Most of you will have heard about the Archos 70, part of the new range of tablet devices being launched over the next few months. Archos have stripped away their recording software and docking station, bumped up the processor, improved the operating system and hit a very competitive pricing point. Add features like HDMI, USB host, capacitive multitouch, multiple video format support and you’ve almost got a full Android Tablet specification list. It’s not complete though. While 800×480 might be acceptable as a resolution, the lack of Google applications isn’t. No Gmail. No free Google Navigation, No Contacts sync and of course, no Google Market. We’ve experienced it on the Archos 5 and it really is noticeable.
Having said that, if you consider the Archos 70 as a sofa tablet, car tablet, holiday tablet and bedside tablet, you’ve got a video and audio player that returns a great browsing experience and offers a stylish way to view photos and ebooks. If you’ve got a way to ‘sideload’ some Android applications you’ll also benefit from some really great applications for entertainment and communications.
Pricing is $275 and it’s coming in Sept or Oct. Note that it might ship with 2.1 but 2.2 will, apparently, follow-up very quickly.
We’ve had some hands-on at IFA and this is how it went…
Not quite as far down the line as some of the other Android tablets we’ve seen at IFA is this, the Interpad from E-Noa. [specifications] It’s a 10 inch capacitive touch device based on a Tegra 2 platform and will launch without 3G, camera and Google applications towards the end of this year at 399 Euros. That’s not quite up to the Archos 101 offering on the tablet right now but with 1024MB of RAM and the Tegra 2 platform, this is certainly a good one for hackers to think about! Android 2.2 is promised.
E-Noa will produce a ‘street’ version with the necessary specs for Google Market in early 2011. Price and full details unknown but we’re told it will have GPS and 3G. That would put it in the 450-500 Euro space.
Full gallery here or click on any of the images below for larger versions.
It’s just so depressing to see this. 2nd generation Android tablets coming out from Archos that still don’t have Google apps included. No contacts sync. No Gmail. No Buzz. No Maps. No Latitude. No Market. Again – No Google Market!
I hate to start on such a low note but really, haven’t we all learned that an Android device without Google apps is only half an Android product?
[and relax…]
Moving on to the details then. We have two sub 4 inch devices that we’re not covering here, a 4.3 inch device (Archos 43) with a resistive (cough) screen that will ‘eventually’ replace the Archos 5 (according to Engadget this will also upset the patient Archos 5 owners that are wanting 2.x upgrades) , a 7 inch tablet (Archos 70) with a capacitive screen…wait for it… at 800×480 resolution and a 10 inch device (Archos 101) with a 420 gram, 1024×600 capacitive screen.
It’s the 10 inch device that appears to have the right ingredients. At 420gm that’s ebook-light and if Archos are including their video playback skills (we assume they are due to the HDMI-out) then you’ve got yourself a flexible friend there assuming you can handle a bit of sideloading.
There’s a ton of specs on the Archos UK site and they include Android 2.2, a 1Ghz CPU and multitouch on the capacitive screens. Unfortunately, I don’t see any mention of 3G.
Isn’t it strange that despite all the singing and dancing by companies like Nvidia, ARM, Qualcomm and others, the ‘smart’ books (or social netbooks as I often call them to avoid legal issues here in Germany) haven’t yet reached the market. ARM highlight delays with Flash and there are probably many other excuses but the biggest one is the iPad which is one of the smartest devices around. It has single-handedly frozen the market for other ‘smart devices’ and scared manufacturers into thinking about how good their devices really are. I expect smart ‘books’ (clamshell) to bounce back quickly though and over time, to become a serious solution for all parts of the hand-held computing market. They will sit alongside netbooks and tablets in a new ‘social’ part of the market which will form primarily in western countries such as U.S.A, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan and other, relatively tech-rich countries. All of the devices will sit in a similar price category but there are major differences that a customer will need to consider. This article takes a closer look at ‘smart’ and highlights the differences between 3 device categories. At the end of the article you’ll also find an interactive tool that will help to make my point a bit clearer.
‘Smart’ is a term being used in the mobile computing industry to describe an always-on, cellular-data-capable device with an advanced, mobile-focused operating system. It brings the idea of prescience, notifications, touch, application store, content, mobility and fun together to provide the customer with an attractive mix of location, entertainment, work and communication functionality. I talk about this in detail in my article Social Netbooks and ARMs lock-in opportunity.
Smart devices will impact netbook sales and design.
