the tablet war is heating up

[falcarrion]

I forgive you

 

[Felon]

That's the default browser, yes. You can also get Dolphin HD, Firefox, and others.

One of the nice things I've learned about Android is that when you put new apps on it, you can change which are you default (like with Windows). I purchased Mercury browser on my iPhone. But I can't make it replace Safari, even though it's a far better browser. So any time I click a link in an e-mail, calendar, or wherever, it automatically opens the page in Safari....then I have to copy the URL, close Safari, then open Mercury, and paste the URL. It's a pain in the butt.

The discussion *was* about whether an Android device could access those sites via the browser, given the browser supports Flash, and there are no Hulu or Netflix apps yet, and the lack of Hulu and Netflix are commonly cited as reasons for not getting an Android tablet as opposed to an Apple tablet.

Seems to me the whole Splashtop or Logmein method might be the best option for now. Supposedly there's finally some progress on getting Netflix, at least onto Android. I think a few days ago the DRM on the chips used for the current Honeycomb tablets was finally approved for Netflix.

Banshee

By the way, I forgot to ask if you've checked out PlayOn?
What's PlayOn? | PlayOn

 

[Banshee16]

By the way, I forgot to ask if you've checked out PlayOn?
What's PlayOn? | PlayOn

No, I haven't.....I wasn't aware of this program. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll give it a try. When I googled it, I also found references to Ultrasurf and Hotspot Shield.

Hopefully one of these measures will work.

I'll let you know, once I've tried it out.

Banshee

 

[falcarrion]

check out this cheap tablet.
Easydy E88 – iPad 2 Look and Feel for under $100 | PadGadget

 

[Felon]

So, for those Android users out there, let me ask you about podcasts.

In contemplating trading out for an Android device, I have to wonder how much I'm taking for granted from being an iPhone user. For all of iTunes usability challenges, the iTune stoe is a boon in that it provides centralized place to get content. Every Android device has its own approach to its marketplace. I have to wonder what content that marketplace offers. Apps, sure, but do they offer up subscribable podcasts, or would I start having to perform Google searches and downloading on my own?

 

[Banshee16]

So, for those Android users out there, let me ask you about podasts.

In contemplating trading out for an Android device, I have to wonder how much I'm taking for granted from being an iPhone user. For all of iTunes usability challenges, the iTune stoe is a boon in that it provides centralized place to get content. Every Android device has its own approach to its marketplace. I have to wonder what content that marketplace offers. Apps, sure, but do they offer up subscribable podcasts, or would I start having to perform Google searches and downloading on my own?

I don't listen to podcasts often, but the Android Marketplace seems to have apps that allow you to subscribe to them. Is that what you're looking for?

https://market.android.com/search?q=podcasts&so=1&c=apps

Note: I also don't have a tablet yet. Just an iPhone 4.

Banshee

 

[falcarrion]

apple released the 3rd quarter sales for the ipad
9.25 million

 

[Banshee16]

apple released the 3rd quarter sales for the ipad
9.25 million

Those are some big numbers!

I'm willing to bet during that period, Android devices in total sold only between $1-2M (including all models). Of course, this is the first generation.

We'll see what happens over the next several months. The resizing feature that's been added to Honeycomb 3.2 may help somewhat, with the perception of limited apps.

I think there are still only about 450 Honeycomb apps. I found a list that seems to continually get updated here:

"Optimized For Honeycomb" Apps List

Of course, I've tried downloading a few items at the store when checking out units, and many apps that are *not* optimized for tablet actually expand and fill the screen correctly.

Regardless, Apple's got some impressive numbers. It's going to be a challenge to pass them. On one hand, the upcoming Kal-El chip looks to be powerful enough to really challenge Apple...but by then, the iPad 3 will be on the horizon, and it'll also be increased in power. I'm sure that seeing the intent of OEMs to use the Tegra 3 chip for the next generation, Apple's going to be trying to put something equal or better into the next iPad. Unless the focus of effort on this upgrade will be putting out a high res screen, to catch up with what the Android tablets are already doing.

I have to say....being able to plug USB devices into a tablet, and be able to do things like hook up an XBox 360 or Nintendo controller, and run an emulator and play older generation games on the tablet is actually rather neat.

I took a look at the HP Touchpad tonight, and I have to say.....I know RiM got a lot of ideas from WebOS for their own OS......but it looks to me like they did a better job of it than HP did. The Playbook just feels more solid, more corporate, and the screen just blows that of the HP away.

Banshee

 

[IronWolf]

A couple of links for the Lenovo tablets from a slashdot article today:

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet

Lenovo IdeaPad Tablet

 

[Banshee16]

Interestingly, with the Lenovo launch comes Netflix support for the Lenovo tablets.

However, apparently now that it's working on those tablets, it'll also work on the other Honeycomb tablets....Xoom, Galaxy Tab 10.1, EEE Pad Transformer, etc.

It just requires a bit of manual setup, until the app is updated again, with the other devices listed.

Here's the link:

Netflix 1.3 works on most Honeycomb tablets – here’s how to install it

Banshee