Apple to face fast Android tablets

 Apple's iPad will likely have to contend this year with new Android tablets sporting the latest high-speed silicon coming off production lines in Asia.

Nvidia is on the record saying that tablets powered by its quad-core Kal-El chip are arriving this year. "Kal-El-powered tablets are coming this fall, and phones around the CES 2012 timeframe," Nvidia said in a statement to CNET on Friday.

It's safe to presume that Nvidia isn't just blowing smoke. Its processors today power all of the most popular Android Honeycomb tablets, including the Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Toshiba Thrive, and Acer Iconia Tab A500. Future Sony tablets will use Tegra too.

Nvidia claims its upcoming quad-core processor will offer higher performance while being more power efficient.

(Credit: Nvidia)

And listening to Nvidia's earnings conference call on Thursday provided some more food for thought. "Our next-generation Kal-El processor had a very strong quarter of design wins," CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said. "And we have a great working relationship with [Google]. And so as soon as our next generation processor Kal-El is ready for production, we can run like the wind."

One of the more intriguing points Huang made was about Kal-El's power consumption. The seemingly logical assumption is that a quad-core processor will be more power hungry. Not necessarily, said Huang. "Kal-El is so much better performance than Tegra 2. And so much lower power. Very few people have internalized that Kal-El is lower power in every use case compared to Tegra 2," he said.

So, now that we know that high-performance Android tablets are coming, we're left to speculate on brands. Motorola is one of those most likely candidates. The company will come out with "much more aggressive form factors" for tablets later this year, CEO Sanjay Jha said when speaking at a tech conference this week. Asus is another prospect.

Texas Instruments--likely a leading chip provider for upcoming Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablets and smartphones--and Qualcomm also have plans for quad-core chips but, those aren't due until 2012 sometime.

How will Apple respond? Well, theories abound. One being that Apple will offer a premium iPad for professionals, sporting a higher resolution screen, among other tweaks. Then, of course, there are plenty of rumors about an iPad 3. But when that will land in Apple stores is a crapshoot. Apple may wait until next year when it can pack in plenty of new goodies like a quad-core A6 processor, better graphics, and a revamped design.

Ironically, despite different production schedules, Apple and Nvidia may get their silicon from the same source. Nvidia historically sources its chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC, one of the largest chip manufacturers in the world. Many industry experts believe that Apple will also consign production to TSMC of either a future version of the A5 processor or the next generation A6.

Linley Gwennap, who heads The Linley Group, a chip consulting firm, thinks Apple may turn to TSMC. "Nvidia quad-core late this year, Apple A6 early next year. So Nvidia could be out a little sooner than Apple, but not by much," said Gwennap.

As long as Apple gets the iPad 3 out reasonably soon after quad-core Android tablets begin to proliferate, most consumers probably won't care. That said, all bets are off with Windows 8 running on ARM processors like Nvidia's Kal-El.

Source: cnet

Amazon Content to Spur $249 Android Tablet: Analyst

Amazon.com's (NASDAQ:AMZN) forthcoming Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android tablet continues to be a hot topic among tech media and pundits.

One of the popular memes surrounding the machine is that the e-commerce giant could find a way to challenge Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad by severely undercutting it on price.

How severe? Perhaps by as much as half the starting price of the $500 base model iPad 2.

Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin, who has already gone on record saying Amazon could produce at least two tablets this year, did what he described as "back-of-the-envelope" math to conclude that

Bajarin said the tablet could cost $300 to make, but Amazon would discount it by $51 to entice consumers to buy it. The Amazon would expect to make up the difference in movie rentals, music downloads, Kindle book sales, other application purchases and advertising.

Amazon, using its one-click buying method as an easy-on-ramp to customers to make purchases through its Android Appstore and regular e-commerce offerings, could make back the $51 difference within 6 months and make a profit between 10 to 30 percent over the last 18 months of the device's accounting period.

"Now imagine how this could affect the other Android vendors that are making tablets. If Amazon provides a product that is sold under cost with the goal of making up the rest of the cost and profit from apps, services, and even advertising, it could give all of the other Android vendors a serious run for their money," 

"And, given Amazon’s deep ecosystem, other Android vendors would find it very difficult to compete against it. When measuring by units shipped, this method could make Amazon the king of Android tablets very quickly. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it could "own" the Android tablet market."

