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Tag: tablet

  • HP to Release $99 Tablet This Fall [RUMOR]

    HP to Release $99 Tablet This Fall [RUMOR]

    The tablet market, just a few years old, is already crowded with tablet designs from nearly every tech manufacturer. Predictions show that the tablet market should grow to a record size this year, while shipments of traditional PCs are now declining. Though Apple and Amazon are largely dominating the 7-inch tablet market, that hasn’t stopped other manufacturers from trying to grab a piece of it.

    DigiTimes today reported that HP will be releasing a $99 tablet for the back-to-school season. According to the report’s unnamed “sources from the upstream supply chain,” the tablet will be sold at Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. The device will reportedly have a 7-inch screen and an Intel Medfield single-core processor.

    The tablet will be HP’s first sub-$100 tablet, but only if the HP TouchPad isn’t counted. The TouchPad debuted in 2011 as a competitor to the iPad, but failed tremendously. The tablet’s $499 price was slashed to only $99 to clear out inventory, and quickly sold out at both online and physical retailers.

    HP’s latest 7-inch tablet, the HP Slate 7, sells for $169. That tablet’s specs are comparable to Amazon’s original Kindle Fire tablet. HP’s tablets will be competing this fall with Google’s recently announced upgraded Nexus 7 and a refreshed lineup of Amazon’s Kindle tablets.

    (Image courtesy mbiebusch under Creative Commons License)

    (via DigiTimes)

  • Nexus 7 Refresh Coming Soon, Specs Leaked

    Nexus 7 Refresh Coming Soon, Specs Leaked

    Though Android fans were disappointed that no new hardware announcements were made at Google I/O, rumors of an impending update to the Nexus 7 tablet.

    Today Digitimes, the Tiawanese publication that closely follows Chines tech manufacturing, all but confirmed the new Nexus 7‘s existence and leaked a few of its specs. The rumored mini-tablet is reported to have the same 7-inch screen as the previous version, but an HD 1980 x 1200 display. Rumors of the switch from an Nvidia Tegra processor to a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor seem to be true, with Digitimes’ unnamed “industry sources” reporting the new device will get a Snapdragon 600 processor. A 5-megapixel rear camera with an accompanying 1.2 megapixel front camera is also rumored. The new tablet’s launch is reportedly only weeks away, at the end of July or the beginning of August.

    It seems that the success of the Nexus 7 is also making Google confident about this year’s new version, even with increased competition on the market. Manufacturers are reportedly estimating that as many as eight million new Nexus 7 tablets could be sold this year. However, they are also warning that the reported $199 to $249 price of the Wi-Fi model of the tablet could hamper sales, as other tablets will be priced lower.

    (via DigiTimes)

  • CES 2013: Vizio’s First Windows 8 Tablet Is Powered By AMD

    Let’s be honest with ourselves: Windows 8 tablets, including Microsoft’s own Surface, aren’t doing that well. The biggest offender is the overall price of these tablets with the anticipated Surface Pro, priced at $899, not helping. So, what happens when the king of cheap televisions takes a crack at it?

    Vizio, known more for its cheap televisions than computers, announced at CES 2013 that it’s bringing a 11.6-inch Windows 8 tablet to market later this year. Much like the Surface, Vizio is selling this a tablet that doubles a premium PC. What sets it apart is that it uses AMD’s latest APU for a presumably cheaper price point.

    The new tablet features a full HD 1080p display, 64GB SSD, and an AMD Z-60 APU with on-board Radeon HD graphics. The processor was built with Windows 8 tablets in mind, and as such, features a low-power dual-core 1.0 GHz CPU. The on-board GPU is clocked at 275 MHz, but supports DirectX 11. It’s not going to be a gaming machine, but no Windows 8 tablet has yet proven to be one either.

    “We built a tablet PC with Windows 8 that truly allows consumers to accomplish any task while being mobile,” said Matt McRae, Chief Technology Officer, VIZIO. “We are excited to work together with AMD to bring consumers a Tablet PC with the Windows experience that also delivers exceptional visuals using AMD’s expertise in superior graphics processing.”

    There’s no mention of pricing or availability yet, but it should be cheap. Vizio has a good track record of keeping prices down, and the use of an AMD processor should help keep the price down even more. With that being said, the use of an AMD processor may turn some people away who prefer more powerful Intel processors in their tablets, but that’s what the $899 Surface Pro is for.

  • iPad Mini Is Reportedly In Full Production

    The iPad Mini is supposedly going to be revealed this month. A rumor points to Apple sending out press invites for the iPad Mini event on October 10. The device will then be revealed on October 17. The latest rumor seems to suggest that the iPad Mini will be ready for millions of eager shoppers this holiday season.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that the iPad Mini is now being manufactured on a mass scale across China. It was already suspected that Foxconn would be manufacturing the device, but there was no concrete proof until now. Those familiar with the situation said that iPad Mini will feature a lower resolution screen that’s currently being produced AU Optronics and LG.

