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HP Releases New Video Demo of its Slate

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What? You didn’t get the iPad?  Oh, right you’re not an Apple fanboy. You’d rather spend on a more powerful tablet such as the one previewed recently by HP, right? Well, just like you HP is also pinning its hope of capturing the tablet market and perhaps taking the thunder away from the iPad with its HP Slate product.

And as if telling all of us that the HP Slate project is still alive and well on its way to final production, HP has released a new video demo right on its HP Vodoo Blog. And boy what a tablet the HP Slate really is! Design-wise, it looks so handsome although I’m guessing that it will probably be thicker than the iPad.

The HP folks say that aside from the HP Slate’s capability to support Adobe Flash and Air, they have also paid some good attention to the HP Slate’s functionality for consuming media or digital content, be it a story from a major news outlet or or your videos and photos.

Obviously HP is banking on the iPad’s shortcomings such as the lack of front facing camera and USB port to make the HP Slate the preferred tablet instead of the iPad. HP was highlighting the fact that the HP Slate will allow you to chat with friends via Skype or share your photos from the HP Slate to Facebook or Flickr.

So, it would be interesting to see how the HP Slate can match up with the hype and buzz that the iPad has generated. Of course we all know that there are as much Apple fanboys as there are PC guys out there, willing to take the HP Slate.  Which side are you on?

Originally posted on April 5, 2010 @ 5:30 pm

Apple iPad Will Magically Read E-Books Aloud

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As soon as Apple started accepting pre-orders for the iPad, the product page for one of its most important component, iBooks was also updated. It’s not really surprising that Apple will highlight the iPad’s e-book reading features especially since this is a hot market right now. And besides how good is a new Apple product if it doesn’t have a competitor to taunt? Sorry Kindle fans, but whether you like it or not, Apple is taking on the Kindle’s dominance in the e-book market.

Anyway, so what’s up with iPad and iBooks. Nothing much really, except for the fact that apparently the iPad can actually read e-books to you aloud.  Yes, I know Amazon Kindle has this. But we all know that this feature has been an issue before with the Kindle. So, it’s kind of surprising that Apple decided to have this feature in the iPad.

So, once the iPad starts rolling into the hands of those who pre-ordered it, expect some legal issues to arise once more. But I’m pretty sure Steve and his boys are more than ready for this.

In a related note, another indication that Apple is really prepping up the iPad as a fierce Kindle competitor is the fact that the device will be supporting e-books in EPUB format which will not be sold from the iBooks E-Bookstore. This simply means that you won’t be spending additional money to use your iPad as an e-book reader. You can practically load it up with free e-books that are freely available from various online sources.

This is a welcome feature and is good for both Apple and iPad users who are planning to use their iPad for e-book reading purposes. For Apple, it will be able to capture an already established market – the e-reader market. And for iPad owners, it’s one less cost.

Originally posted on March 12, 2010 @ 6:58 pm

Introducing the iPad’s Latest Challenger, Samsung Slate PC

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Whether we all like it or not, the Apple iPad has already marked its niche into the electronics industry. Despite the fact that it hasn’t even arrived on any user’s lap yet, the iPad, despite the many flaws and shortcomings thrown at it by critics is now becoming a benchmark for all other tablet PCs that are to be released by other manufacturers.

Take the case of Samsung which is reportedly preparing their own slate-like tablet PC. According to Philip Newton – Samsung Australia’s director of  IT Division, Samsung’s planned slate PC will boast of PC-grade processor and connectivity. It will be powerful enough that will drive users to make it as their primary computing devices. Incidentally, in case you’re not aware this is one feature that the iPad won’t probably achieved with any of its soon-to-be-released units.

Speaking at the Samsung Forum in Singapore, Mr. Newton even hits on the iPad saying that it lacks the processing power and connectivity features that slate-type platforms should have to spark interests among users.  Mr. Newton even said that those Atom-powered devices even have more potential than the iPad has.

Is this a hint that the Samsung slate PC will be running on Android? Unfortunately, that remains to be seen, since details and information about the Samsung slate PC are not yet known.

