looking for Android tablets

核心提示：freedom of choice is just too hard for them to handle, of course, but the (relatively) more open system could eventually triumph, as Microsoft MS DOS (aka IBM P

freedom of choice is just too hard for them to handle, of course, but the (relatively) more open system could eventually triumph, as Microsoft MS DOS (aka IBM PC DOS) and Windows did over Apple's Mac OS in the 1980s and 1990s. And while no one knows if this will actually happen,m003 android, it already seems likely that Android phones will outsell Apple iPhones.

Either way, as the FT's Tech blog says: "Everyone's eager to capitalise on the iPad's technological shortcomings." Well,iphone 4 back cover, Apple has left lots of room for competition. For a start, there's the chance to provide cloud-based systems that don't demand to be attached to a personal computer running Apple's iTunes for synchronisation.

The first version of the iPad also has lots of hardware and software limitations,acekard 2 i, including the annoying lack of multi-tasking for third-party apps, lack of Adobe Flash (not even as a user-selected option), the mysteriously missing webcam for Skype, the lack of a USB port or an SD card slot,m001 android tablet, and so on. Apple has probably left out some of these useful features in order to create a market for an upgraded iPad to be released in 18-24 months, but it means rivals can easily offer these things first.

There are, of course, lots of alternatives to Android in the slate market. Some manufacturers already sell, or might sell, tablets that run different versions of Linux (including Nokia and Intel's MeeGo), Windows CE Embedded or Windows 7, or even Palm's WebOS,ds acekard 2, now owned by HP. Also, some tablets will be based on ARM chips such as Snapdragon or Tegra, and some on Intel Atom chips, depending on whether they're small versions of laptop computers or big versions of mobile phones.

However, Google has already singled out Apple as the dictatorial 1984-style enemy of freedom in the smartphone market (an amusing twist on Apple's attack on IBM), and this war looks likely to be continued in the "overgrown smartphone" part of the tablet market.

One key problem is that Google specified Android for screens up to about 7 inches, presumably thinking that the stripped-down web-oriented Chrome OS would be used on devices with bigger screens. But if Google isn't hammering out a new tablet "device profile" based on XGA (1024 x 768 pixel) screens,m001 eken, I'll be very disappointed.