iPad Prepare for the onslaught!

[weateallthepies]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

I would wager it will be pretty easy to replace Android/Windows tablets with Linux. I am not a Linux fan, (tried it and IMHO it is useless) but in a tablet I would prefer it to Windows. Android/WebOS/iOS are in my opinion the REAL mainstream tablet choices..... but a Linux techie will soon have their wish with all the tablets coming out

Useless is probably a little harsh given the amount of useful things that run linux, including the other OS's you mentioned. iOS is after all *nix based in part so shares quite a few similarities under the hood. Android is the linux kernel with a bunch of bits and a software stack. WebOS is again the linux kernel plus some fancy front end stuff.

The important thing is not so much the OS but the window manager and apps running on top. Nokia built very usable linux tablets years ago with the maemo distribution which is now morphing into meego and looks set to be a great tablet OS.

Windows 7 works quite well on a tablet though it would work better if explorer could be dumped for a better front-end. It really isn't as bloated as everyone suggests, though I tend to agree the GUI isn't as suited as something specifically designed.

The new version of Windows 7 Embedded looks like a good tablet choice though.

People who want full access to the OS are always going to be the minority. Most people want ease of use and reliability which is partly why the ipad is the success it is. It's just a shame they don't allow a community led linux project on the hardware for people who like hacking about, it would certainly gain them more customers and some of the development could be used for their benefit no doubt.

[mknopp]

Originally Posted by Yoshi 1080

AFAIK that has always been just a rumor without any official statements. I think it was just put on ice. HP’s assimilation of Palm and it’s efforts in WebOS would suggest the end of the (Windows-based) HP Slate, but maybe Microsoft went rampage and demanded it's continuation. Let's not forget that Ballmer showcased the HP Slate personally at the CES 2010, so a discontinuation would be pretty embarrassing for Microsoft.

Actually, it was officially confirmed by HP about a week and a half back.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/art...reg_R1002_USEN

Now, they don't explicitly say that the Slate referenced by Balmer will not have Win7 on it, but they do explicitly state that, "Palm will be responsible for webOS software development and webOS based hardware products, from a robust smartphone roadmap to future slate PCs and netbooks."

The real question is just how "future" is "future"? Either way, Microsoft will have HP as a competitor soon enough.

[pshrynk]

Personally, I hope that MS has a great solution, although I'm not going to hold my breath. The more competition there is, the better our toys will get.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

Win 7 Tablets on the way!

http://www.news.com.au/technology/we...mpact+news_rss

I'm a Windows 7 fan, but the last thing I want is a bloated full OS (and that includes OSX) on something like the iPad. Owning the iPad has taught me the "old school' ideas of what I "need" are outdated... but I know many want this kind of thing. Between the lot of them (Dell, Toshiba, HP, Sony.....) I would hope at least one could be a bit inovative.....

I hope they do well.... the more competition the better for all

And yes, you can read on them

In 2006 I've had a tablet (pure tablet, not a convertible) from Fujitsu Siemens (back then one of my customers) as a demo unit for 2 weeks.
It was a full blown XP tablet with outdoor display.
It has been a phantastic experience: Installing Microsoft reader and watching movies with Media player, in full sunshine on the beach - absolutely top notch.
There only had been 2 problems:
a.) Price was € 1.700. For a notebook, that's perfectly okay (back then, it even was relatively cheap). But for an additional gadget, the € 500 to € 800 of iPad make more sense of course.
b.) There simply was no use for tablets. Even my contacts in Fujitsu Siemens themselves only did use some minor features: Marking PowerPoint presentations with some jotted notes, drawing a quick MindMap and the likes. But you simply couldn't write the presentation from scratch or other "professional" work.
And that's, in my opinion, the problem tablets have been facing for years:
Writing via stylus is slow and a frustrating experience. So what's the tablet actually good for?

And here iPad might have generated a shift of perspective: It's not a full blown PC and doesn't even try. You won't rip your DVD on it. You won't write lengthy documents on it. If you consider it a stripped down unit in the price range of netbooks (= way below $ 1.000), suddenly there's a market.
One might ask, why only Apple did identify that niche. But actually, it all started with Netbooks, way before iPad:
Before netbooks = as much processor power and features as possible.
Since netbooks = matching the price point of ca. € 500 and providing whatever's affordable for that price.

