Tablet

Qantas to test in-flight iPad entertainment system

By Andrew Wray, Monday, Sep 19, 2011 a 5:26 pm

Qantas has announced they will begin a trial run for an in-flight entertainment system centered around Apple's iPad tablet, initially limiting the test to a single Boeing 767-300 which allows streaming of music and video content to all of the aircraft's 254 seats.

In what it’s trumpeting as a ‘world first’, Qantas will next month begin trials of Apple’s iPad for in-flight entertainment, using wi-fi to stream content to the tablets from a central server on the aircraft.

Microsoft previews Windows 8 as desktop/tablet iPad rival

By chrisoldroyd, Wednesday, Sep 14, 2011 a 12:16 pm

Yesterday Microsoft gave us a brief look at its next operating system, code named Windows 8. The operating system will be aimed at not only desktop and laptop PC systems but also the tablet market. Will Windows 8 deliver enough for a Windows Tablet to become a real competitor to the iPad and iOS?

Sony announce two tablets to take on the iPad [the competition]

By chrisoldroyd, Tuesday, Apr 26, 2011 a 8:46 am

Sony has just unveiled two tablets to take on the iPad 2. The two models will be known as the Sony S1 and Sony S2; both will run Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The S1 is aimed squarely at the iPad form factor and comes with a 9.4-inch screen. It will feature a Tegra 2 processor and will have 3G/4G cellular data and WiFi. An IR (infra-red) port is included as standard, to control Sony’s line of Bravia televisions. Sony’s Playstation Network will also be accessible.

The S2 is the interesting model as the form factor is totally different to anything we have seen before. It has two folding 5.5-inch screens that can work together or independently.

Not many more details are available at this stage as Sony say specifications are subject to change. The two models are slated for a release in the fall of this year.

Take a look at the short promo video after the break, then pop back here and let us know what your think of Sony’s tablets in the comments!

[Android Central/a>]

Win a Tablet of your choice from TouchType!

By Dieter Bohn, Friday, Apr 1, 2011 a 3:26 pm

To celebrate one million downloads of their SwiftKey keyboard app, TouchType is giving away a tablet each to THREE lucky winners! Which tablets? Whichever the winner chooses so long as they're available for purchase for up to $800 where he or she lives. iPad 2, PlayBook, Xoom, Galaxy Tab are all on the table.

Apple: Consumer demand for the iPad 2 is "amazing"

By Andrew Wray, Monday, Mar 14, 2011 a 1:22 pm

The Loop was able to speak with Apple Spokesperson Trudy Muller today, who stated Apple saw consumer demand for the iPad 2 launch last Friday to be "amazing".

“Demand for the next generation iPad 2 has been amazing,” Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller, told The Loop. “We are working hard to get iPad 2 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible.”

Microsoft planning attack on iPad

By Brian Tufo, Tuesday, Jan 25, 2011 a 8:51 am

Microsoft has started it's war against Apple's iPad, handing their reseller partners material to show their customers pointing why the iPad is not the solution they should be using for their enterprise needs. Distributed starting around December of last year, the material lists reasons why people should either move away from the iPad for enterprise needs or why they should not go towards the iPad in the first place.

Apple to ship three models of iPad 2 including CDMA support, anti-reflective screen?

By Andrew Wray, Tuesday, Dec 28, 2010 a 1:57 pm

According to unnamed sources in Taiwan there will be 3 different versions of the iPad 2 from Apple when it gets released in 2011, including the current Wi-Fi and UMTS 3G models, as well as a CDMA model for use with carriers like Verizon. According to DigiTimes:

Apple is expected to release three versions of iPad 2, supporting either or a combination of Wi-Fi, UMTS and CDMA, for 2011 with mass production to start as early as the later half of January.

HP Slate prototype from an iPad user's perspective

By Chad Garrett, Saturday, Sep 25, 2010 a 5:55 pm

Since a couple videos have started floating around on YouTube I figured it was about time I spoke up a little about my brief experience with the HP Slate. I had an opportunity to play with one about 3 months ago. HP apparently has a couple of these prototype devices they ship off to customers to tinker with and get feedback.

