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Posted on 01/08/2011 1:39:16 AM PST by Swordmaker
CES opens its doors officially tomorrow, and while Apple isn't there the event is already expected to see over 100 tablets from many different firms take their first (and, in some cases, last) bow. Meanwhile, Apple prepares iPad 2.0.
While some hope CES will see the spark of a proper fight-back against the genre-defining Apple iPad tech titan, such optimism is misplaced. For iPad haters, CES will be a tragic tryst, a dooomed affair.
Too little too late
The mantra has to be "too little, too late", with even the world's biggest software manufacturer, Microsoft, playing catch-up this time around. Look at Windows Phone 7 market share -- it isn't yet even a contender in the smartphone war.
[This story is from Computerworld's Apple Holic blog. Follow on Twitter or subscribe via RSS to make sure you don't miss a beat.]
Oh, but there's Google's Android. Which Android? Is that the elusive Froyo upgrade or that golden panacea,"Honeycomb", which (a) isn't yet available and (b) seems unlikely to actually work on many -- if any -- of the 100 doomed tablets destined to appear at CES this year.
This isn't the year of the iPad killer. Don't believe me? I'm not doing the talking here. Analyst Michael Gartenberg Tweets it thus, saying: "I have seen nothing so far at CES that I'd call an iPad killer. I've seen nothing so far that would give iPad a minor case of the sniffles."
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.computerworld.com ...
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If what we've seen from the Motorola Xoom is indicative of what an up-to-date Android-based tablet can do, we will finally have a true, serious iPad competitor.
There will never be an iPhone or iPad killer so long as Apple keeps putting out innovative, high-quality products. The “competition” just needs to focus on doing the same. Different consumers, different wants and needs.
I would say every Windows tablet on the market blows the iPad out of the water, simply by virtue of being a real computer.
What exactly do you mean? That is a non-sequitor and total nonsense. Please explain.
Evidently you’ve never touched an iPad...
I’m not really paying close attention to all this quite yet.
I heard that the iPad didn’t have flash? Is that right? The iPad browser did not show flash? And there were people saying that the iPad was great anyway?
And I heard that Android 2.2 tablets were really cheap and they did have flash, but a lot of the times the screens weren’t as cool as the iPad.
I’m really not interested in one of these gadgets until they can give me the whole internet, not just the parts that Apple feels like showing you.
Are there any of these tablet devices that give the whole internet?
http://theflickcast.com/2011/01/07/potential-ipad-killer-motorola-xoom-tablet-announced/
how about the motorola xoom? does it have more features than the ipad? does it do the whole internet, or does it leave flash out?
If by "the whole internet" you mean Adobe flash, then I believe that the answer is an unequivocal NO. That's because Flash was not written for tablet computers and does not support touch screen technology. If I am wrong about this, flame away.
I do not believe that there exists an implementation of Flash on any tablet that fully supports Flash as it exists on the Internet. So, whether they leave Flash in or exclude Flash out, it makes little difference. Either way, you are not going to have the Flash implementation you are used to on a PC.
That would be disappointing.
I heard that Android 2.2 does Flash 10.1. But maybe it does technically, but it doesn’t work in many cases?
Flash Here To Stay On Tablets, Smartphones
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/98772/20110107/flash-here-to-stay-on-tablets-and-smartphones.htm#
But all of them touted the ability to run Flash 10.1 content.
The reason they give is that customers want the ability to access the whole Internet, without the restrictions inherent in the iPad. During the press conference at which Motorola introduced the Xoom, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha said exactly that.
A "real computer" that obviously met the needs of a lot of consumers -- after all, it's only been eight years since Windows XP Tablet Edition came out, and they've sold almost as many tablets as Apple did in a month.
Those Flash-based games? Unplayable. Web sites that are only available in Flash, a common but atrocious design decision? If they rely on mouseovers, which nearly all do, they won't work.
The tablet and smartphone demos that tout Flash compatibility all seem to focus on Flash-based video, an increasingly irrelevant "standard." But hey, you do get to sacrifice performance and battery life so you can load obnoxious Flash ads on Web pages.
My question is whether the flash works right on the website.
I do websites and have been doing it for a long time. Not as much now. But I was doing websites when flash first came out. Designers thought flash was cool and pointlessly used flash. But, it really caught on, and flash is really all over the internet. It’s the myspace music player (at least it was). And it’s all over the place. Is it impossible to get the internet to work right on a tablet? It seems like someone would be able to figure out how to make it work.
I got an ipad when they first came out, haven’t used it in months and really dislike it. It’s a pain in the neck to type on it and too many of the things I want to do won’t work.
It appears of all of the articles I have read about CES, there are two potential contenders against Apple, the Motorola Xoom, and the Blackberry Playbook.
But the others have glaring problems.
Oooooooooh... So that's what that's all about.
It looks like Apple has the best tablet computer right now. Great! There is always room for innovation. May the best tablet win. I don't understand this pre-occupation with which tablet or phone is #1. Users have different needs, and what product works for one person may not work for another.
Apple deserves praise for developing this category. I didn't see any need for a tablet. What does it offer that a netbook doesn't? I don't have one, but the more I think about it, I would enjoy using a tablet while lying on the couch watching a football game. I could check my e-mail or surf FR. When I'm working in the basement or garage I could prop it up and listen to some streaming audio or video. One of the new Chinese android tablets can also be used as a phone, so I could stream audio and video to it in my car, or when my wife's shopping (!). You have to give Apple credit for exploiting this niche.
I feel the same way but if you ask some iPad users I'm sure they are willing to rhapsodize at length about the iPad's superiority
Actually if you want to chill and recline in a lazy-boy or couch and watch a football game...A netbook with a wireless optical/laser mini-mouse works out better. You don't have keep on raising your arms to touch the iPad.
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