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Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet

By | April 29, 2011, 11:21am PDT

Summary: You’d think Google would be doing everything it could to get tablets going powered by Honeycomb, but in my view it is failing in a very significant way.

A lot of ink has been spilled about the failings of the Android tablet in the market. The Motorola XOOM has been a failed first product intended to showcase Google’s version of Android that is optimized for tablets. Google threw Android under the proverbial bus by stating that versions of the OS prior to Honeycomb were just not good enough to run tablets. You’d think Google would be doing everything it could to get Honeycomb tablets high on consumer’s buy lists, but in my view it is failing in a very significant way.

Whatever you think about Honeycomb in its current state, Google understands that having apps optimized for the tablet form is crucial for acceptance by consumers. Apple understood that with the iPad, and did a decent job making sure that there were significant apps in the App Store on launch day to get things started. Google, even with the advantage of having seen it done right, hasn’t done that. It not only hasn’t done enough to get developers to produce apps for Honeycomb, it’s even impeded that effort by refusing to release the code that is Honeycomb.

It’s no wonder that there are no significant tablet apps for Android in the Market given the state of support by Google. Worse, even though Google has as much to lose as anyone due to a lack of Honeycomb apps, it hasn’t produced any itself. We tend to overlook that Google writes a lot of software, so why hasn’t it filled Honeycomb tablets with solid apps of its own?

Just this week Google released an Android app to support Google Docs. While I am happy as an Android user to see this released, it is totally a missed opportunity for Google and the tablet. Why on earth wasn’t this a complete tablet solution for Google Docs? The larger form of the tablet is perfect for working with documents, far more so than smartphones, so why wasn’t a cool version of Google Docs for Honeycomb tablets released? If Google isn’t willing to put in the time and effort to promote its own services on its own mobile platform in a way that sends a solid message that its serious about Honeycomb tablets why should anyone else?

There should be apps for Honeycomb that blow everything else away when it comes to working with Gmail, Google Calendar and Contacts. There is a decent Gmail app for Honeycomb, but not something mind-blowing. The calendar app on the XOOM, however, is the worst mobile calendar app I have ever seen, on any platform. It is a total embarrassment to the platform. Google should have produced a suite of Honeycomb apps that makes everyone who uses Google services rush out an buy a tablet just for the apps. The omission is a total failure on Google’s part.

Google has taken a very narrow view of what it needs to do for Honeycomb, and has restricted its coding to the OS itself. The many reviews of Honeycomb that report how half-baked it is demonstrate that Google has so far failed to produce a solid platform for the tablet. That failure is clear in the market for Android tablets, with not a single successful tablet either available or in the works.

Given the state of Honeycomb as a platform, and Google’s failure to produce decent apps of its own, it is no wonder developers are not rushing to produce Honeycomb apps. There’s no indication there will be a return for such effort any time soon, so who can blame them? Unfortunately, that doesn’t bode well for the viability of Honeycomb devices in the near future. There must be apps for Android tablets for them to have a chance in the market. Google should be releasing its own Honeycomb apps every week until consumers swoon with desire for an Android tablet. No one else is doing it, and it’s not clear anyone will. Google is failing its own platform, and inexcusably.

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James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

Disclosure

James Kendrick

James Kendrick has no affiliations or relationships that need to be disclosed.

Biography

James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long. Prior to joining ZDNet, James was the Founding Editor of jkOnTheRun, a CNET Top 100 Tech Blog that was acquired by GigaOM in 2008 and is now part of that prestigious tech network. James' writing has appeared in many print publications: Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine, Information Week and Laptop Magazine to name a few. James' coverage of the mobile technology sector has regularly appeared in the New York Times, Salon.com and CNN/ Fortune online. Not just a writer, James has filmed numerous video reviews and how-tos that have garnered well over a million viewers. He has appeared on local news segments and been interviewed by the Associated Press on mobile technology topics. Additionally, James has been podcasting about mobile technology for years.

