viliv S10, 1376x768, Atom 1.6-2Ghz, 30 HD or 32-64 GB SSD.
Any Windows Tabled edition OS supports touchscreens and multitasking. Windows7 Tablets support multiple gestures.
Atom 1.6 to 2.0 GHz, Atom processors are optimized for ultra-mobile devices.
The S10 is advertised as having 10 hours of battery life, 7 with playback. Less than the iPad claims but we all know how fast and loose Apple plays with its battery life claims. Wait for real world testing. The iPad will probably last longer. Then again it's slower and more limited than the S10.
You can use iTunes just as easily on any device as you can an iPad.
Windows has several magnitudes more cheap and free apps than are supported by the iPhone OS. More important than 500 cheap fart apps and the other 145,000 useless apps a Windows based Tablet will run any non-intensive computer application. For those of us who want a computer instead of an over-sized iPod Touch that's the deal breaker.
Any computer can use the iTunes "world class" delivery platform. Oh wait. You were serious? Hell, I can't even deliver myself a PDF file or Word document with iTunes. It's great for the five things it can do, but for everything else the iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad sucks balls since the only convenient way of delivering content to them is through iTunes.

Remotely like the iPad? No, not really. The S10 is a high end NetBook as opposed to a 10" smartphone sans the phone. It's a little bigger, a bit more expensive, and substantial faster, and a whole hell of a lot more useful. I don't know about you, but given that the iPad is several times the size and weight of my iPod Touch I can't help but expect it to do more. The fact that it does not annoys me. I don't want to run around with something the size and weight of a Netbook that can't do a fraction of what a Netbook can do.

If the iPod Touch fulfills all of your media consumption needs then you obviously won't care that it can only deliver a small fraction of content out there. For most of us, however, the iPod Touch does not fulfill all of those needs. I like to watch TV shows on Hulu. I watch the occasional movie on Netflix. I visit such websites that use Flash (you know, obscure ones like Google Finance, CNN, Facebook, etc) and I even have been known to play a Flash game on occasion. Sometimes I do strange things like use a laptop to connect a camera to, or a printer.

And then there's the other class of things I do. Since the iPad is much closer in size and weight to a UMPC or Netbook than it is a iPhone or iPod Touch I might reasonably expect it to be able to perform similar functions. You know, productive things. Like word processing, Excel, PowerPoint. Given that it's tax season I might want to do my taxes on it. Having so many computers, I'm sure you occasionally use them for tasks that "there's an app for that" just doesn't apply to. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. That's the real deal breaker for me. As bad a media consumption device as the iPad it's several magnitudes worse on the productivity side.

So, I guess it really depends on what you want. If you want an iPod the size and weight of a netbook, then yes no one else makes that. If you want a more advanced device of similar size and weight there are many choices. If you're firmly attached to your touch screens I'd suggest the S10, it'll allow you to smear your greasy fingers to your hearts content. If you're like me and don't really see much point to them the Sony Viao X is pretty nice. Then there's all those Asus EEE PCs, Lenovo Tablets, HP Tablets.

The iPad is a nifty idea. I like the form factor, but it still needs some work. There's an awful lot bezel around that screen. Less bezel, more screen. It needs some USB ports. Sony can stick in a physical keyboard AND USB ports in something just .05 inches thicker. And what's with the rounded back? I can see rounding the edges for comfort reasons, but must you round the entire backside so when it is set down to type/navigate it rocks like a boat?

The real problem, however, is the software. The hardware is fine. We already know the slower iPhone has no problem with Flash, or multitasking. Windows 7 runs on ARM A9 processors, so I don't see any reason a more functional OS X shouldn't run on an Apple A4, which is just a tweaked ARM A9.

 

As best as I can ascertain, the iPad is one of two things (perhaps both):

1. A device ready to address a use case that isn't there, but will exist long after the 1st gen of the product has run it's course ("Newton II: Electric Booglaoo")

2. An engineering exercise Apple is writing off as a precursor to a larger integrated screen device, which will later disrupt the conventional TV use model.

Sony's flaw is not addressing the use models. Their sustaining engineering is impeccable, but if they want to stay relevant, they need to ignore their user base and look at the disruptive technologies and possible use cases (whither Clayton Christensen).

