Brits take iTablet moniker for 12in iPad rival Apple may have decided against the appellation 'iTablet' - one of the rumoured names for the product now known as the iPad - but that hasn't stopped UK computer supplier X2 claiming the name for its own. The iTablet range comprises at least two models: one with a 12in, 1024 x 768 display, the other with a 10.2in screen of the …
That's one of the worst chop jobs on a photo I've ever seen.
The index finger on the right hand is in the wrong place / dislocated, the cropping around the left hand is atrocious (can see a daker outline on little finger), in fact it looks as though the guy is holding a much thicker device and the "iTablet" is just slipped in its place.
Plus, it's running xp, not 7.
I don't want a 3lb brick that's a full PC, that has to be MAINTAINED like a full PC and requires full, expensive PC licenses separate from the licenses I already won on other PCs, and has to be secured like a PC, and uses a PC OS that a touch interface is at best hacked on top of, and the software I load on it is not designed inherently to be used in a touchscreen environment and does not support multitouch.
Further, Windows won't run 24x7 in standby, notifying me of alerts even when it's "off." The iPad is always on in standby (30 days of it), and is near constantly collecting mail, massages, chat events, and other notifications. Windows in hibernate isn't going to do that.
Further, Windows is slow to load, the tablet is instant on, like a cell phone.
A Media tablet needs to be :
- a slick interface
- always connected
- instant on
- take care of itself
- basically, a COMPANION to my PC, not another damn machine I have to care for and lug around.
I might as well just have a frigging laptop if i have to accept all the disadvantages of one anyway... A full keyboard and a mouse is a better interface for the majority of work, but I'm NOT doing WORK on this, I'm using it for entertainment; checking news, reading, watching video, keeping up with popular sites, uploading my latest snapped pics. It does everything the PC should be forced to, everything I want to do quick, without hassle, and without additional software. making it a great platform for games in addition, a bluetooth camera optional for the 20% that will do video chat (thats for NOT including that btw... I really can't imagine a camera that doesn't point at my face unless I contort and hold the unit in an uncomfortable position, while the person on the other end watches the video shake as I shake.... BAD idea to have a camera in a tablet for chat, it BEGS to be externalized!)
An what may I ask is this essentially full blowen but underpowered touch enabled Win7 PC going to cost me? HP is currently charging a $700 premium on their 22" all-in-one just for adding a touch screen... It's certainly not going to compete at the $499 price point. And 3G is extra? and it;s a full PC? OK, so $60/month for a capped plan instead of $29 for unlimited too, and the PC tablet requires a contract?
Seriously, do they really think we're that thick???
1) Does it have a capacitive touch screen?
and
2) Does it have a UI shell that is optimised for a capacative touch screen?
If the answer to these questions is no, then how is it any better than any of the other windows-based tablets that have failed to achieve any significant success over the last ten years?
Windows is never going to take off on tablets until MS accepts that the UI is fundamentally ill-suited for use with touch screens of any flavour.
The iPad's battery life exceeds the attention span of its user. Regardless of how attractive it is as a toy 10h are more than most people can handle so after they are done they will happily put it away on its charging craddle.
You simply cannot attain these numbers using Wintel. So this "tablet" will either have to be tethered or will have sub-2h practical battery life (playing something encoded in H264).
Just goes to show how "far off" the "industry innovator" (usually referred by el reg as Chipzilla) is from real innovation as well as how much crap does a modern PC do for nothing to ensure that the symbiotic MSFT-Intel-OEM relationship continues to flourish.
This would be ideal for the girlfriend and daughter - they need software compatibility with Windows 7 in devices of their own (would replace a very elderly W2K laptop and stop fighting over my desktop PC) but they don't type much and the iTablet's mobility would help stop everyone congregating in the study!
Proper multitasking and the aforementioned app compatibility mean I won't have to shell out for new apps as well. Which is nice. As long as they're around the £300 or less, I might consider a couple of them. Much more compelling that the iPad.
When people were still speculating about the ipad and how it would include all the things this does but the ipad doesn't I was thinking that I might have to put aside my dislike of all things apple and finally buy one of there products.
thankfully Darth Jobs saved me from my moment of insanity by cocking the whole thing up to the point where half the IT industry were trying to figure out what it's actually *for*! (I quite like the 'it's a portable tv that doesn't play tv' story I found here.
This however, might by worth a punt depending on price.
"But the iTablet runs a full-scale, multi-tasking OS: Windows 7."
Pic shows Windows XP ;-)
I'm sure this was probably said for mobile phones and laptops in previous years but why is everyone so keen on a built in camera for the tablet? Just seems to me an extra feature that many will have little use for.
Bluetooth capability so you could send photos from a phone if required would probably suffice.
I just can't imagine walking around taking photos with a 12" tablet..
I would guess this won't have the nice touch interface the iPad will have though :-(
Looks nifty, but I bet it costs more than the iPad! However, it looks fantastic for robotics hobbyists, the unit could be mounted on a robot, better if you can specify a SSD storage instead of spinning disk.
The article says, Windows 7, the unit in the picture is XP - which is it? Additionally, can it do Linux? (in a useful way, so the touch screen works properly).
Smiley face, as it reminds me of Gerty.
Looks a lot like XP to me...
Yeah I know it's probably only a rendering, but I expect El Reg to point out the marketing-droids' faux pas so we don't have to!
On the other hand, were I in the market for such an impractical form-factor computing device, this sounds like a much better candidate for my (probably fewer) shekels. Plus the naming is deliciously cheeky (hope they don't get sued).
Your 'shopped image is as bad as Apples with Flash on their iPad.
Firstly, you've got it running XP when the story says the tablet will run Windows 7
Secondly, it looks to be higher resolution that 768x1024 that it would be in portrait mode.
Mine's the one with Photoshop for Dummies in the pocket.
...which utterly misses the f*cking point.
Here, let me fix your subheading for you:
"Camera? Check. Multi-tasking? Check. Flash? Check. Shite GUI? Check."
Who needs a bloody camera on a 12" tablet-shaped device like this when the damned thing already has Bluetooth and WiFi? Or are the idiots who buy this kind of thing not expected to own a mobile phone with a built-in camera (and far more suitable form-factor) of its own?
Who gives a gnat's chuff about multi-tasking when the vast majority of users clearly task-SWITCH? If multi-tasking is so goddamned important, how the HELL has Apple managed to shift so many iPhones—and iPod Touches—while the likes of Nokia and Palm struggle to sell anything like the same numbers of similarly specified phones *with* multi-tasking?
(Here's a clue: the general public may be ignorant about fields outside their own interests, but ignorance does NOT equate to stupidity.)
Why the hell is having Adobe's infamous, proprietary, overrated bugware installed a *good* thing? Or have the flames in the comment threads here and elsewhere regarding Adobe's poor QA passed you by? (Considering that there was a wide-open opportunity to flame Apple's new iPad, the vitriolic, anti-Adobe spleen-venting was a surprise even for me. And I'm no fanboy.)
And Windows 7 as the GUI? Seriously? So it's basically just a standard Tablet PC with a standard desktop OS and no keyboard? Way to miss the point, guys. Well done. Bravo. And yes, I'm being sarcastic.
Incidentally: Jonathan Ive—who leads Apple's product design team—is also a Brit. That guy with the English accent at the beginning of the Apple iPad advert? That's him. Design is something the British have generally been rather good at. (It's the manufacturing and QA we tend to fall down on.)
>>Who needs a bloody camera on a 12" tablet-shaped device like this when the damned thing already has Bluetooth and WiFi?
Cameras take picksures, but blootoof and whyfi are fore conekivity (my 5 year-old answered this for you)
>>Who gives a gnat's chuff about multi-tasking when the vast majority of users clearly task-SWITCH? If multi-tasking is so goddamned important, how the HELL has Apple managed to shift so many iPhones....
If a tablet is <just> a big phone then nobody cares, it remains to be seen if tablets are true pda/computer hybrids with features of both or compromises some features of either, the iPad is big iPhone (iTouch?), but the iTablet is a keyboardless PC, neither sits in the middle ground, so I'll explain it for you, if you want to run the thousands of golf score/weight loss/horoscope iPhone apps for $0.79 then get an iPhone/iPad, if you want to run the thousands of windows apps then get and iTablet, you'll have real applications, not toys and gimics (unless you want toys and gimics, there's those too).
>>Why the hell is having Adobe's infamous, proprietary, overrated bugware installed a *good* thing?
There are loads of flash sites out there, so if you're on the net flash *could* be good for you, but it does prevent flash adverts, so maybe it's not so bad, with a decent size screen you want to fully use it on 'tinternet, on a piddly little iPhone screen losing flash is not such a big deal, but it is on a iPad/iTablet.
However I do like how you dismiss multi tasking as people don't "technically" care, but suddenly the technical failures and QA of flash *are* important to you.... ahem
>>I'm being sarcastic.
Tablets have always been "not quite", there's a huge history of them, same as netbooks, netbooks are taking off now but why didn't they take off before? (I still have my Libretto 110), maybe the time is right for a tablet, maybe they are still "not quite", if you're saying that the iPad is the only true tablet and everything else should be judged by it's standard then obviously they are missing the point, but if you measure the iPad by the standard of a traditional tablet (a laptop with a touch screen and no keyboard) then the iPad is missing the point.
It remains to be seen if the iPad features will define what a tablet "is", but if does then the archos with android is more of a competitor to the iPad than the iTablet, but if people want a ebook reader with their familiar windows apps the iPad falls short, either way, your opinion will only make the difference of one sale (or not), interesting times are ahead, I think the likes of Kindle (hardware) and Sony ebook readers will bite the dirt, but that also remains to be seen.
Who needs a bloody camera on a 12" tablet-shaped device like this when the damned thing already has Bluetooth and WiFi? Or are the idiots who buy this kind of thing not expected to own a mobile phone with a built-in camera (and far more suitable form-factor) of its own?
If you have Skype installed then a built in camera is kind of useful. This is why most decent netbooks have them.
Which Means it wont really be that touchable because its running an OS Built for Pointer input, and will just infuriate and annoy people as they attempt to complete the same tasks but with a far inferior input device.
Tablets need Full touch OSs for them to really succeed, any that do not have this are a non starter or most of the target market.
. alas, many people will buy such items when PC world jumps on them and they will be left with an even more infuriating experience than they currently have with a full computer running a complex OS.
So why does the picture show it running WinXP? They could have at least mocked up the right OS version!
However, if it has - are YOU listening, X2? - a capacitive touchscreen and a comparable battery life to my NC10, as I'd imagine it must have pretty much stock netbook internals, I could be very interested!
And if they can sell it for less than the iPad they may have a good alternative to Apple.
You could compare those two to my comparison between the Archos player and the Apple iTouch.
I wanted a good portable media player and had a choice between the above mentioned, the iTouch is sleek but the Archos player had a bit more grunt about it. Anyhow bought the Archos in the end.
So yeah, this iTablet appears to have a bit more grunt going for it but not as sleek as the iPad, so people who choose capability over design may pick the iTablet. They could have a winner here.
Two questions, first why the heck does it have to use that damn "i" in it's title, it's unoriginal now.
Second, I still can't see how a tablet can be a good alternative to a laptop, BTW I can't be bothered with a laptop either.
So please sell it at a good price guys, who knows maybe even I might get intrested!
Regardless, whatever the iPad lacks and the iTablet has the main difference is the OS. For the market this is designed for - iTablet fails.
I think Apple knew the potential market for their iPad but couldn't call their miracle baby a grannyPad - patent attorneys from incontinence item makers would have descended upon them with uproar
USB's !! HDMI !! WebCam !! Multitasking OS !! Standard AR !! Ability to buy and run apps bought directly from 3rd party's !!
This really is what the iPad was trying to be !!
Also runs Linux, and i'm sure it won't be long before someone hacks OSX on to it (making the iPad obsolete).
Really? If Apple wanted the iPad to have USB, a hard drive, a webcam, and a multitasking OS, don't you think they would have made it like that?
Also, most laptops weight close to 2kg, so only a little bit more than this device. If you have one now, hold it closed in your left hand and pretend to use your other hand on the top of the closed laptop like a tablet. Fancy doing that for long?
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but that image shows Windows XP not Windows 7.
Will it tempt me to get one? No, I have no need of a tablet PC of any factor or OS. Is it better than the iPad? Most certainly. Will it outsell the iPad? Nope. Will Apple fanbois come rushing in spouting inane facts about why the iPad is the best tablet choice for any tablet by far and all that malarky? Most defiantly.
Well, we've got Flash, so we finally have decent Pr0n on the move. Now the question is: is the battery life enough for a real mobile use? If I use a tablet, I expect it to be with me all day long, always powered on (in standby mode at least) so I can use it without waiting for it to boot.
Beer because a tablet is a perfect companion for a beer or two at the pub. At least until the beer gets poured on the tablet.
"HATE the way it says iTablet on the front, totally ruins the look."
Electrical tape fix. I use it all the time for devices with blinding blue power lights apparently designed to keep aircraft from flying into them at night. Should work equally well for non-emissive display ugliness.
Paris, because she's easy on the eyes, isn't she?
Seems like some frothers round here discount the benefit of a webcam on the grounds you can only use it to take the odd low-res snap. These technical wonders / blunders can in fact be used for things other than taking photos you know. There's this little known program called Skype that use these things to take moving pictures... of your face! Imagine that.
While I agree Windows isn't the fluid experience of Apple iWhatevers, they're actually still quite easy to use with the touch enhancements. But hey, if you've never used one don't let that stop you making uneducated comments! Oh, and there is multitouch support in 7 for those that have missed this little factoid. As a cost cutting exercise I bet this thing doesn't have the screen hardware to use it though.
This will be popular with people that want to show Apple what's for. They will buy it, find that the interface doesn't really work with fingers. No problem they'll get a stylus, because everyone wants to use a stylus don't they. Its so natural. Then they'll find that it doesn't quite hack it for writing emails and suchlike. That's not a problem though, its got bluetooth, so they'll get a keyboard. Hey look at this Apple. Damn, typing and doing other stuff on the interface doesn't quite work. I'll get a mouse. Now look I've got a screen with bluetooth mouse and keyboard running the same old Windows 7 on an underpowered and limited device. It's ok though, its not Apple.
Please save us from technologists with a lack of imagination. Sadly that includes most of the staff at El Reg.
You clearly havn't used windows 7 on a touch screen it is so much better then i expected im going to but a $600 acer 20" touch screen. Seriously if you think about it the ipad is a pointless gimmick for the vast majority of potential customers. now a tablet running a proper OS thats far more use full.
You obviously haven't used win7's onscreen keyboard. It's better in almost every way to the one provided for in the apple product.
I can see keyboard aps for win7 popping up to fill niche needs.
No. That's not going to be a stumbling block for this product. This product is superior in almost every single conceivable way to the apple product.
No, not the XP thing...
His fingers, either that or he's been repeatedly sticking different fingers up his bum.... look at his fingers (maybe he's a part time proctologist and can't afford gloves?), maybe he's the designer and he's been told to pull his finger out and make it?
The reason tablets haven't taken off so far is that they have generally been rubbish, the interface to use them just doesn't work very well.
What Apple have done is made an appliance that does most of what your average internet user wants. They simplify their products, which of course infuriates the kind of people who post on here and Engadget. What people on here fail to realise time and time again is that the vast majority of people out there are not like them, they don't love computers and technology, they simply see them as a means to an end. They don't care if it has 3 USB ports, or if it can multitask, they care that it's easy to use, that it doesn't crash all the time, that it allows them to do what they want to do with the minimum of fuss.
The iTablet is heavy, will have a short battery life and I'd be stunned if it was cheaper than the iPad.
The iPhone and iPod succeeded, not because it was technically superior, but because the software it ran was so much better than the competition. So while on paper, all these PC tablets will seem technically superior to the iPad the user experience will be exactly the same as using a regular PC, and that is the iPads secret weapon, it will be just like using an iPhone or Touch, effortless and elegant.
I would also expect some degree of multitaking in OS 4
So they've taken a Windows laptop and made it "better" by removing the keyboard. Let's see what other "features" it has:
1a. Mechanical hard-drive => more fragile, louder, slower, requires more power, really needs a sudden motion sensor for when bumped/dropped
1b. Solid state drive => either *very expensive* or *very crap*
2. FAT32 file system => no files over 4GB (say bye bye to your HD mkv files)
3. Camera on back => no Skype/video-conferencing
4. 2kg => well, it saves on gym membership....
5. 802.11b/g => what, no 'n'?
6. No SD card reader (I don't care, but lots of iPad haters do)
7a. TN screen => why not IPS?
7b. IPS screen => yeah, right!
