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Sub-$100 Android 4.0 Tablet Coming Soon
jfruhlinger writes "One of the reasons the iPad has stayed at the top of the tablet heap for so long is that — in contrast with the story of the Mac and PC 25 years ago — the iPad has remained competitive with its rivals on price. That may be starting to change, with cheaper tablets like the Amazon Fire coming to market. And now, the sub-$100 Novo7 is on sale in China, sporting Android 4.0. It promises to arrive in the U.S. for a similar price point soon."
The official press release from MIPS has a bit more detail. Of interest is the use of a MIPS SoC designed by Ingenic.
The problem with the other cheap android tablets has been the resistive screens. If the article is correct and this has a capacitive screen it could revolutionize the tablet market.
Price was not the only reason Apple lost out to the PC, not by a long shot. Gates seemed to be the only smart enough to figure out the whole familiarity factor to computing, people who use X computer at work will be much more likely to buy X computer for use at home as well. Knowing "how to use" such a computer puts the buyer at ease, and of course they can always take stuff from work home. Furthermore, there was a lot of stagnation in Mac OS after Jobs' ouster, pre-Mac OS sucked even worse than Windows, as hard as that is to believe.
If price was the only thing consumers considered, we would be seeing Linux everywhere and Apple wouldn't be gaining market share every year....
Monstar L
I purchased the Fire on the idea it might make a good present for parents to use while camping (free WIFI is almost always found in the campgrounds they visit) for simple email and browsing. It also want to see how it performed versus the iPad for the same.
The experience is certainly not up to the standard set by Apple but I find it very acceptable when one factors in the price point. The price point is important because for me a loss of a $200 device is far easier to take than losing the $500+ iPad. The Fire has already done the bounce test on the carpet, something I hope the iPad never tries.
Web browsing, hands down better on the iPad. The Fire just doesn't have the oomph. So will knock offs have the same problem? It might be related to Amazon's browser but I am not wholly sure on that. Mail reading is fine, it could be better, but it works and I tend to leave the Fire on the counter and one hand hold it while eating so I can check up on mail. Something that the iPad form factor is not good at.
I hope the seven inch size takes off, it really is much more portable without losing too much screen to make it just worth sticking with a phone. There are rumors Apple may head this way too which should push prices down.
I find I can treat a seven inch tablet more like a tablet than the 11 inch iPad, with the iPad I just felt I needed an external keyboard, possibly because after use it certainly loses the feel of portability. You don't one hand an iPad.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
I just bought a couple of these, though the current versions still have Android 2.3. They're remarkably well made for the price, and also remarkably responsive to use. They're not an iPad killer in that they're only 7" and 800 x 480 screens, but that doesn't mean they won't find their own niche.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
You made a $70 dollar downpayment and will be paying off the phone over the next two years.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Finally, there is device security. There has yet to be a single piece of malware on an iPad in the wild.
Apart from carrier IQ obviously....
The iPad can definitely be sluggish - regularly I have to wait more than 10 seconds for iBooks to display the book pages on opening, or go to swipe twice to turn a page because I thought it hadn't registered the first swipe only to have it turn two pages when the first swipe is eventually carried out.
Also, the iPads Safari has a tendency to reload pages when you switch between "tabs" - which can be fucking annoying when you are swapping between pages to cut and paste information or filling out a form... Even though I haven't added any new applications recently, it does seem to have gotten worse. Safaris UI can also lag a lot, with attempts to click on the bookmarks or "tabs" icons taking several seconds to register some times.
And thats without any other apps lingering in the background...
I love my iPad, I use it every day and its my primary browsing tool for on the couch or out and about, but it does have its foibles.
The problem with Facetime is you're locked in to Apple products. I really with Google would push Google Talk with video chat or Google+ Messenger via mobile a lot more. The tech is there and it works, across platforms, but hardly anyone knows about it it seems.
Otherwise I've found that for pretty much any mainstream app there's parity between the iOS and Android phone apps. Tablets may be a different story but I'm sure that'll get closer, too.
If an Android tablet actually comes out in the US for $100 or less, it won't matter whether the iPad is snappy or sluggish. What will matter is that for the cost of the cheapest iPad, one could buy five (5) of these. Heck, I'd buy one for each of my two teenaged boys (my wife already has an iPad2, a gift from her father) AND one for myself. Plus, two more to keep on the shelf as backup gifts for people.
Had I managed to get any HP Touchpads at $99 before they ran out I would have bought as many as I could get my hands on.
For me at least, at $100 these are practically disposable.
"No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up." -- Lily Tomlin
Furthermore, what other available tablet offers much better battery life?
The Asus Transformer.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
until there are word processors, Exchange support, or other basic functionality, Android tablets will be considered at best a novelty.
WTF are you talking about? For one thing there is Google Docs. For another, my Dell Streak came with "QuikOffice" or something like that that does word docs. Not that I'd really want to use an office suite on a tablet when I have a laptop available.
Android has had Exchange support since version 1.5 - ie since 2009. You are either lazy and ignorant, or flat out trolling.
Finally, there is device security. There has yet to be a single piece of malware on an iPad in the wild. Shows you something doesn't it?
Sure.
which is totally what she said
I feel like whenever that tablet is mentioned in reply to iPad-praising posts, it goes right over the Apple aficionados' heads.
iOS has the apps, not just iPad. I'll give them that much.
Apps come as an advantage because people tend to develop for a platform that everyone is buying (for reason, see my post). Now that Android tablets are starting to become relevant, and with a new OS that is much more available than Honeycomb, I can see developers having less barriers to creating tablet-friendly applications for Android tablets.
And if Facetime/front-facing cameras are the ONE reason why you went with iPhones, then YOU need to get your ass out of the sand yourself. Facetime is not the only application that allows video chatting on a mobile platform. Front-facing cameras? Let's see:
That's just with AT&T and T-Mobile.
That's because to them its like comparing apples to oranges. The Transformer isn't really a tablet sure it has the rounded corners, a flat screen, and thin boarders but if Apple can't get the courts to ban its sale then it can't be a tablet.
Bullshit. Viewing the Android phones at the majority of the US telecoms sites the phones with FFCs are in a tiny minority of all Android phones they are selling. But one doesn't really expect truth from a fandroid.
Why does it matter if only some of the Android phones have an FFC? If someone wanted an Android phone with an FFC so that they can do video chats, they can do so. How many models of iphone are there with an FFC, two? If the number of models with an FFC was important, then I guess Droid wins! But, it's not important. Some people don't care if there is an FFC, there is a wide variety of needs and the wide variety of Android phones are trying to hit the different markets, so they don't all have to have an FFC.
If FFC is such a big deal, didn't Droid have it before the iphone? At that time I think iphone had zero models with an FFC.