As you might have heard, today lots of early adopters are going to get their hands on the new Apple iPad. As Android fans we should not care about it but if you think about it, it is a great news for Android.
A while back (late 2007), Apple released a new type of phone that marked the start of a new era with touch screen phones. Now the general consumer is using their phone to check email, look at web pages, install apps, etc. Prior to the Phone there was not that much going on in smart phones. Well, there are a few early attempts by Microsoft to fit Windows in mobile devices.
Since the iPhone, each Android handset reviewed gets compared and looked at as potential “iPhone” killers in the mainstream media. Verizon clearly used the iPhone to promote the Droid with their iDon’t campaign. As Android fans, it is easy for us to do the comparison to explain what our phone can do to non-techies. You can just start by saying “It is like an iPhone but it also can run apps in the background, you can remove the battery, it has a keyboard…” and so on.
Thanks, again, to Apple, the same thing will happen with the iPad. There are few tablets already released and upcoming running Android: Asus,Kogan, Archos, Google, WePad (my favorite!) and all of them will benefit from the hype surrounding the iPad. Even if they might never sell in the same volume of units as Apple (like the iPhone), overall they will do well just because the iPad will do well. I know that I would never own (certainly not buy!) an iPad but I would certainly consider a WePad and if I have one and need to explain to non-techies, I would be able to start by: “It is like the Apple iPad but better because…”.
Do you agree? Will Apple’s iPad help usher in an era of tablets? Will Android benefit? I would like to read your comments…
I’ll never buy the iPad simply because every rich douchebag will be buying one… And also b/c i’m not stupid
lol, irl… awesome.
Hey buddy… take a chill pill. You're gonna give yourself a stroke.
My favorite is the Notion Ink Adam. What does it have over the iPad?
- Android and multitaking (obviously)
- Built-in camera.
- Alternate backside pointing device — operate the tablet without obscuring the screen. Sure, the touchscreen still works.
- Daylight readable display. An eBook reader is useless unless you can read it at the beach.
- 16 hours of full HD AVC video playback, built-in HDMI out.
- 160 hours operation in "ePaper" mode.
- Built-in USB. I can connect my cameras and camcorders, I can back up to USB drives, I can tether to my Droid for internet access (can't hook iPad to iPhone, that's not supported).
- nVidia Tegra2 chipset — about twice as fast as the iPad (dual core ARM A9, nVidia graphics), and yet, longer battery life.
- Flash in the web browser.
- SDHC slot, so I can actually have the pad offloading from my camera or camcorder while I'm still using it.
- Bluetooth and Wifi built-in, 3G option too.
- Finally announced base price: $327
- Android and multitasking (so far superior to iPhoneOS, at least for anyone who knows how to use a computing device, I just have to say it twice).
While I doubt they'll get the fanfare Apple did on "iPad Day", this is in every way more useful to me than an iPad, which I'd find a flashy toy. If the new crews do make it out, expect me to be in line on "Adam Day".
Here's why I like the physical keyboard — screen real estate. Check out some photos of the iPad with keyboard in use… that keyboard takes up half the screen. Now, consider this: the iPad has almost twice as many pixels as the Droid (4.5x as many as the iPhone). With that keyboard up, I have the same screen real-estate as an iPad, using my Droid keyboard. And it fits in my pocket.
Now, sure, for content consumption, the iPad may be an advantage (if I lugged it along). But for creation… nope. And Apple is pushing it for content creation for some reason.
Well, one reason for running multiple apps is quick switching. But that's just a simple case.
It's not running "desktop apps" that's important, but how about running "non-Apple background apps", which you can't on an iPhone or iPad. What if I want Pandora or some other music player to play while I'm surfing the net and/or reading email?
And at least for the smart phone… why is still called a phone? Not just because it lets you make phone calls, but because it's aggregating all new forms of communications. All of these involve messages coming in asynchronously…. a message is sent, you get it. Maybe it's a ring for a phone or Skype call, maybe it's a beep for any number of IM systems. Each of these only functions properly with a component that's running in the background. If 3rd party companies can't produce such daemons, then only Apple gets to decide which new forms of communications you can use.
