iPad will deal with the iWork productivity apps, the article points out a possible shortcoming without multitasking:

Actually, multitasking is essential to one of the major features that Apple has been touting on the iPad: iWork. Imagine trying to make a Keynote presentation without being able to access other files or being able to check on the Internet for data, citations or other information. Sure, there is reported to be a shared folder on the iPad, which all applications will be able to access. So you can stick your text files, graphics, videos and music files there if you already know you want to use them for a presentation, Pages document, or Numbers spreadsheet. But if you’re like most people, you don’t plan out every step of your documents ahead of time; you build them up as you go along. If you have to quit, say, Keynote every time you need to check something on the web or copy some data from a Numbers spreadsheet, you’ll be spending a lot of time switching apps and not much time producing.

The key for the iPad is how quickly one will be able to jump from one app to the next.  If it takes a second or two to launch an app, then multitasking may not be an issue but if you have to wait five to ten seconds, then it can get pretty annoying.  At this point, we don’t know for sure but hopefully issues will be addressed once the iPad comes out in full swing.

Shipments for netbooks really took off last year with an impressive 79% jump from 2008 according to Strategy Analytics.  The top players were the usual suspects, Asus, Acer, HP and Dell.

The fact these devices are nice  and affordable compliments to full fledged desktops made it appealing to many consumers.  I think there is a good size market of  people who  would like something very portable but something slightly larger than a smartphone making it easier to read and type on.  2010 should also see a nice increase now that netbooks are being installed with Windows 7. The perception being that the Win 7 netbooks will be able to keep up with future software compatability and technology.

But will online retailers pick up the slack?

Why does the stock market go up when the highest unemployment in a generation is announced?