Best Tablets At 2011 CES Part I
A large number of tablets were announced at the start of this year
2010 was without any doubt the year when the tablet computer was born and started to become popular.
Sure, several companies were trying to push towards this kind of device for many years before, but they simply didn’t get the shape and user interface right.As a consequence portable touch computers as a category didn’t become interesting until the release of Apple’s iPad. Between the iPad’s April of 2010 release and the Consumer Electronics Show that’s taking place right now, we didn’t get to witness the release of a high number of Android-running tablets. Rather, all companies chose to work on them and release them now, apparently all at the same time. That’s why at this year’s CES people had a lot to admire, assuming they’re fond of tablets.
We could’ve presented each of them separately but at one point along the way we figured it might be a lot better if we listen all of them so that you could compare all that’s new and see which one you are actually most interested in. Below you’ll get to see a little something from Motorola, Asus and several companies you may not have even heard of. We’ve tried to group these tablets based on how interesting they are, but don’t take the classification overly seriously. There are fourteen spots on our list in total but some of them are grouped together (for instance when one company released a 10 and a 7 inch tab at the same time).
As I mentioned on previous occasions the tablet market is currently big enough for companies that you’ve probably never heard of to try and make a first impression through new products. Pandigital is one of those companies and it has recently showcased two tablets in different sizes. The problem with them is quite simple to understand. Rather than packing Android 2.2 (Froyo) or perhaps even Honeycomb, the company chose to use an earlier version, namely Android 2.1. Things become even more problematic once you hear that the two devices don’t have Android Market support and will probably not offer any in the near future. For this particular reason, the Pandigital 7 and 9 inch tablets aren’t exactly choices if you’re looking to keep in line with technology and experience what’s new and interesting.
The 9 inch Novel tablet will become available in 3G and WiFi-only versions. The 7 inch tab offers WiFi, a web browser, MP3 and MP4 compatibility and access to a large number of books. However, the price isn’t even an advantage here. While the two tabs are affordable, you’ll probably be able to find something equally affordable but with a lot more features.
You probably haven’t heard of eFun either. That’s perfectly ok. All you need to know is that the company has recently introduced the audience to two tablets that run Android. One of them features a 10.1 inch High Definition screen whereas the other (the Next 6) comes with a 7 inch screen. The Next 4 runs Android 2.2 while the Next 6 packs Android Éclair 2.1.
eFun’s attempt here is to breach two market segments at once, the tablet and the e-reader one. If you’re considering to purchase one of these eFun tablets you’ll get built in WiFi and a Borders eBook store application. The Next4 includes 8GB of memory while the Next6 offers half of that. Both can offer even more storage space through an SD card slot equipped for memory expansion. On the bright side, their price is positions them on the affordable side of the scale. You’ll start seeing them in stores during the second quarter of the year.
Several years ago, the netbook was quite popular. Once tablets appeared, people started to forget about netbooks, however. Some of the companies that offered them, switched to working on tablets and are now releasing them on the market. Samsung, for instance, tried to keep some of the benefits of the netbook while at the same time debuting a tablet that could compete with devices such as the iPad or even its own Android-running tablet released earlier this year called the Galaxy Tab. The new product is called the TX100 and it’s a slider tablet. What this means is that you’ll get a touchscreen tablet computer that runs Windows 7 and a slide-out keyboard, great for people who aren’t exceptionally fond of typing straight on such a device’s screen.
According to Samsung, the TX100 is “the perfect fit for creating and consuming content, whatever your digital lifestyle.” Underneath the bonet you’ll find the upcoming Intel Atom processor platform. The first time you look at the device, you’ll basically see a tablet. When you slide the display into place, you’ll get to see the keyboard as well. So you get the best of both worlds, basically, in one single device. For the record the screen is 10.1 as size with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Samsung tends to believe that a 10 inch form factor is great for watching movies or social networking. All we can say is that Apple and multiple other companies agree. We’re not so sure about the operating system though. There’s a reason why Windows tablets flopped while iOS and Android tablets became successful and started selling like hot cakes.
From one somewhat unknown company, we jump to another. Viliv has recently introduced its own pair of Android-running tablets at this year’s CES. There’s a 7 inch one called the X7 and a 10.2 inch one dubbed “X10”. They both come with screens with resolutions of 1024 x 600 pixels and a 1Ghz Samsung Cortex A8 processor. Also on the list of specifications are 3G HSPA, WiMAX, EVDO, Bluetooth, GPS, 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video conferencing and a 3 megapixel camera on the back.
This doesn’t end here though. Reportedly the tabs will come with either Froyo or Honeycomb (but we’re not sure which of the two Android versions will be included at this time), HDMI, microUSB, 8GB, 16GB or 32GB onboard memory, 512MB of RAM and a MicroSD card slot for memory expansion. Expect to start seeing them in stores, for a yet unknown price, during March to April this year.
This pretty much sums up the first part of the best tablets you could see at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show that took place in Las Vegas. We’ll be back with a second part of this article quite soon, so stay tuned and expect to hear more about new tabs from Asus, Acer, Lenovo and more.
