NetbookTech

Wait a second.. didn’t someone already kill this device? Oh.. whoops. it’s not the HP Slate but rather the newly announced MSI Wind-Pad – a new Windows 7 powered tablet running on rather mundane netbook specs.

Features of the Wind-Pad include a 10 inch 1024 x 600 capacitive touch-screen display, an Intel Atom processor clocked at 1.66GHz, 2GB of RAM, a 32 GB SSD, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, USB and HDMI ports, and an 8 hour battery life.

Unfortunately the Wind-Pad comes bundled with Windows 7 although MSI tries to alleviate things with their own customized user interface. The problem is – Windows 7 performance is barely adequate on the Atom processor. Throw in touch features, and you’ll probably want to run to the Apple iPad. The Wind-Pad is probably better served with an Android OS – so someone start hacking the tablet once it comes out ok?

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Totally missed this press release from the end of last week. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) and Marvell have agreed to jointly develop a family of next-generation OLPC XO tablet computers based on the Marvell Moby reference design. According to the press release, the new partnership will enable a new range of educational tablets aimed at schools in both the U.S. and in developing markets around the world.

The new family of XO tablets will feature additions and changes based on feedback from over 2 million children and families around the world that are using the current XO laptop. Some improvements planned for the XO tablet include the ability to operate off of one watt of power, and a multi-lingual soft keyboard with touch feedback.

Other features of the Moby platform include:

• Enables educators and users to create their own content and learn to read, write, and create their own education programs and share these experiences via the mesh network
• An application to directly access more than 2 million free books available via the Internet
• Powered by Marvell ARMADA 610 Application Processor
• 1080p full HD encode/decode
• Power-efficient 802.11n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connectivity
• 3D graphics
• Support for multiple software standards including full Adobe Flash, Android, Windows Mobile, and Ubuntu Linux
• Built-in camera for live video conferencing
• Multiple simultaneous viewing screens
• Marvell 11n Mobile Hotspot allows Wi-Fi access with support for up to 8 concurrent users connected to the Internet via a cellular broadband connection

Don’t expect Marvell to be selling the tablets directly to consumers. The company is essentially making a reference design based around the ARMADA processor and then working with respective OEMs and ODMs to help design, manufacture, and ultimately sell their respective tablets.

Although no firm dates have been announced as of yet, Marvell expects something to reach the market by the Fall of this year.

You can find out more about the XO Tablet and Marvell Moby Technology by heading over to http://www.mobylize.org/.

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[Reprinted from Krunker.com]

TechCrunch is reporting that HP has supposedly killed off the HP Slate device originally intended for a mid-year product launch.

First announced at CES 2010, the Slate was supposed to usher in a new era of Windows 7-based tablet PCs. Unfortunately as the months went by, folks in the media began slamming the Slate as nothing more than a keyboard-less netbook. Yes, the Atom processor on the inside certainly didn’t help but let’s face it – no matter how touch-enhanced Windows 7 is, the use interface and the performance just wasn’t up to snuff – especially in light of the recent launch of the Apple iPad.

Thus if this rumor is indeed true, HP probably did itself a favor by halting the product before it hit full production thereby saving millions of dollars and of course additional bad press.

In addition, Wednesday’s purchase of Palm signaled a new direction for HP’s mobile product offerings. Everything from netbooks to smartphones gets affected by this purchase so it’s not hard to imagine the company going back to the drawing board with the Slate – especially in light of the availability of the webOS plaform. OR – HP could opt for Android similar to what Dell is doing with their upcoming Streak product line.

Whatever the case might be, it’s pretty clear that a Windows 7 powered tablet comparable to the iPad won’t be coming to a home near you anytime soon.

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Another entrant into the reviving market of tablets and slates this year will be OpenPeak’s new OpenTablet 7 which officially debuted yesterday at  the Mobile World Congress.

Powered by the upcoming Intel Moorestown Atom platform (a SoC chip designed for small devices such as smartphones and tablets), the OpenTablet 7 features a 7 inch multi-touch enabled TFT LCD display with LED backlighting, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, HDMI output, and dual cameras for capturing video and still images. 

On the stats side, OpenTablet 7 measures 9 x 5 x 0.59 inches and weighs a mere 1.15 pounds – comparable to the iPad although it does have a smaller display than the iPad.

