Android tablet for $99

[Felon]

A 100 tablet that you can only get through a decaying drug store chain? Something fishy there that I can't quite my finger on. What, CVS Pharmacies couldn't get in on the deal?

The only potential problem I see if that there is no hints about which version of android it runs and if it autosyncs come update time.

You can Google up quite a bit about the Maylong now that folks have gotten their hands on it. Seems like a big smartphone without the phone. The version of Android is 1.6, and it doesn't have access to the actual Google marketplace, but apparently you can download Google apps to it through the internet, and thus upgrade the OS.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVXLsv_kpf0&feature=fvw]YouTube - Maylong $100 Tablet / MSI FX600MX Notebook[/ame]

 

[IronWolf]

The version of Android is 1.6, and it doesn't have access to the actual Google marketplace, but apparently you can download Google apps to it through the internet, and thus upgrade the OS.

Are any of the Android tablets coming with Google Marketplace access out of the box? I thought there was something about if it wasn't a phone then it wasn't approved for Google Marketplace access. Now I have heard there is a way to "side load" Marketplace access on some of these Android-based tablets (not sure about this particular one).

 

[Felon]

Are any of the Android tablets coming with Google Marketplace access out of the box? I thought there was something about if it wasn't a phone then it wasn't approved for Google Marketplace access. Now I have heard there is a way to "side load" Marketplace access on some of these Android-based tablets (not sure about this particular one).

Well, you're onto something there. That's why other tablets like the Dell Streak and Samsung Galaxy are phones (albeit ones too big to hold to your ear). Google's been pretty lax in not responding to the issue.

 

[IronWolf]

Well, you're onto something there. That's why other tablets like the Dell Streak and Samsung Galaxy are phones (albeit ones too big to hold to your ear). Google's been pretty lax in not responding to the issue.

Yeah - I actually prefer the models that are WiFi only - largely because I am too cheap to want to pay a monthly fee to use a tablet.

I wonder if Google has something up it's sleeve and that's why they haven't been in a hurry to allow access to the market with non-approved devices. Maybe their own tablet based OS a step above Android or Android tweaked just for tablets.

 

[JDragon]

As I understand it Google is working on an updated version of the Android OS that is designed for the larger screen sizes of tablets.

The current versions of it are not designed to support the 7" and 10" screens that are coming out. Its max is supposed to be around the 4" of phones like the Droid X.

The updated OS is due early 2011 so I would wait for that before picking one up, and remember as always you get what you pay for.

JD

 

[IronWolf]

As I understand it Google is working on an updated version of the Android OS that is designed for the larger screen sizes of tablets.

The updated OS is due early 2011 so I would wait for that before picking one up, and remember as always you get what you pay for.

Excellent! Then I will make myself hold off on a tablet for this holiday season and wait to see what hits the market early next year.

 

[Felon]

Yeah - I actually prefer the models that are WiFi only - largely because I am too cheap to want to pay a monthly fee to use a tablet.

I wonder if Google has something up it's sleeve and that's why they haven't been in a hurry to allow access to the market with non-approved devices. Maybe their own tablet based OS a step above Android or Android tweaked just for tablets.

Well, Google's got a whole strategy they're trying to push where you don't need a phone to make phone calls. They just came out with Google Voice for the iPhone, for instance. I'm not sure if it helps them sell Android phones to give folks a way to use their tablets to avoid paying the $30/month data fee. I dunno what they're up to.

As I understand it Google is working on an updated version of the Android OS that is designed for the larger screen sizes of tablets.

The current versions of it are not designed to support the 7" and 10" screens that are coming out. Its max is supposed to be around the 4" of phones like the Droid X.

The updated OS is due early 2011 so I would wait for that before picking one up, and remember as always you get what you pay for.

Any sources available?

 

[Relique du Madde]

The clues to 2.3's upcoming release are simple: Google placed a Giant Gingerbreadman on their lawn next to their cup of "Froyo" and begun talking about 2.3 features that we will seein 2.3.

The most important clue that Gingerbread is being released early next year is that that Google released the OS to developers earlier this month which generally means expect the updates to start appearing in one to four months.

Then there's this:

I think that's definitive proof of a late 2010/early 2011 release of Android 2.3.

 

[Felon]

The clues to 2.3's upcoming release are simple: Google placed a Giant Gingerbreadman on their lawn next to their cup of "Froyo" and begun talking about 2.3 features that we will seein 2.3.

The most important clue that Gingerbread is being released early next year is that that Google released the OS to developers earlier this month which generally means expect the updates to start appearing in one to four months.

Then there's this:

It's all good and well to support larger screens, but does any of this indicate that Google's going to let developers incorporate Android (and, by extension, Android marketplace) into tablets without requiring a phone to be built in? For a device I'm going to travel much, that's just a needless expense, even if I can get one unlocked and thus avoid buying another voice plan.

On a side note, I've always wondered who exactly it is out there that cares so fiercely about having the thinnest phone allowed by science....and why.

 

[IronWolf]

It's all good and well to support larger screens, but does any of this indicate that Google's going to let developers incorporate Android (and, by extension, Android marketplace) into tablets without requiring a phone to be built in? For a device I'm going to travel much, that's just a needless expense, even if I can get one unlocked and thus avoid buying another voice plan.

Yeah - the big things that will likely make me jump when an Android based tablet comes out is actual support for a larger 7" or 10" screen and Google sanctioning the device to access the marketplace instead of needing to jump through hoops to get that access.

And really the marketplace access is less concern with access to the apps as much as signaling some form of backing from Google with the direction the Android tablets are taking.