the tablet war is heating up

[falcarrion]

With the app store, I've read there aren't many apps yet....but that Honeycomb is just getting started. Further, I've read on Amazon and other places, in the reviews, that just because there are only 50 Honeycomb/Xoom apps doesn't mean there are only 50 apps you can put on the device. What I've read is that apps built for the other Android devices work as well.....they're just not optimized.

The iTunes store has a tonne.....but honestly, I might have 50 or so, and I rarely go much over that. There's a *tonne* of duplication.....like a bunch of fart apps, a bunch of apps to stream radio stations, etc. The choice is nice, but I think I have almost everything I could need at this point.

Does typing on tablets ever get easier? At the store, I tried touch typing, and had errors galore, from my fingers accidentally brushing the screen etc.

Banshee

The number of apps is a big deal to many people. With 80,000 Ipad apps compared to 50 is a major difference. That averages out to about 6153 apps a month. With the Xoom being out since Feb you have to ask why there are so few apps. As far as optimized goes it does make a difference on the Ipad. An iphone app not optimized for the ipad is blurry.
I'm not saying the Xoom is a lousy tablet. It is not. consumer reports recently rated it as good as the Ipad 1. The lack of apps could be for many reasons. for example app creators don't see the Xoom selling as well as the Ipad 1 or 2, and may decide to write apps for the device that will give them a higher profit.
You could have the greatest tablet ever made, but if you have a lack of app support it could very well fail.
I hope it doesn't. Competing devices is a good thing.
If you your leaning toward to the Xoom thats cool. And if you buy one, please come back and let us know about your experiance. The more we disscuss the various tablets, the more we learn about the good and bad things of each type.

 

[John Crichton]

I have no doubt that the Android tablets will have a competitive number of apps customized for it in due time. The iPad took a little while to gather steam as did the Droid Marketplace itself. A better snapshot will be the fall when devs have more time to come out with what people want and simply to convert existing apps to tablet format vs smartphone.

 

[Banshee16]

The number of apps is a big deal to many people. With 80,000 Ipad apps compared to 50 is a major difference. That averages out to about 6153 apps a month. With the Xoom being out since Feb you have to ask why there are so few apps. As far as optimized goes it does make a difference on the Ipad. An iphone app not optimized for the ipad is blurry.
I'm not saying the Xoom is a lousy tablet. It is not. consumer reports recently rated it as good as the Ipad 1. The lack of apps could be for many reasons. for example app creators don't see the Xoom selling as well as the Ipad 1 or 2, and may decide to write apps for the device that will give them a higher profit.
You could have the greatest tablet ever made, but if you have a lack of app support it could very well fail.
I hope it doesn't. Competing devices is a good thing.
If you your leaning toward to the Xoom thats cool. And if you buy one, please come back and let us know about your experiance. The more we disscuss the various tablets, the more we learn about the good and bad things of each type.

50 specific Xoom apps...no, that's not much.....but everything I've read is that there are more on the way.

I'm not proselytizing here. People have their own individual needs etc. Both my partners (in business) have iPad 2's and love them. However, one of them buys anything that has the Apple logo on it, so I don't really count that. The other is a PC guy, so I'm more interested in his take.

With a baby coming in a month, I don't think I can really justify this at the moment anyways.

Buying a device with no apps would, yes, suck. Hopefully that won't be the situation longterm.

I can afford to wait. I was surprised how nice the Xoom appeared when I held it. But I also want to see the Playbook. I tried the Galaxy Tab and didn't like it.

But every time I go into a client meeting carting around my big laptop, and see clients pull out tablets to pull up sites we're reviewing, or send out notes or whatever, I can see the utility of the things. Having carted my laptop on a photography tour through Paris and Rome back in November, there's something to be said for a smaller, lighter, more portable device.

My sister purchased the Kobo, and loves it, and is reading a tonne of books on it. Seeing that is also something I've thought of....it would certainly reduce the load on my bookshelves.

I think the main thing holding me back is how quick all of these devices chew through batteries. If the whole "400 charge cycles before the battery capacity is permanently reduced" thing is not simply something that occurs with the iPad and iPhone batteries, then it's a big of a concern. Maybe I'm anal, but I know just *knowing* that with the iPhone has me stressing about keeping it plugged in all the time. At least I can replace the battery there, though.

My understanding is that with tablets, that's not possible.

Banshee

 

[Relique du Madde]

That's good to know. I know the iPad 2 had a brighter, more vibrant screen than the Xoom appeared to have...however, that's with the caveat that the demo iPad 2's screen background was a very bright image, whereas the Xoom had a black screen with glowy blue interface......so I can't say it's a fair comparison, without looking at the two devices side by side looking at the same image.

