I hope webOS lives on... but this just goes to show that if you can't beat Apple significantly in price or features.. it's going to be an uphill battle.
I think it's funny that TouchPads are so hard to find now that HP slashed their prices... but they probably could have got away with $199 and $249 (half off).
If someone can port a fully working, stable Android/Honeycomb to the TouchPad or make an Android emulator for webOS (ala QNX), there might be some life left.
In other news, I like my Asus Transformer more each day. The latest update now adds Netflix capability (although you have to find the APK yourself) and ad-hoc WiFi access (go tether go!).
Still waiting for the "summer" release of the Galaxy Tab 8.... or even the redesigned Galaxy Tab 7. The smaller form factor is the market where other tablet makers can compete because it's going to be very hard to go against a 10" tablet with 2048x1536 resolution (iPad3). Although, Tim Cook could go back on Jobs and throw Apple into the 7" tablet arena.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Steve Jobs Leaves Job
If you have not heard... then you probably don't have electricity and so it doesn't matter.
Sadly, this may indicate a problem with his health and I wish him the best. I think Apple will be fine under Tim Cook because if you think about it, Cook has been at the reigns several times since Jobs has been having health problems dating back to 2004.
And I'm sure the rest of the management team is as key to Apple's success as much as Jobs. 2014 is where we'll see how Apple can evolve without its top guy. Although... if he can stay healthy, being Chairman of the Board is probably just as effective.
Sadly, this may indicate a problem with his health and I wish him the best. I think Apple will be fine under Tim Cook because if you think about it, Cook has been at the reigns several times since Jobs has been having health problems dating back to 2004.
And I'm sure the rest of the management team is as key to Apple's success as much as Jobs. 2014 is where we'll see how Apple can evolve without its top guy. Although... if he can stay healthy, being Chairman of the Board is probably just as effective.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Tablet Wars: Lost before it's begun...
So I've posted this same sentiment on various blog/tech sites... why don't the competitors price their tablets LOWER than the iPad 2?
Do they really think they can charge the same (or in the Xoom's case... more) than Apple and actually get customers to try out their product? Let's see, you are fighting against great marketing, brand recognition, fan loyalty, a huge app market, a consumer-friendly UI and widespread retail ubiquity (both for product and accessories) and you think you can price your product the same?
No wonder most of the "better" tablets have continued to fail to gain the market share to be called a true iPad alternative. Let's look at the list:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7": Ran phone UI, was priced the same or more to begin with and did not come out with a WiFi only version until a few months ago.
Xoom 10": More like Boom. I don't think I need to detail the problems other than (1) Priced MORE than the iPad 2 and (2) The WiFi version also came out later.
ViewSonic G-Tablet 10": Virtually no retail presence, does not ship with Honeycomb, priced $100 less but hardware isn't exactly "quality".
RIM Playbook 7": Nice quality tablet, but no native email/calendar hampers it. And priced the same as iPad for a smaller form factor... huh?
Acer Iconia A500 10": $50 less than iPad 2, good hardware and design but less battery life, bigger and heavier.
Asus EEE Pad Transformer 10": $100 less than iPad 2, good hardware (although build is a bit plastic-y), great battery life, bigger and heavier. This is one of the few tablets that were very hard to find in the initial release due to its price and ability to become a netbook (with $150 add-on keyboard dock). The problem here is retail presence, while the techies are aware of it, the average consumer is not.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1" (version 2.0): So upon seeing the new iPad 2, Sammy went back and re-did the Tab 10.1 to be thinner and lighter... which was a good move... but... there were some sacrifices. One of the things the Android tablets like to emphasize is the ability to have external memory (via SD or micro-SD) and external ports (HDMI/USB)... the new Tab has neither. Boo. AND... they priced it the same as the iPad 2. Yeah... they learned to make the hardware better (which by the reviews is excellent) but they forgot about making the price cheaper. And... only available in one store in NY on their release date, will be in other stores by June 17. An 8.9" version will be out but pricing has not been specified (it better be cheaper).
HP Touchpad 10": There is an overall agreement that webOS (formerly from Palm) is an excellent OS with a very friendly UI. The big knock is could HP be too little too late? While they have a better retail presence than the other companies... can they effectively market the Touchpad better than Apple? And without the app market of Android or iOS... they are already behind. So what do they price it at? Yeah... you guessed it... the SAME as the iPad. Bleh. Out on July 1st but I'm not expecting a big rush for this one.