I believe that ‘smart’ is the biggest threat to the low cost, lightweight notebook. The risk doesn’t just apply where people, mainly in the western world, are looking for a second ‘gadget’ or ‘casual use’ purchase, it also applies to the developing countries where cost, energy availability and cellular communications are important. One could argue that today, much of the productivity element of netbooks would be lost by moving to a ‘smart’ device but that only applies until the operating systems and application stores provide developers the opportunity to bring productivity applications to these new smart platforms. That change has already started to happen and it’s arguable that ‘productivity’ operations like email and web-reading have made the transition already. Online services like Google Docs get better and better every month and even high-end applications like video and image editing are possible. It’s only a matter of finding and using a different application suite and over time, as the handheld operating system reaches more and more users, the problem of learning-curve and familiarity fades away leaving Windows 7 as the big, boring desktop operating system. Netbooks will have to evolve and Intel have already taken this into consideration by offering Moorestown, Oaktrail, MeeGo and Android. Microsoft, on the other hand, don’t appear to have taken ‘smart’ into consideration with their desktop operating systems leaving the un-launched Windows Phone 7 to fill the gap.
Consider these points.
For most netbook customers, ‘smart’ books will win on a spec-spec comparison with features like ’10 day battery life’ ‘always connected’ ‘instant on’ ‘sub 1KG’ ‘touchscreen’ ‘gps’ and ‘3G’. There’s also a small price advantage with smaller motherboards and lower casing, cooling and memory requirements.
With carrier support, there’s a ton of marketing that can be done around the price. ‘Free with contract’ is a trick that might work again with low-cost data contracts. Multi-SIM technology (one contract, services shared across multiple devices) is a more likely candidate, at least in Europe.
It appears that more money is going into the mobile operating system in terms of development and marketing and because of their small size and freshness the mobile OS is likely to develop with new features faster than a desktop operating system with legacy support.
Selling content through a smart device on a carrier network is easier for customers, network providers and content owner than on a Windows 7 device.
Sales of smartphones are outstripping laptops and the margin is growing.
Consider the negatives
On the other hand, smart devices use relatively new operating systems and need to improve in a number of areas
Printing Uninteresting for the casual user, critical for the productive user.
USB support Again, critical for a productive user
VGA output
Data transfer via as many methods as possible
Multitasking
Bluetooth feature support
Security features
Productivity apps / Mature apps
Categorty 1 : Smart Tablets
Pads / tablets / slates running on mobile operating systems are getting a disproportionate amount of attention right now despite the lack of products in the market. The media coverage that these devices are getting is also not consistent with the amount of potential buyers. If prices for quality versions stay near the $500 mark and the operating systems don’t mature quickly then we’re looking at one product with sales of around 5m units in a year. As operating systems mature and prices come down to ‘gift’ levels though, numbers could be impressive and if some of the above issues are fixed, smart tablets could form an important, modular part of anyones computing toolkit. The iPad, Dell Streak and Archos 5 are example products.
Tablet-style devices are not just for content consumption. Sharing of existing content, creating and modifying images, short and instant messages, presence, voice and voice control, video editing and content sorting are all creative applications that don’t need a full keyboard and as the size of pad reaches handheld levels, creating occasional emails, notes, annotations, captions and comments also becomes possible. The only really issue with pads and creating content is large amounts of text. Given time and practice, on screen keyboards work and if necessary docking stations and add-on keyboards completely solve the problem.
Category 2: Keyboard + Tablet = smart book.
A variant on the smart tablet or ‘pad’ would be the smart book – a clamshell device that looks like a small notebook or netbook but contains a mobile OS running on an ‘always-on’ processing platform. These device solve the issue of alphanumeric input and lean towards a more productive and table-top style of operation but in most examples we’ve seen so far they don’t include the productivity applications. Despite the mobile operating systems in these alternative notebook devices, touch isn’t expected to be implemented in all of them. Convertible and slider-keyboard devices also sit in this keyboarded category.
Category 3: Netbooks
Netbooks need no introduction. Global sales numbers are above 40M per year now and there’s a clear need for a low-cost, ‘just enough’, small laptop. Touch, social networking and long battery life are all becoming a feature of netbooks but there are areas where they don’t lead. Location, always-on, touch user interfaces (if required – convertible netbooks can benefit) and weight often can’t compete with the ‘smart’ devices.
The others
UMPCPortal follows ultra mobile PC’s and that means lightweight, handheld devices running Windows or other full desktop operating systems. It’s a niche market that has existed for many years and despite our love (and our readers love) for it, we don’t see it growing to anywhere near the numbers that could be seen in the above categories. For this article we’re leaving out Windows XP/7 tablets and Windows XP/7 UMPCs.
