Mobile phones & tablets thread

**Daniel** · 28th Jan 10, 15:54

Originally Posted by veeten

A very good explination of just what the iPad (*snicker*

) was meant to be...

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/app...sole,9525.html

Quite good for a Toms article. They're right, it's just a console and a way of making people buy stuff from iTunes to make tonnes of moola.

**edv** · 28th Jan 10, 16:07

I've been using a tablet for years now.
Lightweight, very readable, not so great with the battery life, but I really like it.
I read books using my fingertips to scroll and turn pages..very tactile.
It's tiny, but is fully capable....4GB RAM, 64-bit OS, 320GB HDD, camera, speakers, wifi, dual CPU, full connectivity ...and on and on.
It does all the stuff I'd want, and much more than iPad, for just a little bit more money.
I don't get all the hype.

**anthonyvop** · 28th Jan 10, 18:12

If they come out with a iPad with more memorey with they call it the..................
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Wait for it
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The MAXI PAD?

**christophulus** · 28th Jan 10, 18:47

I just can't understand this. It's too large to fit in your pocket but not large enough to replace a computer? And still no multitasking?

Maybe Apple are running out of ideas. This doesn't really do anything revolutionary.

Also reminds me of this

**Daniel** · 28th Jan 10, 19:11

Originally Posted by christophulus

I just can't understand this. It's too large to fit in your pocket but not large enough to replace a computer? And still no multitasking?

Maybe Apple are running out of ideas. This doesn't really do anything revolutionary.

Also reminds me of this

**Malbec** · 28th Jan 10, 19:25

Originally Posted by Daniel

The problem with PC's is that they're a lot of rubbish hardware out there. I build my own PC's and only choose the finest cuts (oh wait it sounds like an ad for premium cat food

) I mean best parts I can afford and I've not had a hardware failure for a good 4 years though to be fair the issues I had back in Australia were all heat related as the room my PC was in was always very hot in summer.

Yep that sounds like me as a teen, reading up about which graphics card was x% better than the other, and where I could get one for £5 less than some other place. If you're going to build a PC like that then I agree, the Mac can't even compete and back in those days I did think Macs were pointless.

Problem is that for a lot of people working jobs with long hours a PC or Mac is simply a tool that needs to boot up and just work. I don't care if the thing I use isn't optimal or if I paid 20% more than I should have, I just want it to work seamlessly off the shelf. It simply isn't worth my time to go hunting for the best package or keep tinkering with what I've got. The Mac does everything I ask of it and more but most importantly it never causes hassle, and that still is the majority experience with them.

**Malbec** · 28th Jan 10, 19:32

Originally Posted by Daniel

Don't get me wrong, it's a neat bit of tech. But it's the solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Aren't most Apple products solutions to problems that don't really exist? What was the iPod when it first came out? Just another MP3 player that required iTunes but looked quite smart? The iPhone was merely a smartphone that was easier to use but with fewer concrete features than its rivals, though its software is much more easily personalised with tonnes of downloadable content out there.

Originally Posted by Daniel

Of course if someone sees the Kindle and the iPad next to each other they're gonna go for the iPad but if they want a good reader they're misguided. Some things are best done by a dedicated device. For instance phone cameras are years and years away from catching up to compact cameras let alone DSLR.

You're right, no phone camera is close to rivaling a compact camera, yet there are plenty of people out there who only use the phone camera simply because its handy.

Originally Posted by Daniel

But the iPad is trying to carve out a new market and trying to kill off readers and netbooks and I just don't see that working because the readers are actually pretty decent and people like netbooks. The air is a commercial failure by Apple standards, it solves the problem that no one had which is "My laptop needs to be stupidly thin, expensive and needs to be tied to a dock to have any decent amount of connectors", then there's Apple TV which doesn't appear to be taking off anytime soon.

Sure, Apple have failed many times. The iPad may fail too, but I think you're jumping the gun in condemning it so soon. As I said my personal opinion is that it'll be a slowburner, it'll have a long product life but won't sell huge amounts, and I think it'll generate a decent revenue through the online books.

**Jag_Warrior** · 28th Jan 10, 19:58

Something that I just heard that I didn't know: according to Bloomberg, the fastest growing video game console is the iPhone... not the X-box, Wii or the Playstation. And the iPad is apparently 2/3 faster than the iPhone. EA and Rockstar Games are already in the mix to produce games for the device. So in addition to attacking the e-reader market, it seems like Apple is also going hard for the video game market. I don't play video games. So that is lost on me. But from what I hear, a LOT of people do.

But as I already said, it's WAY too early to announce this device as a success or a failure... before the first one has even been put to market. Buying the first gen of any product (car, OS or TV set) is not going to give you the best bang for the buck. But I'll be quite anxious to see where this device is 12 months+ from now.

**Malbec** · 28th Jan 10, 20:18

Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

Something that I just heard that I didn't know: according to Bloomberg, the fastest growing video game console is the iPhone... not the X-box, Wii or the Playstation. And the iPad is apparently 2/3 faster than the iPhone. EA and Rockstar Games are already in the mix to produce games for the device. So in addition to attacking the e-reader market, it seems like Apple is also going hard for the video game market. I don't play video games. So that is lost on me. But from what I hear, a LOT of people do.

I've heard that as well, and that Steve Jobs isn't very happy about it (not liking games) but isn't going to do anything to stop people from developing games either, after all profit is profit....

**Daniel** · 28th Jan 10, 22:21

Originally Posted by Dylan H

Aren't most Apple products solutions to problems that don't really exist? What was the iPod when it first came out? Just another MP3 player that required iTunes but looked quite smart? The iPhone was merely a smartphone that was easier to use but with fewer concrete features than its rivals, though its software is much more easily personalised with tonnes of downloadable content out there.

To be fair when the iPod came out it was pretty darn good

I had a U2 G3 and tbh at the time it was better than most of the other stuff out there iTunes or not. I dropped it a little while back and broke the hard drive. I took it apart and confirmed the hard drive was knackered but realised there's no reason for me to fix it. I've got a 16gb USB stick and a 4gb one both which live in the Fiat and they hold all my music which I can control with either steering wheel buttons or voice commands.

**Mark** · 29th Jan 10, 08:13

Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

Something that I just heard that I didn't know: according to Bloomberg, the fastest growing video game console is the iPhone....

"Fastest growing" is something which is often said but means nothing. Trying to make something new look like it's a challenge to the established products.

2008: 10 million people buy an Xbox
2009: 11 million people buy an Xbox

2008: 10 people buy an iPhone
2009: 20 people buy an iPhone.

Then iPhone sales are growing 10 times faster than those of the XBox.

**DexDexter** · 29th Jan 10, 08:32

Originally Posted by janneppi

I could use something like that as a media center remote controller. A friend of mine has a setup with a big(ish) tv and a linux box which has a tv in it. It's a bit of pain to use the internet on it with his wireless keyboard.
So that could be used to control it and used a s couch computer screen for IRC and forum messaging.

Or a Nokia N900.

Offtopic but talking about Nokia N900, to me it's pretty cool that I am able to make FREE video calls ( from my Ubuntu) to my mate's N900 no matter where in Finland he is, since he has a 3g connection in his phone. It works bloody well, he can see me and I can see him and the sound works.

**Daniel** · 29th Jan 10, 09:54

I think I just made a mess in my pants.....

http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-f...-secret-tablet

That's pretty slick and a very sensible form factor too.