Android Tablets Were Born Too Soon

adeelarshad82 writes "When you look at the Apple iPad's sales figures, it's not hard to see why every technology company on the planet is jumping on the tablet bandwagon, a lot of which are Android tablets. Unfortunately though, some of these Android tablets were born way too early. They are haunted with a series of problems including flimsy hardware, low-quality resistive touch screens, serious display resolution issues, and old Android versions with limited or non-existent access to apps. Even the Samsung Galaxy Tab came well before its time. Even though it's fast, well-designed, and comes with a decent Android implementation, its functionality is limited to that of an Android smartphone. So here's to hoping that Honeycomb's functionality make up for the lost ground."

Comments

Thanks!

[Anonymous Coward]

For the opinion adeelarshad82, we'll get back to you on that one.

Re:Thanks!

[DrXym]

1) Tablets are NOT being adopted by many tech companies because they are worthless for doing actual work on.

Tablets are largely consumption devices. Slapping a virtual keyboard, or even a keyboard stand doesn't make them drop in replacement for PCs.

However I fully expect that when Microsoft produce a tablet that it *could* be a drop in replacement. We know they're porting Windows to ARM. It's not hard to envisage they device a tablet shell for conventional tablet like stuff, but plug the device into a dock and suddenly you get a Windows desktop. It could be an incredibly powerful arrangement. Biggest fly in the ointment is ARM != x86 and how do they port / emulate all those x86 apps. That's a problem I have seen an adequate answer to.

2) Most Android based tablets kick the crap out of the iPad, hardware and software-wise.

Hmm not yet. I like android a lot but the first wave of devices were either a) crappo chinese knockoffs, b) expensive close but no cigar efforts like the Tab. I think the closest IMO was the Archos 101 which is about 3/5 the cost of the iPad but offers pretty similar functionality. On the software side, Android is fine but it's clear it will take Android 3.0 to bring it up to snuff. Possibly a 3.1.

3) Resistive touchscreens are superior to capacitive touchscreens in many ways.

I agree they are in some ways. I laugh when I hear puff pieces about of schools or hospitals using an iPad. How exactly do they scribble notes on their tablets? The answer is they can't because they're capacitive. A resistive screen would allow a user to tap or write with a stylus. You can buy wands for capacitive screens but you have to fastidiously avoid touching any other part of the screen while you write.

If handwriting is a requirement the screen has to be resistive. I realise of course for general use that resistive leaves something to be desired.

4) Calling the Samsung Galaxy Tab a glorified Android smartphone when the iPad is just a glorified iPhone is ridiculous and hypocritical

I think it's worse with the Tab because Samsung implemented a bunch of crap like GPS, compass, rear facing camera, etc. merely to keep the Android CDD happy. They literally had to make it a giant phone or they couldn't ship with the Android marketplace app or Google apps. I hope Android 3.0 has a CDD that allows tablets a lot more leeway to choose what features they include.

There is no reason that a decent tablet shouldn't retail for half of what an iPad costs and in part that could be achieved by jettisoning superfluous or redundant hardware.

What's interesting about Android

[mcrbids]

Unlike the iPhone / proprietary equivalents, it will mostly be a non-issue to upgrade older hardware to the new stuff. Thus we'll see android acting as an insurance against near future obsolescence!!

Re:What's interesting about Android

[Anonymous Coward]

you're kidding right? Have you been hearing all the issues early adopters have been having with getting their Android devices updated? I'm no iToy supporter by any means, but Android is much more fragmented than iOS, both in hardware and software.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[grrrgrrr]

Are you joking? Look at the situation of android phones vs iphones. Iphones are getting updates the android phones are not doing very well in that regard.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[beelsebob]

Pardon? Are you serious?

It's hard to name android devices that even got the bump from 1.6 to 2.0, hell, 90% of them don't even get *minor* OS version updates from the one they started on, there are still plenty of 1.5/2.0/2.1 devices out there for exactly that reason.

Compare this against iOS devices that are guarenteed to get 2 major OS updates and all minor ones for those major versions. Sure, some functionality is disabled in the newer OSes, but that's typically because the older hardware can't deal with it (e.g. old 3G iPhones with a measly 128MB of RAM and multitasking).

Basically, you're comparing being at the mercy of {motarola | samsung | ...} to get OS updates (hahahahaha), against a guarentee written into the EULA that you'll get upgrades. I know which I consider to be the non-issue of those two ;).

Re:What's interesting about Android

[bemymonkey]

Are you joking? Don't get me wrong, I love Android and custom ROMs, precisely because with the right hardware I can enjoy all the newest features of Android for a long time to come, but pretending the situation with official updates is anything other than abysmal is, well, insane.

Froyo: HTC has updated most of their devices. Samsung is halfheartedly lagging behind, and Motorola, well, they've updated like one device (the original Droid), while deliberately sabotaging any chance other handsets had at home-cooked updates by locking up their bootloaders.