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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
JACOBSONR 14th Oct
Good day to confirm this comment I would appreciate T h e b e s t o f Z D N e t d e l i v e r e d your website very nice to everyone Yes, Oracle is the only one with shared-disk architecture, but that is there advantage. It means you can add or remove nodes and the database lives on. In a shared nothing architecture, if you lose a node, you lose the system. I'm sure Oracle appreciates EMC highlighting their advantage.I also desire to signal in your RSS feeds. Thank you as soon as once again and maintain up the great operate Awesome post! Thank you very much || thanks for nice content this is really benefit to me.
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Mostly agree
Yensi717 29th Apr 2011
However, I think this statement is completely wrong...

"It not only hasn?t done enough to get developers to produce apps for Honeycomb, it?s even impeded that effort by refusing to release the code that is Honeycomb..."

Application don't, and shouldn't need the underlying source code for the operating system. It's nice in certain scenarios, but not required. If that argument held up, Apple developers would have an impossible task of developing for the iPad.
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@Yensi717
Totally agreed.
@Rama.NET: normal common people will not have real choice before that (basically they have to choose iPad 2 because of 75 000 applications and overall platform smoothness).

Let's see how Google will improve within few nearest quarters.
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Google ain't has no platform gene
LBiege 29th Apr 2011
It's one thing to pump HTML5 bubble to fool those cheap two-bit hustling Javascript hackers into thinking themselves as developers, it's completely another to build a tablet platform robust enough to attract professional developers.
  • Flagged
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Rama.NET Updated - 29th Apr 2011
@denisrs
Yes. Apple has built an ecosystem of development and Google just copied it. They never really understood the architecture of that developer ecosystem. Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Oracle (including Sun) really know this.

The issue here is Google really never focused on building it from the foundation. They just thought Open Source and Java communities are enough to tap into and planned that ecosystem would eventually be Google's. But that really never worked out, of course I know they have 100,000+ apps, but do they have common user experience across the apps, which Google forgot define or never really learned when they copied from Apple. Common user experience is the key for mobile apps, because mobile app users don't have to spend more time in learning something new everytime. Which Microsoft forgot to add in WM and now they realized and see WP7, which has solid User Experience. Governance of app ecosystem is another thing. Apple and Microsoft have this, but where as that in Android! Having a larger market or appstore or whatever is not important, but having solid apps that respect the users is important, and for that a constant watch and rules and governance around it are totally required.
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@Yensi717 Agreed, I think that Google's habit of duplicating (to put it politely) the code of the most successful apps has more do to with their lack of developers than their refusing to release the source code for their "open" source platform.
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@ITSamurai
What apps did Google "duplicate?" That makes no sense. Google produces few apps, and they basically relate to Google products.
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@ITSamurai
Google could not duplicate apps even if they wanted. Not only that would be so intensive it would not be worth it, but applications are protected by copyrights held by the application developing company... If you have angry birds on both Android and iOS it's because Rovio made its code executable on both platforms.

Your statement is a huge surreal stretch even for the most hard-core of iOS fans.

You gotta gat off that crack pipe man! No, really it's not good for you! ;P
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@Yensi717

Access to the source should not be necessary, but haven't you noticed? Google Android programmers themselves often say, "look at the source", especially for answering questions that should have been answered in the Javadocs (but are not).
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@Yensi717 Agree +1!

Another sad excuse for a tech news article. And just for the record the fact that "developers are not rushing to produce Honeycomb apps" has nothing to do with "the state of Honeycomb as a platform" nor with the underlying source code. Please do not misrepresent reality Mr. Kendrick and spread false information. As a journalist (not a blogger) you have the responsibility of what you publish so try to stick with facts and less personal opinion or at least support personal opinions with points that make sense and are based in reality no speculations. I would agree if you said that it's unlikely that devs would jump on Honeycomb because of the current limited reach due to iPad still having a strong and large user base. But can't agree with all your rants and your lack of vision. If you were Steve Jobs and had this attitude throughout the development if iOS that OS and devices would have never seen the light of the day.

You article sadly adds very little... the only thing it may achieve is to add gasoline to fuel the parade of anti-android parade which onto itself I find simply nonsensical as much as the anti-iOS parades.

