Android Honeycomb power hungry?

A few weeks ago, Motorola release a teaser video for the new tablet which is coming soon in CES, January 2011. Their teaser video completely trashed the Samsung Galaxy Tab, saying that the Tab is running an older version of Android meant for smartphones. Check my post here.

Looks like Motorola could have their feet on solid ground when they put the Tab down because one OEM said that honeycomb would require a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor to run properly with a resolution of  1,280×720 for 10″ tablets. So far Google has no made a statement regarding this news, so it might be true. Previously, LG wrongly claimed that Gingerbread upgrade requires a minimum 1 Ghz for the LG Optimus line which Google refuted quickly. We are still keeping an eye out for word from Googler regarding this matter.  [source]

If this is true, then existing Tab users would sadly be only stuck at Gingerbread (if Samsung ever decides to upgrade it from  Froyo). But Samsung however are not keeping silent. They have placed a large order of Tegra 2 (dual-core A9 cpu) from Nvidia for their upcoming ‘Tab 2’.  [source]

Looks like the era of smart-tablets are finally here. Where Microsoft has failed to produce (Eg: HP Slate), Google has triumphed.

UPDATE : 6-Jan-2011

Dan Morril with the Google Android team tweeted here that there’s no hard mininum requirement for Honeycomb. Sigh of relief..

Motorola’s new 10″ tablet with Honeycomb

On December 14th 2010, during the Dive Into Mobile conference in San Francisco, Andy Rubin from Android showed off a prototype Android tablet, running the latest version of Android called Honeycomb. It showcased improved functionality of Android on bigger screen called tablet, where you get different fragmentation (or columns) of a screen, instead a small smartphone screen dedicated to one function at a time. Check out the video below, sample of new Gmail app with fragments at 5:20.

The prototype tablet is made by Motorola and based on some early photos, it seems like the tablet will be sold first on an American telco called Verizon. Check out the photo gallery from Engadget here.

The tablet is running on the latest processor called Tegra 2 from Nvidia, which features a dual core processor and also better built in graphics chip. Motorola will officially launched this tablet at an event called CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas early next month (January 2011).

Motorola has already made some teaser video for the new tablet, comparing it to some ‘ancient’ tablets like the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The honey bee appearing at the end of the video confirms the fact the it will be running the new Android Honeycomb.

Finally, the new Motorola Tablet is rumoured to be called Motorola Xoom which i think is a good name, instead of having usual names that associate to something flat like Pad, Slate, Tab or even Book. You don’t really hope to hear another name like MotoPad, MotoSlate, MotoTab, etc bla bla bla, do you? We’ll only really know at the event.  Price of this tablet is also still unknown at the moment.

Hopefully we’ll see Malaysian telcos like Maxis to bring in this Motorola tablet like they did the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Time to ditch the old Samsung tablet which runs Android OS built for phones and bring in the new tech. Don’t expect Samsung to put the new Honeycomb on the Galaxy Tab anytime soon. Samsung is VERY VERY slow at updating their software once the device has been released. Samsung has updated some, but not all their Galaxy S phones to Android 2.2 Froyo. FYI, Samsung modified the Galaxy S for different parts of the world so there are many variants of it, namely the European and Asian Galaxy S, US AT&T Captivate, US T-Mobile Vibrant, US Sprint Epic 4G, US Verizon Fascinate, Samsung Continuum, etc . That is a lot of phones. Detailed list here at the Samsung Galaxy S Wikipedia page. And Samsung is getting left behind further as Android 2.3 Gingerbread is already out. Next month Android 2.4 Honeycomb is coming.. I very much doubt Samsung can keep up.

Best Tablet in Malaysia?

Treating yourself to a Christmas present? Or getting it as a gift? Considering a tablet for any of the former?

With the coming of the iPad to Malaysia (finally) and the rising of so many Google Android based tablets (or rather, oversized phones),  curious hearts are eager to purchase and tablet and give it a try for themselves. And after my previous brief introductions to Android tablets here, i decided to rationalize which might be the best out there. So, which will be the most reasonable one to get? Locally in Malaysia, we have quite a few options:

• Apple iPad
• Samsung Galaxy Tab
• CSL Droidpad Spice Mi700
• Toshiba Folio AS100
• Archos 101

The table below is a summary of all the tablet specs worth comparing (click image to enlarge) :

Which one is the one for you? Let me give a few general ideas.