8. 1.6GHz Atom => hot, power hungry (relatively speaking)
9. Accelerometer? => does W7 even have support for such a thing?
10. GPS?
11. Multi-touch? => again, does W7 support this?
But the best thing is surely:
12. Requires AV software!!
...and we all know how much fun that stuff makes our desktops!
1a. Mechanical hard-drive <-- with the size, it most likely will contain a laptop hard drive yes, but it's not as if you're going to be throwing it around, the screen would break for a start
2. FAT32 file system <-- err, Windows XP and above use NTFS by default......
3. Camera on back <-- beats no camera at all
4. 2kg <-- still light enough
5. 802.11b/g <-- true, an oversight, maybe they will do an Apple and add N to version 2
6. No SD card reader <-- how do you know that? There is no reference
7a/b screen <-- again, no mention of the hardware specifics
8. 1.6GHz Atom <-- it's cool enough but fast enough to run Windows and Multi-Task, something that Apples CPU is unable to do, in fact, the iPad can't multi-task at all, maybe that explains the lack of Flash, the iPad's CPU is so underpowered, it can't actually run it.....
9. Accelerometer? <-- does OSX have support for such a thing? No, it comes from the software on the iPhone, so could they, I don't know, install software on the iTablet which has the same effect? Yes
10. GPS? <-- USB ports, 3G support, a myriad of ways to get GPS on it, and your choice of software too.
11. Multi-touch? <-- Yes, Windows 7 supports Multi-touch and it deals with it fantastically, all the little Aero touches too will come into their own, touch the title bar on screen, wiggle your finger and watch all the other windows minimize. Windows was doing Multi-touch over a decade ago.... (it's even in Windows XP oddly enough)
12. Requires AV software!! <-- Yes, it's one of the joys from having choice and in choosing an operating system used by oh, I don't know, lets say 93% of computer users (probably more, people who buy Macs tend to also buy Windows to get stuff done)
"4. 2kg <-- still light enough"
Say that after you've been holding it for a while.
"8. 1.6GHz Atom <-- it's cool enough but fast enough to run Windows and Multi-Task, something that Apples CPU is unable to do, in fact, the iPad can't multi-task at all, maybe that explains the lack of Flash, the iPad's CPU is so underpowered, it can't actually run it....."
Tripe. It can multitask perfectly well, as can the iPhone and iPod Touch. What it doesn't *allow* (big difference) is third-party apps to multitask, which a) makes life difficult for malware and b) improves battery life (which is the main reason).
"9. Accelerometer? <-- does OSX have support for such a thing? No, it comes from the software on the iPhone, so could they, I don't know, install software on the iTablet which has the same effect? Yes"
Actually Mac laptops have accelerometers: they're used to help protect the hard drives if dropped for one thing, so I suspect they must have OS support. See http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/slork/for an alternative use.
"12. Requires AV software!! <-- Yes, it's one of the joys from having choice and in choosing an operating system used by oh, I don't know, lets say 93% of computer users (probably more, people who buy Macs tend to also buy Windows to get stuff done)"
Au contraire, I bought a Mac so I could get stuff done rather than spending most of my time pratting about with AV software etc on Windows. The Mac even shuts down when you tell it to, instead of telling you it's saving your settings (when you haven't changed any) and then telling you it's shutting down for about five minutes instead of actually doing it...
1) yes, you would have to be fairly careful with it, which is more than I can say for most of the trials with the ipad/iphone. Though, I do recall some decent marks for a few sony products in drop tests.
2) NTFS isn't bad, but could still use some improvements.
3) why would you hold up something the size of a dan brown publication to take low resolution photos? this is the part of the arguement where you remind me that generic phone brand X has a 8.0 mp camera in it, and is the size of a bluetooth travel mouse.
4) light enough, but no lighter than a fully functional laptop WITH touch support of the same size, which is still not exactly any more portable than a hardcover of War and Peace.
5) I doubt they'll do a version 2, they'll do a completely differently designed model, when they realize there is little advantage to doing a tablet like this in contrast to a traditional model :/
6) SD, being as highly used and integrated as it is, would have popped up there right after the USB. While I wasn't impressed that apple passed that up, that certainly doesn't make me suspect that X2 would keep it off the initial specs as some "Secret weapon." But, who knows.