Maybe next time you sit down to write an article try to be less of a Debby-Downer and more of an impartial reporter. We will all thank you about it as such articles would not be wasting the time it takes to read and to write a reply in the comments that one feels compelled to write although we know that hardly anyone will ever read them or give a dang about it. Cheers!
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
patrick.moorhead@... 29th Apr 2011
Based on my hands-on experience with the Xoom, I have to say, unfortunately, you are spot-on. Like the G1 phone, I had expected updates to wring out all the issues within weeks of launch. They never came and there isn't a date for the update.
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Peter Perry 29th Apr 2011
@patrick.moorhead@... You expected this even though they promised it within 90 Days? We're just over 60 now.
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@Peter Perry ...The article is write about one thing. The Google produced apps should have blown everyone away without question. I have a Xoom and I am pleased with it, but only because of my dislike for the closed system of Apple. The argument makes sense for developers to find it difficult to get too excited when Google hasn't done a whole lot themselves.
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@striker67
Why is everyone so hung up on apps?

I have been using iPad for several months now and routinely compare it to my ASUS UL - I am looking to see what I can do on my iPad that I don't have to cart around the ASUS.
I'll be getting a Android tablet and will do the same.

Interestingly I have noticed one big - huge - gargantuan issue:
on my ASUS - they are bookmarks and generally free
on my iPad - they are apps and I have usually had to buy them

Based on that alone -
1. my cost of ownership is higher on the iPad

I would expect I can do more of the Bookmark on the Android than the app.....
plain
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Hey dude, relax !!!!
progresivo@... 29th Apr 2011
The tablet transition is going to be a looooong one, and it will take its time, what's the hurry ??
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
OffsideInVancouver 29th Apr 2011
@progresivo@...

No hurry, as long as you haven't bought one wink
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@progresivo@... They have to hurry because Windows 8 is scaring the bejesus out of them
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@hubivedder , just as apple and google are pooing their pants with the unstopable advance of windows phone 7... /sarcasm
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Blind Android Fanatics
camcost@... Updated - 2nd May 2011
Google doesn't have anything to worry about.
Android fanatics are worse than Apple fans when it comes to wearing blinders.
I've spent a year in Android forums listening to folks praising Android, no matter how buggy. Everytime the hardware or software failed to deliver, the response is always the same... "at least it does Flash and has an SD slot." Flash and a slot seem to be more important than all the other headaches they're willing to put up with.
Honestly, how far will these fans allow this to go on before they've had enough?
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@camcost@... Android users understand that when you are dealer with many different manufacturers there are bound to be glitches. I have used a Samsung galaxy S and a Xoom with no issues. I haven't been to the forums too much because I have been to busy putting my Android products to work. No device is perfect even Apple. If it were then Apple wouldn't need to update it. happy
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@progresivo@...

'The hurry' is that in the meantime, Apple products will establish and make firm their pre-eminence in that market. That is not good for Google.

So it would be bad for Google and Android if Apple is allowed to hold that lead (too late to stop them from taking it -- they already have). So also, if you are right that the transition "is going to be a loooong one", then this is costly for Google and Android. Even a strategic blunder.
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@progresivo@...
Exactly. Google will amaze you with its apps, in time. Geesh, give them a little more time. Writing good code doesn't happen overnight.
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@roger that Funny, that's what we kept hearing a year ago, give them time and the Android army will take over the tablet market by the end of the year. Well we have passed the end of the year and more than one quarter into the next, how long do we wait now?
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Bad hardware: the Xoom apparently creates problems for Honeycomb, while a development version seems to run fine on a rooted Nook Color.
Bad decision: not to release the open source code to developers, who understandably stopped working on the pre-release version.
Bad faith: by supporting certain hardware manufacturers and not others.

Google, what are you thinking?
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Peter Perry 29th Apr 2011
@dstarke1 No, it doesn't... Honeycomb on the NOOK is horribly slow unless they over clock the Nook and even then it probably runs very similar to the XOOM...