Long-gone are the days where netbooks were available at the 1KG mark. The Asus 901, Acer A150. Classic 1KG, 8.9 inch netbooks that worked well as mobile-focused PCs for getting things done almost anywhere. The EeePC 901GO was arguably one of the best mobile bargains around at the time, at least in Europe. No hard drive, sub 1KG, 3G and a great price. Oh how things have changed. All we seem to see now are 10-12 inch devices at 1.2KG or more with moving hard drives. The 800gm-1KG mark is now a specialist segment.
If you take a long hard look though and are prepared to relax your requirements a little there are a few gems hidden in there that would work well for ultra-mobile fans so I’ve taken a long look at the netbook segment, spoken to a few people (thanks Avram and Sascha) and come up with a shortlist for you. I’ve also taken a look above and below the netbook segment to give you a few alternative options.
Requirements.
Ultra Mobile devices need to be feature-rich, rugged and connected. They are the Swiss army knives of PCs that need to be ready for anything. Getting the best productivity out of any situation is important. 12 inch devices give great comfortable real-estate. 10 inch devices can be good value. 7 inch devices get right under the 1KG mark. Here are some other important features.
No Hard Drive. Ideally you don’t want any moving parts at all in a mobile PC. Hard drives and fans can fail or get damaged and even rotating screen hinges need to be thought about very carefully. If an SSD doesn’t come as standard, I’ve looked at the upgrade possibilities.
Bright screen. Matt finish. 10 12 inch for comfortable productivity. 7-10 inch for lighter weight.
3G, Wi-Fi-N and BT 2.x (but not self-upgrade unless the antenna is pre-installed)
Long battery life (6+hrs)
Lightweight PSU, Car Kit
Other useful options GPS, memory upgrades. Case
Latest CPU technology.
Weight 1KG or less. (I’ve looked at devices up to about 1.2KG here.)
The Netbook Shortlist
Based around the 10 inch form factor, these are the gems that I’ve managed to dig out. Of the 400+ devices that I’ve searched through, these match the requirements the best. Quite amazing that there are really only this many that I would class as truly mobile devices. Note, these devices may not appear in your local market (and there may be others in your local market that I haven’t seen please lets us know if you find one.)
Yesterday, in Part 1, I talked about 3 tablet products. Today, there’s more and the first one is something that shouldn’t be a surprise because Smartbook AG have released a ‘Smartbook.’ The only problem is that I don’t see this as a smartbook. A smartbook to me would be in the laptop/netbook form factor and have an advanced CPU that brings enough power for a quality web, gaming and application experience along with an application store. Smartbook’s Smartbook Surfer runs an ARM11 based Telechips CPU and has a basic Android 2.1 install with, as far as I know, no Gmail, maps or marketplace. That’s not to say it’s a bad product because at 170 euro with GPS (possibly not in the 170 Euro version) HDMI-out, stereo speakers and a case, it’s worth considering for basic coffee-table and holiday duties. If you’ve looked at the Archos 7 Home Tablet.
The final 7 inch tablet to talk about is the Viewsonic which is in a different league to the Smartbook Surfer. It’s a rumor but looks likely to me considering the Viewsonic branding we’ve seem on prototypes around the trade shows this year. Stuff.TV indicates that it will be running Android 2.2 and have 3G, hi-res cam and GPS options making it a competitor to the Samsung and Huawei slates. They say that is will launch in the UK in about 2 month. Again, this is a rumor, but it seems likely.
Before I move on to the other news items I want to talk briefly about smart books. I’ve been very positive about the possibility of ARM and Android bringing an always-on, social, fun and lightweight netbook alternative to the market but as yet we haven’t seen anything that really hits the mark. The hardware is there in my opinion but it was always the Android build that fell short. Both the Compaq Airlife 100 and Toshiba AC100 were build on open-source Android and included none of the important, even critical elements of sync, Gmail, maps, marketplace and other Google software. For a category that would benefit from software re-writes, not having a software delivery channel means no developer is going to bother with the opportunity. I’m 100% sure that Google and ARM know about this and the stars seem to be pointing towards Android 3.0 (codename Gingerbread) as the solution. It will finally branch Android out to non Smartphone devices. Why the delay? I suspect Google is re-writing some of its apps to suit WVGA and higher resolutions just like Apple did with their apps on the iPad. As for timescales, I suspect we won’t see anything until the last weeks of 2010 which is just about when MeeGo/Moorestown based tablets will hit the scene. The differences between the two hard/soft platforms will be clear at that point.
Did you see the new renderings of the Eking slider UMPC? It looks similar to the design we saw in plastic form with Wibrain (sold to Eking) in Sept 2009.
