It’s time for Computex! This means loads of gadgets and related stuff to flood the internet, so let’s get started by focussing on ASUS. The company showed off two interesting tablets: the Eee Tablet (which is actually a notepad) and the Eee Pad (which is actually a tablet). No, this doesn’t make any sense, but product naming hasn’t been a strong point at ASUS for a while now. There’s also the ExoPC Slate (not from ASUS), which has a pretty interesting user interface.
ASUS
The most interesting of the two is definitely the Eee Tablet. This one is actually a combination between an e-reader and a digital notepad, and employs a backlight-less TFT-LCD with 64 shades of gray. The 8″ 1024×768 display has an input sensitivity of 2450 dpi, and employs a stylus for taking notes.
It’s an interesting device, but it will surely have a relatively small niche to serve. Still, the refresh rates are a lot better than e-ink displays, and as the Engadget video below demonstrates, writing on this thing is incredibly smooth. Input is stylus-only, but on a device like this, that makes perfect sense.
Video courtesy of Engadget.
There’s more tablet stuff on the way from ASUS, though. They also demonstrated two other tablets, the Eee Pad EP101TC and EP121, which come in 10″ and 12″, respectively. These devices, while very well-built in the hardware department (I love the dock), still have a long way to go: software-wise, they’re simple nowhere near production ready.
The most interesting thing here is that they’re NVIDIA Tegra based, and run Windows Embedded Compact 7, with an admittedly good-looking interface (very Android-like). These hardware choices should give the two tablets some pretty good battery life and performance figures. While I personally would prefer Android, choice is always a good thing, and it will be interesting to see how well Windows Embedded Compact 7 holds up to the competition.
Video courtesy of Engadget.
ExoPC Slate
The ExoPC Slate takes an entirely different route. Whereas the Eee products were impressive hardware-wise and not ready in the software departmant, the ExoPC is almost the exact opposite: the hardware is slightly stale (Atom-based), but the software really stands out. Hardware first though: Atom 1.6Ghz, 2GB of RAM, 32GB SSD, two USB ports, SD card slot, HDMI out, VGA webcam, and a Broadcom Crystal HD chip for HD content.
Being an Atom-based machine, the ExoPC slate is x86, and it runs Windows 7. Now, we all know Windows 7, while multitouch ready, isn’t particularly suited for finger-based input, and as such, the guys behind the ExoPC have developed their own UI layer on top of Windows 7. According to Engadget, who got to test the device at Computex, it’s an incredibly slick experience.
Video courtesy of Engadget.
Battery life will most likely be an issue with this device, but hopefully they’ll be able to keep it at an acceptable level. I think the interface does indeed look quite interesting, but as usual, most of this device’s success will be based on how many developers will be willing to write applications that fit into the paradigm.
Whilst we lament all the hype moving to mobile devices and less alternative OSes being around, I hope that the next generation of alternative OSes (The Menuets and the Syllables) are made for these devices with touch in mind from the start.
If tablets do become common then there will always be grad students with an itch to scratch and the dream of their own OS. Now that would be interesting.
I look at it as an evolution of computers in general. Tablets were never successful before because they were just too expensive, and only niche people like artists wanted them.
The cool thing is, a lot of them coming out are using embedded Linux, with their own Interface. So I guess you could more or less say that they really are different operating systems (well you, myself and the rest of OSNews will obviously know otherwise).
Who knows, maybe we’ll see an Amiga based Tablet. That would rock!
While I would nroamlly agree, windows 7 and windows embedded as mentioned in the article isn’t all that alternative. 🙁
Personally, I’m waiting to see what comes out of MeeGo. Could be pretty interesting.
I am positively impressed by the Eee Pad and ExoPC. Wanting to kill my Vista laptop several times a day (including when I’m not home, that’s how badly I want to do it), I wouldn’t have thought that another Windows something would look that fast on top of the bling? All hope is not lost.
The “tablet” moniker is clearly taken from the kind of old-school definition of a “Tablet PC”–i.e. something with pen input, while the “pad” is clearly a reference to an iPad-esque devices. So the naming conventions make perfect sense to me.
