Hands-On With Acer's New 10-Inch Android Tablet

adeelarshad82 writes "Earlier this week Acer unveiled three new tablets, two for Android and one for Windows. Unfortunately details on the devices were slim, including their names. According to a hands-on with the 10-inch Android tablet, the device is about half-inch thick and weighs slightly more than an iPad. It's currently running an unknown Android version but according to the Acer executives the tablets will be running Google's tablet version of Android, Honeycomb. The tablet has no front-facing buttons. The side includes a power button, lock button, an SD slot and a docking port for full-sized keyboard dock. The device also includes two cameras, front and back, resolutions details of which are still unknown. There's also a mini HDMI port for playing content on HDTVs. The tablets are powered by Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU which gives it the edge when it comes to graphics."

Comments

It's the apps, stupid

[BadAnalogyGuy]

Back when Bill Clinton was running for President, his campaign advisor James Carville stated in the plainest terms possible the best reason for voting for Bill over Bush, "It's the economy, stupid"

Now we have a choice between the iPad and this Android device. Both have fine featuresets, but what it all comes down to is what you can run on them. It's the apps, stupid. Which one has a richer appstore? Which one has the apps you're looking for? Which one has a large, dedicated application developer community?

I think we all know the answer to those questions. As much as it pains us to say, Apple has done those things very well while the Android market has floundered helplessly. So count my vote for Apple, because at the end of the day I want to get my work done, not just play around with a shiny toy.

Re:It's the apps, stupid

[$1uck]

The apps will come. I have an iPad, I'll most likely pick up the 7" acer tablet when it's out. I'm not super impressed with any of the apps on the iPad. Given time I believe the number apps available for android will surpass the number available for the iPad. I'm not sure how you decided the "android market has floundered", and when you asked your trio of questions I really didn't know the answer to your questions. So maybe you need to go ahead and rethink your position.

Re:It's the apps, stupid

[Daetrin]

"As much as it pains us to say, Apple has done those things very well while the Android market has floundered helplessly. So count my vote for Apple, because at the end of the day I want to get my work done, not just play around with a shiny toy."

I think you just made an, um, bad analogy. The Android market has tons of productivity apps. It has tons of shopping apps. It has tons of fitness apps. The only kinds of apps it's seriously lacking in right now are games. And it actually does have a lot of games, it's just missing a lot of the high profile games that have become popular on iPhone. If you want to be playing "Game Dev Story" or "Cut the Rope" or "Super Mega Worm" or the latest Squenix game then you need to have an iPhone (for now at least.) If you're okay with fun but not as popular games then you can have just as good a time with Android.

So the iPhone is what you want if you just want to play around with a shiny toy. If you just want to get your work done then either will do.

Re:It's the apps, stupid

[sootman]

>> Which one has a richer appstore? Which one has the apps you're looking for?

> Umm, both have the same apps? Seriously, besides a handful of high profile games, what does Apple have that Android doesn't?

For the answer, see here and here.

Let's sort all Android apps into the following categories:

1. Apps from Google.
2. Third-party apps that also exist on iOS.
3. Third-party apps that are exclusive to Android.

From my time spent with the Nexus One early this year, I know that Google's Android apps are pretty good. These include both the core system apps, and the closed-source "Google Experience" apps like the dedicated Gmail client and Google Maps.

There are definitely a fair number of apps in the second category -- those ported to both iOS and Android. Examples: Amazon's Kindle client, Pandora, and a few popular games, such as Angry Birds and Doodle Jump.

But what I find striking is that the apps in the third category -- those exclusive to Android -- are almost entirely unappealing or irrelevant to iOS users.

That's not to say there's nothing in Android, as a system, that appeals to iPhone owners. Built-in turn-by-turn navigation on certain models. A system-wide notification system. Widgets on the homescreen. Over-the-air system updates. Unrestricted background processing for third-party apps, battery-life be damned. But those are things that are built into the system itself, or which otherwise come from Google. What I'm questioning is the strength and depth of Android's third-party developer support.

Which are the apps, from developers other than Google, that I should feel like I'm missing out on because I don't have an Android device? Where are the killer apps for Android?

Turn the table and we could be here all day running down the list of high-quality, interesting apps which are exclusive to iOS.

Re:It's the apps, stupid

[peragrin]

There is a major shortage of developers for android. that is why HTC doesn't support any phone for more than 6 months old and 3/4 of their product line recieves nothing but basic updates to the OS.

Seriously name more than 1 android phone that recieves regular updates from the vendor for the software. You can't do it. after 6-9 months they all stop allowing updates.

Apple gives you 2-3 years everyone else gives you the middle finger.

I want an android phone, but i really don't want to have to root, and then install my own updates because some vendor is cheap.

Re:Why android?

[drinkypoo]

What does it mean for an operating system to be designed for tablets? Who cares who puts input events onto the queue and who services them so long as it happens?

Re:Why android?

[Sleepy]

Nokia *alienated* their user base, sadly.

As an n800 owner, I expected the hardware would become obsolete... eventually. I could see making the n800 with built in GPS... but then the n900 as a PHONE and then signaling to the developer base that Maemo5 will abandon the 800 + 810 user base... that hurt. Then the n900 was obsoleted before it even shipped.

Nokia gets praise for making a system that was largely open, but they weren't open enough. When a product is truly open, it can not be killed by the manufacturer.

I suspect developing for MeGoo is inly slightly more relevant than developing for the nostalgia/emulator crowd.

I'd like to see a tablet that's truly open... something that encourages hacking, as in a tablet equivalent of the Arduino platform (a popular micro processor based on open sourced hardware).

Re:Why android?

[Microlith]

When a product is truly open, it can not be killed by the manufacturer.

The N900 is plenty open. And my device hasn't gone tits up on me because Nokia threw some switch. And their handling of the Internet Tablets/N900 has nothing to do with MeeGo, which exists under the Linux Foundation.

I suspect developing for MeGoo is inly slightly more relevant than developing for the nostalgia/emulator crowd.

I'm confused. How is developing for a Linux distro that uses Qt as its primary toolkit like "developing for the nostalgia/emulator crowd"?