Tablet wars: The Samsung strikes back

[richlee111]

Like I was discussing with my co-worker yesterday about the Tablet market, its not just how many you sell, but how many ends up being sold then returned within the first 30 days. IMO, this is key metric for measuring the success of how well received a tablet becomes.

So to Samsung, Blackberry, and HP: BRING IT

 

[spinedoc77]

I welcome any and all competition as it only benefits us the consumer

This about sums it up. I am dying to see what Apple comes up with next year now that the competition has heated up. Even iOS5 should bring some interesting changes. Lack of competition is why Apple chose such anemic upgrades this time around, they are usually a year ahead of the competition but it looks like that lead time is shortening.

 

[DeathChill]

They'll switch over to the android platform as they have for android phones.

I think you mean that they will make applications for the Android Market in addition to the iOS App Store. I don't know of many (if any) developers who have completely switched, especially considering the disparity between sales on the two sides (in Apple's favor).

I also think that iOS still has the advantage here; I don't know of too many "hit" Android only applications that could also be run on iOS, e.g. not a launcher or emulator. I mean, honestly, every new app I hear about that is the new 'thing' generally begin on iOS and later add Android.

I also don't think that tablets will play out the way smartphones have.

 

[weespeed]

What surprises me in the turnaround Samsung was able to pull. The iPad2 was unveiled less than a month ago, Samsung said "OH POOP" redesigned their tablet, and is already showing it off. Now they are ready to release it to the public (assuming no delays) in less than 3 months. Impressive.

This summer is going to be crazy. Tab, TouchPad, Playbook, and iOS5. Battle for the ages.

I think Samsung had this in the pipeline. But for a 2012 release.
My guess is that they built the original tab closer to the iPad 1 size but with better specs, assuming APPLE was going to do the same with iPad2.

But when iPad 2 came out, they were like "Damn they beat us to it and what we have isn't good enough to release now. We need to release our future model now."

It seems logical to me. No way they can design and test hardware in that short of a time. It's like intel releasing their incremental upgrades to processors. They have those built and ready to go several years out and release slowly.

Anyways just an opinion.

 

[CP123]

The whole point of Android is diversity of devices

Where did you get this from? Exactly what devices do Google make? The whole point of Android is to get the OS on as many phones as possible so that they can sell ads or the user's info.

Diversity of devices? Stop drinking the Kool-Aid.

 

[lilo777]

Where did you get this from? Exactly what devices do Google make? The whole point of Android is to get the OS on as many phones as possible so that they can sell ads or the user's info.

Diversity of devices? Stop drinking the Kool-Aid.

Do you even understand what you just said? You just rephrased the original point. Google trying "to get the OS on as many phones as possible" means that "The whole point of Android is diversity of devices". I know,, no Kool-Aid in iOS ecosystem

 

[CP123]

Do you even understand what you just said? You just rephrased the original point. Google trying "to get the OS on as many phones as possible" means that "The whole point of Android is diversity of devices". I know,, no Kool-Aid in iOS ecosystem

I know exactly what I'm saying. First off, there is no Android point. There is a Google point. If the poster wants to say that a good thing about the Android OS is that it is on more phones than the iOS, then cool. But the whole point of the Android OS is to give the users a good phone experience, same as iOS. There is no Android - iOS war. That's a silly my phone system is better than yours argument.

 

[hcho3]

Galaxy Tab was so slow...

The demo of galaxy Tab 8.9 was slow as hell and it was laggy as hell.

They got until June? It's end of March right now, so that gives them about 2 months because they have to make these units about 3-4 weeks for just production. So, that just leaves them about less than 1 month and a half to build. That's about 45-50 days for Galaxy tabs.

Jesus... I would never ever want a tablet that slow.

 

[Ava's Meeshee]

Make no mistake, these are tablet wars. Apple is feeling the heat (early release) and the other manufacturers are feeling the heat (Samsung's redesign to make it thinner).

The tablet war exist in the minds of misguided manufacturers (and internet commentators who view Apple as a rival sports team). Tablets have existed for 10 years before the iPad with no consumer interest. Do you think there was some external market shift that the iPad's release coincided with, or are tablets suddenly popular only in the sense that iPads are really popular and they happen to be tablets (i.e., not in general).

 

[shen]

Galaxy Tab was so slow...

The demo of galaxy Tab 8.9 was slow as hell and it was laggy as hell.

They got until June? It's end of March right now, so that gives them about 2 months because they have to make these units about 3-4 weeks for just production. So, that just leaves them about less than 1 month and a half to build. That's about 45-50 days for Galaxy tabs.

This is not true. They only need to make them for 4 hours not 4 weeks. The 87 tablets they will sell can be made in just a few hours, no sweat.

 

[Ava's Meeshee]

I especially like the part about it being a total brick that won't power on



But yeah, competition is good for everyone.

"Competition" doesn't mean a glut of unwanted copycats. The waste resulting from so many rushes to the non-existent tablet market is terrible for everyone.

 

[DiamondMac]

I assumed when these tablets came out that they would be with great data plans that rocked the iPad data plans for competition purposes.

Well, not only are they in themselves terrible but WORSE in some tablets

I know, the tablet companies dont make the data plans but ISP's. I just figured that maybe the tablets would put pressure on them for some initial plans.