Gingerbread: Nothing to see here, folks. Even the Nexus One hasn't been upgraded yet, and I'm guessing most Nexus One owners are pretty pissed about that, what with having expected to buy a device that would be a supported Android dev phone for a few years (let's say two).

Sure, I'm enjoying Gingerbread (CyanogenMod 7 nightly builds) on my Desire right now, and I'm sure Honeycomb will be along soon, but Joe Sixpack is up shit creek... and outdated smartphones don't make great paddles.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[mjwx]

Pardon? Are you serious? It's hard to name android devices that even got the bump from 1.6 to 2.0,

I've got 2.2 on my HTC Dream, the first Android phone to be released. In my nation it was released with Android 1.1. Everything past 1.6 is a community ROM but I've still got 2.2.

When Apple decided not to release new functionality for the older Iphones and Ipads, what other choice do you have but to buy a new one to get that functionality. Not like you can run unsigned code on an Ipad.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[HateBreeder]

How can you compare 1 type of handset (the iPhone) with about a THOUSAND different handsets from different manufacturers running Android?

If anything, you should compare the iPhone to a specific brand or manufacturer for instance, the HTC Nexus One - which not only has been getting ALL the android updates officially, but also has INCREDIBLE community support and car run a host of custom ROMs!

It's sad that misinformation has to be the key tactic to make apple look good.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[Telvin_3d]

Wow, good thing you went with the open platform otherwise you might have had to compile your own hacked third party OS update together when the manufacturer bailed on you. Just think of the hours you could have not spent searching through forums and triple checking instructions. Good thing you didn't fall into Apple's trap. /sarcasm

Re:What's interesting about Android

[dafing]

What the heck are you on about?

When a new computer update comes out, you get it day one, within the hour, surely? You dont have to wait for your internet provider to decide to give it to you, without your permission, you dont look up at your screen and see "hello, I'm downloading a major OS update in the background! I may appear to have frozen, please dont turn me off, ok?", do you?

It doesnt matter if you have an HP, or Dell, you get Windows X whenever YOU want to get it.

Lets face it, apparently only the Nexus One, and its successor the Nexus S, both "by Google" get updates... the rest are SCREWED. You buy a "top of the line device", and its instantly obsolete when a new model comes out with a slightly larger screen, 4.3 inches vs 4, with the new OS update. You feel like a fool when you device doesnt have some obvious new feature enabled through an extra few dozen MB being used.

Its not good enough, no matter what your brand loyalty.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[HateBreeder]

No. That would be a much fairer comparison.

If motorola isn't updating their devices and engaging in "apple" tactics, then they are no better than they are.

They might even be worse.

What I object to is comparing the iPhone (software+hardware) to Android (Software only).

If you happen to make a poor consumer decision and buy crappy hardware - it's not Android's fault.
And if you happen to make a poor consumer decision and go with a manufacturer that will forget he ever sold anything to you - that's not Android's fault as well.

Currently, there's 1 handset "Line" on the market that is comparable to the iPhone in terms of software updates - and that's the Nexus line.

All other phones, while they might be superior to apple's phones, are not guaranteed the latest updates from the official channels.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[EasyTarget]

Unless you delete the appstore it will be a current measure, because the app store is accessed when you look for updates.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[HateBreeder]

I don't think it's a real issue, considering that almost 90% of android devices are newer than 2.1.

http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

This fragmentation argument is getting old and will become completely invalid after Android matures a bit more.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[stiggle]

But its OS so the community can support the hardware the manufacturers drop.

eg. Samsung dropped support for the original Samsung Galaxy i7500 while the phone was still under contract from some of the networks - the Samsung firmware is stuck on 1.6 with them saying that it won't support 2.2 (Froyo). Fortunately due to Android being OS there is a community GAOSP (Google Android Open Source Platform) build on it which means that despite Samsung's inaction the hardware does still have the latest release on it.

Thats definately a bonus.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[sortius_nod]

The problem with this kind of "support" is that you are relying on the hardware being picked up by the community and developed for. What happens when your hardware isn't picked up by the community and the maker decides to EOL it before the contract ends? Or it ends up like the Motorola or Sony handsets where trying to root it is all but impossible?

Android tabs are a bit of a joke at the moment, and I'm advising all of my friends keen to get one to wait until their favourite flavour of manufacturer has Honeycomb tabs. Otherwise you're gambling on a possible update by the community should the manufacturer EOL it.

I was keen to get an Android tab mid last year, but there was nothing about. I got an iPad and have been pleased with my purchase. Sure, it didn't come with os 4.X, but it has it now and I know apple aren't going to drop support for the iPad when the iPad 2 comes out. Just as my iPhone 3G didn't lose support when the 3GS or the 4 came out.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[jedrek]

If motorola isn't updating their devices and engaging in "apple" tactics, then they are no better than they are.

