Mobile phones & tablets thread

I should also mention as well that I feel that Apple's launching of an iPad mini on the 23rd of October (3 days before Windows 8 and surface launch) shows that they're actually scared of Surface and Windows 8.

With the Surface RT you get Office as part of the deal and you can even have a proper keyboard and mouse because it's got those crazy things called USB ports. So rather than an iPad device which is geared towards consuming content, you have a device which you could use to create content.

It's going to be an interesting month :)

And an interesting Christmas market I would think.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

I should also mention as well that I feel that Apple's launching of an iPad mini on the 23rd of October (3 days before Windows 8 and surface launch) shows that they're actually scared of Surface and Windows 8.

With the Surface RT you get Office as part of the deal and you can even have a proper keyboard and mouse because it's got those crazy things called USB ports. So rather than an iPad device which is geared towards consuming content, you have a device which you could use to create content.

It's going to be an interesting month :)

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It also have Bluetooth so you can connect wireless Bluetooth keyboards and mouses.

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Originally Posted by BleAivano

It also have Bluetooth so you can connect wireless Bluetooth keyboards and mouses.

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That too of course :) If Microsoft get Surface right (and I doubt they will, because they just don't market things hard enough) then they have the potential to start stealing iPad sales.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

I'm not quite sure what to make of them.

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IMO it's quite neat. Asus also has keyboard docks for the tablet. So, the smartphone turns into a tablet turns into a laptop. It's certainly powerful enough with a 1.6 Ghz quad core processor and 2GB RAM. Plus the keyboard dock comes with its own battery which further extends the standby and talk time. The phone also has a bonkers 13 megapixel camera. The hardware definitely isn't lacking on any front. At around 500 pounds, it is a bit steep, but you get a top of the line smartphone and a tablet.

ASUS is not a seasoned player in this field, so the quality factor is an unknown. Most probably they have patented this invention as a result of Apple's douchebaggery, and so none of the major players can have a proper go with their own interpretation at this idea.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

Personally I'm leaning more towards getting myself a tablet that doubles as a laptop and can be used as a desktop replacement. I'll still keep my desktop for gaming but I do miss having a computer when I'm away so a laptop is something I've wanted for a while and getting one that doubles as a tablet and is powerful enough to replace my desktop for everyday stuff is a bonus.

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I was actually looking at the Surface Pro, but as it stands, my one and a half year old Dell Inspiron is more powerful than any tablet out in the market right now. Touch screen and touch controls aren't really necessary for my line of work, so work wise it's of no importance to me. I'm definitely not gonna spend $600 on a tablet to sit on the couch and swipe through Facebook and a bunch of PDF magazines.

Tablets available right now are still not there yet to replace a proper desktop or laptop workstation. Then again, the Surface Pro comes quite close, but it's still not there yet.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

With the Surface RT you get Office as part of the deal and you can even have a proper keyboard and mouse because it's got those crazy things called USB ports. So rather than an iPad device which is geared towards consuming content, you have a device which you could use to create content.

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LOL, don't be silly Daniel. It's 2012. Who needs USB ports? :eek:

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Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden

IMO it's quite neat. Asus also has keyboard docks for the tablet. So, the smartphone turns into a tablet turns into a laptop. It's certainly powerful enough with a 1.6 Ghz quad core processor and 2GB RAM. Plus the keyboard dock comes with its own battery which further extends the standby and talk time. The phone also has a bonkers 13 megapixel camera. The hardware definitely isn't lacking on any front. At around 500 pounds, it is a bit steep, but you get a top of the line smartphone and a tablet.

ASUS is not a seasoned player in this field, so the quality factor is an unknown. Most probably they have patented this invention as a result of Apple's douchebaggery, and so none of the major players can have a proper go with their own interpretation at this idea.




I was actually looking at the Surface Pro, but as it stands, my one and a half year old Dell Inspiron is more powerful than any tablet out in the market right now. Touch screen and touch controls aren't really necessary for my line of work, so work wise it's of no importance to me. I'm definitely not gonna spend $600 on a tablet to sit on the couch and swipe through Facebook and a bunch of PDF magazines.

Tablets available right now are still not there yet to replace a proper desktop or laptop workstation. Then again, the Surface Pro comes quite close, but it's still not there yet.

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The problem for me is that the Padphone is running an ARM processor rather than an x86 architecture one. So is it really going to be able to fill in for a desktop and laptop for everything but gaming? I don't think so. But it's a neat idea nonetheless.

The surface pro is not meant to replace a desktop for the really powerful stuff though, but I think it strikes a good balance between being a tablet and being able to do 90% of the stuff most will do with a desktop :)

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Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden

LOL, don't be silly Daniel. It's 2012. Who needs USB ports? :eek:

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True, we could just pair accessories with NFC.... oh wait! :p

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Originally Posted by henners88

I think the market has become so busy with so many manufacturers now trying to innovate beyond their competitors to get that edge, that the gap between tablet and laptop is beginning to be bridged. Whether it needed to be done is down to personal opinion of course.

The smartphone come tablet example above is very innovative indeed and is another avenue where the quest for bigger screens has taken off. Why buy a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 when you can buy a small easy-to-carry phone that slots into a tablet style screen? Its all going bonkers but I would imagine its cheaper than having a smartphone and tablet that are bought independently. Its all very interesting to watch and makes you wonder what is next :)

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the other big thing is the OS's. Whilst iOS works well as a touchscreen OS, it's not really meant to be used with a keyboard and a mouse and the opposite is true of OSX.

Whilst a lot of people hate the Jekyll and Hyde approach of W8, I'm using it right now and the desktop mode is as near as makes no difference to Windows 7 which is how it should be. I can't really comment on how it works with a tablet as I've not tried it yet, but if it's anything like WP7 then it'll be fantastic.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

The problem for me is that the Padphone is running an ARM processor rather than an x86 architecture one. So is it really going to be able to fill in for a desktop and laptop for everything but gaming? I don't think so. But it's a neat idea nonetheless.

The surface pro is not meant to replace a desktop for the really powerful stuff though, but I think it strikes a good balance between being a tablet and being able to do 90% of the stuff most will do with a desktop :)

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Agreed that the Padfone can only do the most basic stuff, but to be honest, and like you have mentioned already, even the Surface Pro can't match a proper desktop in terms of heavy duty rendering, modeling or designing either. It will fall short in playing major PC games at their full capacity too (lack of a discrete GPU). It would still blow the current iPad or any of the Android tablets in the market, out of the water in terms of performance.

Once launched, it will be the best tablet money can buy, no doubt about it. Its biggest strength is the bang-for-the-buck it offers for its portability, which will be very helpful for a lot of people. Still it would have to do a lot more to sway me away from spending the same money on a gaming laptop. :p IMO it's not there yet, but getting there. Maybe the next iteration is better.