Then there is gamut of cheaper Android products at all different form factors and more coming out... Vizio is supposed to be coming out with a $349 10" tablet.... we'll see what the specs look like.
Personally, I bought an Asus Transformer because it was $100 cheaper, I used that savings to buy the keyboard dock which not only adds netbook capability to my tablet but also increases battery life over 60% (so it can last longer than the iPad 2). The ability to load all my own files onto it either through connecting directly to my laptop or to an external drive makes it more functional for me. In addition, the tweaks that Asus added (keyboard with number row) and peripheral apps (MyCloud/Splashtop to control other PCs remotely) were part of my decision. My only knocks are it does not run Netflix (yet), no AdHoc WiFi and the build quality isn't the greatest (the plastic creaks in certain areas) but the IPS screen is nice and the docking/netbook solution solved multiple needs for me.
So what is my take? Well... if they are not going to beat Apple's price at the 10" size... they shouldn't even try. They should give up on the 10" market, concentrate on 7-8" tablets at lower price points (especially since Steve Jobs said Apple won't go there) and once Honeycomb is mature enough (probably at Ice Cream) and they can seriously undercut the iPad... then re-address the 10" market. Although by then, the iPad 3 will probably be even thinner and lighter and cost $100 less (rumor is Apple could have cut prices on the iPad 2 by $100 but didn't because no one else was really beating them on price).
The saying is "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"... in this case if you can't beat them, you can't even think of standing next to them. Come out with a quality 10" tablet at $350, and you *might" be able to run in this race.
Do they really think they can charge the same (or in the Xoom's case... more) than Apple and actually get customers to try out their product? Let's see, you are fighting against great marketing, brand recognition, fan loyalty, a huge app market, a consumer-friendly UI and widespread retail ubiquity (both for product and accessories) and you think you can price your product the same?
No wonder most of the "better" tablets have continued to fail to gain the market share to be called a true iPad alternative. Let's look at the list:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7": Ran phone UI, was priced the same or more to begin with and did not come out with a WiFi only version until a few months ago.
Xoom 10": More like Boom. I don't think I need to detail the problems other than (1) Priced MORE than the iPad 2 and (2) The WiFi version also came out later.
ViewSonic G-Tablet 10": Virtually no retail presence, does not ship with Honeycomb, priced $100 less but hardware isn't exactly "quality".
RIM Playbook 7": Nice quality tablet, but no native email/calendar hampers it. And priced the same as iPad for a smaller form factor... huh?
Acer Iconia A500 10": $50 less than iPad 2, good hardware and design but less battery life, bigger and heavier.
Asus EEE Pad Transformer 10": $100 less than iPad 2, good hardware (although build is a bit plastic-y), great battery life, bigger and heavier. This is one of the few tablets that were very hard to find in the initial release due to its price and ability to become a netbook (with $150 add-on keyboard dock). The problem here is retail presence, while the techies are aware of it, the average consumer is not.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1" (version 2.0): So upon seeing the new iPad 2, Sammy went back and re-did the Tab 10.1 to be thinner and lighter... which was a good move... but... there were some sacrifices. One of the things the Android tablets like to emphasize is the ability to have external memory (via SD or micro-SD) and external ports (HDMI/USB)... the new Tab has neither. Boo. AND... they priced it the same as the iPad 2. Yeah... they learned to make the hardware better (which by the reviews is excellent) but they forgot about making the price cheaper. And... only available in one store in NY on their release date, will be in other stores by June 17. An 8.9" version will be out but pricing has not been specified (it better be cheaper).
HP Touchpad 10": There is an overall agreement that webOS (formerly from Palm) is an excellent OS with a very friendly UI. The big knock is could HP be too little too late? While they have a better retail presence than the other companies... can they effectively market the Touchpad better than Apple? And without the app market of Android or iOS... they are already behind. So what do they price it at? Yeah... you guessed it... the SAME as the iPad. Bleh. Out on July 1st but I'm not expecting a big rush for this one.
Then there is gamut of cheaper Android products at all different form factors and more coming out... Vizio is supposed to be coming out with a $349 10" tablet.... we'll see what the specs look like.
Personally, I bought an Asus Transformer because it was $100 cheaper, I used that savings to buy the keyboard dock which not only adds netbook capability to my tablet but also increases battery life over 60% (so it can last longer than the iPad 2). The ability to load all my own files onto it either through connecting directly to my laptop or to an external drive makes it more functional for me. In addition, the tweaks that Asus added (keyboard with number row) and peripheral apps (MyCloud/Splashtop to control other PCs remotely) were part of my decision. My only knocks are it does not run Netflix (yet), no AdHoc WiFi and the build quality isn't the greatest (the plastic creaks in certain areas) but the IPS screen is nice and the docking/netbook solution solved multiple needs for me.