How about other kinds of updates? I like the fact I always have a weather indicator in my status bar, and get alerts for bad weather on the Droid… same issues here.
How about location awareness? I have a background program that can alter my settings based on locations, turning off Wifi when it's not needed, maybe changing between "business" and "home" customizations, etc. When I'm travelling, I can run a geologger that tracks my travels by time, which lets me centrally sync all my video and photos (on other cameras, not necessarily the Droid)… and I don't lose one iota of normal smartphone functionality.
I think many iPhone users think that there are only "desktop" apps, because Apple only allows "desktop" apps. That's just scratching the surface of what your device can do for you.
You forgot to mention the Notion Ink Adam… which, in my opinion, is the best spec'ed tablet out there. Just hope it lives up to the specs and hype.
[...] by Rob Diana in Business While we see the iPad garnering much attention during its official launch, Android fans are rejoicing. Given how many good reviews there have been for the iPad, this may sound kind of strange. However, [...]
AS FAR AS MULTI TASKING, IPHONE DOES DO THAT YOU PIECE OF SHIT DROID BAG! I CAN CARRY A CONVERSATION ON MY PHONE WHILST I PLAY DEER HUNTING USA! I CAN TALK ON THE PHONE WHILE SURFING THE WEB. YOU DUMB SHIT. I DON'T HAVE TO BE RUDE AND HANG UP ON YOU WHILE YOU'RE SHITTING YOU'RE DROID OUT YOUR ASS SO I CAN REFERENCE A PROCTOLOGIST FOR YOU! YOU UNGRATEFUL ASSHOLE. NOT TO MENTION YOU'RE ARGUMENT OF 3RD PARTY MULTI TASKING. HOW IN THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO USE "BILL MINDER" "URBAN SPOON" & "SCRABBLE" ALL @ THE SAME TIME. (THOSE WERE JUST EXAMPLES YOU CONDESCENDING FUCK!) HOPEFULLY YOU'RE DRIVING A CAR WHILE YOU'RE DOING ALL THIS SO YOUR LIFE ENDS JUST AS PATHETICALLY AS THE EMOTIONS YOU EXPERIENCE TRYING TO DEFEND YOUR FAG DROID! TOUCHING ON TRUE INNOVATION REGARDING THE 4G NETWORK, ONLY SPRINT AND A FEW LOCAL INTERNET COMPANIES CARRY THAT & 4G ISNT BUILT INTO THE PHONE YOU DUMB FUCK, YOU NEED TO CARRY AROUND WHAT BASICALLY COMES DOWN TO A PORTABLE MODEM! SO WHY THE FUCK WOULD I CARRY A PHONE AND A PORTABLE MODEM TO SUPPORT INTERNET ACCESS WHEN I CAN HAVE IT IN ONE PACKAGE LIKE AN iPHONE! I FUCKING GUARANTEE YOU YOU'RE NOT EVEN UTILIZING A 4G NETWORK, YOUR GAY DROID USES THE 3G NETWORK 99.99% OF THE TIME. SO HOW CAN YOU DEFEND SOMETHING YOU HAVEN'T EVEN USED. I'VE DEALT WITH A LOT OF DROID BAGS LIKE YOU WHEN I WAS DEPLOYED TO IRAQ, WE JUST KILLED THEM! I WISH I KNEW YOUR EXACT LOCATION SO I CAN LITERALLY SHOVE DROIDS UP AND DOWN EVERY ORIFICE OF YOUR BODY BEFORE I PUT A 5.56 IN YOUR HEAD.
I agree, I can't help asking the question, who will be the first to install the Android OS and run it on an iPad, now that would be fun. Like the guys hacking the Xbox
& YES. I DO RESORT TO VIOLENCE!!!!!!!!!!!