I'm not entirely keen on the iPad 2, which is why the Xoom interested me. I suppose if I was enthralled with my iPhone 4, it would be a foregone conclusion....but I'm not. I went from a Bold 9700 to the iPhone 4, and personally feel that, as a phone and a messaging device (I do *alot* of e-mail for work) I've taken a step down. I don't find it nearly as powerful that way. However, I do find the iPhone 4 to be a superior portable computer.

I get very frustrated every time I find something else I can't do with the device. So, that makes me hesitant to get the iPad2, because I'm concerned I'll spend *more* money, and be just as frustrated.

With the app store, I've read there aren't many apps yet....but that Honeycomb is just getting started. Further, I've read on Amazon and other places, in the reviews, that just because there are only 50 Honeycomb/Xoom apps doesn't mean there are only 50 apps you can put on the device. What I've read is that apps built for the other Android devices work as well.....they're just not optimized.

The iTunes store has a tonne.....but honestly, I might have 50 or so, and I rarely go much over that. There's a *tonne* of duplication.....like a bunch of fart apps, a bunch of apps to stream radio stations, etc. The choice is nice, but I think I have almost everything I could need at this point.

Does typing on tablets ever get easier? At the store, I tried touch typing, and had errors galore, from my fingers accidentally brushing the screen etc.

Banshee

You might want to wait until the Samsung Galaxy 9.8 and 10.1 pads come out. why? Because Apple uses Samsung screens for the iPads meaning that the Galaxy Honeycombs will have equal if not better displays.

Not sure if typing gets easier without a physical keyboard, I know that there are some apps like swype, but so far I could using swype annoying since I accidentally swype the wrong keys with my fingers (and it tends to make your fingers feel raw after a bit).

I have no doubt that the Android tablets will have a competitive number of apps customized for it in due time. The iPad took a little while to gather steam as did the Droid Marketplace itself. A better snapshot will be the fall when devs have more time to come out with what people want and simply to convert existing apps to tablet format vs smartphone.

"Competitive" is a vague benchmark considering that iPad is considered to be the easy money platform and a number like 500 could be seen as being competitive depending on what kind of apps those 500 are.

Fact of the matter is some apps scale perfectly while others don't because of the screen differences within the Android platform. Most of the newer phones use 800 x480 (Droids use 854x480 which was a problem when making an android air game I've been working on that lead me to just dev for honeycomb since to the memory requirements on that system make for a far better flash-based experience). Luckily it seems that Google mandated a 1280x800 screen resolution on Honeycomb since almost every tablet that has been revealed since after February are using that resolution (The Slate G appears to be the only tablet that snuck passed google's android lockdown constraints).

 

[falcarrion]

I think the main thing holding me back is how quick all of these devices chew through batteries. If the whole "400 charge cycles before the battery capacity is permanently reduced" thing is not simply something that occurs with the iPad and iPhone batteries, then it's a big of a concern. Maybe I'm anal, but I know just *knowing* that with the iPhone has me stressing about keeping it plugged in all the time. At least I can replace the battery there, though.

My understanding is that with tablets, that's not possible.

Banshee

First congrats on your soon to come baby.
As far as pc or an Apple person I would say I'm a pc guy. The only apple products I have is the Itouch and the Ipad.
As for the battery life I haven't had a problem with it. But I'm sure you would use it more then me. As for battery replacement there are places you can get that done.
Expert iPod Repair Service $25. DigiExpress - leaders in Apple Repair for 4 years

 

[falcarrion]

A bluetooth key board might be the answer. There various covers out there that have keyboards.

Amazon.com: ipad covers

 

[Banshee16]

First congrats on your soon to come baby.
As far as pc or an Apple person I would say I'm a pc guy. The only apple products I have is the Itouch and the Ipad.
As for the battery life I haven't had a problem with it. But I'm sure you would use it more then me. As for battery replacement there are places you can get that done.
Expert iPod Repair Service $25. DigiExpress - leaders in Apple Repair for 4 years

Thanks! It's our first

Can you replace the batteries on the iPad, and other tablets though? I know it's possible in the iPhone 4. A friend of mine is a tech for one of the cellphone companies that carries the iPhone 4, and he's told me if it comes down to it, he'll show me how to do it.

But I don't know about the other kinds of devices.

Banshee

 

[falcarrion]

The battery can be replaced but it is not easy.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnjtvMCndcw]YouTube - Apple iPad Battery Replacement & Repair Directions by DirectFix.com[/ame]

 

[falcarrion]

Here is a teardown on the Xoom
Motorola Xoom Teardown - iFixit

 

[Relique du Madde]

But I don't know about the other kinds of devices.

You have to tear down the Xoom (and maybe the other Honeycomb tablets) just like you have to with the iPod. So techs can replace them, but the average users can't.