Cheap Tablet

It amazes me that you can get a tablet for $70. The Velocity Micro Cruz 7" Tablet (Android) may not be a great one, but $70.

Amazon Whispersync vs. Apple iCloud

Ready. Fight.

Amazon Whispersync + Silk + Cloud Storage + Amazon Prime

Apple iCloud + iTunes/Documents/Apps/Backups in the Cloud + Photo Stream

What a great time to be a geek (assumes some non-trivial amount of disposable income).

A $250-$300 'iPad Mini'?

Apple Is Reportedly Working On A $250-$300 'iPad Mini':

"Apple is developing a low-cost iPad, which could appear in early 2012, says Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White.

White calls it an "iPad mini," because he thinks it will be priced in the "mid-to-high $200 range." The size of the iPad mini could be exactly the same, White doesn't necessarily think it's smaller"

True or not, it is a smart rumor to leak as it might dampen sales for Kindles, Nooks, and other lower cost tablets. My whole argument that these things aren't competitors goes out the window once they are all priced the same.

Notebook vs. Tablet

If they really mean notebook (not a full laptop), then I'm surprised it isn't higher.

SammyWalrusIV Goldman Sachs: Tablets will cannibalize notebook sales at a rate of 33-35% over the next two years.Fri, Oct 07 17:02:58 from Twitter for iPad

Tablets R Us

Why buy something besides an iPad? (I'm listing this link first - if you read only one, make it this one.)

"The Kindle Fire is interesting because it’s the first one with a good answer: it’s much cheaper, Amazon offers a digital content ecosystem that rivals Apple’s (fewer apps, more books), and millions of people already use and enjoy Kindle hardware. The e-ink Kindles are to the Kindle Fire what the music-playing iPods were to the iPhone, and what the iPhone was to the iPad — traction in the mass market based on trust and loyalty.

Amazon built an alternative to the iPad, rather than a direct competitor. It’s a different market segment. As Steve Jobs explained back in 2010 at the introduction of the original iPad, there’s unexplored territory between smartphones and laptops."

And:

"The iPad and Kindle Fire are emblematic of their makers. Apple’s primary business is selling devices for a healthy profit, and they back that up with a side business of selling digital content for those devices. Amazon’s primary business is as a retailer, including as a retailer of digital content. They back that up with a side business of low-cost digital devices that are optimized for on-the-fly purchasing of anything and everything Amazon sells. The Kindles are to Amazon what the printed catalog was to Sears a century ago."

The X-Ray feature might tip the scale and give me a reason to pay a premium of an e-book.

"All the new e-ink Kindles have an innovative feature called X-Ray. When you download a book on an e-ink Kindle you automatically receive a second file with information about the characters and settings of the book. The sources include Wikipedia and an Amazon-owned company book-related social service called Shelfari. It’s a welcome means to quickly figure out whether an unfamiliar character had appeared a few chapters earlier."

If I buy a Kindle, I will get the version that is ad supported, because you can change your mind later and pay to opt out of the adds with no penalty.

Amazon to buy Palm? Speaking of old school, maybe somebody should snap up BeOS, too.

Some iPad alternatives

I've finally decided what my next tablet will be: The Sabre Pyramid

iPhone 4S... point and shoot camera killer?

What is the difference between a smartphone and tablet? Very similar to my thoughts on which tablets are competitors? It depends on the use case.

edbott Whatever Happened to the iPad Rivals of 2010? A long, sad list http://t.co/7NCEBnqD via @technologizerMon, Oct 03 08:26:01 from Tweet Button retweeted by asymco

WIREDInsider The top 10 new features of iOS5: http://t.co/xGVTuecV (via @gizmodo)Wed, Oct 05 10:33:38 from SocialOomph

WIREDInsider Today's infographic: Every iPhone 5 rumor to date: http://t.co/8dGRL2aUTue, Oct 04 16:36:46 from SocialOomph

WIREDInsider Delving deeper into the iPhone 4s camera: http://t.co/Qebhe89g (via @wired)Wed, Oct 05 12:33:45 from SocialOomph

IT'S A KINDLE FIRE KILLER!

harrymccracken iPod Touch now starts at $199, matching the Kindle Fire. IT'S A KINDLE FIRE KILLER!Tue, Oct 04 13:55:11 from Mobile Web

Funny, but I disagree. The iPod Touch has a 3.5" screen. The Kindle Fire has a 7" screen. As certain demographics will tell you, size matters and that is a significant difference. It's like double or something! I just don't see them as direct competitors.