What "apple tactics"? The 3G runs the current version of iOS, and it was released four months before Android was released. I also have an Android phone from Google's manufacturer HTC that I bought new last year in May and I can't upgrade it past 1.6.

Honestly, it'd be great if Android headset manufacturers started engaging in "apple tactics": supporting their phones for more than two weeks after release.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[EasyTarget]

Updates to applications are done via the store.

The store has been around for a long time.

Usage statistics based on the store usage data will not be 100% accurate.. but will still be much more accurate than random slashdot trolls making shite guesses about things they do not understand.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[ftobin]

You directly asserted that one one shouldn't compare one handset against a thousand, and then went on to talk about one particular Android model. Certainly one can find an Android model ex-post-facto which has had good support (via survivor bias), but the question is how to know to choose which model will be getting that great support apriori.

But normally you can read online reviews and figure it out...

By the time support might be an issue for a particular model and you've been able to verify via reviews the provider is servicing it, it is often the case that the provider has stopped selling it.

This variety in service quality doesn't appear to be an issue for the iPhone line of products.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[iJusten]

My "Flash-Ready" Motorola Milestone is still in 2.1. Last summer they told publicly that they were considering if they publish 2.2 at all, then decided it would come at the end of September.

It still hasn't materialized. The latest information is, that it would come sometime during Q1.

This was the same phone that was sold as Droid in the States, but with added bootloader protection. When users complained, the director of marketing replied that "you should have bought HTC or Nexus One".

Re:What's interesting about Android

[supremebob]

No offense, but if you ever TRIED using an iPhone 3G with iOS4, you'll quickly find out that Apple would have been better off cutting off upgrades for that device at version 3.

The interface goes from being perfectly usable to damn slow, and applications running on the phone constantly run out of memory and crash.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[tehcyder]

When I bought it I immediately loaded a much faster and more feature-rich ROM than the one they provided me.

which you should not have to do, and which 99% of people never will do.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[DJRumpy]

I can see you're a bit of an Android minded individual, which tells me that we're not talking on the same level of consciousness.

When it comes to rooting a phone, you are essentially doing hte same thing as jailbreaking an iPhone. In the end you are still at the mercy of the handset vendors. The OS may be open, but the vendors and cell networks most definitely are not. Faced with a choice of letting the provider make the decisions, or the manufacturer, I'd choose the manufacturer every time since they have more incentive to make their hardware a popular buy, where the provider doesn't care once they get you under a contract.

You slam the parent for essentially ignoring Android, and then agree with the parent that the tablets are crap. The parent stated his reason (uncertainty of support from the manufacturer or the community) and the poor state of the current crop of hardware, both of which should be valid concerns for any buyer, yet you dismiss his concerns simply because he opted for hardware that will definitely have vendor support for many years, and has a polished interface.

I should also point out that 3G runs iOS4 with support directly from Apple. I believe you are referring to the iPhone 2g released in 2007 which cannot run iOS4. Unless there is some hidden Android phone I'm not aware of, there are none that were around when the 2G was released. Given it's memory, not a surprising call from Apple, however there is an active mod community for the phone in either case.

http://www.redmondpie.com/ios-4.0-for-iphone-2g-ipod-touch-1g/

Re:What's interesting about Android

[rjstanford]

The funny thing is that half of the Android comments are talking about "increased choice," while the other half are bashing "idiots" who purchased anything other than an HTC phone. Often, these comments are from the same person (not talking about your history personally, just an observation).

Having the power to make the wrong decision is indeed power. But it turns out that a benevolent dictatorship a la Apple actually works very well for many people to whom their phone's inner workings are not the focal point of their day.

Solutions providers have a place in the world, just as more discrete vendors do.

Re:What's interesting about Android

[Miamicanes]

> I own a Galaxy S and since the Nexus S is basically the same phone

If your Galaxy S is GSM and you don't use T-Mobile 4G, you're mostly right. If your Galaxy S is CDMA, and particularly an Epic4G, you're mostly fucked.

The loadable kernel modules are what will kill you. Linux doesn't have a stable ABI, which means that drivers (.ko modules) compiled for an older kernel won't necessarily (read: won't) work on a newer kernel (think Win98->WinXP, but worse... like being unable to use a driver made for XP Pro/32 under Vista Business/32. Officially, the Linux kernel could break binary compatibility over the equivalent of going from XPsp1 to XPsp2. Samsung gets partial credit for releasing drivers as proper loadable kernel modules (so they can at least be used with recompiled versions of the same kernel), but source-wise, their drivers are as bad as HTC's -- they aren't directly buildable because they have unsatisfied dependencies. The difference is that HTC at least releases new kernels in a timely manner, so the community can grab them and move forward instead of being stalled for 6 months waiting for 4G drivers that work on a 2.6.32 kernel (needed for Froyo) to metaphorically fall from the sky.

