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Samsung May Release an 18" Tablet
A report at PC Magazine says that Samsung may soon field a tablet to satisfy people not content with the 7", 9", 12", or even slightly larger tablets that are today's normal stock in trade. Instead, the company is reported to be working on an 18.4" tablet aimed at "living rooms, offices, and schools." There's a lot of couching going on, but it sounds like an interesting idea: It's said to run Android 5.1 Lollipop and be powered by an octa-core 64-bit 1.6GHz Exynos 7580 processor. Other rumored specs include 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot with support for cards up to 128GB, and a large 5,700 mAh battery. The device also has an 8-megapixel main camera (and you thought people looked silly taking photos with their iPads) and 2.1-megapixel "secondary camera."
It is bigger than some of the laptops.
Finally something appropriate for the older crowd with poor vision. Add Keyboard & Mouse support and a stand and you are giving a PC a run for it's money when it comes to basic computer tasks for a home user, who have found tablets to be too small in the past.
Dell already sells an 18" "All-In-One Desktop" XPS 18 which is thin enough to be a tablet and has batteries and a touchscreen. I have owned one for over a year and it is very nice. Fast Core I7, 8 GB and a terabyte of hybrid disk. They sell less tricked out versions as well. Other than the Android OS on the Samsung and the Windows 8.1 on the Dell they sound pretty comparable. Not sure this is a really new idea.
Several things that they need:
The front camera needs to have a built-in swivel, so that it can aim if the user is at an angle from the device.
Try 4GB instead of 2GB RAM. That's probably just bad info, as other Samsung products already have more memory.
Apps! They need lots of special apps to take advantage of this. They should partner with gaming companies to have app versions of Monopoly and other well-known board games where the tablet is the board, and players sit around it. It may even use bluetooth to let players have secret information on only their handsets.
I'm holding out for the 64" tablet.
You know you want to laugh with everyone holding this up to their head. Or even better, in front of their face while driving in traffic.
-- Brought to you by Carl's JR
There are currently very few options for musicians who don't want to carry books around. Hopefully this will be more affordable than the current available products.
Didn't Microsoft demonstrate that as their "Surface", originally? I believe it is now PixelSense.
I'm uncertain of a successful feet test, though.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
I'm all for a big tablet. As someone who regularly works with large drawings having what effectively amounts to a digital piece of paper is a killer feature for me.
But not Android. The entire Android design is centered around small screens, apps designed to fill entire screens, big buttons, large keyboard areas etc. There would be signficant amount of hackery needed to make an 18" tablet useful (which I don't trust Samsung to get right or support going forward), and there are little to no productivity apps that would make an 18" tablet useful in the Android market.
A PC in that form factor on the other hand would make me part with my money.
Ever since the iPad 1 shipped, I've advocated a range of iPads in all the standard drafting sheet sizes, from A (8.5" x 11") to D (17"x22"). Direct manipulation on large, high-DPI displays would make for an amazing user experience for CAD.
Of course, if I spent the money that a 17x22" device would cost, there's no way in hell I'd settle for Android. I LIKE getting OS updates.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I keep waiting for Samsung to resurrect the 1980's boombox with their ever increasing phone and tablet sizes. Teens walking down the road, a giant touchscreen device on their shoulders blasting the latest from Justin Bieber....
I didn't say it was a pretty future....
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Attach a keyboard to it, with a hinge, so you can close the whole thing up, protecting both the screen and the keyboard.You could even put little feet on the bottom of the keyboard part, so when it's open it won't slide around if it's on a hard surface. While you're at it, put most of the electronics under the keyboard, along with the battery, so the center of gravity is lower; it'll make the whole device more stable when it's open.
Now we just need to come up with a name for this..
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
More like table.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
I'm still awaiting delivery of my 2000" TV.
Signed,
Frank.
How about a 24" family tablet?
Nabi Big Tab
I Don't Work Here
I remember when I got a Dell Streak 5, smartphone in 2010...everyone laughed "it's too big" Then the next year, Samsung came out with the Galaxy Note...everyone said it was too big. Now, just about ever smartphone maker, INCLUDING APPLE has a 5" or bigger screen, so, who's to say an 18" tablet is too big? Time will tell. If they made a rugged one, I'd get it for work and give up lugging around my laptop.
John Wayne coded with Emacs on a CGA terminal, baby.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
I bought an Acer DA220HQL, a 21.5"(!) Android tablet.
It's actually more useful than it seems. We mounted it on the wall in a space we always pass by, and I set it up with Google Keep and Calendar, and synced the family calendars to it, as well as the shopping lists. I did have to use Raccoon to get the apps to install on it, and there are a couple reflow issues with they layouts, but you really can't notice. Now, could we look at a calendar or the shopping list on a phone? Yes, but you don't always have your phone, and having something always there is really useful.