With yesterday's Wired and Adobe video explaining how they plan to bring the magazine to the digital age, we've gotten way excited about the media content possibilities surrounding the tablet. It's easy to think the iPad is the only player in town, but there are actually quite a few iPad alternatives brewing (some of which are already available). Here's a roundup of a few of them.
HP Slate: The PC version of the iPad, this tablet runs on Windows 7 and features 3G and WiFi capabilities. It'll run the Blio reader, Kindle Reader, along with Windows apps. HP hopes to price their tablet at a lower price point than the iPad, though numbers haven't been revealed as of yet.
MSI Nvidia Tegra-based tablet: Set to come out in the second half of 2010, MSI's tablet runs on the Android OS and features a 10-inch color touchscreen and WiFi capabilities. No word on pricing, but said to be cheaper than the iPad.
enTourage eDGe: You get two for one with this open book tablet. One half of the eDGe is like the Amazon Kindle, featuring an e-Ink 9.7 inch screen that lets you write notes directly on the screen with a stylus. The other half is like the iPad, with a 10.1-inch color touchscreen that can play movies or MP3s, flip through photos, and will even display color photos included in your e-Book. Features built-in WiFi, runs the Android OS, and a virtual keyboard lets you IM or send emails. Available in March for $500.
Notion Ink Adam: The first tablet to feature a 10-inch Pixel Qi display, which allows for two different display modes -- full color LCD indoors and low-power reflective mode in sunlight, which is similar to e-ink. Integrated WiFi and 3G, a Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset that makes the Adam 1080p capable, with an HDMI port to output to an HDTV or projector, all running on the Android OS. Also features a built-in 3.2 MP camera that swivels 180 degrees. Will be available in the 3rd quarter, price TBD. (Images 4 and 5 show the Adam's two screen modes).
Archos 5: While it only features a measly 5-inch touchscreen, Archos' Android OS running tablet does offer GPS navigation through Google's free navigation app (that's a huge money saver for those looking to buy a GPS nav for the car). Add Archos' $140 DVR Station and you can turn this mini tablet into your very own DVR that allows you to watch shows you've recorded for free from over-the-air networks or your cable operator. Prices start at $250.
Dell Mini 5 (a.k.a. Streak): A smaller tablet as well, the Mini 5 will run on an, as yet, unreleased version of Android, include a front and back facing 5MP camera, built-in WiFi and 3G. Planned for release later this year, with a price that's yet to be announced, though there have been reports that it could be as expensive as $1,000. Say what?!
Obviously the two things that will determine who wins the tablet wars are price and applications. The majority of the non-iPad alternatives we've seen are running the Android OS, which is an open platform that welcomes app developers, so this could get exciting. We do wonder though, how the HP Slate will do with its Windows 7 OS. Does anyone know how open app friendly Windows 7 is?
(MSI Image: engadget)
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Comments (11)
"Does anyone know how open app friendly Windows 7 is?"
As open as any other windows release. It's the full on Windows OS- install whatever you want. Are you confusing it with Windows Phone 7 Series?
I meant in terms of allowing developers to create applications to run on the OS.
Any developer who can create a Windows program can create a Windows program.
These are all (it sounds) running full OSs and not something closed like the apple tablet will be running. So if you can create a program that can run on your PC (or on your boot camped Windows 7) then it can run on the 7 tablets. If you can create it to run on the Android OS then it can run on the Android machines.
This just goes to show me that if nothing else Apple has changed the way people talk about computers. Not just phones with the whole iPhone OS. It seems that people are now thinking about it from a closed ecosystem perspective rather than a regular OS ecosystem. This is fascinating.
iPad is a new category of computer. It's not a phone, it's not a full featured laptop/desktop.
I think of of it as a casual computer for adults lounging on the sofa, at a coffee shop etc.
However it would be most useful for older folks like my 69 year old mom who is always having Microsoft OS issues. Or a great computer for children.
It's closed eco-system keeps things simplified and safe from trojan horses. low to no maintenance.
How "closed" is the iPhone "eco-system", anyhow? I haven't seen many reports regarding applications Apple has refused to authorize for the iPhone, apart from maybe hardcore porn (which you can still get off the net) and Adobe Flash (which kills your battery - Microsoft is also excluding Flash support from Win 7 Mobile).
@sunspot42
They rejected the Google voice app as well as some other very high profile apps. For a list (not a complete one, it's only been updated through May of last year) see http://boredzo.org/killed-iphone-apps/. A newer and more recently updated list can be found at http://apprejections.com/.
Also, the Flash-kills-your-battery excuse is lame. It works fine on the Nokia N900. Android will have flash beginning with Flash 10.1 and WP7 will have flash "eventually", unfortunately not at release.
The notion ink looks the most appealing to me from a device standpoint. A switchable screen would be great for reading.
The enTourage eDGe is a great concept but it's ahead of its time. Dual screens like a magazine gives more real estate and built in screen protection when closed. The device also lacks the elegance of the others.
Archos is really on to something with the idea of a singular device that can be used for everything. The problem comes in the fact that it is phone sized, but not a phone. This is where the Dell mini 5 shines.
The MSI and HP look more or less like the iPad, but offer the option of either Android or Windows 7. The good thing is that I can install whatever I want. The bad thing is the lack of an app store and no guarantee that what I install will run properly.
Something that has hit my radar recently is the new Windows Mobile 7 platform. I will likely get a phone with it within the year. I think that platform on a tablet device would be the killer device.
The problem with too many of these devices is that they're simply keyboard and mouse-less laptops with Windows 7 slapped onto them. Windows needs a keyboard and mouse. Who seriously wants to click the tiny "File" menus with their fingers? Also, Flash does kill the battery and only too many Android users will realize this when available.
Google's Android OS is better but still faces many issues. Plus, it seems nobody can figure out how to make a fluid, consistent, non-ugly UI (eg. Archos Mail) for these things.
Too many are crying that the iPad is too simple and/or is just a big iPod Touch.
To these people: Roughly Drafted.
These comments here illustrate nicely why I won't buy an IPad. Not because I "can't afford it" as the article yesterday suggested, but because I think the close ecosystem Apple is building is a danger to the more or less open structure we see with current computers and the internet. I am amazed how people who normally advocate a do-it-yourself approach to life and technology fall for this friendly, shiny fascism that is Apple.
"It seems that people are now thinking about it from a closed ecosystem perspective rather than a regular OS ecosystem. This is fascinating."
It is fascinating -- still how little people know about computers and software despite interacting with them daily for probably 15-20 years now. Unfortunately Apple has done very little to improve people's knowledge of computer systems... one can argue Apple has actually worked to limit people's knowledge of computer systems by providing them a computer that "just works" (not a bad thing, if that's all you ever need).
"How "closed" is the iPhone "eco-system", anyhow?"
It is closed in the sense that every application you could run on it has to be approved by Apple. Compare that to a Windows tablet, where any application capable of running on Windows could run on the tablet. There is no "approval" process for Windows or even Android based tablets. People can discuss all they want about the possibilities of the iPad, but all those ideas will have to filter through the Apple ecosystem first, which will take time and inevitably run into snags of all kinds. Apple has already proved this with their handling of the App Store for iPhone/iPod.
"iPad is a new category of computer."
I disagree. It is just a tablet, and tablets have been around for some time now. Just because Apple takes a tablet and installs a modified version of OS X on it does not make a new category of computer, just as installing OS X on a laptop does not make a new category of computer either. And the only reason Apple has been able to bring the tablet to market is because they have restricted licensing of the OS by third parties. I assure you that if Apple had opened up its OS to third party vendors, an Apple tablet would have already been released by now. And it probably would have been pretty good.
I think the only thing the iPad will transform is how people absorb traditional media like books and magazines. Which if successful would be a commendable transformation.
@Scoot
You really need to read Roughly Drafted's series of iPad myths.
The iPad is a new category in that it does run a modified version of OS X made for touch. Why wouldn't Apple take a great existing platform and rewrite parts of it to specifically be used for touch only without the need of a separate keyboard and mouse. How would that not create a new category? You say it's not and then talk about Windows tablets which are literally keyboard and mouse-less laptops with Windows 7 slapped on them. Once again, Windows begs for a keyboard and mouse.
The App Store ecosystem has also addressed many of the security, virus, malware and trojan issues that have plagued the "open" computer and internet market. This is also well addressed in Dan's myth series.
Also, your issue of addressing people's knowledge of computers: considering Microsoft has a majority share of those computers people have been using for the past 15-20 years, wouldn't that be an error on their part for not educating the masses? Or that they (and PC manufacturers) are somehow better because they provide people with computers that don't "just work"?
Most people don't care about how their computer works. Only that it does. Most people don't read tech websites. They don't need to see how every part of their car, toaster, etc. works to know that it does. Things should just work. This fascination of because Apple doesn't make it easy to change every single part of their products makes them somehow inferior is incredible. Seriously, most people barely upgrade memory in the lifetime of their computer.