Sunday, July 04, 2010

A field of tablets

It seems from various reports that there are some quite interesting smart-phones out there running the Android system. Well,  I'm not interested in getting another phone, but a thought occurred to me: somebody might attempt to compete with the iPad. Well, actually that's pretty much a given; the "might" comes in here: some of these products might actually be good!

Perhaps using the Android system (which I've not tried), but that's less important (this article does not make me optimistic). I would like to see a field of choices of interesting tablet devices, both from Apple and other makers. For example a small and light one like a Kindle, but faster and with a better screen. Or a larger one than the iPad, for more complex tasks and productivity and connectivity. Or whatever, I'm sure there are thousands of options and functions we haven't dreamed of yet. It could become interesting.

I hope it does. I hope they won't all be like the Zune, brown in reality and in spirit. (Brown?? Who wants a brown gadget?)

Update: Alex mentions Cisco's interesting Cius. (I'm not sure what it does, I got too distracted by the buzz words and the beautiful vicepresident.)

9 comments:

Alex said...

How about your desk phone being a tablet too?

Cisco's Cius is a tablet which docks on your phone. It's used for video conferencing and for access to WebEx etc. It is a also a thin client, so you can run your apps on your companies server farm.

Totally different market from Kindles and Cintique (sp) and iPads. Don't know if it'll sell, but hey, an interesting idea.

ganesha games said...

I want a huge tablet, much like a lightbox table, that can lie flat or be propped up at 45 degrees, to be my new home computer desktop. With touch AND stylus interface, and pay-per-app software. That would be the bee's knees, and I would sell my loved ones into slavery to get it. I think just under $3000 would be the price for it. Of course this need to be a real computer with a full OS and all the jacks/connectors/ports needed, on the sides so they don't ruin the aesthetic. Virtual keyboard or Bluetooth keyboard.
And it must not heat up like my old Cintiq which makes working in summertime uncomfortable.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

The last point may be the hardest. I noticed that even though the Intel chips are much cooler than the old G5s, the iMac gets pretty damn hot when it's been working for a while. (It's an all-in-one like the big tablet would be.)

It shows how clever Apple is using the software that the iPad is so speedy and yet keeps cool.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

... You're talking about, like, a 30-inch tablet, size of Apple's biggest Cinema Display?
I'm not sure if I'd want that. But then I am *very* much used to the Mac interface with a Cinema display, it feels like Home.

Bruce said...

I have been paying a lot of attention to Android devices for the last year. It looks like there will be some very small Android tablets on the market this year. It may take another year before there are any good ones.

Also HP is working on an iPad competitor running WebOS, which they acquired when they bought Palm.

I"m not sure If I saw this here, but somebody thinks Apple will come out with bigger iPads! :-)

http://www.begeek.fr/levolution-de-lipad-en-2012-et-2014-8398

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yes, quite funny, I blogged that once.

What is the WebOS like?

Timo Lehtinen said...

I'm sure there are several Linux based 'pads currently in the drawing board too. What's most interesting to me is if the 'pad form factor will eventually replace the laptop entirely. I think it might.

What is the WebOS like?

There's a good description here.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I think tablets will become the majority, but won't entirely replace personal computers. For example, I have two 30-inch displays, and with touch-screen tech, it would make for a *lot* of arm-waving all day long.

Could be just habit. But then they die hard.
And who knows what other alternatives may also pop up in the next decade or two.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"Let me google that for you". Ah, quite subtle sarcasm there, well done.

While I admit it has a very good point, I think it could be argued that:

1: Wikipedia or other pages does not always have a good concise description. Sometimes it takes a good while to get a simple overview of something.
2: One might like a friend's personal viewpoint on it.
3: It's just communication. Like chatting with a friend over coffee, and saying: "so what's Glasgow like?", instead of pulling up the pad and googling glasgow.