Notice Bajarin didn't say Amazon would own the tabket market outright. With 30 million units sold in less than 18 months, Apple's iPad owns that distinction at present, Bajarin said. The company would likely protect it lead versus any aggressive challengers by slashing prices and driving the iCloud service to consumers.  model.

Bajarin isn't the only analyst expecting a sharply discounted tablet.

Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, who ignited the Amazon Android tablet meme earlier this year, said she though Amazon would have the best chance of challenging the iPad thanks to its content distribution, channel and brand.

She also believes Amazon would likely subsidize any slate, possibly via advertising. Epps also said such devices would give Amazon the leadership position in Android tablets, still trailing well behind the iPad.

Source: eweek

250GB Android tablet coming - Do you interested?

Here's something you can't get with an iPad: 250GB of internal storage. Archos' upcoming Android "Honeycomb" 3.2 tablet will pack a 250GB hard disk drive that's been tweaked to perform more like a flash drive.

Archos G9 combines a 250GB hard disk drive with a 4GB flash drive.

(Credit: Archos)

The Archos G9 will sport a 250GB Seagate Momentus Thin 2.5-inch hard drive--a mere 7 millimeters thick. Though not as compact as a 1.8-inch HDD (like Apple once used in its MacBook Air and iPod), it's not as expensive either.

And Archos has tweaked the Seagate drive a bit to allow it to perform more like the flash drives found in practically all tablets today. 4GB of flash storage sits on top of the HDD, according to Craig TerBlanche, director of marketing for Archos in North America. Often-used data is stored in the flash component, allowing faster access than a standard 2.5-inch HDD, TerBlanche said.

All of this results in bigger bang for the buck. "You get 250GB for the same cost as a 32GB flash drive," he said.

Another marquee feature is the 1.5GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 dual-core processor. This is the same processor that Google has approved for upcoming Android Ice Cream Sandwich devices. That means consumers can expect to see a new wave of tablets and smartphones built around the TI 4460. But Archos will likely be one of the first, as those devices aren't expected until late in the year.

The 8-inch 250GB Archos G9 will be $369.99 and the 10-inch 250GB model, $469.99. Both are due in September

Source : cnet

Like 3G/4G with that Android tablet? No thanks

A tablet with no connection to the web is very limited in how useful it can be. Just ask a traveler on a flight without Wi-Fi if you don’t believe that. That is why tablets typically come in two varieties: Wi-Fi only and 3G or 4G. The former is usually less expensive and the latter can get online virtually anywhere using either mobile broadband or Wi-Fi. Getting an Android tablet with 3G or 4G sounds like the best move for a consumer, but in my experience that is not always the way to go.

Android tablets with only Wi-Fi connectivity can be purchased either online or in big-box retailers. They require no contract with a phone carrier so once you buy one there are usually no more out-of-pocket expenses involved in using the tablet. They can be used anywhere an open hotspot can be found.

A 3G/4G tablet on the other hand usually means a two-year contract with a mobile provider, and that carries a monthly fee. These tablets can easily cost over $1,000 over the life of the contract, without factoring in the purchase of the tablet. They can get online almost everywhere, but not without that hefty data fee.

The cost difference is a solid reason for going with a Wi-Fi tablet, but for me it is not the main reason to pass on the 3G/4G tablet. I own both types of tablets running Honeycomb and Gingerbread, and in the Android world the Wi-Fi models get system updates far earlier than the carrier supported devices. The involvement of the network in the Android OS update process adds time, in most cases a lot of time, and that means customers get new software versions long after owners of the same tablet with Wi-Fi only gets them. I recently got the upgrade to Gingerbread on my Sprint Galaxy Tab with 3G, long after Samsung had released the upgrade for Wi-Fi models. Owners of Tabs with other carriers are still waiting for the same upgrade, which is a significant update.

Some customers buy a tablet and don’t care if or when it gets updated. If you’re one of those then you should get one with 3G/4G connectivity if that is important to you. If it is not a big issue for you, then you’ll find that your Wi-Fi only tablet will likely get all system updates before owners in the other camp get them. That may be reason enough to go Wi-Fi.

This is only one decision that must be made by prospective tablet buyers. Remember that everyone’s needs are different when it comes to these slates. There are even some folks that should stay away from tablets like comedian Steven Wright.