back to article Atom runs Android, Google plans tablet

With the iPad in the market and a host of Linux or Windows tablets to follow, all eyes are on Google's response. Its upcoming Chrome OS, which is entirely geared to mobile browsers, will be important in the new hybrid formats between phone and PC. But before those 'cloudbooks' debut later this year, Android is also expected to …

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  1. Leo Maxwell
    Happy

    End of the month, perhaps?

    The WePad :)

    http://wepad.mobi/en

    1. Quxy
      Coat

      Incomplete title?

      No, surely that's "The Distressingly Named WePad"...

      1. Leo Maxwell
        Coat

        Not as distressing as a console we know

        Actually, if Steve Jobs sues about the use of "Pad", it could just become the "We". Oh, hang on a minute.........

    2. Rattus Rattus

      Nice

      I think the WePad sounds pretty cool. I like the philosophy behind their design as they state it on their page. I'm tempted to pre-order one when it's a bit closer to ready.

      However... whose idea was it to use so much yellow in their logo? I mean, really. You can just about ignore the name if you try, but then to be looking at a logo full of trails and blotches of yellow, that's really not a smart marketing move. Those Germans, eh?

  2. HFoster

    gPad: Bad move?

    I think that a Google branded tablet shows fear and a weak position. Competing with Apple out of fear rather than belief in the product doesn't strike me as a good idea.

    Of course, I could be completely wrong, and Google could be doing this out of conviction that Android is the platform of the future, and they know exactly the hardware spec that will allow it to fully strut its stuff. It just strikes me that this is being done to keep up with the Joneses (or is that Jobses?) next door.

    I much prefer the idea of Google putting their OS out there as, "yes, it's a phone OS, but we believe it could also be put to good use in appliances such as..."

    1. HFoster

      Uh...

      What I mean by this is that, instead of Google-branded hardware, the hardware should be branded by the manufacturer and run Android.

      That, to me, looks stronger in the marketplace than a Google gPad.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Don't do it...

    I just returned my Nexus One. It went back into the box within 5 minutes of taking it out. Either QC was asleep that day or that phone was a returned restocked unit. Either way, it was physically damaged and in an unacceptable condition for what is supposed to be a new phone. Also, based on Google's apparent lack of response to the various documented problems of their Android phone, I don't think that I will ever consider purchasing another Google device.

    Apple products may be costly and highly controlled, but they do, generally, work well.

    1. xpert_con
      Jobs Halo

      @Anonymous Coward Don't do it..

      I have a Nexus One and my one works perfectly. Android is by far the future and will undoubtedly set the stage for future devices and set the stage for the next "big thing" in technology. If you have had a dodgy one then that's too bad however would you never buy a top brand again because of a faulty product one time? As for the forum posts and Google not seeming arsed. Have you ever seen a forum where everyone posts positives? Because I haven't.

      1. Rattus Rattus

        I'd have to agree with xpert_con

        I've had my Nexus One for about a month, and I love it. It sucks that AC's N1 was damaged before he received it, and he was certainly right to return it, but what I've been hearing on forums (and my own experience) is that satisfied customers vastly outnumber those who are having issues. I would hope that one unfortunate experience can be put behind you, and you give Android devices another try.

        I would really like to see a good Android-powered tablet out there. I really liked the concept of the iPad, I just think it's implementation sucks arse. The same kind of concept but running a decent OS will make for a really sexy bit of kit.

    2. Trevor Pott o_O Gold badge
      Troll

      To counterbalance...

      It is an unfortunately reality that there’s always that really vocal customer who uses a Mac, and you have to troubleshoot your apps on their platform.

      I've a macbook pro here on my desk that (after I replaced the battery because it died in less than 18 months, and nuked the OS out to scratch with the last upgrade) is working exactly as St Jobs intended it too.

      It's still shite.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No, Tablets are not a new market.

    However good/bad they have seemed, windows tablets have been around for ages.

    It's only seemed like it was a 'new market' once everyone started w*tting themselves when steve jobs told the world they would be incomplete and lesser human beings unless they bought an Ipad.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    O2 Joggler...

    the O2 Joggler which is an OpenPEAK device can not only run the special distro it coems with..but also Ubuntu netbook remix...and it can now run a rudimentary Android.. it boots, the touchscreen works but theres a lot of extra work to finish the job off.

    its a nifty little device and currently on sale at 49.99 - only until 2moro!

  6. Il Midga di Macaroni
    Thumb Up

    More choice = good

    You want android on that tablet? No problem, install it, it's already been ported. Ubuntu? Same deal, go right ahead. Windows Mobile? Certainly sir.

