Tablets Galore
Say what you may about Apple, but there's no denying the company's influence on tech developments. It was inevitable that Apple's iPad (2 million units sold and counting) would inspire copycats and competitors alike. Two of these would-be competitors have just played their cards today at two press events in Taiwan before the big IT show of the year, Computex 2010 kicks off.
First on our list is ASUS. If there's anyone who can replicate Apple's success with the tablet form factor, it's the Taiwanese giant which sparked the netbook craze with its Eee PC. Predictably, it's called the Eee Pad, though besides this obvious rival to the Apple iPad, ASUS has another tablet up its sleeves, the Eee Tablet.
ASUS' chairman Jonny Shih himself was there to show off his two new tablets, the Eee Pad in his left hand and the Eee Tablet in his right.
It was a packed, captive audience, as Mr Shih went through the features of each tablet. Here, in giant size is the Eee Pad.
The home screen of the Eee Pad, which comes in two configurations, the 12-inch EP121 and the EP101TC. The larger EP121 is powered by a CULV Intel Core 2 Duo processor and will run Win 7 Home Premium. Expect to get multi-tasking and Flash support just by virtue of that. ASUS is touting more than 10 hours of continuous computing. That's one important detail that needs to be verified but if it really approaches that, it will match that of the iPad,
Browsing on the Eee Pad in landscape mode.
This appears to be an e-book library app with the covers of the books.
ASUS also has a docking station with a keyboard for those frequent moments when touch can't cut it anymore, like productivity apps. It looks to be a simple plug and play concept here.
The Eee Pad certainly looks very much like a notebook when docked.
The other configuration, the EP101TC is rather lacking in terms of its technical specs at the moment. What we do know is that it measures 10 inches, and is a mere 675g in weight and is based on Windows Embedded Compact 7. It does give us the vibe that it won't be as powerful as its larger sibling but hopefully, we'll know more soon.
The Eee Tablet
The other tablet that ASUS announced is the Eee Tablet. Meant more as a note-taking device, combining the functions of the e-book reader and a notepad, this Tablet is targeted at students and professionals who require the accuracy (a 2450 dpi touch resolution screen apparently from the press details) and the dedicated software (notepad templates with the ability for real-time text annotations) along with the option to store, sort, tag, organize and browse your notes. ASUS also claims to have faster page turning speeds than the best ebook readers available, taking 0.1s to turn a page. There's also a 2-megapixel camera to assist with the capturing of images and lecture slides, and users can immediately write notes on the captured images.
Again, ASUS is talking about a 10 hour battery life, and one can sync with the PC/notebook via USB or microSD to transfer content.
The Eee Tablet is a more unique beast and looks to fit the definition of a note'pad' better than the other 'Pads' we have seen.
We are not too sure how accurate the touch resolution is despite its 2450 dpi claim, but those who enjoy doodling may find this device right up their alleys,
It's not all about the tablets though. We saw this new Republic of Gamers G53 notebook that should leave gamers drooling. It's 3D capable thanks to its 120Hz display, with HDMI 1.4 support (so it's ready for 3D TV from NVIDIA) and uses a Intel Core processor. No word exactly on what's the 'Enthusiast class NVIDIA GPU' used, but we're betting it's heavy duty.
ASUS also showed off its Garmin-Asus A10 smartphone, which embraces the Android platform so that you can get all the apps, along with Garmin's own turn-by-turn voice navigation.
And lastly, models showing off the highlights from ASUS' press event today. Catch these gadgets and more when we troop off to ASUS' booth at Computex 2010 this week.
MSI's Wind Pad
While ASUS was announcing its Eee tablets, another major vendor, MSI was also preparing its own tablets. The MSI Wind Pad is a 10-inch Intel Atom (Z530) powered tablet that uses Win 7 Home Premium (with 2GB of RAM to make it smooth). Multi-touch capable, and pre-installed with MSI's own custom Wind UI, this tablet supports wireless b/g/n with an embedded 3G module for full network connectivity. Weighing a handy 800g with a 1.3-megapixel camera, the Wind Pad is touted to last more than 8 hours. A option for an embedded, 32GB SSD is also included. Here's a video walk-through followed by a gallery of photos of the new MSI Wind Pad:-
|
MSI's marketing material for the Wind Pad. As you can see, there are two distinct models here.
A model showing off the mainly plastic-bodied MSI Wind Pad, which weighs a mere 800g with battery included.
It's clearly Win 7 here, with comfortably large icons for easy tapping.
Part of MSI's own touch user interface, Wind Touch. Large icons that can be easily tapped is a crucial part of this custom UI. Automatic rotation to either landscape or portrait according to the orientation of the tablet is also built-in.
Showing off the integrated virtual keyboard, along with MSI's EsyFace 2.0 utility, a tool for face identification through the tablet's 1.3-megapixel camera. It can be used to login a user for websites and instant messengers like MSN Live.
While it's not obvious here, this tablet comes with an array of ports, including USB, Mini USB, Mini HDMI, and both a SD card reader and a SIM card slot.
The Other Wind Pad
While the Intel-based Wind tablet was the highlight of the MSI press conference, it wasn't the only tablet around. The company has another Wind Pad, this time, an Android-based version that is rumoured to be using a Tegra 2/ARM chip. Details are scarce on this tablet, with MSI tight-lipped over the availability and confirmed specs. What we do know is that it's slated for launch in Q3 this year and how it's going to look:
Featuring a different design is the other, black tablet from MSI.
As you can see, it's not using any flavor of Windows, but Google's Android.
Yes, we may not be able to confirm the specs or availability or even price, but we do know that you can change the back of this tablet, to a clear, metallic (not shown here) or even wooden material.
Some of the ports available on this tablet.
Another recent and notable product from MSI is this prototype Sketch Book, which features a sensor pad for sketching that can be turned around to reveal a keyboard and vice versus. It's an interesting twist on the tablet concept.
MSI also has its eyes on proper notebooks. The FX600 shown here will have an Intel Core i7/i5 inside, with NVIDIA's GT325M with 1GB memory powering its graphics. Its THX certified audio coupled with the GPU should make for an excellent gaming solution.
The other gaming notebook we saw is this GT660 3D, which as its name suggests, it will have 3D capabilities. Unfortunately, it looks like it uses polarized glasses instead of active shutter, which means it's not compatible with NVIDIA's 3D Vision, currently the more prominent 3D gaming solution. It does appear to have its own software to convert 2D games to 3D, This concept might seem odd when it has a powerful GeForce GTX 285M GPU. Also for enthusiasts, the notebook is able to overclock its GPU and CPU. However, it is also catered for entertainment users, which is why this is perhaps the first notebook to be designed and tuned with Dynaudio speakers. Overall, a powerful notebook that has balanced appeal to several users.
And that's all for now. Join us tomorrow as we take to the halls of Nangang in Taipei to bring you the best from Computex 2010.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.