Are you ready for a Google tablet?

[Pliablemoose]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/technology/12slate.html

Seems like HP is going after a tablet lite with another tablet too.

I get branded as an Apple fanboy, but I'm really a tablet fanboy, I think the Google tablet gen II will be awesome.

I'm not going to get a gen I of anything Google makes ever again after the Nexus One(s) I've used.

I wonder if the HP tablet will run W7 series or whatever MS is calling their new OS...

 

[QueBert]

I'd be interested to use one, but I'm smart enough to understand a Android tablet will still be a gimped one just like the iPad. I'd still take a iPad because the UI & application selection will never be matched. With that said I wouldn't pass up a free Android tablet if somebody was to buy me one. And on the flip side I don't want a tablet with Windows 7, Windows 7 with a touch screen is not a good experience, I've used one of those touch screen HP desktops and I hated it. It would take a lot of work to make me want to use W7 on a strictly touch screen device, and I don't see anyone pulling it off. With Palm for sale I think a tablet with WebOS would kick the shit out of an Android one.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I don't want a tablet regardless of who makes it. What would I do with one? Carry it around in a man-purse?

 

[rudeguy]

I'd be interested to use one, but I'm smart enough to understand a Android tablet will still be a gimped one just like the iPad. I'd still take a iPad because the UI & application selection will never be matched. With that said I wouldn't pass up a free Android tablet if somebody was to buy me one. And on the flip side I don't want a tablet with Windows 7, Windows 7 with a touch screen is not a good experience, I've used one of those touch screen HP desktops and I hated it. It would take a lot of work to make me want to use W7 on a strictly touch screen device, and I don't see anyone pulling it off. With Palm for sale I think a tablet with WebOS would kick the shit out of an Android one.

you just made a whole bunch of assumptions in your statement and have nothing to back them up.

Please post something that states that an Android tablet will be "gimped" or that the ipad application selection will never be matched.

 

[Bateluer]

you just made a whole bunch of assumptions in your statement and have nothing to back them up.

Please post something that states that an Android tablet will be "gimped" or that the ipad application selection will never be matched.

Especially since Android is a fully touch capable OS, and that the Android Market is growing rapidly every month.

 

[theeedude]

Depends on the tablet specifics, right now I am waiting for Notion Ink Adam. I just hope Google doesn't try to imitate Apple and offer a dumbed down, neutered experience that iPad offers. If chipset supports USB and HDMI outputs, the device should have those. If hardware can run Flash, it should give me a choice of running it. Camera is a no brainer.

 

[MJinZ]

I don't want a tablet regardless of who makes it. What would I do with one? Carry it around in a man-purse?

You can play dress up as the secretary for the boss. Like a modern version of Mad Men's ladies.

 

[dwell]

No way Google can make a device that will compete with the iPad. It's not in their DNA. Compare iPhone to Android. The iPhone is accessible to just about everyone, Android leans pretty heavily toward the geek crowd. A Google tablet would have all the consumer appeal of Linux on the desktop.

 

[zerocool84]

you just made a whole bunch of assumptions in your statement and have nothing to back them up.

Please post something that states that an Android tablet will be "gimped" or that the ipad application selection will never be matched.

I wonder if he thinks before he posts?

 

[Deeko]

No way Google can make a device that will compete with the iPad. It's not in their DNA. Compare iPhone to Android. The iPhone is accessible to just about everyone, Android leans pretty heavily toward the geek crowd. A Google tablet would have all the consumer appeal of Linux on the desktop.

Android is growing very rapidly, you know. In terms of sales and usage. Did you miss the latest mobile browser share numbers?

I know this hurts your soul...but there are a lot of people out there, people that aren't geeks, that prefer Android to iPhone. And thusly, would prefer an Android tablet to an iPad tablet.

 

[TheWart]

I think the biggest question is price. Will Google be able to come in with a compelling tablet at less than $400? Less than $300? Even if they can 'only' come in significantly lower than $500, which would make it cheaper than the iPad and the rumored $550 Slate, I think they can do some damage, assuming the interface is userfriendly and fast.

 

[Pliablemoose]

The HP offering will be the wild card IMHO

 

[theeedude]

Android is growing very rapidly, you know. In terms of sales and usage. Did you miss the latest mobile browser share numbers?