I'm absolutely sure: As soon as the "big ones" (HP, Dell, ASUS, ACER) or the "exclusive ones" (TOSHIBA, SONY, FUJITSU) accept the price point and understand the potential, we'll see tons of rival units to iPad.
Still, iPad will have some advantages because of IOS. The other players will need a "streamlined OS". XP tablet or VISTA tablet (haven't tried Windows 7 tablet) simply are too mighty = too slow and too expensive.
This needs a drastic change of mindset and it will be interesting to see, which companies are able and willing to do so...

[Yoshi 1080]

Originally Posted by mknopp

Actually, it was officially confirmed by HP about a week and a half back.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/art...reg_R1002_USEN

Now, they don't explicitly say that the Slate referenced by Balmer will not have Win7 on it, but they do explicitly state that, "Palm will be responsible for webOS software development and webOS based hardware products, from a robust smartphone roadmap to future slate PCs and netbooks."

The real question is just how "future" is "future"? Either way, Microsoft will have HP as a competitor soon enough.

HP is a hugh company, I don't see why they shouldn't be able to support two different platforms. Other companies of that size do the same (Dell for example supports Windows, Android, Windows Phone 7 in fall, and I believe they have one or two PCs that can be configured to run on Linux).

By the way, I just got my Palm Pre today! Cost me 240€ including a Touchstone, which is next to nothing compared to it's launch price.

[junkyardwillie]

I think the only real iPad competition is an Android tablet. The Microsoft windows updates alone would be enough to make me not want the device. Then the fact that the OS eats up so much disc space would be the next, it means that you'd need to have a regular harddrive in the device so it has more than enough space for the updates and everything else and I wouldn't want a fragile basic harddrive in a device that I'm going to be carrying everywhere.

Android could give the iPad a run for its money but a good Android tablet won't be coming out for at least another year I'm sure. There will be a bunch of crapware and then after all of the random companies in China come out with one someone will finally make a stable and reliable tablet. I'll enjoy my iPad until then.

[mknopp]

Originally Posted by Yoshi 1080

HP is a hugh company, I don't see why they shouldn't be able to support two different platforms. Other companies of that size do the same (Dell for example supports Windows, Android, Windows Phone 7 in fall, and I believe they have one or two PCs that can be configured to run on Linux).

By the way, I just got my Palm Pre today! Cost me 240€ including a Touchstone, which is next to nothing compared to it's launch price.

Yeah, but there is a huge difference now between HP and Dell. HP owns WebOS now. Therefore, they will make more money off of webOS based devices. While, every Windows device sold will only serve to help their competition by giving them market share. Dell makes their money regardless of which OS is used.

I just read another news article that states that HP has delayed/possibly killed their planned Android tablet that was supposed to be coming out later this year. Interestingly, this article made it sound like the Win7 Slate was still on track to be released this year.

This being said, I still cannot see any company promoting a competitors product when they have an alternative offering. Why would HP spend all of that money to acquire Palm if they weren't going to vigorously promote the OS?

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

I think the only real iPad competition is an Android tablet. The Microsoft windows updates alone would be enough to make me not want the device. Then the fact that the OS eats up so much disc space would be the next, it means that you'd need to have a regular harddrive in the device so it has more than enough space for the updates and everything else and I wouldn't want a fragile basic harddrive in a device that I'm going to be carrying everywhere.

Android could give the iPad a run for its money but a good Android tablet won't be coming out for at least another year I'm sure. There will be a bunch of crapware and then after all of the random companies in China come out with one someone will finally make a stable and reliable tablet. I'll enjoy my iPad until then.

Good points. I also think that there will be better tablets than iPad, but iPad offers me basic usability now.

I've heard that regular Windows would eat up too many resources on a tablet. Would the mobile version of Windows also suck up so much that it would have to go on a regular hard drive? What's the difference between a hard drive in say an iPod and what could go in a Windows tablet? iPods seem to take wear and tear OK, is why I ask. (I have an old video iPod, with 80GB.)

Even as a non-tech person, it seems to me that Android is a likelier iPad rival than Windows. I think Android tablets might need a lot of iterations to become user-friendly for someone like me, without tech skills, though.

[Yoshi 1080]

Originally Posted by mknopp

Yeah, but there is a huge difference now between HP and Dell. HP owns WebOS now. Therefore, they will make more money off of webOS based devices. While, every Windows device sold will only serve to help their competition by giving them market share. Dell makes their money regardless of which OS is used.

