Author Topic: Android tablets to rival iPad (Read 70859 times)

phitsc · « **Reply #75 on:** July 28, 2011, 10:17 AM »

Asus Padfone: (phone+tablet)

http://www.engadget....s-announced-padfone/
-SKA (July 28, 2011, 12:23 AM)

That looks decently interesting and similar to the one from AT&T. But more interesting is the attractive woman with stickers directly on her artfully exposed flesh (?)
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 07:54 AM)

A tattoo instead of a sticker would show real dedication!

phitsc · « **Reply #76 on:** July 28, 2011, 10:21 AM »

Asus Padfone: (phone+tablet)

http://www.engadget....s-announced-padfone/
-SKA (July 28, 2011, 12:23 AM)

That looks decently interesting and similar to the one from AT&T. But more interesting is the attractive woman with stickers directly on her artfully exposed flesh (?)
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 07:54 AM)

The pictures indicate that the tablet can be used independently from the phone. So what does putting the phone into the tablet give you?

wraith808 · « **Reply #77 on:** July 28, 2011, 10:55 AM »

Asus Padfone: (phone+tablet)

http://www.engadget....s-announced-padfone/
-SKA (July 28, 2011, 12:23 AM)

That looks decently interesting and similar to the one from AT&T. But more interesting is the attractive woman with stickers directly on her artfully exposed flesh (?)
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 07:54 AM)

The pictures indicate that the tablet can be used independently from the phone. So what does putting the phone into the tablet give you?
-phitsc (July 28, 2011, 10:21 AM)

A larger interface and more real-estate, I'd guess. Sort of like the Motorola ATRIX, the first that had me looking at possibly ditching my iPhone. In my dream world, you'd have one device and several bodies for it, to let you always carry the guts of the device with you, and consume it in multiple ways.

phitsc · « **Reply #78 on:** July 28, 2011, 11:46 AM »

Asus Padfone: (phone+tablet)

http://www.engadget....s-announced-padfone/
-SKA (July 28, 2011, 12:23 AM)

That looks decently interesting and similar to the one from AT&T. But more interesting is the attractive woman with stickers directly on her artfully exposed flesh (?)
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 07:54 AM)

The pictures indicate that the tablet can be used independently from the phone. So what does putting the phone into the tablet give you?
-phitsc (July 28, 2011, 10:21 AM)

A larger interface and more real-estate, I'd guess. Sort of like the Motorola ATRIX, the first that had me looking at possibly ditching my iPhone. In my dream world, you'd have one device and several bodies for it, to let you always carry the guts of the device with you, and consume it in multiple ways.
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 10:55 AM)

I thought that's what the cloud is for

wraith808 · « **Reply #79 on:** July 28, 2011, 11:48 AM »

Asus Padfone: (phone+tablet)

http://www.engadget....s-announced-padfone/
-SKA (July 28, 2011, 12:23 AM)

That looks decently interesting and similar to the one from AT&T. But more interesting is the attractive woman with stickers directly on her artfully exposed flesh (?)
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 07:54 AM)

The pictures indicate that the tablet can be used independently from the phone. So what does putting the phone into the tablet give you?
-phitsc (July 28, 2011, 10:21 AM)

A larger interface and more real-estate, I'd guess. Sort of like the Motorola ATRIX, the first that had me looking at possibly ditching my iPhone. In my dream world, you'd have one device and several bodies for it, to let you always carry the guts of the device with you, and consume it in multiple ways.
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 10:55 AM)

I thought that's what the cloud is for
-phitsc (July 28, 2011, 11:46 AM)

Not so much, IMO. It's a substitute until that comes to be.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #80 on:** July 28, 2011, 12:06 PM »

Doe to some shenanigans the sales department is involved in, I have a brand new HP Slate sitting here in front of me. No I don't get to keep it. But I do get to play with it for a bit.

From on to the logon screen took just (barely) under a minute (with no AV installed). Yeesh!

This thing ain't fast. Even HP's own website lagged a bit while trying to navigate it.

