TabCo?

Attention tablet users!  Apparently, you are all a bunch of lemmings, satisfied with the mediocre performance of the available devices, iPads, Galaxy Tabs, and so on.

Enter TabCo.  Here's what I know about them:  NOTHING.

Here's what All Things D knows about them:  (Hint:  not much...):

The big reveal for TabCo is set for Aug. 15, but AllThingsD has managed to gather a few facts on the company’s forthcoming product.

On the hardware side, TabCo’s product will have many of the usual features, including Wi-Fi and optional 3G connectivity, support for Bluetooth and USB, as well as its own suite of apps for editing and viewing documents, photos and videos.

The big thing that sets it apart, I’m told, is its software and what insiders call a “predictive user interface.” The design is said to anticipate user needs to help perform tasks such as Web searches, buying products or getting directions.

OK, I'm intrigued, but we've all been disappointed before, as ATD notes:

I can say that the company is playing a high-risk game with all of its antics. Such activities can — and have — built buzz for new technologies even before anything is known about the actual product. That said, such pitches often spin out of hand, with the hype building so much that the eventual product can hardly help but fail to meet expectations.

Microsoft tried such an approach in the middle of last decade with Project Origami, which was later revealed to be a pricey handheld touch computer. Though in many ways aprecursor to the iPad, the initial batch of Origami devices were too expensive, hard to manipulate via only one’s fingers, and had embarrassingly short battery life.

Perhaps because the Origami devices were so far short of expectations, Microsoft essentially dropped the project rather than continue to iterate and plug away — a decision that the company might be regretting after seeing Apple enjoy the riches from a tablet market that Microsoft spent years working to create.

The Segway, too, was built up to legendary proportions before it was revealed, with leaks suggesting that luminaries like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs believed the product could change the world and cause cities to be designed differently. In the end, the Segway proved to be a niche success, at best, as a platform for security guards, mail carriers and tourists looking for a unique way to see the sights.

So, TabCo — or whoever you are — you’ve got our attention. Now it’s up to you to deliver something that keeps it.

We'll be watching.  8.15.11.  At least it's not set for 4.1.12....