I’ve had a lot of hands-on with the Archos 43 [specifications] today and I’m impressed. Somehow that small form factor and low price makes the speed and capability all that more impressive. I’m working on a few other videos but I wanted to show you this one first.
IF (and it’s a big IF) you’re able to side-load applications and IF they work on the Archos firmware, you’ve got yourself a great value little entertainment device.
10 inch consumer tablets don’t seem to make much sense to me. I can’t think of any scenarios that need that much space apart from newspaper and magazine typesetting. Sure, a netbook running a multi-windowing OS could use a whole lot more space but when I look at Android tablets that show one window at a time through apps that were created for a maximum 5 inch screen I have a problem. Having said that, there’s a special feeling one gets when touching and moving huge web pages smoothly across such an area when the screen is only 50cm from your face. Video becomes more immersive too, especially when it’s good quality. The challenge is to create a large screen at a very low weight. A low price always helps too!
The Archos 101 [specifications and details] does 10 inch in 480gm. That’s an impressive size/weight ratio and when you add in a price of just $300 you have to agree that Archos have set out in the right direction with the 101.
Its almost no surprise that the Archos 101 doesn’t include Google Applications but there’s a lot more to get excited about. A full range of codec support, USB host (with full-size USB port) and a good level of processing power. It looks good too which is important when you’re aiming for as many coffee tables as possible.
Personally I still think that 7 inch makes more sense for a single-window experience but if you’re looking for an impressive gift for yourself, big is always better right?
Full specifications are in the database, a Chippy hands-on is shown below and we hope to be testing this out further as soon as we can. Note that the test devices at IFA were all running Android 2.1 Android 2.2 will, without a doubt, speed this up to very acceptable levels.
10” consumer tablets don’t seem to make much sense to me. I can’t think of any scenarios that need that much space apart from newspaper and magazine typesetting. Sure, a netbook running a multi-windowing OS could use a whole lot more space but when I look at Android tablets that show one window at a time through apps that were created for a maximum 5” screen I have a problem. Having said that, there’s a special feeling one gets when touching and moving huge web pages smoothly across such an area when the screen is only 50cm from your face. Video becomes more immersive too, especially when it’s good quality. The challenge is to create a large screen at a very low weight. A low price always helps too!
The Archos 101 [specifications and details] does 10” in 480gm. That’s an impressive size/weight ratio and when you add in a price of just $300 you have to agree that Archos have set out in the right direction with the 101.
Its almost no surprise that the Archos 101 doesn’t include Google Applications but there’s a lot more to get excited about. A full range of codec support, USB host (with full-size USB port) and a good level of processing power. It looks good too which is important when you’re aiming for as many coffee tables as possible.
Personally I still think that 7” makes more sense for a single-window experience but if you’re looking for an impressive gift for yourself, big is always better right?
Full specifications are in the database, a Chippy hands-on is shown below and we hope to be testing this out further as soon as we can. Note that the test devices at IFA were all running Android 2.1 Android 2.2 will, without a doubt, speed this up to very acceptable levels.
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.
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” 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.
In our meeting with Samsung today they came clean about pricing. We also heard about the CPU, some Samsung Market information and got a look at the accessory pack.
Pricing is indeed 799 Euro. This is, however, ‘u.v.p’ which is the same as ‘recommended retail price.’ What this means is that Samsung have built in a big pricing buffer that their customers (the carriers and resellers) can play with. We’re expecting street prices to be way lower than this and we saw a few nods when we mentioned 500 Euros. I get the impression we’re going to see early pricing hit 700 immediately and then a decline to the 600 mark over the next 3 months. Yes, the Galaxy Tab is expensive, but not as expensive as we first thought. Note: German pricing includes 19% tax. 670 Euros is the pre-tax price.
If we’re lucky, Viewsonic will get that truly comparable, although not as sweet, Viewpad 7 out for 399 Euro and make Samsung think twice! 400 certainly seems the right price point for a full 3G, GPS, compass, capacitive touch equipped consumer Android tablet.
Note about the O2 price mentioned in the video (via Twitter) beware, it could be a contract for the hardware only. O2 Germany usually offer all their mobile devices in separate hardware / call / data contracts. That would bring the cost of the device to 759 Euros not the cheap deal it might seem.
On the Samsung Market: It sits alongside the Google Market and offers developers a channel for Galaxy specific apps to be built for the device. Samsung will launch a promo campaign for this shortly.
