Tablet

Tablets appear poised to dominate the holiday sales season, according to a number of shopping surveys. The findings could help buoy wireless operators hoping to generate additional data revenues from tablet users who want to connect their device to a cellular network.

Verizon Wireless is offering a financing plan for postpaid customers who want to purchase a cellular-capable tablet. The financing plan dovetails with Verizon's newly introduced shared data plans and is likely is an effort to increase the number of customers who pay $10 per month to attach a tablet to their shared data plan.

This is what makes Amazon's service bundle so interesting.  It's not directly being driven by an operator (though AT&T benefits). The data allotment isn't enough for solid 3G or 4G tablet usage; it's not nearly enough to support the multimedia content consumption Amazon is pushing.  It may, however, give people a taste of mobile data and and spur them to buy more expensive plans.  

Amazon upped the ante in the wireless-enabled tablet space today by introducing the Kindle Fire HD, an 8.9-inch large-screen tablet equipped with LTE that will sell for $499. The new tablet will come with a $50 per year data plan from AT&T, making it the most affordable LTE tablet on the market.