    Ever since the iPhone 5 was released, all of the attention has turned to the iPad Mini. Apple’s latest phone did incredibly well, but it did miss some investor’s expectations. The iPad Mini is something that could go above and beyond everybody’s expectations. It’s expected to launch at a lower price point to appeal to the tablet market that’s currently cornered by Amazon and Google.

    If the device is already in full production, we can expect a launch by the end of October or early November. They should also be able to have plenty of iPad Minis available at launch to avoid delays in shipments. A constant supply of the rumored device could help Apple win the holiday season as Amazon and Google are ramping up their efforts to market the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 respectively.

    We got our first really good look at the iPad Mini yesterday, but the device is still just a rumor. Steve Jobs famously said that a tablet under 10-inches was no longer a tablet. It’s the Tim Cook show now and things are different. The iPad Mini will be the first true test of what an Apple without Steve Jobs can do. The iPad Mini is most assuredly real, but will it resonate with consumers like previous iOS devices? A recent survey seems to indicate that it will.

  • Toys ‘R’ Us to Sell Tablet For Kids

    Toys ‘R’ Us to Sell Tablet For Kids

    This past year has seen the tablet market flooded with different tablets featuring a variety of sizes, features, and operating systems. It seems now that Apple has proven that consumers actually want tablets, every OEM believes it must have at least one on the market. And if parents have told their children that the iPad or Kindle Fire aren’t kid-friendly enough, today’s news is sure to have them scrambling for a different excuse as to why Santa isn’t bringing a tablet this year.

    Toys ‘R’ Us today announced that it is releasing its own tablet. Designed specifically with kids in mind, the tabeo tablet is a 7-inch Android tablet that will come with 50 free, pre-installed apps to entertain children. Toys ‘R’ Us stated that the design of the tabeo focused on “safety” for children. It comes with integrated parental controls for filtering internet access and a special tabeo store with “safe” apps for kids.

    “Over the past year, we’ve spent considerable time talking to parents and children to determine what features and functions they really want in a kids’ tablet, resulting in tabeo,” said Troy Peterson, divisional merchandise manager for Toys“R”Us. “We are proud that tabeo offers robust and flexible parental controls that can help protect children as they surf the Internet, and we are pleased to offer the tabeo App Store, which features only kid-safe content carefully curated by the Toys“R”Us team.”

    The tablet itself has a 7-inch, 800 x 480 screen, 4GB of memory, a microSDHC slot, 1GHz ARM processor, and a front-facing camera. It will run a version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Toys ‘R’ Us will begin selling the tabeo for only $150, exclusively through its stores and website starting October 21. The company is already taking pre-orders for the tablet through its website.

  • WWJD? Read The Bible On A Christian Tablet

    Religion and technology have traditionally been at odds. Whenever somebody creates a new innovative technology, somebody somewhere is going to say it’s of the devil. It’s just the nature of things. One Christian group is hoping to buck that trend, however, and appeal directly to the technology obsessed masses.

    Family Christian, a company that deals in wholesome family friendly products, is now selling a tablet called edifi. It’s an Android powered tablet that’s all about the Bible and family-friendly programming. Speaking to Fox News, technology supervisor for Family Christian, Brian Honorable, says that the tablet came about as a way to “offer our customers the ability to use our Holy Bible application.”

    The edifi tablet definitely has the Bible, in 27 languages no less, but what else can it do? It features the Family Christian Reader app so that you won’t have to expose yourselves to the evils of the modern publishing industry. Other apps include a browser with pre-installed safe search, Christian Internet radio and movie playback capability. While the tablet doesn’t have Google Play, user reviews indicate that you can download apps from third party Android app vendors.

    The actual hardware behind the machine isn’t too shabby for its asking price of $149. It features a 7 inch touch screen at 480×800, 8GB of internal memory that can be expanded to 40GB through SD cards and HDMI output up to 1080p. The actual innards, while a mystery, are reportedly similar to that of the Kindle Fire.

    Despite the number of Christians in the U.S., you would think the edifi serves a niche demographic. Most of my Christian friends are happy with their iPads or Android tablets and wouldn’t even give the newest competitor a chance. He wouldn’t cite sales numbers, but Honorable did tell Fox News that sales have been strong. It’s impressive enough that a small Christian company was able to make a tablet, so I’m willing to accept that it’s at least probably profitable for them.

    If you find yourself in need of some digital salvation, the edifi might just be what you need. You can pick it up from their online store or at one of Family Christian’s many retail locations.

