Friday, October 08, 2010

Looking for net tabs / ipad alternatives

As a follow up from blog in August, I did a trawl through possible places to look for ipad alternatives when I am in Hong Kong or Singapore later this month.  Not sure if I will have time as I only have a day in Hong Kong but will be based in MongKok, which has several likely possibilities for tech. toys.
In Singapore for not quite 5 days with two days taken up by conference and a day at least (perhaps two) with working on the last edit of my thesis with my supervisor, Stephen. Also will have to fit in the obligatory hello to my mother-in-law and various aunties! So time will be of the essence. Good thing about Singapore is shops are open late so should be able to get at least a short hour or so at either of Sim Lim computer / mobile phone centre or at Funan IT Mall on Bridge Road.

An item reported in August reports on 9 alternatives , another with 7 and android forum turns out to be good place to find out more about the large number of Android tablets now available. I found links there to a comparison of various 'lower end' tablets and a link with release dates.


On the ipad end of the market, the Samsung Galaxy Tab seems to be leading the flock with a comparison between the ipad and the galaxy tab from pcworldAugen tabs do not seem to have withstood deep scrutiny and no physical sign, as yet of the Asus eee Pad or the MSI windpad and the Blackberry Playpad not as yet launched.
 
So might be a case of having a good look and to do some hands on play with various models including ones with 7" screens and resistive rather than capacitive screens. If I have time, will also do a read up on the various technical specifications, difference between VIA and rockchip processors plus have a chat with various techy types at mlearn 2010 who will have advice to offer. This will provide a better understanding of capabilities of net tabs and form the basis of next year's 'elearning' project applications.