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Topic: Hardware

The 10 biggest tablets of Spring 2012

Summary: With 2012's Consumer Electronics Show and Mobile Word Congress in the rear view mirror, this year's tablet race is already in full force. Here's what the first half of the year has to offer.

Ricardo Bilton

By |

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The tablet has come a long way since this time last year: HP's TouchPad came and went in a blaze of price cut-induced glory. Amazon, in the most direct and compelling challenge to Apple, put its weight behind the Kindle Fire. RIM, struggling, finally updated its PlayBook OS, adding native email support and Android app emulation.

But some things haven't changed. Apple's iPad is still the clear frontrunner, offering features that no other tablet has come close to replicating. But in spite of this, rival tablet makers persist, often to extreme extents. Here are the ten biggest tablets set for release in the first half of 2012. Some are better than others, but all are vying to capture a chunk of the rapidly-changing tablet market. 

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Topics: Hardware, Laptops, Mobility, Tablets

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37 comments
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  • MY TABLET

    WHICH OF THESE TABLETS WILL MAKE geico's "SCREAMING PIG'S" AD VIEWER FRIENDLY?
    SAM.POTS
    Reply Vote

  • Ipad Specs

    While the IPAD has slightly better screen resolution (probably can't see the difference), the ASUS Prime due to come out in June has better specs and can be ordered with a real keyboard if you need it. Yes, the IPAD has 4g LTE, but how many people will ever use it (only available in some big cities in US).
    Laurentian Enterprises
    Reply Vote

    • I agree

      The Asus is going to be the one to watch. With it's high resolution and of course the laptop dock just make it a fantastic choice.
      jonandkelly
      Reply Vote

      • problem is none of it matters

        don't get me wrong i love my prime but netflix has said they are not going to be updating their app soon so prime owners can't use it let alone the new 700. hulu, just got an email today, you cannot play hulu vids on the prime, i was basically told sorry maybe someday if we feel enough demand is there but don't expect anything. so yet another media provider who does not care enough about any of the new asus tablets or android tabs in general to do anything. hbo go, other services same problems, if we only had a browser like ie that would play their darned videos but we don't. that said what good is a new high res screen unless you have a wired or wireless stream from a pc or mac? kind of defeats the purpose. people need to start contacting providers like hulu, netflix, hbogo and letting them know there is an unmet need out there. otherwise all the advances for video streaming are moot. we also need to push browsers to include flash and codex so we can play vids. as much as i love my prime had i known how little support there is for our products i would have just gotten a zenbook.
        wyomike
        Reply Vote

    • ASUS will have 4G LTE too

      It's just that the 4G LTE version will be equipped with a 1.5Ghz dual core snapdragon chip while the wifi only version will come with a 1.6Ghz quad core Tegra 3.
      mrxxxman
      Reply Vote

      • no only wifi per asus and the android forums, it says android 4.0 and lte

        android 4.0 is ics, and lte is something else there is just wifi no 4g, not even 3g yet.
        wyomike
        Reply Vote

      • @wyomike

        The ASUS TF700T will have 4G LTE just like the new iPad. Just look up the specs for it on the web. It's everywhere.
        mrxxxman
        Reply Vote

  • Tablet copies fall far short

    Leadership and innovation are easily used in the same sentence. Copying and imitation have nothing to do with leadership and innovation in consumer products. There are so many different tablets now that it is impossible to evaluate them based upon ones particular needs or desires much less price-performance. Most of us want functionality and practicality and simple, easy to use tablets and lots of apps to choose from. And a place to go to get free expert help whenever we need it. Free and automated upgrades would be nice too so we non-technical users can stay up-to-date. Since only one tablet offers all that my choice was easy.
    cruzdude
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Tablet copies fall far short

      I know! The Asus Transformer!!
      Although, the Galaxy Note 10.1 is also a must!!
      OpinadorObjetivo
      Reply Vote

  • What features?

    What features does the iPad have that no one comes close to matching?
    I can think of quite a few on Android tablets such as
    widgets
    customizable multiple homescreens
    DLNA support
    HDMI port
    USB ports
    Exapanable memory
    16:10 aspect ratio (widescreen)
    True Quad core
    more setting and control over your apps and your device.

    I could keep going, but what features doe the iPad posses that no one can come close to matching? And Light years ahead? Say what ? Tablets will be having quad core processors, the iPad3 has a dual core processor. and the resolution? Light years? Really? Asus and Acer announced way back at CES their next ones will be 1920 x 1200 that is more than high enough to match the iPad's to the human eye. Unless you Apple equipped you with some Super Spidey Vison the human eye won't be able to detect the difference between the two displays at that level. Also Asus will be using a quad core Cortex A15 chip.

    Am I on allthingsD or Macrumors or 925Mac?
    The overgloficication for everything apple is getting out of control.
    jonandkelly
    Reply Vote

    • Buy what works for you

      @jonandkelly
      It isn't the feature list or else we would all buy Alienware or fully tricked out Mac desktops. If you need everything on your list, then buy the best in that class. Also keep in mind that the iPad hardware and software are tuned for at least a year so less can be more.

      Apple gets all the attention as one model sold 40 million copies last year. Samsung alone has how many tablets so each has to get a sliver of love that Samsung gets.

      Have a good one,
      Iain
      CanadianTrooper
      Reply Vote

    • Appleism

      It's only Apple customers who appear to mainly rebuying because they are already part of the locked in apple ecosystem. Apple apparently sold 37 million iphones last quarter and their marketshare went up by 1.4 perecent while Android grew by almost double at 2.3% even with it being the 4S launch quarter. What that says is most of those sales came from existing customers the sheep that are locked into their apple products and services.

      Why do they think its better? Because of the switching cost to move from Apple is not small and they don't/can't easily move off it. All the while Apple stock laughs to the bank at $500

      http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2012/3/comScore_Reports_January_2012_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share
      topgun22
      Reply Vote

      • That's true

        It's the same iUsers who keep buying the next new version. In the last iphone upgrade to 4S, about 40% already had an iPhone and a whopping 70-80% already had another iDevice. Pretty much the same thing happened with the iPad2 and will continue to happen with the new iPad. That's not expanding your market.
        mrxxxman
        Reply Vote

      • Maybe they think it's better...

        ...because it is. I know more people who want to get rid of their non-Apple phone then people who want to get rid of their Apple phone. But that's just my observation and like yours is meaningless. Global numbers are what counts.
        themarty
        Reply Vote

      • Trust me on this. Apple has it right.

        The reason that so many so called lock ins are rebuying I would be happy to switch to any phone that consumers are buying in more quantity than an iPhone. Droid from Motorola? Nope. Nexus S1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8? Nope. Let's see how about one that is really close. HTC incredible ? nope. I can't think of a single device that is selling like the iPads or iPhones. It looks to me that history is just repeating itself. Remember the iPod ? How many iPod slayers where there going to be? This is no different than political debate. The media froths up a controversy Repubs or Dems, Mac vs PC, iOS vs ICS. If there was no controversy then their would only be apathy. I am one of the Apple sheep. I don't see any reason to change. The selection of apps and music available from the apple garden suits me fine. I have not one time looked for an app in apple app store and not found a suitable app for the purpose I need. The hardware is top quality and the software reasonably priced. I doubt I will ever have a need to look elsewhere unless Apple decides to change philosophy and stops trying to innovate and starts just making cheap knockoffs of others work. Today the only operating system based on that line of thinking is Android. Android products are less expensive because that is the only way they can sell them. A product is worth what people are willing to pay. The reason Apple products sell so well is because people know the quality track record and the ease of doing business. Their is a reason that apple retail stores sell more per square foot than any other is because people really love their stuff a lot!

        Just sayin.
        Turdeson
        Reply Vote

    • Exactly!

      You hit the nail on the head. When i read the article, it just makes me laugh how these i-idiot editor can't even explain why the ipad is better than anything out there. No flash, overpriced, and closed ecosystem is supposed to be better than anything else? right.
      business owner
      Reply Vote

      • It works

        A product that works the way it's supposed to is always better than one that doesn't.

        Now that was simple wasn't it?
        camcost@...
        Reply Vote

  • Wot?

    Jonandkelly beat me to it.

    I can't actually think of *any* features the latest iPad has, apart from the display, that my old Transformer can't match or even better. My Asus has SD slots, USBs for a start, without even mentioning the extended battery/keyboard system. And I'm yet to be able to *not* find an app that I need for it.

    I'm not saying that iPads are badly made at all, but the reason that Apple sell so many is that the press all go so f**king apeshit about them, and ignore all others, to the point the general non-tech public barely know others exist. When I show my Transformer to people they are all amazed by it. Two people I know have atually gone out and bought one just since I showed them mine, as it were.

    It's a bit of a catch 22. The press love Apple, so they cover them 100 times more than any other tablet, so it becomes more popular so the press covers it more.
    Chinaren
    Reply Vote

    • Indeed

      And don't forget that the keyboard dock also works great as a stand for the Transformer. How much is that folding origami cover iCrap? $50?
      mrxxxman
      Reply Vote

      • Worse

        $40 for the fakey, $60 for the leather.
        rhonin
        Reply Vote
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