I guess I should have said the average consumer. Of course nerds like us care about specs - that's why we make threads on the matter.
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Xoom $800?
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The Reuters article doesn't explicitly say that the WiFi version will be 32Gb. Have you seen some more information somewhere else? If $600 referred to a 16Gb version that would make more sense of the $200 gap in pricing.
I just don't see how the addition of widgets suddenly makes Honeycomb a productive, 'desktop' environment. Widgets might be convienent for seeing glance-able information but if you want to do anything beyond the absolute basics you'll be opening up the full App, just like on an iPad.
Balanced again this is the fact that the iPad has a year's worth of business applications already written and a lot of companies already either deploying or evaluating the iPad. It's going to take a while before Android starts to overcome this momentum.
You might be right I guess well find out. But that won't be so bad, with the streaming and music you can get from Pandora etc. 16g will probably be enough for most of us.
Either way, I just want more final numbers already. And that goes for Apple too. Geez.
I don't think this psychology is unique to Apple fans by any means. In reality, these are just companies competing for our dollars. It's nice to think that one of them is more special -- however, the only thing I really credit Apple for is setting a vision, executing against it like crazy, and reaping huge rewards.
Apple (and its competitors) will have its failures, they should if they are taking enough risk. Now companies who truly lack vision and the ability to execute will go away eventually.
It looks like my earlier speculation was wrong. Engadget linked to the device specs and the WiFi version does have the full 32Gb of memory. This does rather beg the question, if Motorala can match Apple pricing on the WiFi model why can't they match it on the 3G model? Is future upgradeability to 4G really worth an extra 10% on the cost of the device?
That's what Motorola's spec page says
Yay......
That's good, I was a bit miffed that to get GPS on the iPad you had to pay a LOT extra and get the 3G model.
Not saying I will get a Xoom, but it's a nice touch that they have not removed it on their cheaper model.
...which could end up pushing Apple to include a GPS chip in the next-generation Wi-Fi iPad. Hey, competition is good.Yay......
That's good, I was a bit miffed that to get GPS on the iPad you had to pay a LOT extra and get the 3G model.
Not saying I will get a Xoom, but it's a nice touch that they have not removed it on their cheaper model.
...which could end up pushing Apple to include a GPS chip in the next-generation Wi-Fi iPad. Hey, competition is good.
Indeed however there are 2 point here on this matter:
1: Many here say Apple do what they want and don't care what anyone else does, I don't actually believe this for an instant, but there you go
2: Apple did not know Motorola would include GPS in their WiFi model when the iPad2 specs were set in stone many months ago, so it's too late now anyway.
Perhaps GPS has been included, but knowing Apple it won't be. They would use the excuse it would confuse customers, as iPad1 3G only had GPS, so people would not understand if they changed this policy for iPad2.
But hey, I can hope
Not many more weeks till we are either incredibly excited and over the moon with the new model, or all sitting down saying to ourselves, "What, I waited a whole year for THAT !!!
"Not long now, either way.
So the Xoom uses satellite signal GPS? Because that is not what the iPad uses, IYRC. The reason the wifi iPad lacks GPS is because it lacks the GSM transceiver needed to do the AGPS triangulation on cell towers. The only chip "cut out" of the wifi iPad is the GSM chip.
Are you sure you are right?
So if you take your 3G iPad away from everything, and out of range of multiple cell towers, the GPS on the iPad won'r work as it's not true GPS as you get in a car SatNav unit?
The guy at BestBuy, assuming he was not full of beans, told me the AGPS does not even function unless you ave active 3G service.
Note that the iPad spec page, under "Location" says "Assisted GPS (WI-Fi+3G only)". You tell me what "Assisted" means.
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The BestBuy guy was wrong, here is Apple's locations services on iPad page. I think that it makes it clear that the iPad does use GPS satellites to determine your position. "Assisted GPS" isn't a great term because different people use it in different ways. In the iPad's case it uses WiFi and cellular data to make getting a first fix on your location quicker, however your exact location is determined by real GPS.
The reason that the WiFi iPad doesn't have GPS is that the GPS chip is on the same daughterboard as the 3G chips. I don't know why Apple choose to do it that way but my guess would be a combination of cutting costs for the WiFi version and the fact that the Maps App doesn't work without a data connection.
Probably the former. While Google Maps would not work without data connection, other apps would (those that store maps locally). Most likely, as they often do, Apple just wanted to have reasonable entry price and then charge through the nose for critical options. Most laptops (especially MBAs) are a good example of this strategy.
Here is a video at Boy Genius report on the Xoom.
http://www.bgr.com/2011/02/16/hands-on-with-the-motorola-xoom-video/
http://www.bgr.com/2011/02/16/hands-on-with-the-motorola-xoom-video/
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Best Buy guy is full of beans. The ipad GPS works just fine without a 3G data subscription and with Cellular Data: Off. (Wifi off too).
It looks great!!!
It does look pretty slick. Geez, I wanted to wait until I read how it performs in 4G LTE. I don't think I'll be able to wait that long. The data plans don't look too bad either. 1GB for $20/mo, 3GB for $35, 5GB for $50, 10GB for $80. I have the unlimited plan on AT&T but I've never exceeded 2GB.
Please note that there's no such thing as "AGPS triangulation on cell towers." GPS only means using GPS satellites. Assisted-GPS means doing that with some assistance with the GPS data or GPS calculations.
A-GPS in the case of the iPhone and iPad means quickly downloading current satellite information from an assistance server on the internet, instead of slowly reading it from the satellites themselves.
That's it. No cell or WiFi radios are needed with A-GPS, except as a means to contact the assistance server. (Optionally, a cell id can be sent with the assistance request so only local data is returned, but this is not required.)
Cell id locating (I don't think it uses triangulation) is a separate method, as is WiFi locating. Using those other methods in addition to A-GPS is actually called using a "hybrid" system.
Apple's original misleading AGPS statements caused this whole misconception. They quickly corrected them, but the longterm damage was done. The internet has a long memory with mistakes.
Most likely. Many broadband chips come with a GPS receiver built-in these days.
Yep. Although as it turns out, GPS is handy with other WiFi-only tablets, especially with standalone nav or geolocating apps.
Return it after week of trying, no way I will keep this thing instead of iPad2 (which I am getting next week
). Clumsy OS, worse screen response on fingers, no Netflix/Skype video, bugs in all apps I tried even made by CNN.