Now, my impressions have to be taken with a grain of salt since I am comparing a prototype, non-production device to the iPad, but I think certain truths will remain. For starters, the device is rather bulky, about 2-3 times thicker than the iPad. Once you get past the difference in physical thickness, your hands start to hurt, not because of the weight, but because the thing runs so hot your hands are burning after holding it for a few minutes.

Let's talk features. I was curious to get the camera working. So, I looked for a physical hardware button to take a picture (because just about everyone other than Apple does that). Well, no photo button to be found. I was in the Windows 7 interface and could not find an camera app to launch. So I had to hunt for an alternative. HP has apparently built a custom skin for Windows 7 that gives the device a much more mobile feel with big buttons to launch apps and services. So, I launched that skin and found the camera app. The camera seemed to work well based on the fluorescently lite cubical environment, but hey, what can ya do. I now know why spy cam shots are always blurry and video is shaky.

I did not see the physical keyboard button when I had my time with the device, though I am sure it works fine. I did have the same difficult time scrolling (actually in this video, I don't think he actually got it to scroll, but kept saying how fast it was. No comment there). Overall it was very lethargic and a challenge to use. Speaking of which, when in Windows 7 mode, it is impossible to do anything on screen as it is still using the mouse metaphor and there is a cursor on the screen; you don't get the ease of use or speediness you get with iOS on iPad.

Again, these are my impressions of the prototype from a few months ago. Hardware changes, software changes and who knows what the final product will look like if it ever ships, but HP sure doesn't appear like they are going to let this one go...

Video after the break.

Android tablet shown off running (and crashing) Flash

By Jeremy, Wednesday, May 5, 2010 a 10:11 pm

An Android-based tablet was captured on video running Flash -- or should we say trying to run Flash -- before it crashes:

blockquote>"Here's a quick and dirty hands-on video review of the Android multi-touch tablet prototype (Android ipad). Yes, it does Adobe flash and air well."

Ironically, you can hear the cameraman boast how he's happy he did not purchase an iPad just as he goes to YouTube and the tablet crashes.

(For the record, after watching this video I am perfectly content with my iPad purchase.)

In fairness, this is beta software on a beta device, and it will no doubt improve as they throw time, money, and hardware at it. Then again, it's 2010 and Apple's had YouTube on the iPhone since 2007, and now have it on the iPad (running cool to the touch with 10 hours of battery life).

Is Adobe proving Steve Jobs right?

Video after the break!

[Daring Fireball]

UPDATED: RIM CEO: No market for iPad, iPhone not popular

By Rene Ritchie, Friday, Apr 16, 2010 a 6:09 pm

UPDATE: TiPb was sent a transcript of the TD Newcrest Technology Conference, including the comments by RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridi, so here they are in their entirety. On tablets:

Well. The trends we’ve been following have been an -- there’s been, over the last three to four years, organizations have discovered the value of smartphones clearly, and that’s why we’re here, and that’s what we’re talking. And smartphones are always starting to space the need for laptops, but not all laptops, and not all needs. And I know that there are risks organizations that ask their customers when they join, when get hired, do you want a smartphone or a laptop very few get the opportunity to have both. So I think that’s an important thing, those are differentiated.

So the question you have ask yourself is when it comes to tablet, what market or what opportunities still it’s solving, what problem is it solving, and is it just a replacement laptop. I think that’s a difficult one to judge. But I think again if you look at what’s happening with smartphones are getting bigger, screens are getting bigger and getting more powerful and faster CPUs, more memory, we go in the 4G networks, we’ve got Wi-Fi, it’s just got everything, the operating systems are becoming more, more powerful, the tools are becoming more, more powerful, more applications are being developed, and are being used in more and more both enterprise and consumer spaces. So, I think at this point if you have to take the whole thing into consideration, you can’t say what’s the market for tablets in exclusion of the other devices, you have to put the whole thing together and I don’t think it’s that clear yet.

On touchscreen phones: