Friday is turning out to be a good day. The iPad 2 launches in Europe (although I still don’t see any official pricing in Germany) and it’s my Birthday. Now, I hear that the Eee Pad Transformer is launching too. Decisions decisions!
The Eee Pad Transformer is an interesting product because it takes the idea of the smartbook one step further. It uses the Honeycomb operating system (which could enable a far superior laptoping experience than 2.x ever did) and it uses a keyboard mechanism that can be un-docked to allow tablet-only usage.
I tested the Transformer out at mobile world congress in February (video below) and wasn’t too impressed with the weight but full USB ports made me wonder if ASUS are building some nice USB hosting capabilities. The weight with the dock also seems a little over the top. With connectors and an additional battery in the keyboard unit, I’m expecting the total weight to tip 1KG. The unit I tested wasn’t running Honeycomb.
Pricing has me a little worried. The price for the tablet seems OK at 399 Euro although confirmation is still needed on storage and 3G capability. 32GB and 3G included is what I’m assuming at this stage. The price of the dock could add 120 Euro to that. The price isn’t too bad when compared with high-end tablets but when compared with the Tegra-2 based Toshiba AC100 smartbook (under 300 Euro with 3G) you get the idea that there’s a huge margin being added here and that the price should come down by at least 100 Euros over time.
The March 25th launch is for Taiwan only at this stage and will only include pre-order. Actual availability around the world is still unknown but we’ll probably hear more on Friday.
Many of the large U.S. based computing websites got a Xoom to test under embargo recently and obviously there’s been a quick rush of content out of the door as the embargo lifts today. (List of reviews below)
Of the Honeycomb tablets we saw at MWC the Xoom was clearly the best in terms of UI-feel but both Samsung and LG still have time to optimise their software before launch. Interestingly, the Xoom is looking very vanilla in terms of applications and that’s probably because this is a project that Google have been heavily involved with as the launch product for Honeycomb. Expect both the Samsung and the LG tablets to have different angles with Samsung likely to go for a heavily enhanced software package and LG using their 3D technology to make a difference.
Back to the Xoom though and it’s difficult to get a real feel from what looks like a 2-day hands-on before the ‘reviews’ were posted but there’s already unanimous agreement that the UI is good, it’s fast (we measured the fastest Sunspider/Android result ever on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 which uses the same hardware and software.)
There’s also a widespread worry about the lack of Honeycomb/Tegra2 optimised software (although the Google applications suite does look to be well designed) and obviously a question over the $799 price. That, however, is likely to drop fairly quickly as soon as market competitors launch.
Battery life reports are positive as are thoughts on the camera quality and software. It remains to be seen just how many will be using it as a photographic device but there’s some interesting virtual reality use-cases that shouldn’t be forgotten.
One element of the software suite that I’m interested in is the video editing software. Without even looking at it I can’t see how it can be that fast at processing 720p video for overlays and fades; processes which take huge amounts of CPU power. We must not forget that the Tegra 2 platform is still in the sub-netbook performance category. Engadget report that Movie Studio is ‘ inchgenerally sluggish. inch Laptop Magazine, however, calls it a “fairly robust editing app. inch but then goes on to talk about how the Xoom started to get “bogged down inch when previewing and editing.
Flash support is missing along with support for the Micro SD card slot but Motorola are promising a software update to enable those features.
There’s a feeling that Motorola might not have been 100% ready for the launch of the Xoom but have gone ahead and taken the risk anyway. We would expect the first firmware updates in just a few weeks an at that point it’s probably worth re-visiting updated reviews to see if some of the holes have been patched.
At $799 the Xoom is not quite worth its money in its current state and with competitors like the Iconia Tab, Galaxy Tab 10.1, LG Optimus Pad and, potentially, an iPad 2 it would pay to wait. Certainly don’t go committing to a 2-year contract today!
A list of current reviews is show below and we’ve selected some YouTube videos for the product database page. Tip us here if you see any other good reviews.
Back at IFA in Sept 2010 Toshiba told us the 2.2 update was due in 6 weeks. To be honest, I had lost all hope of ever seeing Froyo on it but sure enough, there it is as a downloadable firmware upgrade through the Toshiba Service Station application today.
I’ve downloaded, installed and tested and can confirm that not only are you getting V2.2 of Android with a noticeable performance boost but you’re also getting Flash support which finally enables a reasonable YouTube experience. There’s also the Toshiba market for apps, music and radio and, of course, some nice features in 2.2 like the 3G hotspot feature for those of you with 3G versions. I’ve also noticed an increase in compatibility with sideloaded applications. Streaming audio through applications like Last.FM now work and there’s better graphics compatibility. Previously, many games just weren’t working.
One of the big question marks though is about standby. Original versions of the AC100 would often jump out of standby, an almost off state, and never fall back into it meaning batteries would be dead by the morning. I’ll be testing that tonight [Update: This morning it was still in standby. More testing needed thought] but in the meantime I’ve been checking to see if Toshiba have improved the active-idle battery life. They haven’t. Screen off idle, with Wifi on and apps able to use the Internet results in about 2.5w continuous drain. That is, in ARM-platform terms, quite embarrassing for Toshiba. I’m not able to test Internet-connected idle mode with the 3G here. [Previous testing here] In-use battery life still seems to be around the 6hr mark which is good for 800gm of device with a 25Wh battery but they really should have worked on the active-standby figures before the product went out of the door.
Performance increase is noticeable with browsing, UI actions and measurable in Sunspider and other tests. Sunspider results have improved from 4800 seconds to 3900 seconds – a 19% improvement. Quadrant results are at the 2000 mark and Linpack returns 34MFlops, an impressive figure.
So does it bring the AC100 back from the dead? I just had a look at the prices and I certainly think there’s value here now. The model I have under my fingers right now has just broken through 200 Euros in Germany. That’s with 512MB of RAM and 8Gb of storage, USB OTG and 1080P playback (with uPnP support) a good keyboard, about 6hrs battery life (10+hrs max) in an 800gm chassis. You don’t get Google applications (I would happily pay 50 Euros for that enhancement) and you’ll pay 40 Euros for the addition of 3G but still, that’s a great deal. Remember that a Novatel MiFi costs at least 150 Euro and you certainly can’t type docs, play music and 1080p video or Angry Birds on that! It’s not a netbook, but it’s a good value gadget.
I captured my download, install and testing on camera this afternoon:
We’ve had a chance to have some hands on wit the Motorola Xoom. To be honest, I’m quite amazed at the difference Honeycomb makes. The multi-pane enhancements make such a difference. The YouTube app has just come alive! Smooth UI (better than the Galaxy Tab) proves that the core has been optimized for a better touch experience too. I’m impressed, and yet worried about how much it will cost. This is a premium.product that will have a premium price.
We’ve got a video to show you and will be posting it as soon as we have the chance.
I don’t have Honeycomb here and I don’t have the latest Atom platform here but in the video below I do have two devices that show the browsing speed differences between Tegra 2 and Atom. The Toshiba AC100 running the ‘old’ Android 2.1 build and the Gigabyte Touchnote running an ‘old’ Atom N270 are both mainstream builds and it’s worth taking a look at how the browsing speed compares.
My estimate, following these tests, is that Android/Tegra is just one iteration (either software or hardware) away from matching what a netbook can provide. And remember, we’re into the sub 10 second category here where 10% or 20% difference is not worth talking about. 1 second isn’t much, really.
Did I miss something? Perhaps we should be running 10 tabs and Flash, that’s true. The ‘built-for-multitasking’ X86 and Windows platform should pull ahead but consider this performance on a 7 inch screen where multitasking gets hidden by the one-pane user interface.
My final thought here is that ARM platforms are not only progressing as fast as the X86 platforms but also get a huge advantage from the massive, massive investment going into mobile software. Right now, the leading browser engines are on X86 but expect that to flip over in 2011 or 2012.
Viewsonic seem fairly clear about the G10S products final specs and seeing as their are some very similar / branded variants on the market already, it is likely that this will be available very shortly.
