2012: Year of the [insert tablet here]?!?

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
so I was at BB again and decided to peek at the Transformer Prime again.  They put up a sign now saying "coming soon".  Huh?  They've been selling them online.  Also, one (of the 5 that came up to me) BB helper comes to me and tells me that the a new model has been announced and the tablet (with the coming soon sign) is outdated and has wifi issues.  Glad that they're being honest with me.  Feel sorry for the TP since they're being trashed before they're being even generally available.

I'll be tablet-less for many more months to come.  I'll continue to be a tablet virgin and keep refreshing the XDA Dev forums for a stable fantastic ROM for my Android phone.
 
At least the HD version will be compatible with the Prime keyboard dock.

When the original TF came out, they claimed the keyboard dock could be used with future versions of the TF... we know that isn't true anymore.

I'm still waiting for that killer Google 7" tablet... I checked out the Springboard at T-Mobile and it's actually really nice. Still temped by the Playbook too.
 
Yeah, that ASUS $250 Tegra 3 7" tablet sticks in my mind.  I'm very curious to see Google's 7" version too.  I was looking at a youtube for the new Novo 7 Aurora 7" tablet with ICS for ~$180.  Looks interesting.  But I'm still gearing towards a 10" tablet.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYHpHKIGqYk[/youtube]
 
I am curious about the iPad 3.  While I'm sure it'll do well, I still want to get an Android tablet for myself.  At least when the newer models get released in the next few months.  I'm just more partial to the flexibility and configurability of the Android environment.  I actually got the wife an iPad 2 recently for an early bday gift.  We knew the 3 was coming out, but we got a pretty good deal on it and the 2 will more than meet her needs.  It will be interesting to see how well Android does when Ice Cream Sandwich matures throughout the year.
 
I want to sell the iPad2 we have and pick up the iPad3.  In addition to the display, I'm looking forward to better quality cameras.
 
jvna said:
It will be interesting to see how well Android does when Ice Cream Sandwich matures throughout the year.
Click to expand...
Knowing Google... by that time we'll be seeing Jello or Jellybean and a bunch of tablets will be obsolete again.

I'm more interested in these higher-rez tablets... like the Transformer Prime HD (or whatever Hasbro will let them call it).

The wife will probably want to get an iPad3... and if the rumors are correct... a 7" iPad Mini.

I'm still waiting for that killer 7" Android tablet from Google.
 
zovall said:
I want to sell the iPad2 we have and pick up the iPad3.
Click to expand...
That's the good thing about Apple products... good value retention.

Our stuff just moves down to the kids... although a $600 gadget seems to be a little much.
 
A higher res screen will be nice, but what will take advantage of that?  Will there be higher resolution streaming video for it?  Will games be redone for the higher resolution capabilities?  Will other apps be recoded to use the higher spec screen?  Also, how will that affect battery life?  Will the updated processor and GPU be efficient enough to mitigate the possible higher power draw for the screen?

As it is, some tablets have higher resolutions than some HD flat screens.  I guess we'll find out these answers in the next couple of months.

Honeycomb was supposedly an unfinished OS, whereas ICS is supposed to be fantastic.  If they do come out with another OS this year, I think it'll harm Android overall.  Most manufacturers are already struggling to bring ICS to their devices.
 
The higher res for me is to be able to read small words and see sharper images.

If you've ever gone from the iPhone 4 Retina Display to an older 4" phone running some 640x320 resolution, you'll see what I mean. It's the same thing when you look at a 1024x600 on 7" vs 1280x800. The display is not as sharp/crisp... and that's important on smaller screens.

What makes you think there won't be another version of Android by 2013? Isn't that how they work? They've had 8 or 9 versions since 08... that's a pace of over 2 a year... I don't see them slowing down... even Apple is near a 1 OS update per year cycle.
 
It just seems that Google is coming out with incremental updates for ICS, like 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, etc.  They're releasing them to resolve issues.  I've got to think that they're working hard to resolve these issues as most devices aren't even on ICS at all yet.  If they are also developing a new OS, it's gotta wreck development for all the hardware vendors that are trying to crank out ICS for their devices or are releasing updates to fix ICS issues.  Lots of apps aren't supported yet in ICS so releasing another Android OS this year would make it harder for the developers too.
 
But that's also the problem with Android... their roadmap for upcoming versions can be changed whenever they want.

What about all those tablets built on the HoneyComb specs only to find out HC is basically obsolete? This goes back to the whole fragmentation/differentiation issues.

I'm sure Google is trying to cut down on major versions to remedy this... but I am almost 100% positive a "J" version will be coming out within a year or so. As for developer support, it will probably be just like pre-HoneyComb releases... more like incremental updates but not a major UI change so there isn't that much worry about compatibility since ICS will probably be the base UI for the next 3 or 4 iterations.
 
Retina display? 4G LTE?

Looks like 2012 may be another year of the iPad:

ipad-3-leak-full.jpg


iPad3-vs2.jpg


iPad3-vs2-3.jpg


iPad3-vs2-2.jpg


And... there is a new 8gb Nook Tablet out for $199 (has an SD card too... so not too big of a hit)... the Nook Color is down to $169:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/21/barnes-and-noble-unveils-8gb-nook-tablet-for-199-slashes-color-t/
 
I'm still going for a 10" tablet.  The 7" is too small a screen for my needs.  Hopefully great products are announced next week and release dates are given.  If they give release dates that are at end of summer or past, too far out for me.
 
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