Best Tablet overall?

Apple iPad. Although the iPad has been slow to come to Malaysia, only in December 2010 after being launched in April  2010. This is still no doubt the best tablet that you can get for the price. Apple has it when it comes to ease of use and with tonnes of Apps in the App Store, you’ll be finding something new to do with your iPad everyday. There are many choices of storage capacities (16GB,32GB,64GB) and also connectivity (with or without 3G).

Best Android Tablet?

First of all, you gotta decide, do you want your tablet to have 3G connectivity?

With 3G?

CSL Droidpad Mi700. The only other tablet with 3G is the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Certainly Samsung sounds like a more reputable brand compared to the local CSL, so why the Droidpad?  Let us put is this way; why wouldn’t we choose the Galaxy Tab? The price. For RM2699, the price of the Galaxy Tab is just too high for anyone to recommend buying, especially when Android tablets are still such a new market. Many would be curious to give Android tablets a run and the price is not very encouraging. Even the cheapest iPad with 3G is less than RM2k. Only get the Tab if you are very very certain. Else the Droidpad is the way to go.

Without 3G?

The Toshiba Folio AS100 looks good on paper running the latest Nvidia Tegra2 and is officially available in Malaysia but i would seriously not recommend anything with a custom skin on top of Android. Custom skins which are just crudely made by manufacturer are not optimized and tend to slow down your device.  That leaves us with the Archos101.  Most units on sale arrive from Singapore so if you’ve purchased this, you would have to return it back to your vendor if you need it serviced. Around RM1600-RM1800, this tablet comes with almost everything you need. The big 10″ screen won’t make it lose out to the iPad. It has 8GB or 16GB  internally to get you started and a memory card extension slot if you need more storage. This has 1Ghz processor which makes it snappier compared to the Droidpad. Also, a HDMI port which comes in handy when you want to connect it to a HD TV to share a photo, website or playback video.

Anything less than RM1k?

Well yes but most of these tablet originate from China and mostly take the shape of the Apple Ipad. For around RM800-RM900, you can get an 8″ 800×600 resistive touchscreen tablet, has a 1gz A8 processor, 512mb ram, Wifi and runs Android 2.2. No cameras or 3G functions built in though.  And for the lower price, you’ll have to purchase additional memory cards for increased storage capacity if you need it.

That’s it for my tablet recommendations. Any ideas, or opinions, kindly leave a comment below. Happy shopping.

Update: 26-Dec-2010

If you haven’t gotten your hands on new tablet so far, it might be a good idea to wait till the end of next month (Jan 2011) for new devices. Check news on possible new Motorola tablet here.

Update 2: 29th Dec 2010

Maxis has a new tablet, the Huawei Ideos S7 for as low as RM999 (one year contract) which is a good buy. Check this post.

It’s raining tablets

Recently many different electronics hardware brands are releasing all sorts of tablets in order to catch a shimmer of the Apple iPad fame. Obviously these manufacturers will never be able to put iOS in their tablets, so they resort to Android. Android has never claimed itself to be a tablet OS, and usage of Android is still most ideal for mobile phone. Although Google said that the next version of Android, Honeycomb (maybe version 2.4) would be suitable on a tablet, the actual user experience is still very vague.

Out of the many Android tablet out there, some are good, like the 7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab, albeit a bit on the pricey side (RRP=RM2699).

Some tablets are cheaper, such as the 7″ CSL Spice Mi-700 tablet which costs around RM1599. For that, you get a slower processor, a lower resolution screen and less internal storage. This tablet is actually a rebranded OlivePad VT100/ ViewSonic ViewPad 7/ Camangi Webstation FM600. Actually, I don’t know who originated this tablet but with so many manufacturers using the same hardware design, this tablet should be alright. 

Some tablets have been launched overseas but never seen the light of day here in Malaysia, like the 5″ Dell Streak which was released around June 2010.

And finally, some are bad, which i will cover separately as i’m still following the progress and haven’t made up my mind about them. Some manufacturers design and make the tablet so fast that most of their software are still buggy and yet to be optimized. Don’t be surprised to find some tablets still running the old Android 1.6 while we now already have Android 2.3 upon us. Hopefully, the bad experience with some tablets are only temporary which will be fixed in future software updates.

With the CES coming soon (January 2011 in Las Vegas),  we’re looking forward to more new tablets to come and hopefully they just get better in terms of quality, usability and affordability.