Posted on 06/07/2012 7:15:15 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
When Intel announced its Windows 8 Tablet check list running on a soon-to-be-released Intel Atom Z2760 dual-core System on Chip (SoC), the reaction was mild enthusiasm with a healthy dose of skepticism. Intel said that Intel Windows 8 tablets would come with 10- or 11-inch screens, measure less than 9 mm thick, weigh less than 1.5 lbs, and offer more than nine hours of battery. The typical reaction was disbelief because no Intel notebook or netbook has ever come close to being as thin and light as an iPad with the battery life of an iPad.
Conventional wisdom among tech pundits held that Intel can't match tablets running ARM architecture processors because Intel had never delivered anything close to such a product. Intel-based Microsoft Tablet PCs were too heavy at over three pounds, too expensive with prices between $1,000 and $3,000, too short on battery life, and too inconvenient with an OS that had to be shut down or suspended. With Intel and Microsoft having a miserable 11-year track record in the tablet computing space and the fact that not much was known about the mystery Intel Atom Z2760 "Clover Trail" processor, all the skepticism was warranted.
Now that we can actually see hands-on product videos of the Acer Iconia W510 ($400 to $800 range) transformable tablet with 18 hours battery life in docked mode, it's clear that Intel was not bluffing. PC World reports that the Iconia uses an Intel SoC. That makes sense given the fact that there is no way a full-size notebook chip can even fit into a 9-mm-thin detachable chassis that also has to accommodate an LCD panel and achieve phenomenal battery life.
(Excerpt) Read more at informationweek.com ...
I was just talking with Mrs. Thrawl that the form factor and interface of the iPad would make a killer universal remote.
There’s no serious computing power behind that to compete in the desktop market. It will be a good web browser though.
The raw performance head to head, comparing Windows 8 to Windows 7, that I posted from PC World, are indisputable, irrespective of what any individual reviewer thinks of Windows 8. Windows 8 IS considerably faster on the same hardware, than Windows 7.
As far as the metro interface for the windows 8 tablet is concerned, its based on the same metro interface that Windows phone 7 has, and that has received plenty of rave reviews. I think some Windows 8 reviewers are not thinking sufficiently out of the box when it comes to metro.
Good Question ... the ONLY way to SELL software, is through iTunes. Apple is going to get their cut (30%, I believe). This is for the mass distribution software and books, etc. Stuff you want the general public to consume.
However, say a company like Delta Airlines wants to put their aircraft checkoff lists on the iPad (which they have); they can create an in-house solution to install on Delta-only equipment. I don't think Delta would want the general public having copies of all of their aircraft manuals and check-lists.
Can't wait to see what that will do to battery life.
But ... but ... Microsoft had a touchscreen table...
Not quite true anymore. If you compare like for like - the Apple computers are very competitive with anyone. Compare a specific Mac Book Air, then compare an industrial case (not a cheap plastic case) with identical specs from Dell, HP, Leveno or anyone else - you will find that Apple is usually cheaper.
Compare the 9.7 inch tablets made for Android and price-compare them against the iPads - again, like-for-like. You will find that the other tablets are about the same price (or more expensive) than the iPad. In the case of Blackberry, they had to knock their price from $699 down to $149 to sell their inventory - they were MORE expensive than the similiar equipped iPad.
The age of the "Mac Tax" is gone.
They always say there is something better coming out just after I bought one. I have the II and I love it. Although, I still need a laptop for some things, or maybe I need to attend a few apple classes because I don’t know all my pad can do. I love google earth. So fun. I can see the world without leaving my house.
Yes, worldwide, the top three highest SELLING models of smartphones, the ones with the greatest demand before all other makes and models, are the Apple iPhone 4s, the Apple iPhone 4, and the three year old Apple iPhone 3Gs! They sell in far greater numbers than any single model of any other maker's smartphone. As of a report dated May 24, 2012, IDC says that just those three models of iPhones, represent more than 23% of all worldwide sales of smartphones, while the manufacturers of the over 1400 "me too" models of Android and Baidu (a Chinese non-compliant subset of Android) smartphones comprise 59%. In fact, in the US, when the iPhone sales are looked at among the longer term iPhone carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, the rates of customers choosing iPhone over Android are far higher, with AT&T reporting 69% and Verizon 51% of their customers in Q1 2012 choosing iPhones! This has resulted in the US iPhone market iPhone share reaching 43% and climbing.