All we ask is for Samsung to at least practice benign neglect and say, "Look, bitch to Sprint if you want an official 2.2 upgrade, but in the meantime, here's a zipfile of everything proprietary that you can't compile yourself, recompiled against 2.6.32. Same drivers, same bugs, but automatically rebuilt for 2.6.32's ABI. Have fun."

Of course, Samsung won't do that, because it would mean that by the time the official carrier upgrade makes it out (if ever), it would be *totally* eclipsed by community builds that do more with fewer bugs (because the community versions would have a real-world 4-6 month head start, and several orders of magnitude more hours of developer time behind them). The truth is, though, the carriers would actually have a reasonable excuse to give less technical end users who complained about having to wait: "Our upgrade doesn't make you blow away everything and start over from scratch every time. It lets you upgrade in-place, and should be relatively seamless." Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

What?

[lennier1]

They didn't include an Archos product, even though their tablets are pretty common in the European entry-level segment?

You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[mjwx]

I don't think they were released too soon. They were the teething stage of tablets, the infancy where mistakes could be made. Thanks to this Google, Motorola and others have learned valuable lessons. Some of the previous Android tablets are hardly failures. Dell's Streak turned a profit, Samsung's Galaxy Tab sold well with a small return rate not to mention the Archos products which others have pointed out.

Basically the demand was there, proven by the 22% of tablets sold that were not made by Apple. So now armed with this knowledge, the multitude of manufacturers can create a truly competitive tablet market.

Personally I'm still not convinced tablets aren't a fad, much like an overpriced Tamigotchi or flares.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[Cinder6]

If you can't match the quality of a competitor that launched eight months before you, then you probably rushed the thing. (Yes, it is an oversimplification, but it's also hard to excuse a latecomer that offers little to recommend it over the Other Guy's first-generation product.)

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[beelsebob]

Samsung's Galaxy Tab sold well with a small return rate

16%? A small return rate? o.O. Compare this to other devices in the same sector having a 2% return rate. No, I don't think this is a small return rate at all.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[Duncan Booth]

Samsung themselves say the return rate is below 2%. I guess it depends whether you believe Samsung who presumably have the figures but may be biased or some random bunch of Wall Street Analysts who have no figures and may or may not have a hidden agenda.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[mjwx]

Compare this to other devices in the same sector having a 2% return rate.

You were saying,

It's best to check your sources, rather than believing every rumour on the internet.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[joh]

Both the 2% and the 16% may be correct. Samsung could be relating the actual returns to devices they have sold into the distribution channels (but many of which are not yet in the hands of any customers), while the 16% returns are from those devices actually sold to actual users.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[rolfwind]

Personally I'm still not convinced tablets aren't a fad, much like an overpriced Tamigotchi or flares.

From my experience, tablets replaced netbooks. Netbooks were all the rage 2 years ago, and it started what, in 2007? Now they are hardly mentioned anymore. They first came in the 7" screen size and quickly moved up, and for all intents and purposes quickly became your average 12" notebook albeit thinner and with a low-end CPU. My walmart used to have 3 on display a year and a half ago, and since thing chiseled it down to one. They replaced that space with iPads.

I don't think these type of tablets are fads. It's just a realization you don't always need a keyboard, a physical one at least. When I really want to type, I'm on my desktop with an ergonomic keyboard. It also depends what you're doing with it - a person with a budget for only one computing device probably will take a notebook that can do a little bit of everything. After that, it's all up to your needs. Something will come along eventually that merges these functions in something even more convenient, but that form factor could be at least a decade or two away (I'm thinking disposable sheets with printed on screens that can be folded, etc).

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[Cinder6]

Android may be more complex, but the summary specifically mentions hardware, which has nothing to do with what OS is running. You make a good point about where you set the bar, but it also raises the question: Which is more important--quality and lower-tech or bug-ridden and bleeding edge? There's no real answer to this, as it's a matter of perspective.

I used to revel in the latter category ("Yeah, there's bugs, but I'm using stuff other guys won't see for months, or maybe even YEARS"), but now I'm closer to the middle. I don't want to be hopelessly obsolete, but I still expect my stuff to work well most of the time, and that includes having quality hardware. It seems like many (certainly not all) Android-based manufacturers neglect the hardware side of things, which is puzzling.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[joh]

Personally I'm still not convinced tablets aren't a fad, much like an overpriced Tamigotchi or flares.

Judging from the earnest interest I experience from real (non-technophile) people, I'd say no. People are just yearning to turn their backs toward "computers". PCs still are glorified office machinery and except for work everyone hates them. The time has come for "computers" turning into mature appliance-like things for casual use you don't have to waste a single thought on before or after using them.

And Google should be very careful not to turn Android into another highly complex and confusing OS with an desktop-like interface. This is exactly what most people are running away from. They want something plain, pretty and "magic". There's only a very small part of the population wanting widgets and full customization abilities. For *these* users tablets may well be a fad anyway.

Well, we will see.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[MrDoh!]