For the record, the Honeycomb OS works great and does not crash (Every Owner of the XOOM I personally know agrees with this) even without a custom kernel. There are Apps that behave badly (YES EVEN GOOGLE BUILT APPS) but not the core OS.
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@Peter Perry So what you're saying is the OS is good as long as you don't actually use it?
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Pete "athynz" Athens 29th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry While I am not an expert on the Xoom - although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express - if the Xoom is all you claim it to be then why are there so many posts knocking it? Oh wait... it has CORE apps (aka the Google built-in apps) that behave badly and third party apps that behave badly... (all of this according to YOUR post above BTW) so what exactly CAN you do on it? What does not crash (or act badly) on it?

Sounds like I'm better off getting a Nook Color and rooting it to run Android... And since (again) I'm no expert what flavor of Android would you recommend?
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Peter Perry 29th Apr 2011
@ITSamurai Not at all, like I said, I owned an iPad and most of my EA Games would crash on me or refuse to save my games... Bad Apps can happen on any platform.

My biggest problems are with the browser and the youtube app but again, both those issues are solved with Dolphin HD Web Browser.
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Peter Perry 29th Apr 2011
@athynz Seriously, all the iPhan and Phandroid BS Aside...

As I said, there are two Apps that really act up but there are solutions for them. Umm, honestly though, none of the 3rd party Apps I have act poorly and that could be because I would have just deleted them if they had.

With that said, I did own an iPad and my biggest complaint is that it didn't have Flash, I hated running into sites that sent me reaching for my phone to see the content... The Thing I liked Most About it was Pages, that's a Great Word Processing App in spite of it's limited features (Keynote would be second) and there are some that come close on Honeycomb but they're not there yet.

Going further, my wife has an iPad 2, I know it's strengths and I know it's weaknesses... The thing I like most about it, is that she doesn't bug me as much about how to use it as she does a real computer!
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@Peter Perry
>>Going further, my wife has an iPad 2, I know it's strengths and I know it's weaknesses... The thing I like most about it, is that she doesn't bug me as much about how to use it as she does a real computer!

Thats what exactly is needed. Google has to strong arm and bring the user experience defined and run goverance around its market, otherwise its Tablets will be mediocre, because anyone can tap into Android and build whatever suits their budget with low quality hardware and doom the platform. Users once they buy a tablet, want to keep it for a long time unlike Smartphone. Constant updates are key because they are not disposables.
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@Rama

No they won't be as disposable as smart phones (which was helped by carrier subsidy and deals). Users are buying iPads for the overall user experience, the polish, the familiarity, the great quality apps, the ecosystem and great support. All the problems we saw on Android (fragmentation, malware, crapware, bugs) won't be as easily forgiven on tablets.
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@Peter Perry Every person I know that owns a Xoom agrees too. Oh wait, I don't know a single person that owns one wink
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that's complete BS and FUD
Linux Geek 29th Apr 2011
Android is doing great and is the fastest growing echosystem. Move on people this article is merely Apple and M$ spreading FUD!
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
timspublic1@... 29th Apr 2011
@Linux Geek Got that right. Gee lot's of games and other useless things on iPad X. They are so in tune with the market (sarcasm).

I wish the "journalists" would stop taking money from crapple.
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@timspublic1@... "They are so in tune with the market (sarcasm)."
They own the market at this point yet you seem to think they don't have clue what the market is, that's pretty damn funny.
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
alsobannedfromzdnet 29th Apr 2011
@Linux Geek

Android has plateaued, last quarter 3% decline in US smartphone market share, meanwhile the iPhone experienced 9% growth.

Schmidt on Apple's board = iPhone clones succeed.

Schmidt booted off = iPad clones fail.
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Peter Perry 29th Apr 2011
@alsobannedfromzdnet Bull, that didn't include business or people under 18!
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Linux certainly has the best "Echo"system
LiquidLearner 29th Apr 2011
@Linux Geek

They have people like you who will echo anything they hear from another Linux fanboy, no matter how completely made up it might be.
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@LiquidLearner This really has nothing to do with Linux and last I checked Google isn't releasing the source code meaning this has nothing to do with Open Source either.
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@ITSamurai But being open source was the number one talking point that made Android so great. At least that's what all the Fandroids have been going on and on about for over two years now.
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Pete "athynz" Athens 29th Apr 2011
@Linux Geek Right because EVERYONE is out to get Google, Android, Linux, and open source. Paranoid much?
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@Linux Geek Really, then please explain why a recent study by Appcelerator and IDC found that interest in developing for Android tablets has dropped. Of those surveyed only 71% were interested in developing apps for Android base tablets.