    Choice of OSes is a Good Thing.

  7. GrantB
    Stop

    Tablets run software

    Pretty obviously, really its all about the software. My old phone (an LG) had good hardware specs, but crappy firmware and no apps.

    If I get an Apple iPhone/iPad/Touch or an Android device, I know any software I need will be found easily on iTunes or Android stores for a few bucks.

    Pretty much any other tablet (or phone for that matter), no matter how good the hardware is, needs to prove itself in the market and get great developer support. Right now Win 7 Mobile has no software and the other tablets the same. Even a Win7 tablet would have little software designed for the tablet environment.

  8. Grumpytom
    Grenade

    Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

    @Trevor Pott

    Why not sell it then, you'll find depreciation on MacBookPro's is quite modest! Especially with a new battery, take action, don't whiiiiiiiiiiiine. What has your product problems got to do with the article?

    Meanwhile: It seems Apple had a deep planted spy on the board - like duh Steve just who gave him the position? No need for wires there eh!

    1. Trevor Pott o_O Gold badge
      Troll

      Fanboi alert!

      Why not sell it? Well first off, it's not mine. It belongs to the company I work for. Secondly; we support a java application that we license from a third party for our customers to use. Long story short; Mac users are /constantly/ having trouble with it. (90% of the time it is simply user error; they can't find what button to push, or how to navigate thier own file system hierarchy to find the files they saved.)

      If it were up to me, the support guy who has to use it, the programmers or even the CEO we wouldn't sell it; we'd go completely unbelievably office space on the damned thing. There would be a large amount of catharsis in reducing it to sparkling shards. (In an environmentally appropriate container of course; the back light contains Hg.)

      As to what does my comment have to do with the article? Exactly as much as the comment I responded to: nothing. The comment I responded to was griping about how trash a Nexus One was. Personally, I’m even less (is that possible?) a fan of Google than I am of Apple, but as his Googlebashing was in response to some Apple bashing I thought one pointless anecdote deserved another.

      In all honesty, the best mobile device I’ve encountered so far is the HTC hero. I can’t speak to the Nexus One/Desire or even the Milestone. I can speak to the Hero; I’m impressed.

      That then goes into the realm of “dilemma.” It’s easy for me to dislike Apple; their product are non-interoperable shite that make my life as a sysadmin a living hell. It’s much harder to dislike Google; they are invasive privacy ignoring corporatists that hide behind a thin veil of “do no evil.” They make fantastic products though.

      And in case you are wondering, I’m not a fan of Microsoft or Linux either. Microsoft are evil vicious greedy fascists…but at least they are the devil I know. Ballmer’s really not all that bright, and so he’s predictable. Terrible, but predictable. Linux needs to grow the heck up if it wants to play in more than appliance servers of the embedded space. I use RHEL all over the place (I run mixed MS/RHEL networks,) but seriously it needs some work in the usability department. Webmin, in case you are wondering, is an absolute godsend.

      So what does all this have to do with the price of grain on the prairie?

      TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES DON’T GIVE A FLAMING **** ABOUT YOU. Not a single one of them. Some are marginally less terrible than others. Some are predictable enough to be dealt with. All of them think of you as nothing more than a walking wallet; to be slavishly devoted to them, to defend their indefensible actions and/or to buy their product without due, rational consideration is a sign that you are completely and utterly incapable of thinking for yourself.

      Every single one of these tech companies will sell you, your family and their own grandmothers for a bent copper. That being the case the only winning points that any tech company has with me is “do they make my life easier, or more difficult?”

      Apple happens to be one that causes me nothing but grief; and has for two decades now. It was a nice counterbalance <troll> to the nexus one gripe.

      Also: you should one of these days take a look at your post history. Bashing people who bash Apple, defending Apple, more bashing people who bash Apple…really dude? I mean, really? Are you so insecure and lacking of personal identity that the only way you have to feel good about yourself is to bond yourself to a tech company that doesn’t even know you exist? Either you are the worst astroturfer in the world, or you have some serious self-confidence issues.

      In any case, please note that in my previous post I used a troll Icon. Note that I am using one now.

      I love it when, despite this...there is always someone who takes things way too seriously. Well, since my large rant to offend <everyone> done, I’m going back under my bridge now.

  9. Dirk Vandenheuvel

    So?

    Anything not Apple will probably not sell anyway. Wy do they even bother?

  10. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Pint

    Yeah...

    ...but which hardware manufacturer is not now planning a tablet! Apple could fart in a jar and flog it, 2 months later everyone else will doing it to!

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