Argentum123
Newbie
It seems like some of Android device is also using PocketGear.com. Have anyone used PockeGear?
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Gap between iPad vs. Android tablets
- Thread starter Argentum123
- Start date
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- general tablet talk
I am not too sure this is the right forum. I feel that it is still too risky to own a Android tablets now. It is still upgrading. I own a tablet running on Android 1.6, and already I am very frustrating that I could not use applications on Market. If Google keeps on changing its Android version, I might as well stop using the device. For the info, just within one year, we saw 3 versions from Android. Suddenly my device is outdated within 3 months.
Bob Maxey
Android Expert
I looked far and wide for a tablet and went with iPad. Nothing comes close so far. I think it all cones down to available applications. So yes to address your last question, suitable apps will drive the market.
Bob Maxey
Bob Maxey
Android Expert
You are correct to a point, but manging iPad and proclaiming how much better Archos is borders on Archos Fandom.(Insert Smiley Here)
I am running a basic, cheapest on the shelf, non-3G iPad. I also have no problems loading text files, Word documents, bitmaps, and other stuff into Pages (Well, text and Doc) I use the Camera Connection Kit and EITHER my USB Flash Drive or one of my Micro-SD cards.
The reason you are (partially) correct is this is not allowed unless the iPad is Jailbroken and you use iFile. As for what iPad will never have, perhaps we should wait until we see what we see. I give up guessing what will happen next many moons ago.
Don't need game emulators, but I can DL them from many sources directly, OTA. Do not really need Flash; if I do, there is Frash, a suitable replacement for Flash. Don't need iTunes, either.
Ii love Archos products by the way.
Bob Maxey
Personally I think this argument is not in the right perspective. I think there are two ways to discuss this:
1 - The gap between the iPad vs Android tablets
2 - The gap between iPad apps vs Android tablet apps.
Clearly - the gap between the iPad apps and Android apps is HUGE at the moment with the clear advantage to the iPad. But why should this be a surprise. the iPad is 10 months old and Honeycomb just came out. Tablets that were built for honeycomb are just about to hit the market.
However - I truly think the above gap is where Apples advantage ends, like a brick wall at the end of a highway.
The gap between Android tablets and the iPad, even the rumored iPad 2 - is also large - but the other direction now. New tablets built for Honeycomb are so far superior to the iPad. Perhaps the rumored 3rd gen iPad will be a serious competitor but the iPad2 will not be.
So - the iPad has 3000 apps specially built for it in 10 months time. Why would you assume there won't be thousands of Android Honeycomb apps in 10 months time? There will be. And, quite frankly, I have seen many "phone" apps for android being played on current tablets and you know what? they look pretty good for not being built for that.
So - buy the tablet that has the hardware you want, not the apps. Because that gap will soon be insignificant too.
1 - The gap between the iPad vs Android tablets
2 - The gap between iPad apps vs Android tablet apps.
Clearly - the gap between the iPad apps and Android apps is HUGE at the moment with the clear advantage to the iPad. But why should this be a surprise. the iPad is 10 months old and Honeycomb just came out. Tablets that were built for honeycomb are just about to hit the market.
However - I truly think the above gap is where Apples advantage ends, like a brick wall at the end of a highway.
The gap between Android tablets and the iPad, even the rumored iPad 2 - is also large - but the other direction now. New tablets built for Honeycomb are so far superior to the iPad. Perhaps the rumored 3rd gen iPad will be a serious competitor but the iPad2 will not be.
So - the iPad has 3000 apps specially built for it in 10 months time. Why would you assume there won't be thousands of Android Honeycomb apps in 10 months time? There will be. And, quite frankly, I have seen many "phone" apps for android being played on current tablets and you know what? they look pretty good for not being built for that.
So - buy the tablet that has the hardware you want, not the apps. Because that gap will soon be insignificant too.
Bob Maxey
Android Expert
Well, we do not know what the next iPad will bring any more than we know how many of these new Android Tablets will hit the market. Many will, I guess. Lots of rumors and ideas and Apple is not all that forthcoming with information or hard facts. We just do not know.
I do know there are more than 30 foreign manufacturers of Android tablets alone. And they are dirt cheap; costs being as low as thirty dollars (or less) per unit in container quantities. Perhaps a boat load of cheap tablets will hurt Android Tablet sales. Just guessing, but I know the cheap as free Walgreen's unit turned a friend against Android completely.
And the plethora of fake iPad images, thoughts and discussions about what one of Apples patents actually means, the ability to PS an image, and anonymous reporters claiming inside information really do not help.
We will know when the product is announced by Apple and when we see it in the stores. It will prosper or fail.
As for the new Android tablets being better than the iPad, that is personal opinion. I bought an iPad because nothing seemed to be as nicely designed; the screen is much bigger, and the craftsmanship is high. I think higher than the Android tablets I considered. I looked at a few, but the screen was not up to snuff and I liked Pages much more.
If I/we play the "wait a few months" game for these Android Tablets to be released, we might never buy because there will always be something better, bigger, and cheaper arriving on the shelves. That Android tablet with a seven inch screen that you paid four hundred dollars for will be replaced with a faster tablet, a bigger screen, and for less money, soon after you spend the dough. This is just the way it is and will most likely always be,
As for gaps in apps, who knows what developers will release. Some people might buy the iPad because of some amazing new app; ditto the Android fans. If both platforms become or remain popular, we will have more apps than we probably need.
I use a Zio and I am familiar with the market. The basic apps I want are available for Android as well as for my iPad. Mail, SMS, Web Access are all available. Want to see a way cool web browser for iPad? Take a look at Knowlitus. Nothing on the Android Market comes close. Unless it has been recently ported, I should say.
I have a jailbroken iPad. This gives me access to many more apps than those currently available from the Apple App Store. And it allows me to customize my pad just as much as the Android folks.
So from my perspective, I get the apps I need, the ability to customize the hell out of my giant iPod, I get a sleek and well designed hardware package with a rather surprising battery life (Rented three movies, downloaded them, played them, and still had juice left over to edit a rather large Word Document with the music playing) and nothing Android (so far) beats the device. Until next week, that is.
Then there are those kids in the garage that eventually develop an Android and Apple "killer." This is a given; history proves this point. There are already rumors and perhaps some released software that can put Android on my iPad in a dual-boot scenario.
So, perhaps we will get to the point where software and OS choices no longer exist or are tied to one manufacturer's hardware and I can run Android apps as easily as I run Apple Apps on a cheap and fast little hunk of hardware. Or perhaps Windows 7 or a variant on an Android Tablet and NO android apps.
Too soon to tell how it will work out. I bought what I needed and I am happy.
Bob Maxey