"The biggest reason for the decline cited was device fragmentation. Nearly two-thirds of developers said fragmentation was their biggest doubt around the mobile OS. Another 30 percent said they were concerned with poor sales of Android tablets so far, while 28 percent were worried about multiple app stores."
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What causes sales to be slow
Robert Hahn 29th Apr 2011
Awwright you geeks, until Honeycomb gets a lot more polished, the average consumer is just going to continue buying iPads. So it's up to us to carry the torch for Android.

We're the ones who want to root our machines as soon as we get them home. We're the ones who want to burn a new boot ROM. And we're the ones who want the freedom to change the settings on things that most people don't even know exist.

So with that in mind, let me tell you about the Tuxxmaster 55, coming out next month. This one has it all! Dual-core Tegra processor, USB ports on both sides, and just wait 'til you see the screen on this baby!

It's hard to believe a month has gone by already, but the Tuxxmaster goes on sale tomorrow. But you might want to hold off because Nukenocker has just announced the SR-70, and that one has 1.717 G RAM, two HDMI ports, a SuperMarioLED screen, all in the new 10.6 inch form factor.

What, that one's already in Best Buy? Well, never mind then, instead we'll tell you about the Boomwomma 9, out this Summer on T-Mobile. It'll have a 20-hour battery, 1920x1200 resolution, a quad-core Snapdragon CPU, and all for $199.

Wait for it.
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@Robert Hahn
Is it for real?
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I think your sarcasm was wasted
davebarnes 29th Apr 2011
on at least one person.
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Sometimes a mark
LiquidLearner 29th Apr 2011
@davebarnes

of good sarcasm!
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@Robert Hahn
LazLong 29th Apr 2011
I did find that humorous and maybe even more so asdacap response, whether it was real or just playing along. It is unfortunately true in this day, age, culture. The Consumer culture.....

ARM 8/9, multiple cores, A4/5 OMAP3/4 etc....
the even funnier thing maybe that some of the things you mention are probably around the next corner.

Sort of reminds me of one of the first fake commercials done on SNL in the '70s
about the 3 bladed razor.....with the tag line.. "because you'll believe anything".... low & behold today we have 5 & 6 bladed razors..........

And yet whether it is design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing or even just bloging about it...it keeps some employed
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
alsobannedfromzdnet Updated - 29th Apr 2011
@Robert Hahn

I thought the Boomwamma 9 had a 1920 x 200 ultrasupermega widescreen resolution and looks like a stick.
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RE: Google has failed the Honeycomb tablet
Pete "athynz" Athens 29th Apr 2011
@Robert Hahn Very well played... LOL! I want a Boomwomma 9... but I hear version 10 will rock your socks off with 8 cores, 3GB ram, 1TB storage, and can be configured to tri-boot Android, iOS, and BB.
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@Robert Hahn
LOL. grin. I love Boomwomma 9, but I will wait for Boomwomma 10, which would get released during summer on Sprint, it has 8 core Snapdragon CPU with dual core Tegra as the graphics engine, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB on board memory and 2 Micro SD Slots inside the back cover next to battery, 14MP dual camera on the back and 8 MP front facing camera for video chat and 1920x1200 resolution SuperMarioLED Screen and 8 USB ports and 4 of them MicroUSB and 2 of them are MiniUSB all for just $299.
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Good day to confirm this comment I would appreciate T h e b e s t o f Z D N e t d e l i v e r e d your website very nice to everyone Yes, Oracle is the only one with shared-disk architecture, but that is there advantage. It means you can add or remove nodes and the database lives on. In a shared nothing architecture, if you lose a node, you lose the system. I'm sure Oracle appreciates EMC highlighting their advantage.I also desire to signal in your RSS feeds. Thank you as soon as once again and maintain up the great operate Awesome post! Thank you very much || thanks for nice content this is really benefit to me.

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