    Check out the promotional video which features odd choices such as music from Sister Act and a video clip from Wall-E. I would have figured they would use VeggieTales instead, but to each their own.

  • iPad Sales To Pass Notebook Sales Within Four Years

    When Apple announced the new iPad back in March, he spent a lot of time talking about the “post PC” world, a world in which tablets replaced PCs – particularly notebooks – for many users’ day-to-day needs, including web browsing, content consumption, and productivity. The iPad, he claimed, is the “poster child” for the post PC era. According to recent data released by NPD Display Search, he was right.

    According to NPD’s Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report, tablets – most notably the iPad – will account for an ever-increasing percentage of mobile computing sales over the next few years. By 2016, tablet sales are expected to surpass notebook sales for the first time, with the margin between the two increasing again in 2017.

    Tablets Pass PCs In 2016

    According to NPD’s data, 208 million notebooks will be sold in 2012, compared to 121 million tablets (most of them iPads). By 2017, they expect notebook sales to clime to 393 million, whereas tablets will grow to 416 million. A key factor in the growth of tablet sales, they say, are mature markets like the North America, Japan, and Western Europe, where notebook penetration is high but tablet penetration is significantly lower.

    NPD also predicted that the line between tablets and notebooks will become fuzzier over the next few years. In a trend that has already begun with some of the most recent models (including the MacBook Air), notebooks are trending sharply toward thinner, lighter form factors, SSD drives, and other features that increase portability and ease of use. Meanwhile tablets – which already pretty much have the portability and ease of use thing down – are trending toward the use of more powerful hardware and gaining more robust productivity capabilities.

  • Google Details Google+ Tablet App Redesign

    Before Sergey Brin interrupted the Google+ presentation during the opening keynote for Google I/O, the Google+ team was discussing the redesign of the app for tablets. Besides a short look at how the tablet app features a new photo stream, we weren’t really made privy to all the design changes. Thanks to the Google blog, we now have a bit more information.

    Like during the keynote, Google talked up the major mobile redesign of Google+ that hit iOS and Android smartphones a few weeks ago. This led to more people using Google+ on mobile than they did on desktop so Google wanted to capitalize on this with a native tablet app.

    The tablet app brings the best that the iOS and Android app brought to the table, but with a few new redesign choices that help make the most of the tablet. Here’s what Google has brought to the tablet app:

  • A beautiful stream that styles content based on popularity, type and orientation
  • A “lean back” Hangouts experience that’s great for the couch or common room
  • Crisper text, fuller photos and easily-tappable actions like +1 and comment

    • Here a few screens of how Google+ will look on tablets:

    The new photo stream

    Google Details New Google+ Tablet App Redesign

    New ribbon sidebar

    Google Details Google+ Tablet App Redesign

    New hangouts

    Google Details Google+ Tablet App Redesign

    As you can see, Google is designing this specifically for the tablet. The new Google+ for tablets is available on Android today for all. The iPad app with retina display support will come out a bit later. The tablet-specific redesign is also hitting Android phones today. Check it out on Google Play.

  • Asus Goes To Infinity And Beyond With Newest Transformer

    Before you start imagining a Transformers film where they’re all toys trying to get back to their owners ala Toy Story, know that the headline refers to Asus’ line of tablets. The newest tablet, called the Transformer Pad Infinity, is the latest tablet in Asus’ line of tablet/laptop hybrids that can snap into a keyboard (sold separately for $149) and become a fully functioning laptop while retaining the form factor of a tablet.

    The Infinity will be launching sometime during the week of July 16. The tablet itself will cost $499 for the 32GB model and $599 for the 64GB model. Nobody said mobile computing was cheap and the Transformer Pad Infinity proves that. The good news is that owners of previous Transformers can save some money as the Infinity is backwards compatible with previous Transformer keyboard docks.

    As for the specs, the new Infinity is the closest Android tablet to catch up to the iPad’s ridiculous retina display resolution with a 10.1 inch display at 1900×1200. It’s still powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor which probably helped keep the price lower than it could have been. It also uses the same ol’ 1GB of RAM, but that should be more than enough for any applications that one could possibly use a tablet for.

    As for Android versions, the Infinity will launch with Ice Cream Sandwich. Asus’ other tablet, the Google Nexus 7, is expected to be the first to have Jelly Bean when it’s announced this week during Google I/O. Considering that Google and Asus are pretty chummy at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave the Infinity Jelly Bean before the others.

    While Asus is launching the Wi-Fi version of the Infinity in July, the manufacturer is also prepping an LTE version of the same tablet. The only difference is that the LTE version will use a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Dual-core processor. It will be out at a later date.

