Originally Posted by Capt'n Corrupt

@ Dan for ol time's sake
Acer may make crap (I can attest to this), though Asus is solid, and they too are entering the market (horrible screens, though). Dell is also in this space, as is Toshiba. Bottom line, the entry-level will get a lot more interesting as Asus and Acer begin to iterate.

Originally Posted by danramos

True enough, there are some very good brands trying to jump in. I find it ironic and maybe somewhat shameful for Apple that they didn't want to be a PLATFORM OS company that enabled other companies to compete against each other the way their former competition did (ala the Windows vs MacOS wars of the 90's) and now, as history seems to begin to repeat itself, with Android. The devices and the platform itself can only get better with competition and creative participation from the whole industry.

PS - Stop multiposting, you thank-whore!

Originally Posted by Capt'n Corrupt

@Dan because I can,

I wouldn't underestimate Amazon. They have a long track record of dominating in this type of online selling. Freebies may be a strategy in the beginning to bludgeon their way into the public's mind, but I suspect that they will soon start to have exclusives, and other compelling reasons to check out the store.

Interestingly, it is rumored that Amazon is building an Android tablet. If they can strike the same chord that the Kindle did, they will have a hit on their hands. I fully expect that the Amazon tablet will have the Amazon Store, complete with the kindle book software, and access to Amazon Music/VoD with a *single* method of payment. In the end it will have fantastic positioning and a very integrated consumption oriented experience.

The killer bit? They will advertise it right on the front of Amazon.com just as they do with the kindle, which could turn it into a runaway holiday smasher. Who knows, they may subsidize some of the price based on speculation about their media sell-through, and undercut the competition.

Originally Posted by danramos

I just had this conversation with my brother, where the SMART idea is for SOMEBODY to build an Android tablet so different but useful that it makes everyone go, "WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?" I told him that I would LOVE for somebody (ideally Amazon, given their other products) to design an ANDROID tablet (a proper one) with a RESISTIVE touchscreen digitizer (so you can use either a stylus or finger) that uses a high resolution eInk display. It would be the most AWESOME thing for the Kindle app to run on.. and take ONSCREEN, hand-drawn notes and underlines, marks, etc. It would be able to do INCREDIBLY double-duty as a Google calendar with the ability to do hand-drawn marks, a GREAT way for artists to draw wacom-style on an eINK display with pressure-sensitivity and all (especially if the stylus can report whether the tip is being pressed or whether the blunt end is bring pressed (i.e. pen/pencil/spray vs immediate eraser). Since it's an Android tablet, it COULD run/do anything a tablet could do (although playing video would be awkwardy slow--but they HAVE managed to get around upwards of at least 15fps with eInk lately). The eInk guys have even recently begun making COLOR eInk screens (although the few devices made seem to make it look like it's a bit washed out--but it's still early).

Imagine the INCREDIBLE battery life on such a tablet!

Originally Posted by lemmyslender

Group type games could be very interesting, D&D, FPS, racing, etc No need to drag computers, monitors, etc to a get together, just bring a tablet. You could have sessions just about anywhere, on short notice even.

Originally Posted by danramos

Suddenly, now, I imagined a handset phone with an inner shell made of nothing but eInk display (flat on all sides on the inner display, but a simple contoured smooth outer-shell surface on the outside acting as a magnifier, shaped similar to Palm WebOS phones), and a capacitive touchscreen surface all over on the outside. Best of all, because it's entirely nothing but eInk display, you could (by software) decide whether to have a black phone, a white phone, or any kind of a design all over the phone. Suddenly makes choose your desktop wallpaper on your current Android phone look stupid now, doesn't it? ...oh my God... ANIMATED SHELL!

Apple people! You can have your choice of WHITE... or BLACK with ANY unit!! Also, it can tell you when you're holding it wrong.

Originally Posted by danramos

AUGMENTED REALITY to those games... the host system could provide the basis for a very accurate playing field that your own handset's display could overlay pieces onto or statistics, etc. Let's also not forget the front-facing camera and opportunity to place YOU in the game's pieces/environment right in front of you and your fellow players.
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