Tablets are coming! Tablets are coming!!!

[amirm]

Boy, what an avalanche. A bunch announced at GSM world congress (largest mobile conference) http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/tabl...le+(Mashable)#view_as_one_page-gallery_box881

Google is turning out to be the next Microsoft. A few companies design the product and customize for the rest of the world to put their names and touch on them....

 

[JackD201]

Who would have thought Google would get so big so fast. Amazing.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

That was kind of odd. The article said that the hardware was all very similar and choices would probably be made on form factor. Then I scrolled through the pictures and except for the one up top with a bit of grey at the top and bottom of the pad, they all looked the same. Methinks this will be a software driven market.

Tim

 

[The Smokester]

I am viewing the non-Apple tablet scene with great amusement...It's like watching Keystone Cops. A bunch of manufacturers run around announcing a bevy of Android tablets in early 2010. The iPad comes out and it is just terrific. Knocks every other manufacturer's vaporware into obsolescence. Nothing comparable comes out with Android for all of 2010 probably because all the other big name manufacturers are too embarrassed to enter the competition.

2011 comes and "A bunch of manufacturers run around announcing a bevy of Android tablets". So far, a smattering of non-Apple tablets arrive. Some have fantastic hardware: SoC's. System on a Chip--dual processors with integrated video and audio processors. But no operating system and few apps. Certainly nothing comparable to the iPad even if you hack. To date, they are all using an Android cell phone operating system incapable of taking advantage of the new multi-processor hardware. Sure, many have a forward facing camera but no software is out yet to allow, for example, video Skyping. Absolutely none are as capabable as the iPad. If we're lucky, the Motoral Xoom running the Android Tablet operating system (called Honeycomb) will show up by the end of the month. And then there'll be the iPad 2.

2012 comes and "A bun...."

 

[JackD201]

Amir,

Would you know the patent/licensing situation on multi-touch interfaces?

Jack

 

[amirm]

Of course I don't know the reality as understanding true nature of what is patented is very challenging. Patent apps run many pages and by the time they finish getting granted, have been modified so many times that true intention of is there is often lost.

To show what a mess it is, while Apple is suing Motorola and HTC over it, a Taiwanese company is suing apple for violating the same idea!

My sense is that Apple has a huge deficit in patents covering mobile phones. The other companies have been in this business for decades and likely have core patents for which Apple does not have a license. They may have even privately been pushing apple to pay up. Apple in return is using its newer patents to go after them. The final outcome will be a patent cross license. The only question is: what the "balancing payment" will be. This is the amount of money the side with less important patents pays to the other side. Winning a lawsuit may convince the other side to cave on asking for boatload of money.

 

[JackD201]

Thanks for the insight. I asked because since Apple's iPad and iTouch seems to be the market share leader I was wondering if their version of multi-touch (use not underlying tech) will have a bearing on the success of their competitors. Apple has always been good at making intuitive UIs. My three year old plays with my Pad and Touch like he was playing with blocks. People with these devices have already gotten used to the touching and swiping the Apple way. I'm wondering now if these gestures have been registered in some way as to be proprietary or for that matter if this is an area than can be registered at all.

I'm also wondering if the Droid tabs will be controlled differently from the user stand point as opposed to say the opposite screen orientations of Win and Mac but which both still use the same pointing device mechanics.........or in simple language, will I have to unlearn iPad habits and learn new ones.

 

[naturephoto1]

We are just about to finally break down and get some Droid Smart phones, quite probably at least one HTC for our Sprint phone accounts after resisting for some time. How many of you really think that the tablets are such a wonderful size and option? For my self, I find them too much of an "in-between" size. I would rather go with something like the HTC Evo 4G phone with the 4.3" screen and then go to my Dell XPS laptop computer for my applications and usage rather use a tablet. But, that is just me. I guess that many like to have the ability to use the touch screen capabilities of the tablets.

Rich

 

[JackD201]

I'm still married to my laptop but tablets are great for casual activities like reading, playing games, well pretty much any activity that I don't need my sausage fingers to type with. I think they really are geared for the casual consumer and that that segment is growing by leaps and bounds as opposed to just a few years ago when tablets were used by folks like medical professionals who needed the form factor for different reasons.

 

[amirm]

I am not into tablets for general use. I have an ultra-light laptop which I use for my text intensive tasks. And Droidx otherwise. Android Tablets are still maturing and need some mileage to become good.

 

[flez007]

I am using more and more my iPad and less my notebook. I read an intetesting article around mobile apps/hardware use on age intervals, younger people interact almost 50% of their time thru cell/iPad devices, the rest is shared by PCs/game consoles and TV.

 

[The Smokester]

...How many of you really think that the tablets are such a wonderful size and option? For my self, I find them too much of an "in-between" size. ...Rich

It depends on what you are using it for and also your lifestyle. My experience is that a tablet is a "consuming device" rather than a "producing device". It is lighter than a netbook, battery lasts longer (depending on how much you spend on the netbook) and it boots up and jumps on the internet quickly. With a 10" screen, it is great to surf and watch videos, read and answer (if the answer is short) email and read pdf reports. But for books without graphics or tables, a Kindle is usually better (smaller, thinner, lighter, easier to hold, easier to read). For producing long, complex documents a minimum of a notebook is required...Mainly you need a keyboard and perhaps a large monitor so possibly one can get by with add-ons. Software for serious calculations (C++, Mathematica, MathCad/Lab) just doesn't exist for these devices. If you do animations they need to be canned and ported to the tablet. For Photoshop something with a serious graphics card, calibrated screen and storage is best and that's not to be found on a tablet. Security of tablets, particularly for Android, is starting to become an issue if you are carrying around proprietary media. It is also hard to keep these devices synched across multiple platforms. And when you are unexpectedly lost what are you more likely to have in your pocket: A 10" tablet or a smart phone?

On the road I need a laptop with graphics card; At home, a multi-core processor with multiple screens and a big graphics card. So far (and I am surprised by this) the tablet is more of an experiment useful for convenience in a limited set of circumstances.