 

By native applications, I don't mean the 150,000 3rd party apps but rather the Apple iWorks Suite, Notes, Safari, iPhoto, iBooks, Calendar, Mail, Contacts etc. that have been painstakingly rewritten and optimized for a portable device with a touch interface. The 3rd party developers will likely take a year or so to take full advantage of the form factor, hardware, and touch interface. Unfortunately, Apples paranoia and control freak corporate culture caused them to freeze out all but a handful of key developers prior to launch. That wasn't necessarily the wrong decision but it means we have to wait to see what creative minds can come up with.

 

Malloric,

Apple isn't trying to compete with a Netbook. Jobs has judged those devices to be useless, not good at anything. Apple is trying to sell a content delivery platform. And it's not a multi-tasking full blown notebook. It's made for content delivery rather than creation. It's a new class of device. It has limited capability for creation but that is not the primary purpose of the device and not its' forte.

Apple has decided to tightly control the user experience. That means you can't have 4 applications running at the same time. It also means that battery life is 10 hours. It means that you can't watch flash based content. It also means that you don't have the problems associated with flash. It may also force Adobe to get their collective heads out of their butts and fix Flash for everyone. It also means that native applications have been optimized for a portable touch interface. But that means that you'll need to get used to the idea of life without a keyboard in exchange for the small form factor. And the device will evolve over time. Given the PC evolution I'm amused that the Windows crowd expects a fully evolved device out of Apple with the first try.

As for iTunes, yes that's available on every computer. Courtesy of Apple it's the global standard. Thank you Steve Jobs. Where's any Windows counterpart? Ah yes, non existent, that's right.

As for all these useful free apps in the Windows world, where are they? Just as I asked on the hardware and distribution system, please list a dozen or so free apps used by millions of people on a daily basis. Also please list where one would go to obtain all this free value in each case. I won't hold my breath.

For those of you who want a physical keyboard and a full blown desktop OS, I would say that this device is not for you. Move on. You don't get it yet or it doesn't serve your needs. Wait for that next Win 7 notebook with a pivoting screen while the rest of the world moves on.

 

:fap:

 

Funny how everyone mentions apple as the reason why flash isn't on their system....it's friggen adobe's fault why it's not on any apple portable device. Flash is terriably written for Macs AND windows (more so for macs though) and their arrogance is so high, they refuse to rewrite it. Hell, it doesn't even support 64-bit yet and that's been fairly main stream for years now

Wake up, it's not on their because their shitty code would make the CPU shoot to 100% usage and kill battery life to nothing. And since every website has some kind of flash (usually ads), your internet experience is going to be pretty darn crappy. Don't hate the player, hate the game...

 

Assoc Press (15 March 2010) By Line: Alfred E. Neumann

HP, Dell, and Microsoft have announced a partnership to work on a device to compete with Apple's new iPad. They expect to bring products similar to the one shown in the photo above to market by the end of 2012 or 2015 at the latest. There are no working prototypes of the hardware or software at the time of the press conference. The new products will depend on a decentralized network of independent software providers to hammer out some useful applications for the new technology. The triumvirate of companies behind the development effort is hopeful that someone will create something of value and that people will somehow be able to find it.

 

[QUOTE=SpudRacer,Mar 14 2010, 12:20 PM] Assoc Press (15 March 2010) By Line: Alfred E. Neumann

HP, Dell, and Microsoft have announced a partnership to work on a device to compete with Apple's new iPad.

 

So, the NetBook is useless so we'll turn around and create something the same size that does less and call it useful? By this logic the iPad is less than useless.

What am I missing Spud? What content is the iPad able to deliver that a NetBook can't? iPad content delivery = iTunes. Last I checked, that runs just as well on a PC as it does an iPhone. I must be missing all the awesome content delivery advantages the iPad provides.

The Adamo has ten hours of battery life. It runs iTunes just as well as an iPad will. It can multitask. It supports Flash. It can do video out. It can connect with USB devices like printers, cameras, external optical drives. It has a webcam. Again, how is the iPad anything but worse at content delivery than a NetBook? Considering I can tether my phone to an Adamo rather than paying $30 a month for data on another device it's even cheaper.

What you're left with is form factor. I totally get this. I LIKE the iPad form factor. I don't love it (Bezel, non-flat back), but I do get its "intimacy" even if I do also think it's hilarious to describe it as intimate. Asus gets it. Archos gets it. It's the reason the Kindle has been such a success (that and eInk).

If the form factor is more important to you than functionality I can see how the iPad would appeal to you. I'm more concerned with the functionality of a devices myself. So I'll wait out the less functional than a useless NetBook that is the iPad. Maybe Gen2 iPad or the Asus EeePad? We'll see.

 

Malloric. . . the iPad is a Gen2.