Tablets Before and After the iPad

In light of the recent ruling banning the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany it is important to remember what tablets looked like before and after the iPad. Also remember that the ban is based on a design trademark and not software patents. Thanks to ReiVersuri for the image.

iPad 2

A lot of talk going on right now about the iPad 2 and iPad 3. Having used an iPad for almost a year these are a few upgrades I’ll be looking forward to in upcoming revisions.

Higher resolution screen. I don’t think it is cost/technologically feasible to put a retina display in the next iPad. Maybe iPad 3. The resolution would have to double from 1024x768 to 2048x1536. That is almost the equivalent of packing Apple’s 27” Cinema display (2560x1440) into a 9.7” screen. While that would be awesome I just don’t see it happening for iPad 2. The processing power and resulting battery life are probably too much to handle.

Camera. The iPad will probably gain FaceTime support and at least a front facing camera in v2. Of course, I’d be happier to see FaceTime come to the PC and other platforms as Apple said back in June of last year.

Lighter. The iPad is currently 1.5 lbs. This is really light for a 10” device but it can get heavy if you are using it to read like you would a paperback. Shaving .5 lb is going to be a challenge without comprising battery life but if anyone can it is Apple.

Thinner. I don’t really want it to get thinner unless that is needed to make it lighter. It really is a comfortable size. Of course, I can hear Steve Jobs saying, “The thinnest tablet ever!”.

Gizmodo Galaxy Tab Review

If you take iPhone apps and simply scale them up for the iPad, most of them don’t feel right. If you take Android apps and scale them up for the Tab, the majority of them—Twitter, Facebook, Angry Birds—work perfectly. (Except for when they don’t, like The Weather Channel.) That’s because the Galaxy Tab is small enough that apps simply blown up a little bit still fundamentally work. Which means, conversely, that there’s almost no added benefit to using the Tab over a phone. It’s not big enough. Web browsing doesn’t have greater fidelity. I don’t get more out of Twitter. A magazine app would be cramped. Videos do look better than they do on a phone, but a bigger tablet would be even better.

Yep.

HP ships their Win 7 Slate for $799

It has a USB port, headphone jacks, keyboard button (including the always useful Alt + Ctrl + Delete key). Interestingly the right side is also home to a slide-out Windows license.

These are the sort of decisions (Ctrl + Alt + Delete) and required Windows license sticker that really just go to show that MS still thinks of tablets as PCs. Oh, and the fact that it is running stock Windows 7. They don’t get it.