I know this hurts your soul...but there are a lot of people out there, people that aren't geeks, that prefer Android to iPhone. And thusly, would prefer an Android tablet to an iPad tablet.

Especially if they want to play Flash games There are 100M Farmville users alone.

 

[TheWart]

Especially if they want to play Flash games There are 100M Farmville users alone.

Well, I wonder how many of those farmville users are <13 years old, and unlikely to be buying $500 tablets for themselves.

 

[MJinZ]

The problem with the Nexus One is that it's an HTC phone, not Google's problem. I have no issues with my Motorola Droid.

I've had plenty of HTC phones in the past, and they all have their niggles. Not a huge fan of them in general.

 

[QueBert]

you just made a whole bunch of assumptions in your statement and have nothing to back them up.

Please post something that states that an Android tablet will be "gimped" or that the ipad application selection will never be matched.

I own an iPhone and I've used Android phones, they're not even close to competing yet. Could it happen? Sure, but that would be a bigger assumption than mine. The Android will be just as gimpled as the iPad, I didn't say the iPad wasn't gimped. By gimped I mean it won't be running Windows 7, which is basically everyones criteria for why they hate the iPad so much. Can you install Microsoft Office on an Android device? nope. By the time a true Android tablet comes out that people care about the iPad app store will have 100,000 apps if not more. The iPad already has major presence, the one Android tablet like device that's out. I dunno a single person who has it or wants it. It's not much of an assumption at this point to say the iPad is going to be hard to dethrone.

But I guess for some reason the Android OS isn't gimped even though it's not a full blown OS. It must be nice to not be Apple and get a pass for things Apple gets completely shitted on for.

 

[dwell]

I know this hurts your soul...but there are a lot of people out there, people that aren't geeks, that prefer Android to iPhone. And thusly, would prefer an Android tablet to an iPad tablet.

Android has 10x the number of available devices and 1/3 the market share of the iPhone. Does not really speak volumes to the power of the Android brand, IMO.

Especially if they want to play Flash games There are 100M Farmville users alone.

Maybe Flash will run as well on an Android tablet as it does on the JooJoo:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/1318/44.433

 

[MJinZ]

I own an iPhone and I've used Android phones, they're not even close to competing yet. Could it happen? Sure, but that would be a bigger assumption than mine. The Android will be just as gimpled as the iPad, I didn't say the iPad wasn't gimped. By gimped I mean it won't be running Windows 7, which is basically everyones criteria for why they hate the iPad so much. Can you install Microsoft Office on an Android device? nope. By the time a true Android tablet comes out that people care about the iPad app store will have 100,000 apps if not more. The iPad already has major presence, the one Android tablet like device that's out. I dunno a single person who has it or wants it. It's not much of an assumption at this point to say the iPad is going to be hard to dethrone.

But I guess for some reason the Android OS isn't gimped even though it's not a full blown OS. It must be nice to not be Apple and get a pass for things Apple gets completely shitted on for.

Heh, my Droid is awesome compared to an Iphone.

 

[theeedude]

Android has 10x the number of available devices and 1/3 the market share of the iPhone. Does not really speak volumes to the power of the Android brand, IMO.



Maybe Flash will run as well on an Android tablet as it does on the JooJoo:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/1318/44.433

Android growth rate dwarfs that of iPhone.
Flash 10.1 will have 3D acceleration, so it will run much smoother than on CPU alone, unless you have an Apple device, then Flash will run at 0 fps no matter how fast it gets for the rest of the market

 

[dwell]

Android growth rate dwarfs that of iPhone.

Sure. At a time when no new iPhones were announced and Android had more than one major marketing campaign. Plus iPhone is one device on one carrier, where Android are multiple devices on multiple carriers. If anything, Android should have performed better considering the advantage it had in brute force alone.

Flash 10.1 will have 3D acceleration, so it will run much smoother than on CPU alone

Will only help video playback, not game AI, CPU tasks, etc.

unless you have an Apple device, then Flash will run at 0 fps no matter how fast it gets for the rest of the market

That's plus from where I sit. Flash is a CPU and battery hogging POS. Funny how everyone maligned Flash up until this year. Enemy of your enemy is your friend, I suppose.