Very much so. It's amazing to see what a terrible job is being made, when really, there isn't a mad pressure on to come out with something that quickly.
We saw Android Tablets before the iPad was even officially announced, and a year and a half later, we're still seeing those same lousy specs being produced.
And when someone /does/ get something close to a decent competitor to the iPad, they either disable half the functionality in a market (no voice calling on the Galaxy Tab), or throw a bunch of carrier specific nonsense on (Verizon/AT&T), or disable simple features like sideloading apps/hotspot functionality.
Really looks like they're trying hard to fail.

They're pushing the Android Tablets with comms functionality when it appears /most/ customers would be happy with wireless and stock Android. Now, considering they're getting the fees for 2 years, how they justify a HIGHER cost than without that cost is... mad.

I keep waiting for a decent Android Tablet, only to be disappointed by /someone/ (and yeah, the telco's point to the hardware supplier, and the hardware suppliers point to the telcos. Android's getting out there because Google's backing off, but they really need to start throwing their weight around, perhaps that 'Approved by Google' stamp for stock Android?

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[Telvin_3d]

The existing Android 2.2 tablets are orders of magnitude more complex than the Ipad. Sorry but the two just aren't compatible in terms of functionality.

Yeah, one works out of the box. The other needs to hit the ROM sites every couple months after the manufacturers get bored. I agree, not very comparable at all.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[dafing]

We're waiting :-)

The problems with the Android tablets, you cant call them EARLY...when they were basically cancelled and restarted after the iPad was announced, which would have TROUNCED the intended designs even further....

seems to have been the hardware itself. They were all cheap ass plastic, the screens were TERRIBLE, darker, far lower resolution, viewing angles, overall quality...

The OS used may not have been intended for a tablet formfactor, thats fixable through a free update though...you know, when it comes out? Oh wait, the companies cant be bothered giving you future updates for your top of the line device :-)

The hardware sucked, lets face it. Having a camera or two did NOT make it "better" than the iPad.

I'm looking forward to seeing the competition for the iPad 2. As consumers, we win in the end.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[beelsebob]

As was pointed out above, there's a difference between the number being returned to the manufacturer as faulty, and the number being returned to the shop as unwanted.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[node 3]

I don't think they were released too soon. They were the teething stage of tablets, the infancy where mistakes could be made. Thanks to this Google, Motorola and others have learned valuable lessons.

Yet somehow Apple managed to clean house in the market on their first try. I doubt anyone learned any lessons other than not to run a desktop OS on the tablet. Hell, they even had the iPad itself to look at for inspiration, and still failed to come out with a compelling alternative.

Some of the previous Android tablets are hardly failures. Dell's Streak turned a profit, Samsung's Galaxy Tab sold well with a small return rate not to mention the Archos products which others have pointed out.

What? "Turned a profit" is notable praise? Archos a successful tablet maker? Galaxy Tab sold well? With a small return rate? WTF?

On the Tab specifically, they shipped 2 million, but actually sold very few. Of the 2 million, their return rate may very well have been around 2%, but the actual return rate for Tabs people bought was 16%. That puts the number actually sold more like a quarter of a million, not 2 million.

Basically the demand was there, proven by the 22% of tablets sold that were not made by Apple. So now armed with this knowledge, the multitude of manufacturers can create a truly competitive tablet market.

22% was based on the deliberately misleading numbers put forth by Samsung. And even with those completely false numbers, that puts Apple at 78% (and much higher with the actual numbers).

Personally I'm still not convinced tablets aren't a fad, much like an overpriced Tamigotchi or flares.

Why would they be a fad? Because people bought too many iPads and not enough Android tablets?

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[node 3]

Um, yeah. The iPad is so awful it only took over the entire market, but those "more powerful" Android tablets only garnered a small percentage.

For example, the Streak and Galaxy Tab you mentioned doing so well? The iPad outsold them both more than ten times over. Combined.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[drinkypoo]

Not that I think they are the ultimate in hardware, but most companies never match the quality of Apple hardware. And I say this as a known mac hater. A lot of hardware has gone through my hands and little of it has been of such high build quality as the mac stuff (with some notable exceptions... any candy-colored iWhatever can FOAD)

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[ducomputergeek]

Thing is for Apple, it's not about having the latest and greatest features it's about making sure the features that you do have work and work well. That is why a vast number of consumers are buying their products even when they are more expensive.

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[Shimbo]

Yet somehow Apple managed to clean house in the market on their first try.

Well, second try. Apple Newton?

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[oodaloop]

Strictly and literally speaking, one does NOT have to learn to crawl before one learns to walk. In the ancestral environment (and in some places today), mothers did not put their babies on the dirty, dangerous ground where babies are likely to put dirty and potentially dangerous bugs in their mouths. Once their legs developed, they could walk. Some babies today do not crawl first, but go straight from sitting to walking. Crawling, it seems, is an ad hoc non-natural form of locomotion some babies figure out while they wait for their legs to develop so they can walk. Seems pedantic, but it calls into question the metaphor of "having to learn to crawl before you can walk."

