So you've actually seen all of the features that Android 3 will bring once it is released? Including the switch that disables those widgets if you don't like them? ;-)
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What is the big deal about honeycomb
- Thread starter Pinnoks
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So you've actually seen all of the features that Android 3 will bring once it is released? Including the switch that disables those widgets if you don't like them? ;-)
Like I said, that's not indicative of real world performance (who plays quake 3 while backgrounding an HD video?) That's just strutting the SoC's prowess. What users care about is single app 3D performance and UI fluidity. Both are good on the iPad and with games like Infinity Blade which do not exist on competing platforms, it's the iPad who is still ahead.
When the xoom and playbook finally release, the iPad 2 may already have or will be close to doing so so as to not matter. It has yet to be seen which SoC they use, but I highly doubt it will be a plain old A4 again.
Let's also see where the others stack up in battery life. Performance don't mean jack if it is out of juice.
Er, no, the iPhone has only been app based for the last 3 generations, the app store was only launched when the 3G came out.
The iPad2 is very much like the Playbook and the Xoom in that all three, at the moment, are unrealeased, untested in the real world concepts. Until that changes, it will not be possible to determine which is better.
I would hope it did, the guys at RIM have had nearly a year to work on copying the iPad. Thing is, the way the rumour mill is going now, it won't be on the market against the iPad, it will be up against the iPad2, and Apple have a track record of raising the bar a lot just as the competition begins to catch up.
Vapourware always looks brilliant. Bring the product to market and then we'll see how good it really is.
The only details of the iPad 2 that appear to have been leaked are the shape of the back plate. I can't say I have the same faith that you do in the importance of back-plate shape as a determining factor of success of tablet computing devices.
I personally don't have a great deal of faith in either of these products as being the ones to capture the market. The reason is simple: tecnology moves fast. The market for the tablet was defined by the iPad, but as a first generation device in a new market niche, it is clearly going to get some things right and others wrong. A company with Apple's history of product design is almost certain not to put out an iPad 2 that is just an iPad with a few detail improvements and a bit of a speed bump. If that had been the case, we would all be listening to our music on Zunes. The Xoom and the Playbook will be up against the iPad 2, and will need to predict the way the market is developing so that they offer a clear advantage over that product, not the first gen iPad. From the way things look, I remain to be convinced that they have what it takes.
To those of you comparing iPad to PlayBook/Xoom:
a) You do realize that these devices aren't even on the market yet
b) The iPad has been out for almost a year, thus the hardware is from last year, the PlayBook/Xoom are using newer parts
c) The PlayBook and Xoom do not have the app base the iPad does and probably won't for quite some time (if they even take off)
d) Battery life - has anyone come close to matching Apple? (haven't read up on it for the Xoom, but it looks like it might seriously suck on the PlayBook, degrading its usefuleness as a mobile device - QNX was designed for always on systems, I'm interested in seeing if RIM has some sort of battery management implemented to maximize the life)
e) Screen - see a
f) RAM and processor - see a
How about you all wait for the next release of iOS (assuming it comes with the release of the iPad) and the actual release of iPad 2 before bickering about the iPad getting "raped".
a) You do realize that these devices aren't even on the market yet
b) The iPad has been out for almost a year, thus the hardware is from last year, the PlayBook/Xoom are using newer parts
c) The PlayBook and Xoom do not have the app base the iPad does and probably won't for quite some time (if they even take off)
d) Battery life - has anyone come close to matching Apple? (haven't read up on it for the Xoom, but it looks like it might seriously suck on the PlayBook, degrading its usefuleness as a mobile device - QNX was designed for always on systems, I'm interested in seeing if RIM has some sort of battery management implemented to maximize the life)
e) Screen - see a
f) RAM and processor - see a
How about you all wait for the next release of iOS (assuming it comes with the release of the iPad) and the actual release of iPad 2 before bickering about the iPad getting "raped".
You must be kidding. Are you really saying that BlackBerry Tablet OS is a copy of iOS?
Have you even watched any video of PlayBook running in real time?
So are you saying that iOS has a gesture-based multi-task, that iOS shows thumbnails in real-time of running apps, that iOS let's you change between fullscreen apps with gestures?