DOA with these plans, imo

 

[radiohead14]

no mention in the specs if the revised Galaxy Tab 10.1 will have Tegra 2 like the original version. i wonder if Samsung will bring in their own Exynos 4210, hence why the prototype models were not turned on, as this would mean a complete redesign. that's quite a task to complete within 2 months! there hasn't been enough test results to compare the two tho, so i think it's too early to tell which SoC is better

 

[Justin Luck]

I had my heart set on an iPad 2. But after finally having the opportunity to try one out at Best Buy, I quickly realized that the screen ppi is too low for my eyesight. I am used to reading small text on my iPod Touch 4th Gen, so it was a shock to my eyes when looking at the iPad screen. You are basically forced to hold the screen at least 18" away from your eyes to keep everything readable without getting a headache. Then I walked over to the Xoom. The display model had some serious issues. I couldn't open the Books application or even switch to portrait mode (broken accelerometer?). But one thing that was apparent to me was how much more pleasant text looked with the higher ppi. It was much more akin to reading on the iPod Touch. For this reason alone, I think I will wait to see if Samsung can polish up their 8.9 tablet which will have the next best thing to a "retina display".

 

[shen]

it was a shock to my eyes when looking at the iPad screen. You are basically forced to hold the screen at least 18" away from your eyes to keep everything readable without getting a headache.

You should see a doctor, your eyes have locked at about 12x to 15x zoom and you need a firmware flash to clear it up. Have you also noticed that all the cars on the road are right in your lap rather than out on the road? Same issue.

Another possibility is that you are just old.

 

[Justin Luck]

Haha, very funny. Maybe my eyes are actually too good? The screen door effect irritates my eyes (dark grid lines between the pixels). The Xoom screen looked much better in this regard, so I am hoping Samsung can pull through and fix what is currently slow and buggy software.

 

[Blacklabel34]

competition only moves things forward

 

[blackNBUK]

competition only moves things forward

I'm not sure that I can agree with that.

Look at the console market at the end of the PS2/Xbox generation, the result of Sony and Microsoft competing strongly was that they ended up targeting a pretty narrow form of gaming. If you were a hardcore gamer then things were great but it took Nintendo thinking differently and producing the Wii to engage the much wider casual gaming market. Was what Nintendo did competition? Yes, I suppose it has to be but it was a very different form of competition to the battle that Sony and Microsoft were engaged in.

 

[Justin Luck]

The N64 was the last Nintendo console I enjoyed and that was mainly playing Mario 64. Of course, I was pretty much done with consoles at that point anyway, with a brief interlude with the Xbox 360 that didn't last long with the horrendously sounding DVD drive and the RROD.

 

[shen]

Haha, very funny. Maybe my eyes are actually too good? The screen door effect irritates my eyes (dark grid lines between the pixels). The Xoom screen looked much better in this regard, so I am hoping Samsung can pull through and fix what is currently slow and buggy software.

Two things....

First, i still prefer the iPad screen, but the xoom screen looks pretty good too. In fact a lot of the xoom hardware looks good, shame the software has (the couple of times i tested it) to be some of the worst junk ever made. I really dislike it. Might just be personal, and if you like it after they fix the UI lag, you should grab one. I just didn't like it at all. Kinda the same way i used to prefer KDE to gnome on my linux box.

Anyway.

Second, you correctly identified lame humor and didn't fly off the handle like an idiot. This is not allowed here. 99% of people who talk about non-apple products here are pathetic trolls. Your proper response is to tell me i am a fanboy and report me. Your incorrect behavior has been noted, you will be reported.

 

[ravenas]

I had a chance to go examine some Android tablets at Best Buy today side-by-side with the iPad2. Some idiot customer changed the passcode on the Xoom (and the more idiotic Best Buy staff could/would not do anything to fix it) so all I could examine was the form factor. I played around with the 7" Galaxy Tab more to see how the apps worked, responsiveness, etc.

The 7" is running an older OS and has an older processor, but I came away today even more convinced there's an Android tablet in my future this summer.

Had an interesting perception while holding the Xoom and iPad2. iPad2 actually felt less comfortable in my hands. I don't know if it was the sharpness of the thin edge or the weight/texture of the metal backing. It just felt funky to hold. The Xoom actually felt better, albeit slightly heavier.

I do like the Google integration of the Android tabs. I'm a heavy Google user for mail, calendar, voice/contacts so that's a plus. iPad1 has been good as far as importing my Gmail, contacts and calendar. I also have some GVoice apps to manage the texting and voicemails.

I did have a Xoom WiFi pre-order at Amazon but canceled as soon as the new Samsung models were announced. (And my iPad2 finally shipped.) I'm thinking to wait until summer and then compare/contrast for the best Android tablet on the market.

One thing that I liked about the Galaxy Tabs vs Xoom was the charging/sync cable. Xoom has a separate AC charger and mini-USB sync. Galaxy Tab is a combined cable. That simplicity is something I like about the iPad and have grown accustomed to. Motorola needs to update their hardware for that.

Above all I like to see the growth of the tablet industry. There are things about Android that are much more usable for Google users over iOS, but iOS has a handy content delivery system with iTunes. If one can afford it, I can see both platforms being good.

I also like the size of the 7" tab. It felt like something I could more easily slip into my purse while the iPad requires a separate bag. Makes me wish Jobs wasn't so dead set against exploring other form factors.