    We’ve known about the Transformer Pad Infinity since CES, but the announcement of Microsoft’s Surface definitely changed the playing field for laptop/tablet hybrids. The Transformer Prime was pretty much in a league of its own so it will be interesting to see how Asus responds to the Surface.

    [h/t: The Verge]

  • Microsoft Surface Tablet Photos Revealed

    Microsoft Surface Tablet Photos Revealed

    Microsoft’s surprise announcement of its new Surface tablets was met with a mixed, but mostly positive, reaction. The new form factor brings Microsoft into direct hardware competition with Apple and other tablet manufacturers. The higher-end version of the tablet actually might compete with the MacBook Air and other ultrabooks. Most interesting of all, Microsoft has managed to create a hybrid of a tablet and PC that looks as if it could possibly work well as both. It’s the device that finally makes Windows 8 make some sort of sense – no doubt what the company has been planning for all along.

    Microsoft Surface

    The most surprising aspect of the Surface tablets is the design. Manufacturers have been trying to emulate Apple’s brilliant design and attention to detail for years now. Most have come up short, but the Surface looks to be a solidly-designed tablet. Kickstands are normally laughable when placed on mobile devices, but Microsoft has somehow managed to make the Surface’s kickstand seem to fit with the device.The magnetic keyboard/cover for the tablet is incredibly thin and suitably stylish.

    Speaking of the keyboard, Microsoft is showing some flair by displaying their new device with different colored keyboards. Already the company has shown black, white, red, pink, and blue versions. Check out all of the pictures Microsoft has officially revealed:

    Microsoft Surface with blue keyboard

    Microsoft Surface with pink keyboard, from the back

    Microsoft Surface with pink keyboard

    Microsoft Surface with white keyboard

    Microsoft Surface withouth a keyboard

  • Is Surface Going To Take Tablet Gaming Seriously?

    We all should know by now that Microsoft’s big announcement was Surface, a tablet that is as cool as it is functional. People, including yours truly, seem to be really diggin’ the cover that doubles as a keyboard. The only problem with last night’s showing is that Microsoft didn’t show off any software, but it’s assumed that it will play games. The question now is what kind of games.

    The Surface tablet is unique because it comes in two operating system varieties – Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro. The Windows RT tablet uses an ARM processor and is clearly targeted towards college students with its included Office 15 apps. The other Surface tablet – Windows 8 Pro – is the one we have to pay attention to.

    The specs according to Microsoft peg the Windows 8 Pro Surface as having an Intel i5 Ivy Bridge processor. That puts the Windows 8 Pro version of Surface on par with an Ultrabook and Microsoft themselves said it would be comparable in price to one of Intel’s Ultrabooks.

    So we have a tablet that’s powered by one of the best processors on the market, comes with a keyboard and has multiple outs for expansion. That just screams gaming machine if only on a smaller level. Considering that it’s also coupled with Windows 8 Pro only cements it as being the mobile PC gaming machine that many people have always wanted.

    We got a bit more confirmation last night when Eric Neustadter, self-proclaimed Xbox Live Operations Gaming Ninja, said that Surface with an Intel CPU would play Civilization.

    You could take this as just a Microsoft employee hyping up his company’s product, but it does make sense. The Intel-based Surface has all the necessary requirements to play a lot of PC titles. While integrated graphics have long been the bane of PC gaming, more and more developers are beginning to offer support for Intel’s Ivy Bridge on-board graphics. A game like Civ V would be no problem for the Intel-based Surface.

    Well known gaming guru Kevin Dent also offered his two cents on the gaming possibilities of Surface:

    Dent links to Steam, Valve’s digital content delivery service. As long as Microsoft offers a full-fledged Windows 8 Pro experience with the surface, Steam should be able to thrive on the device. The addition of a USB 3.0 port means that gamers can use their gaming mouse in tandem with the cover/keyboard.

    It’s apparent that the Surface can be the best gaming tablet ever, but will consumers jump on board? It’s unfortunately not going to appeal to those who own an iPad. Those consumers are only in it for the short bursts of distractions that games like Cut the Rope or Angry Birds bring. Microsoft would be smart to market the Surface to the core PC gamers out there who would love to have a super thin gaming laptop/tablet hybrid.

    Of course, Microsoft could really drop the ball and ruin any chance the Surface has at being a gaming tablet. In that case, there’s another Windows 8 tablet coming out that’s even more powerful than Surface that should be able to run every PC game you own on max settings. Have fun paying more than $1,000 for it though.

  • Is Microsoft’s Major Announcement The Xbox Surface? [Rumor]

    Microsoft is making a major announcement today in Los Angeles at 3:30 p.m. PST. Nobody has any idea what it is and Microsoft has been very secretive with the announcement. The major consensus at this point seems to be that it’s going to be a tablet, but what kind of tablet? A recent leak may hold the answers.

    Thanks to a leak coming out of Shifted2u, we know that the potential Microsoft tablet may be called the Xbox Surface. That fits in with a rumor we reported on earlier this morning that Microsoft was working with Barnes & Noble to make a Nook tablet that streams Xbox Live content. The Xbox Surface is a little more interesting than that, however, if the leaked document ends up being true.

    The leaked documents reveals that the Xbox Surface has a 7.0 ince multi-touch LED screen, a max resolution of 1280×720, SD card slot, bluetooth and Wi-Fi. That’s a pretty standard tablet by today’s standards, but the innards is what really excites me as a technophile and a gamer.

    The document says that the Xbox Surface will be powered by two IBM POWER7 SCMs with each SCM having 6 active cores at 3.1 GHz. It’s also rumored to have 5 GB of DDR3 RAM and a custom 28nm GPU from AMD featuring 1.2 GB of memory and full Direct3D 11 support.

    As for storage, it will have a 250 GB disk drive alongside storage that can be expanded via USB drives. It will also have support for up to four wireless game controllers and one headphone port per controller which pretty much confirms that it uses Xbox 360 controllers. It also features 4 USB 3.0 ports and component video/HDMI out.

    As you can see, this machine is not a tablet, but rather some kind of awesome monster PC hiding inside of a tablet. I can already feel the skepticism and you wouldn’t be wrong to be skeptical. Tablets today are weak compared to this, but maybe Microsoft needs this to grab our attention. If they just announced a tablet, it wouldn’t be news. If they announced a tablet that’s many times more powerful than the iPad or anything else on the market, that’s news.

    Of course, the real question is how to find a market for such a thing. A lot of people just want tablets for content consumption and nothing else. They’re fine with shallow experiences that allow them brief distractions from their day. If true, the Xbox Surface will be the tablet for the power user and gamer. It will be Microsoft handheld that many consumers have wanted for years to combat the 3DS and the PS Vita. It will just have the extra benefit of being able to compete head-on as a portable computer as well.

    It’s important to note that this is all a rumor for now. We won’t know anything until tonight at 6:30 p.m. PST. If this is true though, count me among the first in line. I haven’t jumped on the tablet bandwagon yet due to my status as a power user. The iPads and Kindle Fires of the world just don’t cut it. The Xbox Surface, if true, would cut it and then some.

    UPDATE:

    Thanks to our readers pointing out my own lack of being able to see light grey text on a white background, it would appear that the Xbox Surface document points to two separate devices. One of them being the tablet with the other being a “stationary computing device.” What does it all mean? It’s too early to tell at the moment, but it could be the next Xbox. We’ll find out later tonight at Microsoft’s press event.

    Microsoft Xbox Surface

  • Microsoft to Announce Xbox Tablet at Monday’s Big Secret Media Event?

    Microsoft piqued everybody’s interest yesterday by sending out invites to an exclusive media event where the company plans to make a “major announcement.” Microsoft isn’t even telling invitees where the event is happening until Monday morning, the day of the event, let alone betraying even a single clue about what this shindig will be about. With few details about the event, the tech world collectively mused, ‘What can it all mean?’ while taking turns at pinning the tail on the rumor donkey.

    The first rumor out there that’s credited to an insider-ish source with Microsoft comes by way of The Wrap, who says that the company will be announcing a brand new Microsoft-made tablet. Considering the competing rumors and speculation that the event would be related to Windows 8 or the acquisition of Yammer or a possible acquisition of a manufacturer of middling smartphones, the notion of Microsoft finally making a move on the tablet market is the most intriguing of the lot.

    I asked a Microsoft spokesperson for a comment about the event/announcement but got promptly shut down with this reply: “We do not comment on rumors or speculation.”

    If you want to mix and match rumors, one could postulate that an entertainment-centric tablet not too dissimilar to the Kindle Fire could be in Microsoft’s oven.

    If this turns out to be the case and Microsoft does roll out its own brand of tablets on Monday, hopefully there will be something novel about the product that will distinguish it from the iPad and all of Google’s Android tablets: a surprising partnership to provide a unique service or some fancy utensil like a next-generation stylus (because in my humble opinion, e-readers will always kind of suck until you can actually write some marginalia on the edge of the screen). If Microsoft really wanted to put Apple and Google on notice, its tablet would include some exclusive integration with its gaming console, Xbox 360, and simultaneously propel the company into the television/video market. Who knows, maybe Bill Gates will come clean and admit that he was the one that sent the Wow! Signal to Earth back when he was traveling through the Paleolithic age, takes a bow, and then vanishes into the future.