I'M DRINKING KOOL AID? YOU FUCK HEAD! YOU PROBABLY GOT A HARD ON THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW THAT GAY ASS COMMERCIAL OF AN ASTEROID HITTING THE EARTH & A FAGGOT ASS DROID EYE EMERGING! THEY DIDN'T SHOW THE PHONE OR WHAT IT CAN DO. YOU'RE LIKE THE TEEN THAT JUST GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL THAT WORKS AT THE MALL @ A VERIZON KIOSK TRYING TO TELL ME THAT THE iPHONE IS THE WORST PHONE TO BUY & THAT I SHOULD BUY A DROID… THEN YOUR MARIMBA RINGTONE GOES OFF & YOU EXCUSE YOURSELF TO ANSWER YOUR iPHONE. THEN WHEN I FRONT YOU ABOUT IT, YOU TELL ME YOU WERE FORCED INTO GETTING IT SINCE ALL OF YOUR GAY WANNABE ASIAN FRIENDS HAVE AN iPHONE & YOU WERE FORCED TO BUY IT. DRRRRROOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDD! Does Your iPhone Make You A Social Outkast? DROID DOES!
HEY RAJ. YOU SOUND INDIAN. YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY IS PRETTY OUTDATED. I LIKE HOW YOU CAME TO AMERICA, EVERYTHING SEEMS TO WORK SEAMLESSLY & EFFORTLESSLY OVER HERE, HUH? KINDA LIKE AN iPHONE. YOU DROID BAG!
Hey ronr50,
iPhone OS is derived from Mac OS X which is built on top of the Darwin Foundation and this is essentially a Unix-based operating system.
Thus all great software are built on top of solid foundations, nothing wrong with that.
Raphael!!! You seem to have incited a riot/flame war in your comments section! Good on you for sparking debate.
What did Apple do that was new? Mutitouch? No. Touchscreen? No. Email? No. Maps? No. Compass? No. Games? No. Apps? No. Music? No. Video? No. Internet? No.
Hmm, quite a list of stuff there. Apple don't do anything new. They steal other ideas and just improve them, then when the original creators realise, they come out with their own products which are vastly better than the Apple ones.
You must be worried about Android to come onto an Android site and see what is happening. No wonder Jobs is suing left, right and centre. At the first hint of trouble he' s just does what all Apple iDiots do, scream and kick and cry and complain that their products are better than everything else. Lol.
Android is like all things Linux, copy something someone else created and then try to compare its self to it.. If android wants to make a splash, create something NEW like Apple did!
Goto Cloned in china.com there is 2 Android tablets well 3 w/Archos already available but this new one takes the cake 4.8in capacitive screen wifi a/b/g 3g the whole shebang all for under 300 now theres, some news for the faithful Droiders out there it can only help to usher in the tablet era so I hate the product but appreciate what it means for all tablets.
Hi ELK,
I've seen and used iPhones… these items I've listed as example can obviously discussed but remained true anyway:
-Apps in background: Try to have one of the radio app (not a podcast) to keep playing while you check email, read a web page or reply to a tweet you know that you just got on the iPhone. You can't.
Can you track your position by GPS while you walk and listen to a podcast and stop to take photos of butterfly… You can't do the 3 at the same time.
-Battery, there are 3 reasons to remove the battery in ANY devices: to replace it, to reset the device if it crashes and finally to make the device easy to recycle… Not just one.
-I am not a fan of hardware keyboard on phones… but some people are. That's what I meant by keyboard. It seems still important to Apple as they have made one as accessory for the iPad.
You obviously missed completely the point of the post… I am glad that Apple has released the iPad (and the iPhone), they have started a trend, or in the case of the tablet help to make something that was there already to be popular.
Regards
Raphael
E.L.K., yes I do still use a PC. I can do things on my PC that cannot be done with a Mac. I think Macs are better than PCs for some purposes, especially graphics design and film editing. However, I like to build my own computers. I've built/upgraded 5 PCs so far, and that's something you can't do with a Mac.
I’m considering about having the Amazon Kindle 2. I have study tons of reviews and am wondering what you’ve to say about it. The Kindle sounds like an amazing concept. Saving trees, saving dollars, not losing your spot, print size modify, and also the notes feature. So what do you believe? Should I get it?