We’re talking about an Android Open Source 2.2 (no Market, Gmail, Navigation etc.) buid on a Tegra2 platform with some talk (!) of Honeycomb. Certainly the specs seem ok, the build quality is acceptable and, to me, it appeared fairly light for 10 inch device. 3G was mentioned too so this might be the main difference over the Advent Vega version that already sells in the UK. Once again, pricing is going to be the key differentiator in this busy 10″ Android Tablet space. We should get that in just a few weeks. We’ll also be keeping an eye on Honeycomb ports over Q2 because with the docking station and potential USB host capability this could turn into something completely different over time.
Now that we’ve finally got some proof that the Notion Ink Adam is at least available as a working sample (below,) lets have a chat about it.
Notion Ink have had no shortage of media coverage about their device and unique features such as daylight-readable screen and Tegra 2 platform running 2.2 with a custom UI mean there are interesting things to discuss. Fans seem to be following too. In droves! It’s a bit like the WeTab and JooJoo following in that respect.
Personally, I like the Tegra 2 platform now that Google appear to be using Tegra 2 as the reference processing platform for Android 2.3 (I’m praying that Toshiba claws back some credibility and release 2.3 for the AC100!) but this is a 10 inch tablet and weighs more than the iPad. That knocks me out of the customer list and I’m sure a lot of other people too.
10 inch screens work well for newspaper and magazine content though and Google Earth will look great on this… when you managed to find the APK and sideload it.
Sorry to sound so negative on this one but I haven’t yet seen a well integrated Android stack on a 10 inch device. From CPU and core OS through UI to content availability there’s a mismatch. My head thinks ‘multitasking’, productivity’ and I immediately get disappointed when I go through the real-world scenario in my head.
The Archos 101 article I wrote recently (‘One for the Coffee Table’) has some good pointers on the 10 inch platform. Sofa, coffee-table, holiday.
What are you going to use this coffee-table gadget for? Ignore email, Twitter, Facebook and anything else that needs an account because when you share a single-user Android device with the family, you’re at risk. What the family needs (possibly) is a flexible on/offline video player, image viewing, web browsing and gaming, a bus/train/flight timetable, holiday booking, Wikipedia and other casual activities. Pure entertainment. [source]
At 299 Euro I can really see the match but at $375 it’s pushing it a bit. Maybe the custom UI changes everything though? [See video below]
It does indeed look good and I’m really pleased to see the window manager so truly active that you can interact with programs running in it. You’ve got the makings of a windowing Android OS there! Certainly side-by-side apps is something I’ve been thinking about on the Galaxy Tab. Here’s the demo video from Notion Ink.
We’re bound to see the Adam at CES in a few weeks so I’ll report back when I’ve had hands-on but for the time being I remain skeptical that it’s going to be a device that really satisfies customers.
We’ve already had an Advent Vega [tracking page] order cancelled due to high demand but its looking increasing like new stock isn’t going to arrive before Christmas.
Its no surprise really, at £250 its cheaper than many of the alternatives like the Viewsonic Viewpad 7 (£400) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (£449) and yet for your money you still get a good specification. With Android 2.2, nVidia Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz CPU, WiFi, 512MB RAM, 4GB expandable microSD storage and a multi-touch capacitive 10.1 inch display, its certainly no slouch.
The early reviews are as we expected, good hardware but the lack of Google applications and access to the market leave the device feeling bare. I’ve also seen several mentions of user interface lag and keyboard freezes which result in several letters being pressed instead of just the one.
Luckily both of the above can be remedied with a little work and the help of MoDaCo.
Until we can finally get hold of a unit for review ourselves you can keep your need for more information in check with the following reviews;
The gallery and tracking page are also now online so you can compare the Advent with its competition and if your interested in the Vega, follow @adventvega for the latest information and stock updates.
Friday is turning out to be a good day. The iPad 2 launches in Europe (although I still don’t see any official pricing in Germany) and it’s my Birthday. Now, I hear that the Eee Pad Transformer is launching too. Decisions decisions!