Need a Tablet? Buy a washer!

Just buy a Samsung Washer and Dryer pair at Lowe's to get a free 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab using this rebate.

A Prediction

SammyWalrusIV Collins Stewart: Believe Amazon will launch 10" tablet priced below $399 in early 2012 and buys Netflix.Wed, Sep 28 18:34:33 from Twitter for iPhone

I like it. Makes sense to me.

Amazon - New Kindles Touch and Fire

So I'm all about the tablets right now... I was like a kid at Christmas watching two live blogs (here and here) yesterday as they covered the announcements from Amazon. I'd been reading all the predictions about how great this new tablet was going to be and then in the 48 hours leading up to the announcement, opinions seemed to become much more negative. The tablet was going to be a hack job and would be replaced with something different in Q1 2012. And what did we get... not only the color tablet we expected, but several new models of the Kindle - including a $79 low-end ebook reader and new touch screen models.

My take... I'm not sure I need anything beyond my Android Nook Color, but I think the future is very exciting! I don't think Amazon is trying to attack Apple directly. Others have said that the Kindle is not a book, but a bookstore. The Fire is a bookstore, movie studio, and a TV network - and maybe a data mine (one view - Amazon attacks Apple... and Google!)


Via Technologizer

Kindle - Nook - iPad Comparison (image from This is My Next)


The Kindle Fire competes with...
Hands on with the Kindle Fire
Amazon makes $199 challenge to iPad
Apple is no longer the only tablet maker that matters.
Playing With Fire: Amazon Launches $200 Tablet, Slashes Kindle Prices
Broken Models - Syncing and Backups
The new browser - SILK
What is old is new - SILK and Opera Mini
Slashdot's Rob worries about Privacy and Security



And again... why SILK and the new browser model means Amazon attacks Apple... and Google!

And when will the Kindle be free?

Bonus Link - you aren't getting a TouchPad.

Speaking of Tablets

Woot's Daily Deal:

Motorola XOOM 10.1” 32GB Android Tablet with Wi-Fi

$349.99

• + $5 shipping

CONDITION:

Refurbished

PRODUCT:

1 Motorola XOOM 10.1” 32GB, Wi-Fi, Android 3.1, NVIDIA Dual-Core, Flash, microSD, 5MP; 2MP Cameras

Tablets, Tablets, Tablets

A review of the iPad challengers...

And a new one coming next week... Amazon Tablet announcement on Wednesday

Amazon Kindle Tablet Could Shake Up Tablet Wars: Here's How | PCWorld (Via Slashdot.org) - thoughts about Amazon's possible tablet and strategy - pros and cons.

Looks like I am one of the cool kids with my 7" Nook Color Android tablet...

The Motorola 7" Android Tablet

The 7" HP TouchPad that will never be.

And the power of the iPad and other consumer devices in the enterprise - they have been leaking into our company for years and it is only getting worse, err better, err worse.

Amazon Kindle Fire

parislemon On Wednesday, Amazon Will Unveil The “Kindle Fire” http://t.co/OOvg4KJdMon, Sep 26 16:31:04 from Tweet Button retweeted by arrington

From the article:

Another thing I wasn’t sure about was the chip inside of the device. I’ve now learned it’s a TI dual-core OMAP chip. This is the same chip used inside many newer Android devices. The PlayBook also uses it. I’m not sure what the clock-speed of the CPU will be, but I’d guess 1.2 GHz. This will make it significantly faster than the rival Nook Color, which uses a single core 800 MHz OMAP.

And...

The Nook Color 2 will also be built on top of Gingerbread, Android 2.3, we hear. That would put it ahead of the Kindle Fire, which is believed to be based on Android 2.1. Again, neither of them look anything like Android, but the APIs available are key when it comes to the Android version. 