Re:You have to learn to crawl, before you can walk

[node 3]

Yet somehow Apple managed to clean house in the market on their first try.

Well, second try. Apple Newton?

Newton wasn't an attempt at a tablet, it was an attempt at a PDA, and they cleaned house there, too. It was canceled not out of failure, but out of a refocusing of Apple after the NeXT acquisition.

Re:wtf

[Chicken_Kickers]

So what? Early adopters will always pay the price for essentially mass-beta testing a product. Furthermore, the iPads and their ilk are hardly essential. No trains are going to have brake failures and plough into a 10 storey building full of war orphans because of a technical issue of Android tablets. It is a mass produced toy, nothing more. If manufacturers of a disposable electronic toy waits until it is "perfect" it is probably already behind the curve. Market forces will whittle down the low quality offerings until only the reasonably good ones remain.

We will sell no wine before it's time...

[Jonah Hex]

Or more precisely we will sell no piece of technology before it's time. Doesn't matter how long it's languished in obscurity, hackerdom, or both; only when it is time does it reach critical social mass. What's interesting is we're now getting several basic world/computer interfaces in a relatively short period of time, the i-phones and android phones are that format complete and headed into the realm of 70% of the population will own them in n amount of years. And now possibly the "pad" format traveling in it's own time of being the right time. Although you will never convince me it's going to be necessary to really swoop your arms to drag shit from one screen/device to another, I'm too fucking lazy for that.

HEX

So a hastily thrown together free OS...

[thsths]

... is not as good at differentiating yourself from the competition as a system that Apple has been working on for over 5 year? (Let's not forget that the iPhone was just a spin-off from the tablet project.) Wow, I am surprised. I thought the blessing of Google would change everything. Are you saying that Google does not change everything?

Re:wtf

[halowolf]

I think that the eBook market is going to help tablets to be a sustainable piece of technology. I got an iPad as an eBook reader for the fact that I don't get locked in to a single eBook service and so that I can do other things with it, not just read books. eBook providers like Amazon (though they have readers of their own) don't get all huffy and say its either their way or the highway and make apps for other platforms so people use their service that otherwise wouldn't. I suppose time will tell :)

Not born too soon.

[Renderer of Evil]

Born out of wedlock.

None of these Android ODMs care about growing and nurturing the platform whether it comes to constant updates or application compatibility. It's only market growth in raw numbers with the thinnest of margins, but that's just a consequence of dumping bargain-basement hardware into the stores by truckloads to see what sticks. See: Augens, Streaks, Galaxy Tab, and whatever Archos is doing.

On the mobile phone front if you pick up any two Android phones you'll see completely different methodologies, bizarre UI conventions, half-done features that exist for no logical reason for the sake of filling out checkboxes on spec sheets.

Despite this, Android phones took off because a) there was a vacuum of other more coherent, non-iOS platforms and b) because carriers subsidize the cost of the hardware and everyone needs a phone. It's an essential device.

Tablets face a much harder battle because majority of consumers are unwilling to sign a contract for a non-essential, secondary devices. Note the historically flaccid Netbook sales coupled with subsidies. This is especially true when most people have prior contracts with their phones. Having 2 mobile contracts doesn't quite gel.

Motorola XOOM's pricing came out today at $800 USD with additional, carrier specific caveats. You'd be insane to shell out that much money for a 1st gen, untested device with no compelling app ecosystem vis-Ã-vis iPad/2.

My belief is that the market is wide open right now and the second place is still up for grabs. Could be HP, could be Microsoft's new WP7 thing (if they get their heads out of their ass), or Android.

But just showing up with a tablet is not enough. You need to have healthy margins, curated app ecosystem, and platform continuity. iOS provides that. Android is too fragmented at the moment to pull it off. Sad thing is, Google is unwilling to exert any control and clean up their cluttered, spam-ridden marketplace or force these manufacturers into shipping devices without silly skins.

It's been said before that Android is a meta-platform, and I tend to agree with that. This gives hope to other OSes into jumping into the fray and becoming second to Apple. I truly believe that iPad has an iPod-like lock on the tablets for years to come (check above about subsidies).

Re:wtf

[Ice Tiger]

I'm not convinced the tablet thing isn't a fad that will wear off in 12-18 months. Tablets have been around for years yet have not found an actual purpose outside of niche applications.

I would agree except I use my iPad with it's apps probably more than my gaming PC, XBox and Macbook Pro. Simple things like having all documentation to hand, being able to take notes in a meeting whilst recording the audio (Soundnote) through to using Numbers (Spreadsheet) to crack terminals in Fallout. Being able to stream video's from our NAS of all our DVDs and Blu Rays (Air Video) or using iPlayer works well too.

All in a package that is light and small and has huge amounts of battery life.

