Well, the first batch of new ARM-based netbooks is about to be introduced shortly and it appears that the manufacturers are going to differentiate the ARM-books by aiming at form factors slightly smaller than the average 10-inch(+) netbook. That's not pocketable, but with more OEMs involved I'd be surprised if there wasn't further evolution towards the space between smaller netbooks and the larger "smartphones" with 3.5-inch screen.

At this point it seems rather unfortunate that the more generic "Internet Tablet (Talk)" community has been branded (co-opted?) with the Nokia-lead Maemo label since the future of the compact tablet format appears to lie somewhere outside Nokia's field of vision.

I think many of us already saw scribblings on the wall as time kept passing after the release of Maemo 4 (year and a half ago) with very little further progress, and later when Maemo 5 was confirmed not to support the existing Internet Tablets...

Maybe it's time for Nokia to come clean and tell us in unequivocal terms whether there will in fact be another tablet format device in the pipeline or just cut the grumbling masses loose.

Mer with its up-to-date apps (like Tear) looks interesting as the life support system for the existing tablets, but where will its evolution lead (as an open-source offshoot of Nokia's Maemo) if there will be no further tablet form factor devices from Nokia? Will Moblin scale down to 4-5-inch screens and finger/stylus use? What will come of Hildon?

See, I still have no idea where this all is heading...!