CONSUMERS are still abuzz about the new tablet computers and smartphones showcased at the International Consumer Electronics Show that closed on Sunday in Las Vegas.

But what really caught my eye last week was two less publicized events which are so revolutionary that they may change user habits for more than a decade.

On January 6, Apple debuted an application store for Mac computers, replicating a model that proved widely popular for its iPhone and iPad.

And on the previous day, Microsoft announced it will launch its next-generation Windows on ARM architecture, a clear signal of the end of the Microsoft-Intel monopoly that has existed for two decades. The so-called "Wintel" era refers to the situation where Intel dominated the CPU (central processing unit) and computer hardware sector, while Microsoft dominated the software side.

Both announcements represent a new era of computers and a new set of rules.

Consumers will no longer need to pay for hardware and software they don't want. They will find their Internet-connected devices more mobile and accessible, whether they are computers, slate PCs or smartphones. They will have more choices on Internet-based applications and services, which will be easier to access and may be available free or at reduced, more competitive, prices.

Apple's new Mac App Store, similar to the iPhone App Store and linked to iTunes accounts, offers more than 1,000 free and pay-for apps in 20 categories. The store is now open in 90 countries and regions, including China.

"The Mac App Store is off to a great start," Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said in a statement. "We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps."

Through the store's centralized distribution and easy access, people can browse and select what they want, including the popular game Angry Birds or the photography tool Aperture. All processing can be completed at one online outlet, instead of having to go to individual companies' websites or to the nearest BestBuy, finding packed software and then typing a long validation code at home.

Meanwhile, the online store often provides free trials, or so-called Lite versions, for paid apps to allow users to test them out and avoid unnecessary purchases.

I think the new model will push down the average cost of software because there are no overhead costs of a bricks-and-mortar shop and because of competition among similar apps in one platform.

Rich experience

Before Apple's new store, a startup firm called Salesforce.com - whose motto is "software is dead"- launched web-based services to corporate clients to replace the traditional Microsoft Office several years ago. The company's success triggered the growth of web-based services globally.

Apple is not a startup company. It now has rich experience in the mobile device sector, and it's easy for Apple to copy the successful iTunes model from iPhone and iPad to Mac computers - a sort of "halo effect."

Never forget Apple is the biggest PC maker in the US, if iPad sales are included. One day, Apple may merge its App Store for iPad and Mac App Store into one. Who knows.

Therefore, the store is really "one more thing," to use Apple's description for revolutionary new products, and it's potentially much more important than iPad 2 or a CDMA version of iPhone.

In the Internet-based services sector, Apple has a strong parallels with Google. The search giant is going to launch its new Android 3.0 for smartphones and tablet PCs and its new Chrome operating system. Google has also established an online Google Market for mobile devices.

I bet the search giant will extend Google Market to include the PC platform when Chrome is ready later this year.

If I were Microsoft's Bill Gates or current CEO Steve Ballmer, I would seriously consider opening an online store to distribute Word, Windows and the latest Internet Explorer 9.

Actually, Microsoft is realizing that it must adapt to the new era if it's to maintain its market dominance.

During the electronics show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced the next version of its Windows PC operating system will run on ARM processors, the most important news, I believe, to come out of the show.

It's a big move for Microsoft, whose operating system has traditionally run only on processors from Intel and its smaller rival AMD. Intel actually dominates the market because it accounts for more than 80 percent of sales.

Now we have ARM, a UK-based chip design and licensing firm, which has developed another processor architecture called system-on-chip. Its use is focused on the mobile communications market.

The new support from Microsoft will help it expand into the tablet PC market now and finally into PCs one day.

Join the game

Based on Microsoft's decision and ARM's business model, which involves designing and licensing rather than manufacturing and selling semiconductor chips, more chip firms will be allowed to join the game, including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Nvidia. Even Apple's iPad chip is based on ARM processors.

In business, competition breeds transparency and innovation, which translates to lower costs and better products for consumers. One only has to look at the deregulation of the Chinese telecommunications industry and the competition spawned by 3G competition to see how costs have come down and services improved.

For Microsoft, it's a wise choice to have a new partner, which will allow the software vendor to tap into the booming mobile market.

Put simply, chips based on the ARM design use much less power and are dominant in smartphones such as the BlackBerry and iPhone and in tablets like the iPad. ARM chips are more competitive in the mobile devices markets, compared with chips made by bigger rival Intel, which has emphasized clock speed rather than power efficiency. Even though ARM-based devices are currently limited to smartphones, tablet PCs or small-sized laptops, the market for them is big and, more importantly, growing.

Several dozen new tablet PCs debuted during the Las Vegas show, including Motorola's Xoom and Lenovo's LePad. The show is the biggest of its kind in the world, which naturally focuses attention on what companies are unveiling there.

Global tablet revenue will rise to US$46 billion in 2014, compared with US$16 billion last year, according to Yankee Group's research.

The sizzling tablet market will afford ARM-licensed chip makers enough room to develop next-generation devices, I think.

So the question for us consumers is: "Will we still need a laptop or will a tablet just suffice?" And for the true techno-enthusiasts, the question is: "What's the next-generation device?"

I can't answer such questions. For that you have to look to the information technology industry, where the only thing that doesn't change is change itself; change that often comes so fast that it's flabbergasting.