Category: Gadgets

Android Tablet Fever: Should You Catch It?

Most of the Android buzz over the last month or so has been related to tablet devices. Whether it’s the Dell Streak, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, or the myriad of other announced devices, tablets are all the talk right now. The problem is that right now, it’s just talk. Only a very small number of devices have been made available in the US at this point, and other than the Dell Streak, they’re made by unknown companies that are putting out poor quality devices.

Over the next couple months, the tablet market will take off with new devices. Samsung is going to be launching the Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch tablet that looks like a small iPad. Archos has announced four new devices ranging from 4-inches up to 10-inches. HP, Toshiba, and ViewSonic are building Android tablets as well.

Should you jump on the emerging bandwagon and run out to get an Android tablet?  Read on to find out. Continue reading Android Tablet Fever: Should You Catch It?

Tablets Are the New Netbook

Remember when the iPad was announced and people said “meh…”? And now, less than a year later, it’s a huge bread winner for Apple. Everyone else appears to be noticing as well, in the past few weeks more and more tablet rumors have popped up with the vast majority of big name players in the industry on board.

Don’t believe me? Let’s review…

  • The long rumored Notion Ink Adam has pricing, and is expected to launch between November 2010 and January 2011.
  • HP confirmed internally a webOS tablet, then confirmed publicly both a Windows and webOS based tablets for 2011.
  • Bloomberg reported recently that RIM is working on a poorly named tablet, dubbed “BlackPad”, which is supposedly going to launch in November.
  • ASUS was quick to announce the Eee Pad, but it likely won’t ship until March of 2011.
  • LG has confirmed their own tablets are in the works, including a Windows 7 based model and Optimus, an Android tablet. Promised ship date is Q4 2010.
  • Kmart is selling a cheapo Android tablet and even though it has terrible specs they seem to be selling like hotcakes, with Kmart barely able to keep them in stock.
  • Acer teased an Android tablet back in May, but apparently put it on hold until it can ship with Android 3.0 Gingerbread.
  • Toshiba just shipped, and promptly sold out of, a limited run of its dual-screen Libretto tablet.
  • Also from Toshiba is a rumored Android tablet, hitting the streets in September or October.
  • And of course Google and Verizon are supposedly prepping a Chrome OS tablet of their for launch next yet.

While I did go outside the scope of the past few weeks, you get the idea. I’m also probably leaving out a ton of other tablets, like the failed JooJoo tablet for example.

This whole jumping on the tablet bandwagon seems to me to closely resemble when ASUS first launched the Eee PC and the netbook revolution took off, people were a little skeptical at first and then realized it was a great idea. Now I’m not saying tablets will kill off netbooks, but they seem to be the flavor of the month for the foreseeable future. And reportedly the iPad by itself has caused a decline in netbook sales for ASUS.

Bottom line, I love the iPad, but I really am excited to see cheaper (and hopefully better) tablet solutions from companies besides Apple.

Axon Haptic Tablet Available for Pre-Order

For those that are daring enough to jump off the deep end, you can now pre-order the rumored Axon Haptic tablet (not to be confused with Axiotron’s Modbook) for a cool $750 . The capacitive-touch Hackintosh tablet boasts compatibility with Windows 7 as well as all Darwin-based OS platforms, including Mac OS, though on Axon’s website they state that Apple’s EULA specifically prohibits installation on any non-Apple hardware, though that’s certainly not going to stop anyone… after all, they call it a Hackintosh for a reason.

Some might believe the 1.6Ghz Atom N270 leaves a little to be desired, though it still has fairly decent hardware for a tablet. Specs include a 10.1″ LED backlit screen, 320GB HD, 2GB RAM, a removable battery, 3x USB ports, ethernet, card reader, VGA port, WiFi and for additional $70 you can add a Verizon 3G SIM card, and yet another $70 will get you Bluetooth GPS.

It’s up in the air at this point how well full-fledged operating systems will behave with the capacitive touchscreen, though I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction to bring more devices to the market as alternatives to the iPad that allow something more than a mobile OS. If nothing else, it might cause Apple to consider the possibility of competing with them, but then again, does anything anyone does really ever affect what Apple does?

For full tech specs and description, visit Axon Logic’s website, but see if I’m not the only one that’s bothered by the fact that they copied Apple’s top bar right off their website for their own….

Parrot AR Drone Available for Pre-Order

After years of wondering if it would ever reach production, let alone be affordable, the Parrot AR Drone is now up for pre-order on Brookstone’s website!

This wonderfully awesome piece of iPhone controlled gadgetry will set you back a cool $299+ shipping (which was $10 on my order) and won’t arrive until sometime after September 3rd, but that seems pretty tangible after the long period of waiting since the Parrot was first demoed at CES. I just bought one, you should too.

[ Pre-order at Brookestone ]

For more information on this bundle of quadricopter goodness, check out http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/