It's incredible how appletards can only recognize things that favors Apple.
It's incredible how the other companies only copy Apple, but Apple never copies the other companies.
It's incredible that nobody talks about how the App Store and Mac App Store copied Linux repository systems.
It's incredible how everybody still talk BS like "Xoom and PlayBook aren't released yet", but they just forget that every video in YouTube show the prototypes running in real-time, not teaser promotional videos. If a prototype works that way, what could make it work differently after their launch?
Everything is incredible in this forum.
It's a religion, something that you can't deny or whatever.
I really, really enjoy my ipad. I spend so much less time on my desktop, and the ipad does so many things so very well (okay except for that flash thing... let's don't go there). It truly has changed the way I interact with the web, email, calendars, books, media/movies/tv.
I was though, very impressed with the Honeycomb demo at CES. Assuming all is as advertised, there were some very compelling features.
While I haven't been thrilled with widgets on my mac desktop, I can say that they seem useful to me on a tablet. There is plenty of data i regularly want to scan (weather, email and news, for example) the notion of that data being there at a glance seems useful on the tablet. I can't say why exactly it is not as compelling on my mac desktop, maybe because I have the same info on my igoogle home page, and my browser is always there on my desktop. Not so on my ipad. Also, Mossberg or someone such pointed out that the lock-screen could be showing something useful all the time and widgets seem a natural candidate there (although I am not sure Honeycomb supports a more "informative" lock screen running widgets.)
Tabbed browsing is an absolute must for me and hopefully it will show up soon on the ipad. I actually find Apple's scheme of page switching by shoving the old page into the background a little cumbersome to use. I can never really tell from the thumbnails and my bad eyesight which page is which... (okay, with a little looking i can tell). But tabs seem to make much more sense to me.
And finally, the geek (or ahem, computer professional) in me recognizes that the apple's multi-tasking seems a little clumsy (or sure, you can say it has more to do with simplicity... a true apple virtue). It seems to me that a more sophisticated scheme is needed to support things like widgets. I get the impression that apple's multi-tasking is sort of a fifo model with a limited number of slots. It almost feels like it was "hacked" on top of the original iOS. Yes, this is sort of a vague, hand-waving call. But I can believe the notion of an OS from scratch supporting multitasking better than having it "bolted on". Has Android had multitasking from the beginning?
That said, I can imagine that I will not give up my ipad in favor of anything else for the next few years. It has so radically changed the way I "compute" and it seems to me the Android features while nice would not be enough to make me switch. I can hope though, that the ipad incorporates a few of these features in the near future.
I was though, very impressed with the Honeycomb demo at CES. Assuming all is as advertised, there were some very compelling features.
While I haven't been thrilled with widgets on my mac desktop, I can say that they seem useful to me on a tablet. There is plenty of data i regularly want to scan (weather, email and news, for example) the notion of that data being there at a glance seems useful on the tablet. I can't say why exactly it is not as compelling on my mac desktop, maybe because I have the same info on my igoogle home page, and my browser is always there on my desktop. Not so on my ipad. Also, Mossberg or someone such pointed out that the lock-screen could be showing something useful all the time and widgets seem a natural candidate there (although I am not sure Honeycomb supports a more "informative" lock screen running widgets.)
Tabbed browsing is an absolute must for me and hopefully it will show up soon on the ipad. I actually find Apple's scheme of page switching by shoving the old page into the background a little cumbersome to use. I can never really tell from the thumbnails and my bad eyesight which page is which... (okay, with a little looking i can tell). But tabs seem to make much more sense to me.
And finally, the geek (or ahem, computer professional) in me recognizes that the apple's multi-tasking seems a little clumsy (or sure, you can say it has more to do with simplicity... a true apple virtue). It seems to me that a more sophisticated scheme is needed to support things like widgets. I get the impression that apple's multi-tasking is sort of a fifo model with a limited number of slots. It almost feels like it was "hacked" on top of the original iOS. Yes, this is sort of a vague, hand-waving call. But I can believe the notion of an OS from scratch supporting multitasking better than having it "bolted on". Has Android had multitasking from the beginning?