    Based on nothing more than my personal wishes and a dash of logic, I expect Microsoft’s announcement will involve a new tablet that has some savvy Xbox-integration. Rumors were passed around this past March that Microsoft was experimenting with the idea of a touchscreen-style tablet device for the Xbox 360, so it’s not completely from out of nowhere. Also, with the recent announcement that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer would be arriving on Xbox 360s this fall, a tablet capable of wirelessly synching with the console from anywhere would create a unique internet experience that could boost Microsoft’s market share of online search.

    Such a one-two-three combo would certainly work within the entertainment-related speculation as it would combine surfing the web, video, and gaming into a single, must-have device. So make a list and check it twice – an Xbox tablet would be nice.

  • Asus Confirms New Google Tablet On the Way

    For a few months now there have been rumors that Asus and Google will be releasing a 7-inch Nexus tablet at the upcoming Google I/O conference. Now a report from Android Authority is confirming that the rumors are true. They sat down with an Asus executive over the weekend, and he said that the Google tablet does, in fact, exist. On top of that, he confirmed that it would be available by the end of June.

    This really does seem to indicate that the rumors of the I/O conference unveiling are also true. The San Francisco conference wraps up at the end of June, so this can be the only logical conclusion.

    Late last week, a few shots of the rumored tablet were supposedly leaked. The tablet is said to have a 7 inch screen and will run on a quad core Tegra 3 processor with 1 gigabyte of RAM. The pictures also revealed a forward facing camera and what appears to be an earpiece similar to a smartphone.

    Early rumors also pointed to the possibility of it running on Android 5.0 Jellybean. Later reports are saying that that is false, and it will run on Android 4.1 OS. So the operating system doesn’t appear to be getting a complete overhall, but expect to see quite a few changes to the 4.1 OS.

    According to Android Authority, ASUS is also in talks with carriers to bring the Padfone to the United States. So far, they all hate it (free data), but AT&T may be willing to give it a try. According to the source, this front is moving slowly.

  • Dell Exec Knocks iPad For Being “Shiny”

    Dell Exec Knocks iPad For Being “Shiny”

    By pretty much any standard you prefer, Apple’s iPad has been nothing short of a smash hit. Love it or hate it, the iPad has completely revolutionized the mobile computing market – to the point that it is even hampering the growth of the PC market. What’s more, it’s not just a consumer device. Research has shown that businesses – especially those with “bring your own device” (BYOD) programs – are adopting the iPad in droves.

    The competition, though, isn’t necessarily convinced. Speaking to a media and analyst briefing in Sydney, Australia earlier today Joe Kremer, managing director for Dell Australia, knocked the iPad as unsuitable for business use, due in large part to its price. According to Kremer, “[p]eople might be attracted to some of these shiny devices but technology departments can’t afford to support them.” He went on to say that “I don’t think this race has been run yet,” suggesting that the tablet market is still ramping up.

    In a sense, Kremer is right: the tablet race hasn’t been run. There never was a tablet race. Apple’s competition was blindsided by the iPad in 2010. Most of their responses in the two years since have been a parade of too-little-too-late. With a few notable exceptions the non-iPad tablet market has consisted of failure after failure. Some tablets sell quite well, like the Samsung’s Galaxy Tab line and Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Many more, like the BlackBerry Playbook, the Motorola Xoom, and every tablet Dell ever made, do not. Tablet makers other than Apple have found themselves squabbling over a distant second place. What’s more, that isn’t likely to change if recent customer satisfaction data is to be believed.

    Of course, Kremer’s argument isn’t wholly without merit. The iPad is expensive, even to the point of being cost-prohibitive for some businesses. What’s more, though the tablet market is effectively a one-horse race at this point, it’s still only two years old. While it’s hard to imagine another tablet knocking the iPad from it’s lofty perch, it’s certainly possible. Google is expected to come out with at least one Google-branded tablet this year, maybe more. It’s possible that a Google-branded device built by Google’s own in-house hardware company, the newly-acquired Motorola Mobility, can succeed where other would-be iPad competitors have failed.

    [Source: Financial Review]

  • PC Growth To Stagnate As Tablets Take Over

    When Tim Cook took the stage to introduce the new iPad back in March, he spent a lot of time talking about the “post-PC world,” a world in which people used tablets instead of PCs for the bulk of their day-to-day internet and media-consumption needs. The iPad, Cook said, was the poster child for this post-PC era.

    New data released this week by Morgan Stanley appears to prove that he was right. The data shows that the PC market’s growth in the past year has all but stopped. The data projects that by the end of the year, the PC market will have grown by just 0.7%. While that growth is projected to improve somewhat in 2013, it is only expected to reach 1.4%.