Dead Six

I finished Dead Six while at the beach. I liked it. A lot. Even better than Larry's MHI series. I may not keep up with MHI, but, if there is another, and I think there will be, I'll grab it up. And reading it on the Android Nook was a nice experience.

Nook Color Android

So I've been playing with my Nook Color Android tablet. My reference points are an iPad2 (the gold standard for tablets) and my Droid Pro phone (running Android). My first impressions were favorable and that has not changed.

I like the 7" form factor. It is very usable and takes up less space in my bag than does the iPad.

The battery life doesn't seem to be as good as the iPad. I've not done any specific testing, but my gut says I'm charging it more often with roughly equivalent usage. I don't think this is a Nook issue - more of an Android problem. My Droid Pro has mysterious battery sucking apps running that fix themselves.

Unlike the Droid Pro, some applications (Google Reader for one) occasionally blow up and have to be restarted on the Nook Color Android. This doesn't happen very frequently, but I've almost never seen it on the Droid Pro.

Overall, a few hiccups but a great value at half the price of an iPad.

Tablet Links

What a tangled web we weave...

Color Kindle? Running Android?

Eric Schmidt: The Next Big Android Launch is Coming in Oct or Nov

Sony Tablet Wonder if they will make some slick device and then wreck it by making it proprietary.

Amazon’s Future Is So Much Bigger Than a Tablet - I like the line saying that the Kindle isn't a book - it is a bookstore.

Amazon.com begins rolling out new homepage design - so it is easier for tablet users?

Amazon Book Service Rent books on demand?

Low Expectations for the Amazon Tablet?

Android Nook

Less than 24 hours with it, but I like it.

HP Touchpad & Nook Color Update

Too bad I couldn't find a $99 HP Touchpad, since the Android port is coming. Obviously, that would have been cheaper than my Nook Color Android.

Paul points out that the Nook Color can be had from the BN ebay store (Item: 120758870326) for $180 with free shipping. Also, he links to the XDA forum for hacking the Nook Color.

Nook Color & Nook 2 Android

I really like our iPad. The three of us seem to share it pretty well, but I was already thinking we could really be a two or three tablet family. My uncle is trying out a Nook Color, the Barnes & Noble ebook reader along with a little hack to run the Android OS via a bootable microSD card from Nook 2 Android.

You can pick up a new Nook Color for $250. I got a refurb on Buy.com for $180. You can then order the a Nook 2 Android 8 GB card for $35. So on the cheap side, you can get an Android tablet for $215 plus shipping.

I'm excited about this as I really wanted a tablet and I think this will be a great device. I want it to be my portable documentation repository and library. Dropbox plus some PDFs. YouVersion for multiple versions of the Bible. Add Google Reader for my RSS feeds and I am all set!

NoteSlate - Vaporware

I knew it was probably too good to be true... a $99 digital e-ink legal pad replacement. So, I'm calling it - TOVD (Time of Vaporware Declaration) 5:45PM.

The last couple of tweets from NoteSlate have confirmed it for me - both on the price and technology fronts.

From today:

"We can´t hit the $99 end price for NoteSlate device... is going from low-tech vision to hi-tech reality.Sorry for our preliminary statement."

From July 14:

"We`re still solving prototype, firmware & legals for next web(v3.0) update - vision into reality. Lot of work on table. Sorry for delay."

Brick Tablet

While I am thinking about becoming one of the cool kids, I am not following Uncle's lead on getting a tablet.

I was not tempted at all by the slightly cheaper, ad supported Kindle. I never thought $135 sounded like a lot in the first place - even for a single purpose device.

And despite some who believe it is killing America*, I ordered an iPad this week.

The wife wanted one for our daughter to play with on the way to the beach. I want to play with the Ham Radio apps. I'll be curious to see how much it replaces the laptop. I cannot imagine doing blog posts from it. I do see reading books, watching videos, and reviewing my ever growing RSS feed list. I will probably carry it to church - lots of people are already using their Blackberry and Android to read the Bible.

*From the article, a quote: "But there is no protection for jobs here in America to ensure that the American people are being put to work.” I must have skipped that section in the Constitution. (And apparently everything I see right now is through "Ayn Rand" colored glasses, because this sounds like it could be a line from the book.)