That is indeed a very good point!

[pshrynk]

My experience with WinMobile is that it is constantly updating and when it is not it is running the ThumbTwiddle (C) App so it can drain your battery in two hours. They would have to modify that mindset in order for me to be interested in a tablet running it.

[CyGuy]

I am patiently waiting for a Windows 7 slate. It looks like the ExoPC will be the slate to have, but time will tell. I am personally not interested in any slate with WebOS, Android, or any other non-Windows OS.

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

I am patiently waiting for a Windows 7 slate. It looks like the ExoPC will be the slate to have, but time will tell. I am personally not interested in any slate with WebOS, Android, or any other non-Windows OS.

The ExoPC looks like a pretty good tablet, if one wants a full desktop OS. But, the 5 hour (and usually companies over state battery life) would be an issue for many. But, as a basic laptop replacement, it would work. As a matter of fact if I were looking for a Windows netbook, I would for sure look at the ExoPC instead..... pretty cool...

I have a little Gateway netbook, with Win 7 Starter, and the latest low current Atom processor. They claim battery life of 8 hours.... If you have the wind to your back, and going downhill.... maybe 6. The most I ever got was about 5.5, but I am sure with all the radios off and screen brightness way down you could get more....

The iPad is actually the first mobile device I have ever owned where it gets the battery life the manufacture claims. If you cut WIFI, Bluetooth, and Notifications off, and put the screen brightness down, you can get way OVER the 10 hours claimed. There are folks on the forums claiming 14 and 15 hours....... That is a huge deal for a mobile device.

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

The ExoPC looks like a pretty good tablet, if one wants a full desktop OS. But, the 5 hour (and usually companies over state battery life) would be an issue for many. But, as a basic laptop replacement, it would work. As a matter of fact if I were looking for a Windows netbook, I would for sure look at the ExoPC instead..... pretty cool...

I have a little Gateway netbook, with Win 7 Starter, and the latest low current Atom processor. They claim battery life of 8 hours.... If you have the wind to your back, and going downhill.... maybe 6. The most I ever got was about 5.5, but I am sure with all the radios off and screen brightness way down you could get more....

The iPad is actually the first mobile device I have ever owned where it gets the battery life the manufacture claims. If you cut WIFI, Bluetooth, and Notifications off, and put the screen brightness down, you can get way OVER the 10 hours claimed. There are folks on the forums claiming 14 and 15 hours....... That is a huge deal for a mobile device.

There certainly does seem to be a trade off between functionality and battery life. I simply cannot give up functionality though, I have to sacrifice battery life. It does seem that processors and hardware are getting more efficient all the time, battery life is bound to get better and better...

[pagansoul]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

Yeah, gotta love that 3 1/2 pound Motion tablet .... and people complain that the 1 1/2 pound iPad is too heavy

It's also way over 1k at $2,200.00 it's not for the masses.

[nick101]

Originally Posted by scottjl

personally i think if any OS is going to challenge the ipad for tablet domination it's going to be android. windows 7, while a vast improvement over previous versions, just has too much baggage and is too resource hungry. no one is going to build a tablet as thin, light, and with the battery life as an ipad running windows 7 desktop. android, sure. windows 7 mobile is a definite possibility though.

I think Android is a pretty good OS, but I think its openness is its greatest risk. I worry tha a few years of development will lead to blooat and incompatible versions as Google and others try to incorporate more/better fesatures and cater for a wider range of devices and device types.

Google alo needs to decide how Android and Chrome (or whatever they eventually call their web-based OS) fit with each other (they don't actually have to fit in reality, but Google risks getting murdered by the 'tech' media who are only too happy to generate 'strategic fit' issues out of not much).

I think there's no question that, for the next 3 years, Androif will be the major portable OS rival to Apple. I only limit it to 3 years because who knows what might happen? Who though, 3 years ago, that Apple's iPhone OS would be setting the agenda for smartphone/tablet design, and that Nokia would be out of the game?

By the way, to forestall any fanboy ranting, I dodn't say that Apple's OS was the best or the greatest: I simply pointed out what's self-evident - the iPhone OS has set the model for current design in the portable OS market. Yes, RIM still have the major share, but they're following their existing OS model.