7) Again, fair enough, but wait for the pricepoint.
8) I would argue that point (actually, all of those points) on a few levels. Yes, the windows OS can multitask. Nobody will argue that point to you. Win 7 on an 1.6 (Underclocked closer to 800 MHZ in many cases) is not exactly a speed demon. I've run it on a few netbooks, and nettops, and in all cases it was lucky to score a 2 on microsofts UI "experience" tests. Adobe has admitted multiple times that Flash does not work nearly as well on Apple products as it has for MS ones, not that processor seems to even come into that remark. The lack of "multi-tasking" as you put it, is a little... well, no, it's pure crap. The iphone/ipod and yes ipad does multitask. MADNESS YOU SAY. No, it's not. it just doesn't keep the front end for the applications open like windowed tabs, at least for third party apps. But to my knowlegde, neither did any of the android or google phones :/ If you have any sort of resource management (like the old iStat pro) you could see the running processes for yourself. Frankly, at the speed at which it opens the apps, third party or otherwise, "multi-tasking" that you've pedestal placed, is not that big a deal.
9) Why would you need a desktop or laptop OS to have support for that? I don't think calling out apple for using a custom os which supports that hardware is exactly fair when none of the winmobile ones do, let alone their desktop full-fledged counterparts.
10) unnnn.. a GPS dongle for the USB would be ... a little cumbersome, and defeat the point of a "portable" and contained device like this. 3G also would require a costly contract, which if was otherwise not the case, apple would have simply done the same. Hardly a myriad at 2 self-complicating alternatives.
11) Touch sensitivity is no the same as multi-touch, and yes, there have been touch windows machines for a long time. although on the same breath, you could do touch mods for the mac for almost as long, since a touch screen is just an input device with software to match it, no different than any other peripheral. I don't recall a single table that featured the same "touch" support as became mainstreamed after the host of iphone, HTC, Android, Google, Sony, ect ect that got on board with kind of input... at least none of the ones I've owned ever have.
12) That was a weak arguement in the first place, but fair enough. Yes, you need to get AV software, not that there arn't plenty of free open source projects just as capable. You fired off a market share rebuttle, I get that. I wont get into the market margins vs home consumer use discussion, and how those numbers, much like sales numbers are skewwed, and you'll pass up the chance to talk about how apple figures also include sale of iphones too. We'll ignore the IT and retail chains that all run old clunker towers by IBM which handle exactly what their jobs need, and nothing more at an easily replaceable price, which makes up the vast majority of the "PC user demographic" because really, that would be unnecessary. I'll even keep it to myself about the host of people using PC's that don't use MS products for office, email, the web, AV, or even their music... what is that tune program again... after all, there are again, plenty of easily downloadable alternatives.
It's nice to have a pleasant chat with someone about a new product and it's features. It should be an fine laptop, priced accordingly when it comes out
What are we all getting so excited (and feather ruffled) for?
Folks, if you don't like Job's take on a tablet, don't buy the damn thing.. I've seen a variety of devices that ran Windows OS (take your pick), Linux, or even with a little prodding and EFI, Mac. They're honest-to-goodness 100% laptops, with touch screens, stylus and keyboard. THIS isn't new, it's not even that impressive, it just took away a 3mm thick keyboard component and trackpad.
I said this once already, and I'll say it again. The iPad isn't meant to be used as a desktop replacement - it's meant to replace an otherwise 4 times as heavy, twice as pricey and 3 times more complicated laptop for people who are just about only competant enough to go to facebook, email and youtube on their "computers." Give them a slimmed down idiot proof OS. Take away all sorts of control panel options for them to muck up (oh hell yes they will), let them simply play with this toy as God, or Jobs, or whomever, intended.
Now, I love tablets as much as the rest of you. They're a great tool in a host of many situtations, but one look at this thing and you can be almost certain, its going to fall along the same lines of cost, power, and features of 99% of it's predocessors. I'm sure it will be (as a laptop) on par with the rest of the pack, but will drive the cost up to match it. The one thing that might cut (a tiny bit) of the cost is the lack of input devices (aside from via touch) and the needed housing/swivel for the screen. wow, drop about 50$ of it's price.
The iPad is not meant to be your high end laptop. The iTablet is not meant to be your portable E-reader with high def video play back.
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