Re:wtf

[Telvin_3d]

Not quite. Everyone else released a beta. Apple released a finished product. And they did it a year ahead of their first real competition's 'beta' products. And yes, while tablets are still more on the toy side of the product category that shouldn't be an excuse to release a half-assed product. The competition is releasing products that are neither ahead of the curve or polished. That's just sloppy and sad.

Re:Beta release

[ghrom]

Because the problem isn't systemic. I own iPhone 4, got the free condom and even used it for a few days, but then I gave it (the used condom, not the iPhone) to my friend and never had regrets. There is no such thing as iPhone 4 antenna issue, get over it. As for the macbook, it does get a bit too hot when I put it on my lap in the bed... but then, you can at least put it in your lap in the bed without completely screwing the airflow like with my Dell. In any case when I'm in bed with my MBP I just use smcFanWhatsItsName to boost the fans and it sure will get noisy, but after a while the heat is gone.

Re:As opposed to...

[fredmosby]

Apple re-wrote the built in apps to take advantage of the increased screen size. Android won't do that until Honeycomb comes out.

Tablets in general were born too soon

[ProbablyJoe]

Well, I think it was going to happen regardless really, obviously they want to get in on the action now Apple has driven everyone tablet crazy.

Still, every time I see an announcement saying a company is releasing an Android 2.3 tablet I groan. I for one wouldn't consider buying any tablets that aren't released with 3.0. I don't really need something with identical functionality to my phone, with a bigger screen

That said, I'm not sure 3.0 even brings enough to the table - and the same goes for the iPad (I don't claim to know much about them, but as far as I'm aware the iOS on there is almost identical to iPhones?). The resolution on these tablets is almost as big as my monitor at work, and yet they still don't have windowed apps? I was amazed when I tried out the Android 3.0 preview SDK, and every single app, even simple things like SMS, took up the entire screen. I know some of these simple things provide widgets for that sort of thing, but really, why do we not have windowed apps yet? It's not like Android has any issues with multitasking, so why can't it do 2 things on the same screen?

Until I can do more with a tablet than I can with my phone, I'll be more likely to consider a small laptop (or a netbook for you buzzword lovers).

Then revise market share

[SuperKendall]

If anything, you should compare the iPhone to a specific brand or manufacturer for instance, the HTC Nexus One - which not only has been getting ALL the android updates officially, but also has INCREDIBLE community support and car run a host of custom ROMs!

If you are saying only a handful of phones are "real" Android phones then the market-share figures need some serious revision to reflect the split between phones that will be kept up to date vs. those stuck at a past rev with no help from the carrier to advance.

You can't claim Android is making huge inroads with one hand while dismissing all but a tiny number of handsets with the other.

Re:Then revise market share

[HateBreeder]

All I'm asking is that you compare apples to apples.

iOS Market share vs. Android Market Share.

How many times do we need to repeat this: Android is an OS not a Phone!

iPhone market share is much greater than any single Android based handset.

Re:Then revise market share

[ducomputergeek]

This is something I have to explain to customers when we do mobile development, especially explaining our pricing for Android. We only give QA on the Nexus One/(now S). Each additional handset costs extra and typically most will want QA against Droid(Verizon), HTC Evo(Sprint), and Samsung (AT&T/T-Mobile). That makes the Android platform usually between 3 to 5 times the cost to develop for iPhone/iPod. Usually we treat the iPad as a separate device just as we'll treat these new tablets running Android as each being a different "platform".

Last year we tried to treat "Android" as a platform, but we ended up losing money on that side of the business because every time we turned around there were a half dozen new handsets and a new OS version to deal with.

Re:Then revise market share

[HateBreeder]

And here lies the difference between us.

You care about building or cheapening a "brand".

I care about the technical aspects of a product.

Fashion accessory

[angus77]

What's this talk about technology? The iPad is a fashion accessory. Android tablets are not fashionable.

Seriously, what is the point of a tablet device? At the high school I work at, we're going to be made to use iPad's starting in April. I've played around with one of the test devices and I can't imagine actually getting work done on these things. I'm dreading April. If it were an Android device it wouldn't be any better.

Re:Fashion accessory

[multipartmixed]

> I've played around with one of the test devices and I
> can't imagine actually getting work done on these things.

Only morons choose tools and then go to look for jobs to do with them.

I'm a programmer, I would have a very hard time getting work done on a hammer.

This does not mean a hammer is not a useful tool.

As an amateur musician, I find the iPad to be pretty close to the ideal form-factor for displaying sheet music. The only thing I think I would change is better dedicated software (which is coming along nicely) and a 9x12" screen.

Re:Fashion accessory

[itsdapead]

Seriously, what is the point of a tablet device?

• Browse the web, check email, read ebooks, watch video, play casual games while sitting in a comfy chair.
• Email/web/games/ebooks on the move - much better than a phone-sized device, still more portable than a netbook.
• Take notes in meetings & have all the papers you need cached in DropBox - far less obtrusive than having a laptop on the desk in front of you. You can even run presentations from it.