 

[rudeguy]

I own an iPhone and I've used Android phones, they're not even close to competing yet. Could it happen? Sure, but that would be a bigger assumption than mine. The Android will be just as gimpled as the iPad, I didn't say the iPad wasn't gimped. By gimped I mean it won't be running Windows 7, which is basically everyones criteria for why they hate the iPad so much. Can you install Microsoft Office on an Android device? nope. By the time a true Android tablet comes out that people care about the iPad app store will have 100,000 apps if not more. The iPad already has major presence, the one Android tablet like device that's out. I dunno a single person who has it or wants it. It's not much of an assumption at this point to say the iPad is going to be hard to dethrone.

But I guess for some reason the Android OS isn't gimped even though it's not a full blown OS. It must be nice to not be Apple and get a pass for things Apple gets completely shitted on for.

so in other words you are trashing on the Android OS based on your 5 minutes of playing with it at....what store?

Q...you hate change. You think everything that you are not using is inferior to what you are using.

 

[MJinZ]

Sure. At a time when no new iPhones were announced and Android had more than one major marketing campaign. Plus iPhone is one device on one carrier, where Android are multiple devices on multiple carriers. If anything, Android should have performed better considering the advantage it had in brute force alone.



Will only help video playback, not game AI, CPU tasks, etc.



That's plus from where I sit. Flash is a CPU and battery hogging POS. Funny how everyone maligned Flash up until this year. Enemy of your enemy is your friend, I suppose.

Some things are flash, you can't do anything about it. Hulu? Flash. Youtube? Still flash (will h.264 in the future I think).

I can get around 6 or 7 hours of Hulu watching on my Netbook. It drains CPU? Sure. Would like Hulu to go h.264 but for what we have, you're stuck with Flash.

 

[QueBert]

so in other words you are trashing on the Android OS based on your 5 minutes of playing with it at....what store?

Q...you hate change. You think everything that you are not using is inferior to what you are using.

I used it a lot more than 5 minutes, I was close to getting one in fact. I'm not trashing it, I just see it for what it is, an alternative to something I already have. I find it no better or no worse. I do love how a lot of Android owners act as if their device is 500 times more advanced than anything else out there. It's not inferior but for my needs it's not superior either. And I'm not the type to trade up to something newer simply because it's newer. If I hated change I'd still be using my Windows Mobile 6.1 phone. I like change when it actually does something useful for me, aside from that change is meaningless to me.

 

[dwell]

Some things are flash, you can't do anything about it. Hulu? Flash. Youtube? Still flash (will h.264 in the future I think).

I can get around 6 or 7 hours of Hulu watching on my Netbook. It drains CPU? Sure. Would like Hulu to go h.264 but for what we have, you're stuck with Flash.

YouTube, Netflix, and ABC are on the iPad now with H.264 progressive streaming. Hulu will probably never make it to the iPhone/iPad as Fox/NBC are looking for ways to kill Hulu, not expand it.

Point is, the days of Flash being the ubiquitous video format of the web are coming to an end and I commend Apple for accelerating Flash's death.

 

[theeedude]

Sure. At a time when no new iPhones were announced and Android had more than one major marketing campaign. Plus iPhone is one device on one carrier, where Android are multiple devices on multiple carriers. If anything, Android should have performed better considering the advantage it had in brute force alone.



Will only help video playback, not game AI, CPU tasks, etc.



That's plus from where I sit. Flash is a CPU and battery hogging POS. Funny how everyone maligned Flash up until this year. Enemy of your enemy is your friend, I suppose.

Android will continue growing just fine with iPhone 4.0. That restrictive SDK is a gift to Android. While Apple is waiting for developers to relearn and rewrite their Flash and other language apps in Objective-C, Android will be running that content natively and avoiding the whole Apple-Adobe drama.
Plus no one forced Apple to limit themselves to AT&T, they chose to, just like they chose to limit themselves to not have Flash, they chose to not put a web camera on iPad. Apple resting on their laurels is another reason to have more confidence in Android gaining share.
If you are betting against Flash for CPU utilization or power reasons, you are also betting against phone processors becoming more capable and efficient. Basically betting against Moore's law. Good luck with that bet.