    The tablet market, on the other hand, is projected to experience massive growth. The data forecasts that the tablet market will grow 91.7% in 2012, though it will slow somewhat to 62.2% in 2013. As you might expect, the iPad will account for the majority of the tablet market’s growth, experience its own growth of 72.4%.

    Of course, Apple’s own computers are hardly immune to the impact of the tablet. While Apple is expected to continue to outgrow the rest of the PC market – of which Cook was very proud during Apple’s last earnings call – it will not do so by much. Apple’s computer sales are expected to grow by 8.4% in 2012 and 8.0% in 2013. Check out the data for yourself below:

    Post PC World

  • Google’s New Seven Inch Tablet Coming In July?

    There have been rumors for some time that Google might be developing its own Google-branded tablet to compete in the Android tablet market. While some early rumors put the tablet at around 10 inches, to compete with the iPad, more recent reports have suggested that a 7-inch Kindle Fire competitor would be more likely.

    One thing that has remained fairly consistent is the rumored release date. Back in December by Eric Schmidt predicted that Google would have a “tablet of the highest quality” on the market within six months. Today those rumors have gotten a boost, thanks to a report from DigiTimes that a Google-branded tablet built by Asus would be hitting the market in July. The report predicts that Google will sell 2-2.5 million of the tablet in the latter half of 2012.

    While there can be little doubt that Google is, in fact, working on their own tablet (possibly with the Nexus branding?), this report from DigiTimes seems like little more than a rehash of older rumors. More recent events suggest that Google’s tablet may be coming later, and probably won’t be made by either Samsung or Asus. On Tuesday Google completed its purchase of Motorola Mobility. With that purchase, Google has made the jump to become a hardware manufacturer. Now that Google has their own in-house hardware department, it doesn’t seem likely that they would partner with another company – be it Asus, Samsung, or anybody else – to create their first Nexus tablet.

    As to the release date, it may be best not to cling to tightly to comments Schmidt made in December. If Google really is preparing to expand the Nexus line – an expansion that is bound to include a tablet – it’s not too likely that they’ll manage to do so in the next two months.

    All that being said, it’s still possible that Google could have their own tablet in stores by July, but given recent events, it’s looking less likely.

  • Intel Windows 8 Tablets to Debut in November

    Acording to sources at CNet, the first Intel based Windows 8 tablets will be out in stores by November. There will be over a dozen different designs, ranging from tablets to hybrids (a design that combines laptops and tablets) showcased just in time for Christmas, as Microsoft tests the tablet/hybrid market in earnest.

    All of the devices will utilize the upcoming “Clover Trail” atom chip from Intel. Clover Trail is a dual-core Atom design based processor with 32-nanometer process technology. Hybrid designs are expected that utilize Intel’s “Ivy Bridge”, but this is more on the “just a rumor” side of speculation, as sources have not commented on the validity of these claims.

    Windows 8 will be powered by chips from Intel and AMD. Windows RT, a separate release with many of the same companents of Windows 8 will be powered by ARM, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. Windows 8 will run on older Windows “legacy” applications, RT will not.

    Intel is currently working on a chip called “Bay Trail”, a 22-nanometer of Clover Trail, but it will not be available in the upcoming line of tablets and hybrids. The new chip will come with security features built-in and will include Infineon [3G/4G] silicon. It will use Intel’s graphic technology, not borrowing from Imagination, as other chips have done.

    The November release will test the market for Windows tablets and hybrids in time for Christmas, and could point out consumer trends in the tablet vs. ultrabook vs. laptop markets. Once new high-tech chips and a new OS come into the picture to challenge Apple, we will really see the staying power of tablets and hybrids.

    If Microsoft is truly capable of combining the portability and touch screen functionality of a tablet, with the ability to run desktop software, it will be a real contender in this emerging market. Right now rumors are circulating that the Windows tablets will be larger and more expensive than the iPad. If they make that trade with advanced computing power, they could still see big sales. Otherwise we will continue to see lesser tablets struggling to compete with Apple.

    If you don’t own an iPad but are still intrigued by the tablet, I would wait until November to see this new line.

  • Google Takes Aim At Low-end Tablet Market

    The release of Google’s first quarter earnings report brought a lot of interesting news.The company announced a dividend and stock split. Also, Google’s first quarter revenue was $10.65 billion, up 24% over the first quarter of 2011. While cost-per-click was down 12% over the first quarter of 2011 and 6% over the previous quarter, CEO Larry Page said that he was “very bullish” on the matter, and that he expected CPCs to improve over time.