The days of the desktop bign the biggest market, are numbered, and MS isn’t stupid, they know it too.. Its not there yet, but its coming.
Adapt or Die... The tablet market is going to get a whole lot more interesting, when your tablet and your desktop are the same device, which is at the end of the day what MS is gunning for.
Take the tablet with you, pop into a dock when you aren’t traveling, and use your keyboard, mouse and monitor (if your tablet is small enough to warrant the need for a seperate monitor.
Use all the same programs, share all the same files, etc etc.
Provided the hardware manufacturers don’t blow it, the days of iPad being the only real tablet in town are coming to an end. And very likely the dominant player, within a few years.
HOWEVER this all comes down to execution of the software and hardware... if the software is great, but the hardware is overpriced or blows, nope.. If the hardware is great but the software/ui blows... nope.
We shall see.
LMAO!
I have a touchscreen tablet, a Pandigital, that works just fine. It’s sold as an E-book, so it’s slow and and doesn’t have all the functionality of a PC, but it surfs the ‘Net and can send e-mails and store/play music and photos by the hundreds. At less than $200, it’s just what I need.............some can even be found in BigLots, refurbished factory units, that can be had for less than a $100...........
Only problem is only 10% of laptop buyers need the very high specs you like.
90% of laptop buyers will be happy with a 15" $350--$400 HP laptop that has 4gb memory.....They don't need to spend $1700 on Apples least expensive 15" laptop
$399 at Best Buy this week HP Pavilion g7-1338dx laptop
Even if they can do it internally, having to get Apple's approval of the app first is both a security risk and a potential development bottleneck. Our internal developers had to invent new epithets after experiencing the approval process at Apple.
And Apple chooses not to compete in the low-end, low-margin market. People who want a disposable computer are welcome to buy one, and get what they pay for -- for many, it will be good enough.
“Microsoft’s XBOX 360 easily smokes”
That’s true...overheating issues with the Xbox have firmly established it as a pile of junk in many folk’s minds.
The PS3, with Blu-ray and free network play, is a much better idea. :-)
For folks who don’t mind a kid-styled toy in their video room, the Xbox might be a fine option - if the PS3 didn’t exist.
I have a feeling that Apple TV will make a comeback sometime soon... ;-)
I don't disagree, and I'm excited about the new features Microsoft announced at E3, though I don't have a 360. However, the XBox 360 was released 2 years before the Apple TV and can largely be considered a totally separate industry, though some of their features overlap. I do love my Apple TV for its AirPlay functionality, Apple Remote app and integration with my existing iTunes library, though.
And in case you forgot, Android smarphones vastly outsell the iPhone worldwide.
It's not "vastly," and no one manufacturer can claim victory. Only Samsung comes close, and the number of times an individual phone has been declared an iPhone "killer," it has never came to fruition, even remotely. Though the latest attempt is the Galaxy S III, we'll see how that goes. As I said, only Samsung has gotten close.
Who is talking about models here?
FACT: Android smartphones VASTLY outselll iPhones worldide.
“In fact, in the US, when the iPhone sales are looked at among the longer term iPhone carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, the rates of customers choosing iPhone over Android are far higher, with AT&T reporting 69% and Verizon 51% of their customers in Q1 2012 choosing iPhones!”
Fortunately, the US is no longer that biggest smartphone market in the world. China is. And in China, Androids vastly outselff the iPhones, with Androids registering a sobbering over 68% market share in China:
Chinese Android market share doubles in 2011, Apple stays far behind
http://phandroid.com/2012/04/14/chinese-android-market-share-doubles-in-2011-apple-stays-far-behind/
Same as Toyota studied GM and caught up with them..... You are naive and behind the times to think only Apple produces very good computers. Dell and HP have caught up on laptops by consulting with their Taiwanese designers and R&D. Same as Apple farms out a lot of R&D to Taiwan.
All that superior technology gets out. It diffuses to everyone in Taiwan’s electronics industry. Apple is not the only one with access to it
Only fools and silly snobs shell out $1700 for a 15” laptop and this is what you will pay those Cupertino thieves. Go blow your wad on that stuff since it makes you feel good. I have better things to spend on
FACT: iPhones generate more profit for Apple than Android phones (combined) do for other manufacturers, despite the "market share gap". As noted, Apple chooses not to compete in the low-margin portion of the market, so market share is a relatively misleading statistic.
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