This thing is heavy. Not as bad as most netbooks, but quite heavy after an hour of fiddling with it.

The touch screen encourages heavy handedness, as it doesn't respond well (or sometimes at all) to a lite touch. Stylue/pen/pointer thing works well, and has a right-click button on it. Which I did rather like.

The handwrighting input, best I can tell, hates (me) left handed people. As we tend to start certain letters/numbers from the bottom (o, 3, 8, etc.) instead of the top ... and this thing was having none of it. Even after a training session on what was to be perceived as an 'o' damnit. It just couldn't get it right.

The one usb port is covered by one of those rubber hinged plastic doors that'll most likely snap off in short order with anything other than casual use. And the lack of an ethernet port is a complete deal breaking annoyance for me. The WiFi connection is nice, but it is also completely useless if your purpose for being somewhere it to troubleshoot an issue the WiFi.

wraith808 · « **Reply #81 on:** July 28, 2011, 01:17 PM »

^ Is this the one with the Palm OS (or whatever they're calling it) or Windows 7?

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #82 on:** July 28, 2011, 01:33 PM »

It comes with Windows 7 Professional, which struck me as quite odd. As I thought they were more of a home edition/user type of device.

wraith808 · « **Reply #83 on:** July 28, 2011, 03:43 PM »

It comes with Windows 7 Professional, which struck me as quite odd. As I thought they were more of a home edition/user type of device.
-Stoic Joker (July 28, 2011, 01:33 PM)

No, that particular pad is aimed at the enterprise. It looked pretty good- thanks for your viewpoint!

As far as the history, from what I remember it was originally aimed at the iPad, and was supposed to be priced as such and equipped as such. But it had the misfortune of nearing release when they bought out palm, and I think they only released it because it was already at the end of the development cycle. But to minimize the impact of the tablet and the losses that might ensue/competition to their new WebOS, they re-targeted it to professionals.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #84 on:** July 28, 2011, 04:01 PM »

No, that particular pad is aimed at the enterprise.
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 03:43 PM)

Ah! That makes sense then. It did seem oddly clean for an HP, as the usually like to lump in much crapware. This is quite acceptably close to a vanilla load.

It looked pretty good- thanks for your viewpoint!
-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 03:43 PM)

In fairness, I don't think an arthritic southpaw is real close to the baseline they (or anybody else) targeted. So if one got used to it (and vise-versa...) I could see it being quite handy. Not sure where to put the stylus...but it's not that difficult to finger in a pinch.

wraith808 · « **Reply #85 on:** July 28, 2011, 05:01 PM »

In fairness, I don't think an arthritic southpaw is real close to the baseline they (or anybody else) targeted. So if one got used to it (and vise-versa...) I could see it being quite handy. Not sure where to put the stylus...but it's not that difficult to finger in a pinch.
-Stoic Joker (July 28, 2011, 04:01 PM)

It was more the slowness that turned me off... a minute to the prompt? My xp tablet does better than that...

Darwin · « **Reply #86 on:** July 28, 2011, 05:14 PM »

I just returned an Acer Iconia A500. I liked it a lot - why did I return it, then? Because I don't see these Android tablets (or iPads?) as being more than toys at this stage. Honeycomb is slick and I could check e-mail, read the newspaper, etc. with ease. However, I'm not sure what this brings to the table above and beyond my smartphone and notebook computer. At this stage, the screen technology means that producing anything on it isn't an easy task unless you hook up an external keyboard. I don't buy into the Jobesian view of the tablet as being a tool for the consumption of media... $400 to 750 for what amounts to a big iPod Touch? For that kind of money I'm looking for more productivity.

Hidden in the above is the real reason: the price of even the cheaper Android tablets is hard to justify when balanced against what you can actually do with the things. Right now they are toys, and bloody expensive ones at that!