And oh, that Eee Tablet really does look like a winner. I would be really tempted to buy it, except I’m holding out on my eBook-eque purchases until the color devices roll around. Still, I can think of plenty of friends who it would be perfect for…
Of course, only fanboys and those lacking a sense of history would refer to finger-input tablets as “Ipad-esque.”
That’s like calling the Xerox Alto and Star and the Three Rivers Perq, “Mac-esque.”
Edited 2010-05-31 22:21 UTC
Conversely, only technology buffs and other kinds of fanboy are going to care about such a trivial detail.
Trivial detail?
I thought it was “revolutionary.”
Fanboys brag as if Apple was the first to offer a finger-input tablet. Nevertheless, as with most things, Apple was not the first — not even close.
Edited 2010-06-01 00:22 UTC
Tup, must you turn every thread you participate in into an Apple-haters club? Seriously, I never see you post for *any* other reason.
Perhaps the question should be: Why must every thread contain one or more posts by Apple worshippers in which false credit is given to Apple?
Or, maybe the question should be: How does telling the truth constitute “Apple-hating?”
Another pertinent question: Why would someone on this forum resort to making a personal comment?
Not every thread does. I was asking why *you* must turn every thread you post into an Apple thread. You never, ever, post for any other reason. Obsessions are unhealthy, and those based on hate are particularly so. I dont know the nature or origin of the axe you’re grinding, but at least face the fact that you have one.
This thread does. Most others do. Again, why?
Furthermore, how can any rational person endure these constant, ridiculous fanboy pronouncements in silence?
First of all, I don’t respond to every silly Apple-based notion — just a tiny fraction of them.
Secondly, why do the Apple supporters complain when someone simply tells the truth?
Probably, it is for the same reason that a poster on this forum resorts to personal comments about another poster, rather than just addressing the actual issue.
Edited 2010-06-02 18:20 UTC
It doesn’t matter whether it was revolutionary or not, or whether it was the first of its kind (which it bloody well wasn’t). What matters is marketing to the masses, and the masses have iPad on the brain at the moment. So, the naming makes sense from a marketing and sales perspective.
Exactly my point. Saying something is “iPad”-like has more meaning to the unwashed masses than “SomeCorp Gizmo 3000”-like. The only people that care that it wasn’t first are technology-enthusiasts, geeks and people like Tupp with an axe to grind. 🙂
You do realize that this is a technology site right? And of course, the posters here are mostly technology enthusiasts.
Agreed that the Ipad was not the first of its kind.
The term “revolutionary” was put forth by the Apple camp. If it was not the first of its kind, please explain how the Ipad could be considered “revolutionary.”
Which is why Windows is so much better than OSX, because it is more accepted by the masses.
ATTENTION INVENTORS: Your brilliant ideas that improve the world do not matter. The important thing is the fleeting whimsy of ignorant people. Your hard work will be blatantly exploited without consequence, and you will never get due credit nor due compensation.
Apple invented the name “pad” when referring to touchscreen computer tablets? Such a misguided notion should never be taken for granted.
Note how the term “pad” is used to describe tablet PCs in the title of this 2003 article: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/the-digital-writing-pad,review-144.html
Here is a November, 2009 article about a tablet PC called, “the Pad”: http://www.gizmag.com/evigroup-tablet-pc-pad/13247/
The term “Pad” is also used to refer to graphics drawing tablets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_tablet
Given the extensive prior use of “pad” and given the fact that the design of the Ipad is very similar to prior devices, we should never refer to any touchscreen devices as “Ipad-esque.” That reference would bestow undeserved credit to Apple.
Don’t sell the idea of Atom tablet too short. I imagine someone may want to run existing Windows software on one (e.g. if you have a warehouse management software, you may be able to run it straight out of the box while walking through the floors).
Granted that it’s not the obvious dealmaker it used to be. It’s a sign of the times that when people see a system running windows, they think that it “might be a good idea”.