The good news is, we only have to wait until the second half of this year as Samsung promises to deliver the said device by then. In case you’re doubting Samsung’s capabilities to come with mini-computing device, just take a look at the picture above which is actually the Samsung Q1 UMPC  released sometime in 2006.  Unfortunately that UMPC didn’t reap much success for Samsung. But hey, who knows, with the interest on tablet-like devices today, Samsung might actually become successful with this one.

Originally posted on March 16, 2010 @ 6:01 pm

iPad Pre-Order Limited to Two Per Customer

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In case you’re not aware,  the Apple Store has just started accepting pre-orders for the highly anticipated and perhaps even highly ridiculed product – the Apple iPad. If you’re like me who have been waiting for this day and wants Apple to ship the iPad on April 3, then If I were you visit the U.S. Apple Store and look for the iPad pre-order page. I wouldn’t waste time especially because it seems that Apple will be running short of supply in no time at all.

In fact, Apple has limited the number of iPads that every customer can pre-order to two units only. This was probably decided upon to ensure that more people will be able to get their units and not just a few who might take advantage and purchase more with the objective of selling them in the black market.

Apple is accepting pre-orders for all the announced models of the iPad – Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi +3G and their respective variants with different storace capacity ranging from 16GB to 64GB. I had to contend with ordering the 16GB Wi-Fi version since based on my experience with the iPhone I could barely consumer 8GB of storage with several dozens of apps already installed. I’m hoping that my storage need for the iPad would be covered by the 16GB model.

While pre-ordering for all the units can be placed now, only the 16GB Wi-Fi model will be shipped on April 3. The rest of the other units will start shipping around last week of April. Prices for each of the models of the iPad vary and depend on their storage capacity.

So, are you placing an order today? Do you think there will be enough interests for the iPad that Apple will closed pre-order as earliest as possible?

Originally posted on March 12, 2010 @ 10:48 am

Apple iPad, the All-Around Device for $499 Base Model, Sweet!

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Alright boys and girls, let’s all welcome Apple’s latest creation – the iPad. I know, it’s a crappy name for an Apple product. Makes you think that the Apple boys seemed to have run out of ideas already to come up with a killer name for a supposedly killer device. But hey, we’re free to call it whatever we want. What matters is what it can do, right?

Frankly, the Apple boys maybe a bit confused as well when it comes to determining what they want the iPad to be. Is it a tablet? Is it an e-book reader? Is it a bigger version of iPod?  Actually, Apple wants the iPad to be a bit of everything.

The iPad is definitely a Tablet, by looks alone. But it lacks the slide-out keyboard common to tablet PCs. But hey, it has a full capacitive multi-touch feature so that more than makes up for the lack of a physical keyboard.

It can handle games. Specifically graphics intensive  games such as the one demoed by EA. It can even do pixel double so that existing games can maximize the 9.7-inch screen since all of these games were developed for the small screen estate of iPhone and iPod touch.

Most interesting function of the Apple iPad of course is the e-book reader part. It can definitely handle e-book reading task. But more importantly, Apple also announced it’s e-book store – iBooks. So, there are now three Apple gadget-specific, online store, iTunes, Apps Store and iBooks. And having an e-book store of its own means a lot for the success of the iPad as an electronic reading device. Fortunately for Apple, they have already made deals with four major publishers – Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, Penguin and MacMillan and Hatchett. The only information left is how much e-books are going to be sold.

Lastly, the part that got me excited? – Pricing. And it goes something like these:

  • $499 for the base 16GB Wi-Fi
  • $599 for the 32GB model Wi-Fi
  • $699 for the 64GB model Wi-Fi
  • $629 for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G
  • $729 for the 32GB Wi-Fi +3G
  • $829 for the 64GB Wi-Fi  +3G

U.S. release date will be late March in the U.S. and selected countries.

And here’s the official Apple announcement for the iPad. Apple Gazette’s technical specs round-up here.

So, are you buying the iPad? I am, most definitely.

Originally posted on January 27, 2010 @ 3:50 pm