I'm REALLY excited about the possibilities suggested by what I've seen of Windows 8 so far... Will be watching developments there with interest.

superboyac · « **Reply #87 on:** July 28, 2011, 05:52 PM »

I'm REALLY excited about the possibilities suggested by what I've seen of Windows 8 so far... Will be watching developments there with interest.
-Darwin (July 28, 2011, 05:14 PM)

People are already dismissing Windows 8 as being too late to the party, or not being able to overcome the momentum of iOS and Android. But I think Windows 8 is going to be the tablet answer for me. I like my ipad, it's ok. But it lacks so much in the way of configurability, even jailbroken. Android is better in that respect, but still, my problem is that all my stuff is on Windows, and it would just be super duper convenient if the OS on the tablet was Windows also. It's not that it's better, it's just that I need that low level compatibility so I can deal with my files, folders, and favorite software without any middlemen or hacks to bridge the gap. I think Windows 8 is going to surprise people.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #88 on:** July 29, 2011, 06:56 AM »

Here's an odd thought. Due to the complexities of interacting with a tablet based device, why is it that none of them seem to include voice activation? It already exists in many smart phones; call X, go to link X, map address X. That would simplify the interaction greatly.

$:-\$

...Come to think of it, Windows 7 does include this as a configurable option. I gotta get that tablet back from the sales crew and see if/how well it does/will actually work.

wraith808 · « **Reply #89 on:** July 29, 2011, 10:47 AM »

I like my ipad, it's ok. But it lacks so much in the way of configurability, even jailbroken. Android is better in that respect, but still, my problem is that all my stuff is on Windows, and it would just be super duper convenient if the OS on the tablet was Windows also. It's not that it's better, it's just that I need that low level compatibility so I can deal with my files, folders, and favorite software without any middlemen or hacks to bridge the gap.
-superboyac (July 28, 2011, 05:52 PM)

We've had a different experience, and I'm not sure why. I use my iPad for the majority of my document work. With just a couple of apps, my text editing (also using markdown) is synchronized with my desktop, my other documents are synchronized over google documents, and my keyboard case means that I can edit where ever I want. While it is true that they are different in terms of the software, the functionality is still there, which is what matters to me. The only thing that I need now is a mouse solution for when I sit down to do work. Still utilizing the screen with a keyboard is sort of strange to me. But other than that, it works.

To be fair, if Android tablets had come out before I got hooked on the ipad (i.e. apps) it would work just as well I'm sure; I'm just using it for a dumb interface to my documents. But already having an iphone/ipad, no matter how cool the other devices are, it will have to be head and shoulders above with some sort of killer feature for me to switch.

Eóin · « **Reply #90 on:** July 29, 2011, 11:51 AM »

That situation wraith is exactly Apples game. Their software distribution ties developers hands and locks you into Apples platform.

wraith808 · « **Reply #91 on:** July 29, 2011, 02:07 PM »

That situation wraith is exactly Apples game. Their software distribution ties developers hands and locks you into Apples platform.
-Eóin (July 29, 2011, 11:51 AM)

It's not Apple's game. It's everyone's game. No matter what platform you're on, you're locked into that platform once you start consuming it. Whether the platform is a garden or a courtyard is no different- it's just the distance that you find yourself from the fence.

phitsc · « **Reply #92 on:** August 01, 2011, 04:15 AM »

And here we go:
Samsung Galaxy Tab P7500 (that's the 10.1), the 16GB initially scheduled for end of July is now planned for end of August. The 32GB and 64GB initially scheduled for end of August are now beginning of September.

I'll get one for Christmas I guess

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #93 on:** August 01, 2011, 07:04 AM »

Okay, follow-up to my earlier musings about voice activation.

I shanghaied the HP Slate for the weekend to see how well it preformed with the Windows 7 native voice command feature enabled. Being that the stylus was true to form (lost already) unavailable. My options were to either finger the thing or try talking to it.

I'll keep this short, it failed miserably. The embedded Mic did fine for "hearing" my voice, and it did open the program I asked it for correctly. But training it to do text input was pointless as it was incredibly slow. To quantify that imagine reading the above sentence aloud to it, and then wait about 7 seconds before it responded with any attempt at deciphering it.

