The Apple Tablet isn’t official yet. But already Apple’s next-gen dream machine is facing up to some stiff competition, as the world’s biggest gadget purveyors line up their own take on the much-vaunted iTablet. Everyone from HP to Foxconn has one in the locker. If Apple wants to sit at the top of the tablet table, these are the finger-friendly delights it’ll need to beat.
HP Slate
Fondled lovingly by Steve Ballmer at CES, the HP Slate was heralded by Microsoft’s main man as a revolution in computing. While HP hasn’t handed over specs, it was seen running Kindle books in colour, with a proddable version of Windows 7 under the hood. HP says it’ll be out in 2010, but they’ll need to get moving if they want to see off the iSlate in style.
Microsoft Courier
The tablet everyone wanted Ballmer to wow the crowds with at CES. The Microsoft Courier remains a rumour, but is surely a stunning chance for the Big M to slap down their arch-rival’s iTablet. The dual screen machine is foldable, with two 7-inch screens, e-reader skills and a camera round the back, something the Apple Tablet is said to be lacking.
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Dell Android tabletA Dell exec gave us the briefest glimpse of this Android tablet, before slipping it back into his suit pocket and telling us to jog on. Still, we do know it’s coming this year, runs a skinned version of Google’s OS and will be made for doodling, gaming and boring work tasks too. Dell even says it’ll come in 5, 7 and 10-inch versions. The teasing needs to stop though if they want to steal the iSlate’s thunder.
Asus DR 570
Technically an e-reader, but if the Apple Tablet is going to be eBook king, it needs to see off this spanking new gizmo. At 5.7-inches, the Asus DR 570 is dinky, but it has full colour OLED smarts, ePub and PDF support, as well as MP3 playback, Wi-Fi, 3G and Flash video. Surely the iTablet will need the latter if it wants to offer the same full web fun times as this neat next-gen effort.
Asus Eee Pad
Said to be getting an official airing at Computex over in Taipei this June, the Asus Eee Pad will be the Taiwanese titan’s full-on tablet, going up against the iSlate. Asus has already said it’s working on such a device, although whether it will be the dual screen prototype doing the rounds remains to be seen. You can bet, being Asus though, that it’ll be cheap.
Foxconn Tegra Tablet
Foxconn might make the iPhone for Apple, but it has a Tablet all of its own. Spied at an NVIDIA press do at CES, this Foxconn Tegra tablet has the very latest graphics, HD video and a battery life of 16 hours when you’re pumping out those hi-def goodies. It even has dedicated Bing search from the homescreen. Just a flavour of what Apple’s favourite computer cobbler can do in its spare time.
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ICD Vega TabletT-Mobile’s all set to sell it, but just what is the ICD Vega Tablet? Well, it rocks a huge 15-inch panel, with 3G, Wi-Fi, NVIDIA Tegra graphics and 1080p video. And of course, it packs in Android, rather than Windows CE as first feared. That means you should be able to access a raft of apps via Android Market, making it a very real competitor to the Apple Tablet.
Lenovo IdeaPad U1
A netbook and a tablet, the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 splits in two, leaving the screen as a touchscreen gadget in its own right. There’s a Snapdragon chip, 512MB of RAM and a custom build of Linux on board as well. Apple’s already at war with Lenovo over the iPad name, so even if this doesn’t match the iTablet specs-wise, expect it to be the cause of plenty of legal headaches for Steve Jobs.
Joojoo internet tablet
Known for years as the Crunchpad, the Joojoo internet tablet was unveiled late last year to much hype. There’s a 12.1-inch screen, with capacitive touch skills, Wi-Fi, five hours of surfing time and 4GB of storage. At $400 Stateside, it’s cheap. Surely much cheaper than the Apple Tablet. Tech heads rejoice!
Motorola tablet
Long-mooted but not yet seen, a Motorola Tablet was hinted at by the mobile maker’s very own CEO earlier this month. What could we be looking at? Well, something running MotoBLUR, the rejigged UI seen on the Motorola DEXT, as well as Android and a few other neat tricks. Can it match the iSlate? Only time will tell.
Got any Apple Tablet rumours? Then tell us now!