A Windows tablet would make about 1000 times more sense if it had pen input. There are plenty of artists out there who would love to be able to sketch on this form factor of device, and Windows already has a decade’s worth of development of pen-based input support built in.
After the games they played with Microsoft (claims that Linux gets returned because people want Windows, sudden disappearance of their smartbook after acclaim at a major tradeshow, bios games making Linux have issues, generally crappy Linux support) I would never buy ASUS again despite having been a proud owner of an eeepc 901 Linux. They have burnt their bridges as far as I am concerned.
–bornagainpenguin
Momentum of Linux has died, atleast as distro. You could easily draw conclusion that biggest problem in Linux land is GUI. Android is all hype now, look how media whore XO project changed to Android, clearly proof that strong media buzz around Linux is dying. Linux isn’t sexy anymore and it’s not used on product names even, ironically most of new OSes are based on Linux. King is dead, long live King.
Karitku trolled…
Nice troll. As many problems as there are with the various distros, that doesn’t explain the whole media war ASUS engaged in with multiple websites to spread FUD over how usable their own products were. They claimed that a majority of the eeepcs they sold with Linux were being returned because customers didn’t understand it and wanted to be able to run Windows instead. It was so bad that Dell had to come out and dispute them with their own figured showing the opposite.
It also doesn’t handwave away the bios issues that have been cropping up with ASUS laptops and Linux lately–strange that these issues only seem to affect machines with newer BIOS and that reverting to earlier versions fixes the issues. Or that by identifying itself as Windows 7 somehow fixes these issues when passed by the kernel at Grub… Funny how that one works isn’t it?
As someone who followed the eeepc from the beginning and hopped on the instant it was possible to get one with a power-saving capable processor (901 model eeepc) and who has had the experience of contacting ASUS to RMA the device after using their included software to make a USB bootable flash disk with their restore of the Xandros OS and had their official tool destroy the SSD I think I know a bit about this situation. Especially when the person on the other end of the phone constantly tried to spin my issue as me wanting to ruin Windows on my Linux only eeepc. When even though I redirected her several times to the fact it was Ubuntu I was try8ing to install–another form of the Linux operating system she was bound and determined it was Windows that I wanted. The best part? She told me I wasn’t supposed to use the included ASUS flash drive boot tool to restore my system, I was supposed use an external DVD drive to restore the system.
Uhhh…right. This is why you have a USB flash restore utility branded with ASUS on the dvd? No answer to that of course. But I was trying to install Windows, right? >_<
As for your complaints about the XO project and the GUI… Give me a break!
The XO project fell victim to its insistence on being a charity and refusing to even try to get the economies of scale to work. Is it any wonder that Intel went it alone? Or that so many people embraced the idea of a cheap portable computer? Simply put the netbook was an idea whose time had come.
And I refuse to even get into the GUI argument with you. GTK, QT, ect. They all work well enough for most people. Heck I even prefer the font rendering of Gnome on my eeepc because I can make it look sharper and more consistent than I ever could in Windows XP. I never tried to install Windows Vista or Seven on my eeepc because it was too bloated to ever fit on my eeepc’s 4GB system drive. I’ve heard Seven does a better job of font display on small screens but why should I go Windows when Linux works so well?
Do some people need or prefer the simpler GUI display? Sure, but those types of displays are a step backwards to the MacOS classic appliance model of doing things. That might be easier for some, but most of us want a real computer, one that can run more than one application at a time. Something even Microsoft has to admit after the reaction people had to its initial plans for Windows Starter Edition. Wow did they have to back peddle there.
Nah…the point is that ASUS has been shown by their own actions to act in bad faith, so I would really be hesitant to buy anything else from them ever again, and I advise caution to everyone about buying their products. How can anyone trust a company whose updates leave your computer less functional than it was before? Or one who stabs their partners in the back?
The Xandros that came with my eeepc 901 was identical to the version of the OS that came with the eeepc 7xx series. The number of updates to the Xandros operating system? Practically nil. The ability to add programs? Made as complicated as possible. So much for your ideas about a simplified GUI!
Now why should I or anyone else buy from them again, again?
–bornagainpenguin