This thing may have had a chance if HP made it faster ... but it's a $700.00 paper weight as far as I'm concerned.

Here's another test it failed miserably.

Go to TVGuide.com
Select what's on link
Configure location (zip code/provider name/channel package)
Then configure favorite channels list. (about 20 channels for me)

Due to the excessive lagging of the machine trying to render TV-Guides (granted horribly written) website, the above exorcise took just under an hour.

I'm going to recommend they send it back and invest the money in office supplies (pens & paper notepads).

40hz · « **Reply #94 on:** August 01, 2011, 07:40 AM »

The handwrighting input, best I can tell, hates (me) left handed people. As we tend to start certain letters/numbers from the bottom (o, 3, 8, etc.) instead of the top ... and this thing was having none of it. Even after a training session on what was to be perceived as an 'o' damnit. It just couldn't get it right.
-Stoic Joker (July 28, 2011, 12:06 PM)

I always find it amusing that the Palm Pilot figured out the handwriting issue ages ago with its Grafiti alphabet and interface - and nobody has brought it over to any of the new tablets or smartphones.

Guess in this era of software patents and lock-in, NIH rules supreme. Even if it means dismissing from consideration something that actually worked. $:-\$

superboyac · « **Reply #95 on:** August 01, 2011, 08:46 AM »

The handwrighting input, best I can tell, hates (me) left handed people. As we tend to start certain letters/numbers from the bottom (o, 3, 8, etc.) instead of the top ... and this thing was having none of it. Even after a training session on what was to be perceived as an 'o' damnit. It just couldn't get it right.
-Stoic Joker (July 28, 2011, 12:06 PM)

I always find it amusing that the Palm Pilot figured out the handwriting issue ages ago with its Grafiti alphabet and interface - and nobody has brought it over to any of the new tablets or smartphones.

Guess in this era of software patents and lock-in, NIH rules supreme. Even if it means dismissing from consideration something that actually worked. $:-\$

-40hz (August 01, 2011, 07:40 AM)

That's true, huh? Those palm pilots really had no trouble with handwriting.

40hz · « **Reply #96 on:** August 01, 2011, 08:54 AM »

Absolutely none. It could keep up with me no matter how fast I wrote. Some fellow techs used to use the "grafabet" for their paper notes too. It's a pretty efficient set if letter forms. And it looked "sooooo geek" when you used it that way.

Palm realized it was far easier to train the user rather than try to have 10,000 users attempt to train the same interface.

There's a lesson in there someplace.

superboyac · « **Reply #97 on:** August 01, 2011, 09:02 AM »

Absolutely none. It could keep up with me no matter how fast I wrote. Some fellow techs used to use the "grafabet" for their paper notes too. It's a pretty efficient set if letter forms. And it looked "sooooo geek" when you used it that way.

Palm realized it was far easier to train the user rather than try to have 10,000 users attempt to train the same interface.

There's a lesson in there someplace.
-40hz (August 01, 2011, 08:54 AM)

Very true. Never thought of it that way.

40hz · « **Reply #98 on:** August 01, 2011, 09:37 AM »

^i used to say you have a choice about where to put the smarts when developing an app. The less intelligence you require in front of the monitor, the greater the intelligence required behind it.

If you're gonna make excuses for people who refuse to learn something, you're gonna have to be willing to write a whole lot of code to compensate for user stupidity and intransigence.

Lately, much software seems to be trying to accommodate the lowest common denominator. Small wonder so much of it is slow and breaks easily.

Want better interfaces or input recognition? Insist your users start to act a little smarter - and tell the dummies to shop elsewhere.

Not very PC of me...

But I can live with that.

Edvard · « **Reply #99 on:** August 01, 2011, 11:34 AM »

Well here's something Android has that iWhatever doesn't...
Sentience!
(I know it's on a Motorola phone, not a tablet device, but it's entertaining nonetheless...)
3 days to go!!