So what is my take? Well... if they are not going to beat Apple's price at the 10" size... they shouldn't even try. They should give up on the 10" market, concentrate on 7-8" tablets at lower price points (especially since Steve Jobs said Apple won't go there) and once Honeycomb is mature enough (probably at Ice Cream) and they can seriously undercut the iPad... then re-address the 10" market. Although by then, the iPad 3 will probably be even thinner and lighter and cost $100 less (rumor is Apple could have cut prices on the iPad 2 by $100 but didn't because no one else was really beating them on price).
The saying is "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"... in this case if you can't beat them, you can't even think of standing next to them. Come out with a quality 10" tablet at $350, and you *might" be able to run in this race.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Transformers... tablets hard to find?!?
I can never get bored of that song.
Seems like Asus has their own iPadesque shortage going on as it's very hard to find their new Android/Honeycomb Tranformer tablet not only in stores but online. What's all the hubbub about? Well, for one, this is one of the few Honeycomb tablets with hardware that is better or as good as the iPad, matches it in battery life and beats it in price.
In addition, as you can see by the picture above, it has a keyboard docking station that not only gives it netbook functionality but also 6 more hours of battery life. Reviews have been positive (search Youtube for all the hands-on videos) and reports are that Asus cannot keep up with demand. XDA developers even has a thread that has been tracking where to buy the Transformer and is currently over 7500 posts long:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1045109
It even has a NowInStock.net page that tracks availability and history:
http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/tablets/asus/
The interesting thing is that the national chains never actually had them on the shelves... at least the ones I checked. None at BestBuy (sold out online and internal inventory doesn't even have the SKU), Target (the online supplier for Amazon) or some local electronics stores. Some regional stores seem to get small shipments (American TV, HHGregg) but are sold out quickly. I've actually been trying to hunt one down for the last week since the launch date on 4/26.
Others sites have reported that inventory levels should be better by end of June... but by then, there will be more tablets out by Samsung (the new slim 10.1" Galaxy Tab) and HP (the WebOS tablets).
It's good to see high demand for an Android tablet, with disappointing sales (relatively) of the XOOM (although to be fair, the Wifi-only version wasn't release until just last month), this shows that people are willing to buy something without an 'i' in it if the features and price are right.
If you can't find a Transformer either, you can always settle for the Acer Iconia for $50 more (but it doesn't have that cool keyboard dock) or just wait for summer to hit with an onslaught of more tablets to come. Even Engadget is reporting that Asus is working on an even more powerful Tegra-3 quad-core tablet to be released this year:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/04/asus-planning-quad-core-tegra-3-and-intel-based-tablets/
Have you been able to find a Transformer? Hopefully I'll have one before the Transformer 3 movie comes out... heh.
Friday, April 22, 2011
The iPhone 5??
I was lucky enough to stumble upon Joshua Topolsky and Co.'s temporary site (they used to be Engadget editors) and their mock-up of what the next iPhone will look like is more convincing than the majority of the blogosphere who feel it's just going to be like the iPhone 4 with updated innards:
http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design/
In the article, he explains why they mocked it up as so and even went into why a 4" screen would not be possible with the current screen resolution because that would take it out Retina Display territory which is a big part of Apple's branding (and still a resolution that has not been matched by the competition).
I think it makes sense, it looks like the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4 looked like the original iPad. Plus... thin is in!
(From www.thisismynext.com)
http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design/
In the article, he explains why they mocked it up as so and even went into why a 4" screen would not be possible with the current screen resolution because that would take it out Retina Display territory which is a big part of Apple's branding (and still a resolution that has not been matched by the competition).
I think it makes sense, it looks like the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4 looked like the original iPad. Plus... thin is in!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tablets... thinner but too late?
So at CTIA, Samsung announced not only the anticipated 8.9" Galaxy Tab, but also a totally redesigned 10.1" Galaxy Tab (which was just announced a month earlier). Spurred by the thinness of the new iPad 2, both of these tablets are 8.6mm thin, .2 mm thinner than the iPad 2.
www.engadget.com/.../samsung-galaxy-tab-8-9-and-new-galaxy-tab-10-1-
When there was a report about a Samsung VP reconsidering their 10.1" product based on what Apple released, I thought he was just talking out loud... but I guess not considering the new mock-up of the 10.1".
The only problem is these won't be out until the summer (the 10.1" has a specific release date of June 8). If anyone remembers, the HP Touchpad also has a summer release and the HTC EVO View (or Flyer) was just announced with a summer date too.
Who has time to wait 3 to 5 months while the iPad 2 is sucking up everyone's money? At least RIM's Playbook will be out on April 19.
And by summer... the iPhone 5 will be in full hype mode and these new tablets will have to compete with those headlines.
While everyone can hate on Apple for their closed systems, design etc... you have to give it up to them in the marketing sales strategy, when they announce a new product, it's out either same day or shortly thereafter. At this rate, by the time any of these companies get it right with their 2nd revision (ie Xoom 2, Galaxy Tab(s) 2, Playbook 2 and Touchpad 2), Apple could be on their iPad 3 or 4.
www.engadget.com/.../samsung-galaxy-tab-8-9-and-new-galaxy-tab-10-1-
When there was a report about a Samsung VP reconsidering their 10.1" product based on what Apple released, I thought he was just talking out loud... but I guess not considering the new mock-up of the 10.1".
The only problem is these won't be out until the summer (the 10.1" has a specific release date of June 8). If anyone remembers, the HP Touchpad also has a summer release and the HTC EVO View (or Flyer) was just announced with a summer date too.
Who has time to wait 3 to 5 months while the iPad 2 is sucking up everyone's money? At least RIM's Playbook will be out on April 19.
And by summer... the iPhone 5 will be in full hype mode and these new tablets will have to compete with those headlines.
While everyone can hate on Apple for their closed systems, design etc... you have to give it up to them in the marketing sales strategy, when they announce a new product, it's out either same day or shortly thereafter. At this rate, by the time any of these companies get it right with their 2nd revision (ie Xoom 2, Galaxy Tab(s) 2, Playbook 2 and Touchpad 2), Apple could be on their iPad 3 or 4.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
iPad 2 Sold Out?
For an "incremental update", the iPad 2 sure is popular.
I have 4 Apple Stores within driving distance of me and 3 of the 4 report no iPad 2s to sell today. I'm sure the 4th is the same. All the local Targets and Best Buys are also sold out (within minutes of yesterday's 5pm start time).
And if you order online, shipping has been delayed 2 to 3 weeks.
I don't get it. I'm sure Apple knew how popular this would be but once again demand seems to outstrip supply.
I would imagine they could break weekend sales records for a consumer device if they had enough to sell so why not have more available on opening weekend? It's not like any leftover inventory isn't going to sell for the next 3 months.
While some say they may be artificially limiting supply to raise the hype... from a business standpoint, that wouldn't be sound strategy. I can understand not allowing pre-orders to increase the number of first day buyers, but there should be enough inventory at the stores to satisfy the demand.
Why not make enough? Apple is only going to anger the people who line up and end up not getting one and anyone else like myself who is looking to buy one this weekend. Sure... I ordered one online (which the original 3-5 day shipping time) but there should be no reason why I can't go out and buy one at a store. This is a known product with a known customer base... just like iPods, there should be enough to go around... Apply is only hurting itself and its consumers (well... not really hurting itself considering people will still keep coming back regardless of the NBE... Negative Buying Experience).
I have 4 Apple Stores within driving distance of me and 3 of the 4 report no iPad 2s to sell today. I'm sure the 4th is the same. All the local Targets and Best Buys are also sold out (within minutes of yesterday's 5pm start time).
And if you order online, shipping has been delayed 2 to 3 weeks.
I don't get it. I'm sure Apple knew how popular this would be but once again demand seems to outstrip supply.
I would imagine they could break weekend sales records for a consumer device if they had enough to sell so why not have more available on opening weekend? It's not like any leftover inventory isn't going to sell for the next 3 months.
While some say they may be artificially limiting supply to raise the hype... from a business standpoint, that wouldn't be sound strategy. I can understand not allowing pre-orders to increase the number of first day buyers, but there should be enough inventory at the stores to satisfy the demand.
Why not make enough? Apple is only going to anger the people who line up and end up not getting one and anyone else like myself who is looking to buy one this weekend. Sure... I ordered one online (which the original 3-5 day shipping time) but there should be no reason why I can't go out and buy one at a store. This is a known product with a known customer base... just like iPods, there should be enough to go around... Apply is only hurting itself and its consumers (well... not really hurting itself considering people will still keep coming back regardless of the NBE... Negative Buying Experience).
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