It also looks a lot like the Mui HDPC. I remember using the Amtek U650 in 2007 and liking it a lot. If Eking can bring this to market on Oaktrail with some quality engineering and better aesthetics, it has a chance in the ultra mobile PC market but maybe it would be more successful as a ‘smart’ product on a Cortex A9 core with Android 3.0? Slimmer, always-on, great for Android gaming? Just a thought.
Here’s something about MiFi-a-likes. I’ve been using the MiFi for over a year and it’s been a great product but I’m disappointed that there haven’t been any upgrades since launch. The GPS remains unusable, I get the occasional lock-up, it gets very warm, it’s impossible to remember to indicator meanings and the battery life needs to be more than 4 hours. Novatel will fall behind if they don’t watch out because the new Huawei E583C looks to match the MiFi’s current capability and offer an OLED display panel on top. The idea of an on-board application processor sounds attractive with the MiFi but there’s no software for it yet so why bother? I’d rather save 40 or 50 Euros and take the E583C to be honest.
Other news I’ve ‘starred’ over the last few days of catch-up time…
I just discovered something that I’m guessing the world and his dog already knows about but despite possible embarrassment, I’m still going to write about it.
I updated the firmware on my Xperia X10 yesterday (don’t get excited, it was just a maintenance release. I’m still waiting for the latest firmware to roll-out on unbranded X10s in Germany) and part of the procedure called for backing-up the applications using the free Astro File manager (good recommendation.) I had no idea that the file manager would simply create APKs on my SDCard but it did. I popped the SD card into my Archos 5 and hey-presto! I was able to install the apps. Latest Seesmic, NewsRob and Kindle all worked first go so I’ll be looking to back-up quite a few more onto that SD card.
There’s a ‘hack’ that allows Marketplace to run on an Archos 5 but I don’t recommend it for stability reasons. The complete Google app suite is installed and there’s just not enough memory on the Archos 5 to handle it all. You’ll be forever killing applications to keep things tidy and smooth. One alternative then is to use this back-up method. If you haven’t got an Android phone, look for a second-hand one or even buy a new one. At 150 Euros entry price it’s worth having one to play around with anyway!
So to summarise: You can ‘back-up’ applications from an Android phone onto an SD card using the Astro File Manager. To install the backed-up files onto your Archos 5 just open the built-in file manager, navigate to the SDcard and backup->apps folder and you’ll find the .apk files. Double click on a file and it will start the install process. Note that the Google app suite including Maps, Goggles and Gmail needs more than just application installs to work fully so you’ll need the Marketplace hack for that.
I just discovered something that I’m guessing the world and his dog already knows about but despite possible embarrassment, I’m still going to write about it.
I updated the firmware on my Xperia X10 yesterday (don’t get excited, it was just a maintenance release. I’m still waiting for the latest firmware to roll-out on unbranded X10s in Germany) and part of the procedure called for backing-up the applications using the free Astro File manager (good recommendation.) I had no idea that the file manager would simply create APKs on my SDCard but it did. I popped the SD card into my Archos 5 and hey-presto! I was able to install the apps. Latest Seesmic, NewsRob and Kindle all worked first go so I’ll be looking to back-up quite a few more onto that SD card.
There’s a ‘hack’ that allows Marketplace to run on an Archos 5 but I don’t recommend it for stability reasons. The complete Google app suite is installed and there’s just not enough memory on the Archos 5 to handle it all. You’ll be forever killing applications to keep things tidy and smooth. One alternative then is to use this back-up method. If you haven’t got an Android phone, look for a second-hand one or even buy a new one. At 150 Euros entry price it’s worth having one to play around with anyway!
So to summarise: You can ‘back-up’ applications from an Android phone onto an SD card using the Astro File Manager. To install the backed-up files onto your Archos 5 just open the built-in file manager, navigate to the SDcard and backup->apps folder and you’ll find the .apk files. Double click on a file and it will start the install process. Note that the Google app suite including Maps, Goggles and Gmail needs more than just application installs to work fully so you’ll need the Marketplace hack for that.
Most of you will have heard about the Archos 70, part of the new range of tablet devices being launched over the next few months. Archos have stripped away their recording software and docking station, bumped up the processor, improved the operating system and hit a very competitive pricing point. Add features like HDMI, USB host, capacitive multitouch, multiple video format support and you’ve almost got a full Android Tablet specification list. It’s not complete though. While 800×480 might be acceptable as a resolution, the lack of Google applications isn’t. No Gmail. No free Google Navigation, No Contacts sync and of course, no Google Market. We’ve experienced it on the Archos 5 and it really is noticeable.
