So we get it, a lot of you are underwhelmed by the iPad. But there's much more to the tablet world than Apple's latest creation. According to Digitimes (via Engadget), MSI's 10" tablet is coming during the second half of 2010. But will you Doubting Thomases be any happier with this offering?
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The price is the same as the cheapest iPad ($500) and the capacitive screen is effectively the same size (9.7" for the iPad, 10" for the MSI). The iPad runs iPhone OS while the MSI runs Android. That means the MSI will multitask of course, and Flash support in Android should be a given by launch time (though that isn't certain). It has a camera. It's running on an Nvidia Tegra2 chip which Ars Technica suggests puts it on par with the iPad's A4 as far as computing horsepower. And of course Android doesn't live in a walled garden.
On the other hand, it doesn't have the iTunes App Store, nor does it have the media partners that Apple has lined up for the iPad. And (as seen in the video below) native apps don't support multi-touch pinch and zoom gestures.
So what do you say, iPad doubters? Is a device like this any more appealing or will you still stick to your smartphones and netbooks? (Another intriguing option is the Notion Ink Adam which Engadget took a good look at during CES.)
Some of you, I know, just aren't interested in the tablet form factor but others have specific grievances with the iPad in particular, and I'm wondering if a device that addresses some of these grievances without increasing the price is of more interest.
Here's one of the least bad videos of the MSI Android Tablet that I could find at YouTube, so you can see it in action. Keep in mind it isn't shipping for at least 5 months so in theory response should get a bit snappier, and rough edges should get a bit of polishing, before then.
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The IFA consumer electronics exhibition turns 50
Albert Einstein opened the 7th Great German Radio and Phonograph Show, the forerunner to today's IFA, in Berlin in 1930. The show marked the public debut of a prototype 'television receiver.' Since then, some products, like the 3DTV, were ahead of their time. Others, like the MiniDisc...well, just never got off the ground. Here's a look at IFA's storied past.
IFA 2010
Samsung launches Galaxy Tab
3D content is king at giant tech show
PlayStation 3 will be ready for 3D by October
Sony announces music service, hints at TV service
Google's Schmidt to speak at Berlin show
3D, tablets galore expected at consumer electronics show
Its a buy
If I can do video Skype with it. The article made no mention, but it needs to have a front-facing camera, mic and speakers.Not impressed
While it may have a better hardware mix, based on the video it seems far behind the elegance of the iPad. If this won't come out until at least 6 months after the iPad, I feel they will be behind the power curve. I'm sure Apple will not be sitting still and will have other offerings not long after sales begin, like iPhone OS 4.0 which will hopefully address most of the software shortcomings.Not that I'm interested in the iPad either. Just saying...
Battery Life is my number one objective!
It needs to have good battery life, PDF and ebook suppot and I'd buy one in lieu of an ebook reader.With video support, like HULU and/or Netflix and wow now it's a travel companion.
And for more usefulness hi-cap SD card support, bluetooth and WIFI are musts. A nice base sized flash, say 32GB at a minimum.
Yeah I'd buy one, or maybe the ipad, both can do more than the Sony PRS-600 I was going to buy. But the battery life is number one on my list, it has to last a good long time between charges. The 10 hours on the ipad sounds good, assuming it will actually run that long. Which ever device can pull of a 10 hour (or near 10 hour runtime) I will likely buy. Running out of juice on an airplane will turn your whatever pad into a flat useless brick you have to lug around, then the features you have or do not have don't really mean that much do they.