If I had to pick a theme for that year’s Electronics Show, it would be tablets. Tabletpalooza, you could state. Or the Tabletpocalypse. Challengers far and wide applied CES to take on the iPad.
The winnersVirtually each tablet I saw at the event was on the bases of the Android operating system, which makes Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)
Google’s “Honeycomb” version of Android appeared as a natural iOS alternative in demonstrations. Control buttons moved with the screen so that they constantly appeared at the bottom. Tabbed surfing replicated the Personal Computer experience. And GTalk video discussion looked simpler to use than Apple’s FaceTime.
Few tablet manufacturers are about to accept Honeycomb, though Motorola Mobility’s (NYSE: MMI)
XOOM starred in Verizon Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg’s keynote speak at the event. Anticipate Moto to grab an early lead in Honeycomb sales, with superlative offerings from Acer, Asus, Samsung, and Toshiba catching much of the rest.
The losersSignificantly, Google made a choice to display Honeycomb on a ten-inch appliance possibly even the same size as this day’s iPad. The implication? State so long to Seven-inch tablets.
Most customers I talked with will not mind seeing the Seven-inch tab go. These detractors state the screen is too little to do significant work or perhaps watch video. Supporters I talked with countered that the Seven-inch is sized for portability. I am not acquiring it; I think Apple had it just when it made the starting iPad a ten-inch appliance.
Study In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM)
either waves aside, or perhaps is simply after. The PlayBook tablet it demonstrated at the event has possibly even the same horsepower as options — a dual-core processor on the bases of ARM Holdings’ famous mobile architecture — yet needs a following BlackBerry to link to 3G networks. Whoops.
The PlayBook’s association bounds squelch some alternatively remarkable OS features, for instance live toggling between open applications. Though without made-in 3G, the appliance is too reminiscent of Palm’s ill-fated Foleo smartphone friend.
The in addition-ransSurprisingly, the most remarkable tablet I saw at the event is one I consider to be a furthermore-ran. Only the foot-weary would discover it, seeing as it was secreted in a far corner of an upper corridor of the Las Vegas Convention Center, in the compartment for Warren Buffett’s much loved Chinese stock: BYD.
Typically recognized for its vehicle-making prowess, BYD was at the event showing intelligent home tech. Though then there was that Ten-inch tablet with a Windows Seven setup:
Compartment staff called the largely inoperable appliance a reference blueprint. They said BYD was flaunting its capability to manufacture an extensive-scale Windows tab in wishes that a worldwide Personal Computer manufacturer for instance Dell (Nasdaq: DELL)
could notice. (Fools could wish, I assume.)
Across the corridor from BYD was the other 3-letter Asian maker, NEC. Long referred as a Windows licensee, that Japanese electronics provider demonstrated off few new Android appliances, incorporating a dual-screen tablet that ran a lightweight version of the 2.1 version of Google’s OS.
By the numbers, NEC’s tablet was the major I saw: Fourteen inches spread over 2 screens that open like a book. Made-in 3G and Bluetooth service enhance the desirability of the appliance, though the custom realization of Android was reminiscent of Hewlett-Packard’s (NYSE: HPQ)
poorly positioned eStation Seven-inch tablet. There Is in addition no murderer application for a dual-screen tablet — or perhaps as a minimum, no murderer application that I saw.
Verdict: The iPad ‘murderer’ is a mythIf replication is the sincerest type of flattery, the event proffered homage to the iPad and Apple’s efforts to revitalize the tablet from history’s dustbin. Though imitators are just that: copycats, and no greater compared to original.
It Is going to be that way for a while. Starting reports state iPad Two will be out in April. Judging by what I saw at the Electronics Show, that version might get ready for 4G LTE networks. Verizon has already lit up its 4G network, and AT&T is racing to commence its LTE roll-out by mid-year. There Is already contest; Motorola’s XOOM should in addition be 4G-ready in the second quarter. Either way, it is a great wager Apple will ensure its next tablet is as slick as its last.
iPad murderer? There Is no such thing, Fool. As A Option, we are going to see a feature-for-feature fight between all of the majors that is bound to last years. The so-called Tabletpalooza was only the starting.
Now it is the turn to weigh in. What do you think of the tablet wars? Which shares would you wager on? Use the notes box beneath to let’s know what you think.
More Foolishness from CES:
Four Predictions From Vegas (Advice: Apple Investors Will Be Upset)
Intel: Worry and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Four Supreme Customer Tech Shares to Purchase Now
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Ipad themes – Google Media Reports
Associated media reports:Opcoders presents Triangle Draw 1.0 for iPad
Opcoders this day presents Triangle Draw 1.0 for iPad. Triangles Draw allows anybody to make emblems, patterns or perhaps typography with little effort. Triangle Draw’s home screen shows thumbnails of whole lot of the drawings that has been made to this point. Slide to scroll through the thumbnails. Tap on a thumbnail and it switches to the canvas screen where you could draw and apply different operations to the canvas. For …
Read more on PitchEngine Associated discussions: Associated from Twitter:
@19est80 well I use my iPhone to do the recording and run the themes off my iPad… I'm unpacking the theme on (cont) http://tl.gd/833d6u – by 87whitestallion (87whitestallion)
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