That said, I can imagine that I will not give up my ipad in favor of anything else for the next few years. It has so radically changed the way I "compute" and it seems to me the Android features while nice would not be enough to make me switch. I can hope though, that the ipad incorporates a few of these features in the near future.
I'm quite happy with my Android phone, but I like having the iPad as my tablet. That way I can balance out what is missing from one system with the other. Things that would stop me from moving to Android only is that the Marketplace (in my opinion) is not as well supported as the App Store and I feel Android devices have a cheaper build or 'feel' than Apple devices.
It's all a matter of opinion of course. I think both Android and iOS are great.
It's all a matter of opinion of course. I think both Android and iOS are great.
Don't be a moron. Every independent hands on review by analysts has said those demos are faked and the real things are jumpy and laggy just using web pages. Recognize a demo for what it is.
How is this faked? He's using it live.
Or are you thinking it's just a touch screen only which is connected to a PC which is actually doing the work underneath the cabinet and feeding it back to the tablet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YiXlkiq8Y0
I have yet to read that..ONE demo was a video, but Ive not read anything about honeycomb being laggy, and there are other demos out there that show it is bu-bu-butter
How is this a bad thing? Whatever tablet I use, I don't want it to be a computer - I want it to be a productivity tool. If there's a task that needs doing, I want there to be an app for it!
Keep denying facts. Keep your iPad while others get better things.
The truth is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YiXlkiq8Y0
If you think this is fake, then you deserve your iPad.
I watched that video. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be impressed with. There was some interesting transitions between apps, and it simulated a desktop, but that's irrelevant to me. I don't see what I can do with it that I can't do with the current iPad. The guy speaking used his patter to slow down his interaction with the device, so it's not like he was pushing it very hard. Nobody will use a tablet in that kind of slow, measured, deliberate way in everyday use. Please enlighten me as to what I should be impressed with (I'm serious).
I don't understand why you are mentioning the BlackBerry PlayBook in what appears to be a defense of your earlier statement that Honeycomb will provide "better 3D performance" than does the iPad or iOS. The PlayBook doesn't run Android or Honeycomb. Furthermore, it should be noted that at last week's CES there were no on-floor demonstrations of Honeycomb applications actually running on the Motorola Xoom or any other tablet. The demos and hands-on provided by Motorola were just movies showing what the Honeycomb experience might/should look like.
In any case, we should fully expect that new hardware (and, as yet, unreleased hardware) will indeed be faster than last year's iPad. But, it's almost a given that a new and improved version of the iPad will be released before any of the Honeycomb products reach critical mass in the marketplace. You can also be certain that the next iPad be faster than the original. If Apple uses a dual-core ARM in the next iPad/iPhone it will likely be just as fast as what is being used in the Xoom or PlayBook. Frankly, however, I'm not certain whether Apple will even go to dual core this year. It's possible that they will just use a single-core ARM Cortex-A9-based system with improved graphics but with much better battery life than either the Xoom or PlayBook.
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Both Honeycomb/Xoom and the Playbook looks impressive. It ups the UI to a whole new level. Everything looks futuristic, compared to the cartoonish iOS. I may switch it up and really consider where to go for my next tablet purchase. When I first saw the iPad, I just thought "Oh look, they made everything in the iPhone on a bigger screen". But these two new tablets looks completely different than their mobile OS counter parts and I can't wait to get my hands on it.
At the moment all three - Xoom+HC; PB; iPad2 - are vaporware.
Apple iPad v1 (in use)
+ Apps, apps and more apps in the App Store.
+ Stable OS
+ AWESOME BATTERY
+ 10 inch screen
+ Apple Brand
+ It works and works well.
+ Established in the marketplace with great first entry
+ Did I mention awesome battery?
- Multi task and notifications are average
- Safari needs tabs
- Home screen under used.
- Search screen kind of a waste.
-
- iOS getting a bit old. Needs a revamp.
Google HC (observations only)
+ Had a year to check out what works with the iOS and what doesn't.
+ dedicated Tablet OS
+ Seems fast, smooth and responsive.
+ Looks good
+ Widgets
+ Multi tasking and notifications taken to the next level
- 3D book app looks terrible
- Hideable on screen controls on a 7" screen. Mmm...
