VilaWeb - Diari escola: Battle of the Tablets

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dimecres, 24 d'abril de 2024

> The alternatives

> Microsoft and Google

> OLPC XO-3

dimarts, 1 de juny de 2010

The Californian company Apple has traditionally had a lower share of the personal computer market than the giants of the IT world, such as Microsoft and manufacturers like HP and Dell. Nevertheless, the company founded by Steve Jobs has managed to set trends on many occasions, mainly thanks to the creations of the English designer, Jonathan Ive. Under Ive’s direction, home computers moved away from the up-until-then traditional beige colour, with the iMac range incorporating striking, translucent colours in their casing. Ive was the brains behind the designs for other concepts such as the iPod (the MP3 player that revolutionised the Internet music market) and the iPhone, which popularised touch screens and made them a standard feature of electronic devices.

Another of Ive’s designs is the iPad; this represents a new concept in computers, known as tablets. Tablets are midway between smartphones (the latest generation of mobile phones) and netbooks (ultraportables), and enable users to access a whole range of online and multimedia content. Even though tablets were around before the launch of the iPad (3 April in the US and on 28 May in this country), Apple’s device is now the standard in a new mainstream electronics segment that will leave its mark on 2010 from a technological perspective.

As with the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone, the newly-launched iPad has set the benchmark and numerous other brands are now starting to propose or announce their own tablets.

The alternatives

+ A number of companies presented their first prototypes of touch screen tablets last January.

Soon after Apple announced it was working on a new kind of touch screen computer (the iPad does not have a physical keyboard, one appears onscreen when required) which was portable and designed as a personal device that was thin (1.25 cm), light (0.68 kg), and the size of a book (with a 9.7 inch screen), the leading technology manufacturers rushed to come up with alternatives. Evidence of this could be found at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (USA) in January, when a number of companies presented their first prototypes of touch screen tablets. Since then, a number have become reality, such as the JooJoo (which uses the GNU/Linux operating system); the ASUS Eee Tablet, the ExoPC and the MSI WindPad (with Windows 7), along with three that use Google’s Android: the Notion Ink Adam, the Archos and the Camangi. In order to compete with the iPad, most of these models are attempting to win market share by including features that Apple’s model does not, such as Flash technology support, USB connector, multitask option, integrated camera, etc.

Microsoft and Google

+ Microsoft and HP are working on the so-called Slate.

However, what many believe will be the main answers to Apple’s iPad are still under development. Microsoft and HP are working on the so-called Slate, which is expected to appear at the end of the year. The computer maker Dell appears to be preparing to launch Streak, which uses Android and is smaller than the iPad, although it has similar features. Google, the great Internet player which presented its first touch screen mobile a few months ago, is also planning a tablet that makes use of all the potential of its own portable device operating system, Android.

OLPC XO-3

+ The One Laptop per Child OLPC association in the US has teamed up with the processor maker Marvell.

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) association in the US has teamed up with Marvell, the processor maker, to turn its under-$100 computer into a tablet for use by children in the developing world. As with its low-cost laptop, which was intuitive and had no need for an external power source, the future touch screen device will also aim to cost less than $100. The OLPC XO-3, the name given to the device for the time being, will use the Moby platform made by US-based Marvell. Production is expected to start in 2012.

MATERIALS

iPad
Format:Web
Pàgina de la companyia Apple amb tota la informació i les característiques de l'iPad.
Guided Tour
Format:Web
Vídeo de presentació de les principals funcions del nou 'tablet', a través d'una passejada virtual.
Tablet PC Review
Format:Web
Publicació en línia dedicada a aplegar totes les notícies referents al mercat dels ordinadors en format 'tablet'.

QUE HO SABIES?

The young English designer, Jonathan Ive, is behind the design and concept of Apple’s most successful products, from iMac computers to iPod players, from the iPhone to the new iPad tablet.
The launch of the iPad has opened up a brand new market. According to data released by Apple, more than 2 million iPads have been sold since 3 April. Programmers all over the world have developed more than 5,000 specific applications for iPads.