Sensible combination is a tablet plus a full-fat laptop if/when you need it and maybe a phone that just, you know, makes phone calls. Tablets are definitely second/third systems. The success of the iPad, c.f. earlier tablet PCs and netbooks is partly because it doesn't even pretend to be a "primary computer" replacement.

If someone is compelling you to use a tablet for a job that demands a full-fat PC then blame them, not the technology.

Re:wtf

[tehcyder]

Tablets have been around for years yet have not found an actual purpose outside of niche applications.

Their main purpose is to facilitate flexible, mobile one-handed web surfing, if you know what I mean, and I'm sure that you do.

Archos: resistive, no official Market access

[tepples]

Like the Coby Kyros reviewed in the article, Archos products have resistive touch screens, making them more suited to a stylus than a finger. (I have an Archos 43, with which I use my DS Lite stylus.) Also like the Kyros, Archos products come with AppsLib and lack access to Google's Android Market without hacks such as ArcTools that Google could cease-and-desist at any moment the way it C&D'd Google Apps in CyanogenMod.

You could also say the iPad was rushed.

[brunes69]

It has no front or back camera and thus is a non-starter as a netbook replacement, since you can't do video calls with it.

The lack of normal, mini, or micro USB without a giant dongle is also a big problem.

The fact that these things are going to be addressed in the iPad 2 just points to the fact that they should have been included in the iPad 1.

You can point out the same kinds of batently obvious things (like video recording and cut / paste) lacking from the first iPhone OS.

No V1 product is really ready, the difference is that Apple has the marketing and fan-base to sell a V 1.0 product before it actually is.

Re:You could also say the iPad was rushed.

[BasilBrush]

There's a difference between a device that doesn't have ever feature you wished it did and

"flimsy hardware, low-quality resistive touch screens, serious display resolution issues, and poorly skinned or old Android versions with limited or non-existent access to apps." ...which is the accusation made of the Android tablets in TFA.

The iPad was certainly ready. Android tablets, apparently not.

Re:wtf

[BasilBrush]

IPad sales numbers have not been impressive.

You don't know what you're talking about. You're saying what you wished were true rather than what is true.

http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2011/01/19/apple-posts-record-profit-ipad-sales-surpass-projections

The CDD is the biggest issue

[DrXym]

Android has a compatible device document which determines if a device is eligible to receive the marketplace app and by extension all the google apps. Features like compass, GPS, camera etc. were all mandatory in So the market has split into two camps. The el cheapo tablets and Archos tablets sit in the incompatible camp and suffer from lack of marketplace. The Galaxy Tab and Dell Streak sit in the compatible camp but suffer from bloated price which is unattractive to buyers. This probably explains why the Tab is suffering so much. Apparently the 2.3 CDD loosens up some requirements, but it's too late for most tablets. Perhaps the Archos devices might be able to upgrade to 2.3 become certified.

So I hope when Android 3.0 turns up that in addition to making the UI more friendly it also addresses the CDD. GPS, compass etc. are nice to haves. The basic tablet spec should not force them. But perhaps it should specify extended profiles for PMPs, ereaders etc. For example, perhaps a "media" tablet profile might mandate more codecs, while an ereader tablet might specify certain screen visibility characteristics, possibly even allowing for e-ink displays.

The point being that Android is growing up but the CDD has long been an impediment and it needs to be improved.

Re:wtf

[rjstanford]

Oh, please. The iPhone 4 lasts for a solid day of heavy use, all most people need, and you can easily use a "boost" charger to juice it up mid-flight if you have to - something that's no bulkier than carrying around an additional battery, I might add. It also recharges amazingly quickly from wall outlets.

This isn't about a pissing contest. I'm sure that your phone is nice and meets your needs as well. But most people don't carry additional batteries (regardless of their phone brand), and the vast majority of the millions of iPhone users have no battery issues. Its not a big liberal-media-coverup, its just a boring fact.

Android Tablets More Expensive Than Apple?

[BrendaEM]

Oh come on people. When Apple can make a cheaper tablet than Samsung then somethings wrong.

What I think is going on is:
1.) Maker comes out with Tablet.
2.) Maker whores it to cellphone companies.
3.) Price is artificially inflated at request of cellphone company.

Re:Beta release

[shutdown -p now]

Apple is about the only tech company that doesn't make a habit of going to the market with beta products and fixing it afterwords.

Ever seen iTunes for Windows?

Re:As opposed to...

[shutdown -p now]

Unlike static UI layout of iOS apps, Android has always promoted dynamic, rescaling/reflowing layouts by default. Given the variety of screen sizes on Android devices, it has been a necessity long before tablets came up, and now this means that many apps written for phones look fairly decent on tablets. Not perfect, mind you, but good enough - certainly much, much better than the "scale pixels 2x" hack you see on iPad for iPhone apps.