- Not dedicated to one brand so could work well on some machine and crap on others.
RIM PlayBook
It will be less popular than Apple's iPad.
Personally I didn't like the looks of it.
In the end it's up to other companies to come in and wow the consumer to move them away from an already great product that will soon be even better at a great price point. HC had better be good otherwise it could be Game Over before it even starts - just as it was with MP3 players. I'm hoping HC can keep Apple on their toes.
Apple iPad v1 (in use)
+ Apps, apps and more apps in the App Store.
+ Stable OS
+ AWESOME BATTERY
+ 10 inch screen
+ Apple Brand
+ It works and works well.
+ Established in the marketplace with great first entry
+ Did I mention awesome battery?
- Multi task and notifications are average
- Safari needs tabs
- Home screen under used.
- Search screen kind of a waste.
-
- iOS getting a bit old. Needs a revamp.
Google HC (observations only)
+ Had a year to check out what works with the iOS and what doesn't.
+ dedicated Tablet OS
+ Seems fast, smooth and responsive.
+ Looks good
+ Widgets
+ Multi tasking and notifications taken to the next level
- 3D book app looks terrible
- Hideable on screen controls on a 7" screen. Mmm...
- Not dedicated to one brand so could work well on some machine and crap on others.
RIM PlayBook
It will be less popular than Apple's iPad.
Personally I didn't like the looks of it.
In the end it's up to other companies to come in and wow the consumer to move them away from an already great product that will soon be even better at a great price point. HC had better be good otherwise it could be Game Over before it even starts - just as it was with MP3 players. I'm hoping HC can keep Apple on their toes.
you're logic breaks down for a couple of reasons.
First honeycomb is not out. Those flashy demos we saw at CES were video, like of the motorola xoom. We have no idea about the success failure of these tablets because they're not for sale yet.
honeycomb is rumored to need a dual core processor, any tablet will look like its out performing the iPad if it used a dual core processor, at least for the first couple of hours, then the battery will die.
android has some advantages, iOS has other advantages, but you state that iPad is not the best tablet anymore because of the simple fact those tablets are not available yet.
The problem is that both the Xoom and the Playbook sport a dual core cortex A9 --- but the Xoom demo can't multitask like the Playbook. The Xoom's youtube app wasn't playing a video in the background, nor was the video game running in the background... The same dual core cortex A9 has the CPU power in the Playbook playing a high-def video in the backgound, run a browser on the youtube site and playing a youtube video in the background, run a quake demo in the background and then you have some other app running in the foreground.
I'm not saying that RIM have cloned (or attempted to clone) iOS, but the iPad has been on the market for nearly a year, and in that time they have been in a position to study it carefully to examine how it behaves and incorporate ideas from it (and rectify perceived shortcomings of it) into their design. Given this, I would be very surprised if their product did not look better than the first gen iPad. But by the time it comes to market, the battle won't be with the first gen iPad, it will be with the second gen iPad.
While all these features look great on a youtube video, the total ownership experience is about more than that. There is a good reason iOS does not support full computer-style multi tasking: it kills the battery and takes up system resources. A tablet will have to find the right balance of user features, weight, battery life, cost and operating temperature. A single youtube video will only tell you about (some) user features, it gives no information about these other aspects, and they are just as important.
It's incredible how the computer geeks on this forum completley fail to understand the balance required of product design. Apple, with the iPad, chose a certain design philosophy, namely to keep the device light weight, simple to use and maximise battery life. The guys at Google and RIM are differentiating their products by bringing their funcitonality closer to that of a full computer, but in achieving this they will have to make certain other design compromises. It might be price point, it might be weight, it might be battery life.
I would have to ask, though, if your idea of an ideal mobile computing device is something heavy, with limited battery life, that runs hot, that can run smooth 3D graphics and full multitasking, are you sure a tablet is the right device for you? Perhaps you'd be happier with a full spec laptop.
I have an android phone and an iPad. The android phone has the latest and greatest OS, and it is not bad. Not as smooth or organized as the iPads OS. The battery dies incredibly fast and there are viruses already being placed in apps. I hope the new OS is as good as the angry nerds claim it is, because I need my battery to last longer on my cell phone.