Other notable specs include:

• Support for 802.11 b/g/n
• WWAN connectivity support
• USB interface
• microSD slot to expand storage

Now what about the all-important application support? OpenPeak supports Adobe Flash CS4 and will provide a software framework allowing developers and designers to create “highly interactive applications”. In addition, a “white label application shop” is planned which will provide revenue sharing models for service providers and developers.

Dan Gittleman, CEO of OpenPeak, states the “all-in-one device allows you to sync schedules, check movie times, listen to music, watch videos, get weather updates, and even monitor energy usage and home security, all from a single, easy-to-use device.”

The slate will be available with either a desktop docking station or a handset docking station. No word on the price point right now but OpenPeak claims the slate will be available at a “affordable price point”.

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While the primary focus of the upcoming Google Chromium OS is the netbook form factor, this doesn’t mean Google isn’t considering other form factors for the browser-based OS. If you head on over to http://dev.chromium.org/chromium-os/user-experience/form-factors, you’ll find a variety of possible form factors for the Chromium OS – everything from tablets to laptops to desktop systems to large-screen displays. For each form factor, Google outlines the changes to the user interface one might expect with the Chromium OS.

On the netbook front, one would expect:

• Full Screen, Compact/Classic/Sidebar UI
• Omnibox may autohide on devices with limited vertical height
• Docking panels
• Tabs and Windows

Tables with 5 to 10 inch screens, one would expect:

• Full screen, touch-enabled UI
• Docking panels
• Tabs only
• High-resolution display
• Visual exploration

Laptops with 15 to 17 inch displays, one would expect:

• Windowed, classical UI
• Overlapping, or tiled window management
• Floating or docking panels

Desktops with 24 to 30 inch displays, one would expect:

• Windows, classical UI
• Overlapping window management
• Floating or docking panels

And finally for large display sized 40 to 60 inches, one would expect:

• Full-screen displays
• Auto-hiding Omnibox
• Docking panels
• Split screen
• Tabs only

Since everyone’s just a bit crazed over tablets these days, Google decided to show off concept renderings of what the Chromium OS would look like on a Tablet form factor. Here are the renditions.

[Reprinted from Krunker.com]

A new study by ABI Research predicts up to 4 million tablets will ship this year growing to 57 million annually by the year 2015.

According to senior analyst Jeff Orr,”Apple’s iPad is not the first media tablet..But it does help define this new device category. The main focus of media tablets is entertainment.”

Furthermore, Orr expects tablets to remain as a “premium or luxury product for wealthy industrialized markets for at least several years” with units not expected to replace laptops, netbooks, or even mobile phones.

Of course things could very well change in a short order especially if additional third party vendors jump into the ring with cheaper, capable devices. We know Windows 7-based tablets will continue to grow but you can be sure Google Chome-based tablets will enter the fray within the next year or two.

On the flipside, Orr believes third party manufacturers will have a hard time generating awareness of their products among consumers/buyers.

“New entrants to this market are at a disadvantage since they lack the retail relationships and network operator agreements already built by the more mature vendors. Surprisingly, Apple may have done them a favor by raising the public profile of the whole media tablet category.”

It’s certainly not surprising when you consider what Apple did for the smartphone industry. Until the advent of the Apple iPhone, smartphones were relegated to the tech-savvy and business-oriented audiences. Now, it seems like everyone has an iPhone or at least some sort of touch-based smartphone.

In our heads, the real question isn’t how many units will ship. The real question is – does anyone actually need a tablet? Forget the price, or units shipped, or availability but focus in on purpose. Buying an iPhone makes sense since nearly everyone needs or wants a mobile phone. Buying an iPod makes sense since most of us enjoy the concept of portable music. A tablet? The case for one still stands on shaky ground – at least until a real killer application or purpose is made available.

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With rumors of an Apple tablet in the works still persisting, it’s really not surprising to hear that other hardware vendors are looking to head Apple off at the pass.

Case in point – ASUS. The company is reportedly preparing a new product tentatively called the “Eee Pad” which will feature a 4 to 7 inch display. Details are sketchy at this time but expect functionality to be a cross between a tablet PC and a Mobile Internet Device (MID). Who knows how much something like this would cost but ASUS already has experience in netbook convertible systems so it’s not hard to imagine the company rolling out a slate oriented device.

Now what would be interesting is if ASUS would bundle Windows 7 with the Eee Pad given 7’s much improved touch functionality. In any case, no word on when such a device would possibly come out.

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