    During the question-and-answer section of yesterday’s earnings call – which Seeking Alpha has helpfully transcribed – Page fielded some questions about Google’s plans for the Android tablet market. In December Eric Schmidt gave hints of a Google tablet that would compete with the iPad. Subsequent rumors, however, have suggested that this Google-branded tablet would instead be aimed at the Kindle Fire and other, similar tablets, rather than as a direct challenge to Apple’s iPad hegemony.

    Page’s remarks yesterday appear to confirm those reports. When asked about Google’s long-term strategy with Android tablets, Page talked mostly about “lower-priced tablets that run Android.” Though he did not specifically mention the rumored Google tablet or any competing products like the iPad or the Kindle Fire, he did hint that Google would be aiming for the low-end tablet market: “we definitely believe that there’s going to be a lot of success at the lower end of the market as well with lower-priced products that will be very significant. And it’s definitely an area we think is important and we’re quite focused on.”

    In other words, Google isn’t necessarily looking to knock Apple off it’s perch atop the tablet market just yet. The iPad currently holds upwards of 60% of the tablet market, with the makers of various Android-based tablets scrabbling for a distant second. Google is smart enough to know that no matter how spectacular their tablet is going to be, it’s unlikely to dominate the Android tablet market so thoroughly as to present a real challenge to the iPad for awhile yet.

  • Tablets Are Changing How We Watch TV

    Tablets Are Changing How We Watch TV

    The advent of the tablet has changed the way we do many things. Tablets allow us to surf the web, play games, check email, and consume media in ways – and places – that were once much more complicated. One of the more recent and unexpected use of tablets, though, has been as a second screen when we’re watching our TVs.

    According to a recent report from Forrester, 85% of tablet owners use their devices while watching TV. What’s more, 30% of all tablet use is done while watching TV. Tablets allow users to enhance their TV watching experience in a variety of ways. Apps like GetGlue let you share what you’re watching with friends, while Miso shows you content related to what you’re watching on your TV. Even apps like IMDB and Wikipedia can come into play: how often have you seen an actor on the screen and wondered what else they’ve played in?

    The report also found that 18% of tablet owners take advantage of their devices’ ability to connect to their living room TV via HDMI or VGA cable, a feature that is available on the iPad 2 and new iPad, as well as on several models of Android tablet. In fact, these users are more likely to turn to their tablet than the built-in features of their “Smart TV” for certain kinds of content.

    Interestingly, the study also found that tablets are taking a bite out of the market for smallers (24 inches or less) TVs. Nearly a third – 32% – of tablet owners said they would not be buying such a TV in the future. These same tablet owners, however, said that they watched more video than before they bought their tablets. They also said that they used their tablets to watch video in the kinds of places they had never been able to do so before, including the kitchen, the bathroom, airports, and more.

    When Tim Cook introduced the new iPad last month, he talked a lot about the iPad’s role in what he called the “post-PC era,” for which the iPad was the “poster child.” While it would certainly not be accurate to talk about the iPad’s role in a post-TV era (a 10-inch screen will never beat a 40-inch screen, no matter how many pixels you cram in), this report suggests that the rise of the tablet has had a major impact on how we watch TV.

    What do you think? Do you have your tablet with you when you watch TV? What about your smartphone? What do you think of the second screen experience? Do you use your tablet to watch TV in places you couldn’t before? Tell us about it in the comments.

  • Tablet Sales Projected to Hit 120 Million in 2012

    Data from a new study by Gartner shows that worldwide tablet device sales are projected to hit almost 120 million in 2012. To be precise, 119 million tablets are expected to be sold – roughly double that of the 60 million shipped in 2011.

    tablet sales

    Before I go on, I am really impressed with Gartner’s total tablet market figure of 60,017118,883182,457369,258. I assume this number will account for all of the tablets that will be sold across the galaxy, through Q3, 2431.

    Not surprisingly, Apple’s iPad is expected to make up 73 million in sales this year, and reach 170 million by 2016 – and while Android will achieve roughly half the sales of the iPad in 2012, the Google OS will be realistically competing with iPad by 2016. Microsoft’s Windows 8 is predicted to move a little under 5 million units in 2012, but the OS isn’t expected to launch until October. QNX powered tablets will slowly advance to roughly 18 million units sold by 2016.

    With Microsoft tablets expected to achieve 11.8 percent of global sales by 2016, Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, had this to say regarding Windows 8 – “IT departments will see Windows 8 as the opportunity to deploy tablets on an OS that is familiar to them and with devices offered by many enterprise-class suppliers. This means that we see Windows 8 as a strong IT-supplied offering more so than an OS with a strong consumer appeal.” This essentially means that Microsoft’s foray into the tablet market might be a little more difficult to predict, as Windows 8 might be seen as a bit more business-oriented than other tablets, which have been historically designed to cater more toward consumers.