mLearnCon News and Updates

Amazon to Offer Tablet Computer: Amazon is expected to launch a tablet computer by this October, the Wall Street Journal reports. The tablet will feature a nine-inch screen and run on a version of the Android operating system. The Journal writes that the “potentially vast markets” of digital goods are leading many companies, such as Amazon, to leave the cozy confines of one particular segment for other fronts.

The Journal says that Amazon faces a tough road against Apple in the tablet market. Apple has sold 19.5 million iPads since introducing the device last year, as of the end of March.

Tech Crunch says that it is Google, not Apple,  that should worry. Google is planning its own tablet for later in the year, but the “consumer ease-of-use” that Amazon is expected to offer–particularly in the app and media buying experience–could beat anything built by Google. [WSJ,TechCrunch]

Read the full article here from The Wall Street Journal. 

The average iPad consumes 400 percent more data over Wi-Fi networks in a month than does the average iPhone, iPod, or Android device, according to a report released yesterday by cloud-networking provider Meraki.

(Credit: Meraki)

Looking at data usage this year compared with 2010, Meraki also found that mobile devices are now outpacing PCs among all devices that tap into Wi-Fi networks.

Apple's iOS and Android are the most commonly used mobile platforms, accounting for 58 percent of all devices accessing Wi-Fi networks, compared with 33 percent a year ago. iOS devices make up 47 percent of all Wi-Fi devices versus 32 percent last year, while Android has grown to 11 percent among the Wi-Fi devices tracked by Meraki, up from just 1 percent in 2010.

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-20073699-243/report-ipads-use-more-wi-fi-data-than-other-devices/#ixzz1QDPV3pLo

It’s been fifteen months since the first iPad shipped. Nearly every sizable company that makes anything that looks even sort of like a computer or a phone has rushed into the market that Apple created. Many of these companies haven’t yet shipped the tablets they’ve announced. Still, a critical mass of major iPad alternatives are now here–tablets such as Motorola’sXoom, RIM’s PlayBook, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.

And yet no Apple competitor has started selling anything that clearly answers afundamental question: “Why should somebody buy this instead of an iPad?” Sure, it’s easy to point at specific things that other devices do better (or at least differently) than the iPad, and some of the people reading this article can explain why they chose another tablet and don’t regret the move. (If you’re one of them, please do!) Still, sales figures for tablets show that when consumers compare the iPad to other choices, an overwhelming percentage conclude that the iPad is the best option.

As a reviewer of gizmos, I think that the iPad 2 is easily the best tablet on the market–and that most of the competition so far is too half-baked to be credible. As a lover of competition, though, I’m itching to see other tablets arrive that deserve to do well, too. So that question–”Why would somebody buy this instead of an iPad?”–is stuck in my head. I’ve been trying to figure out how an Apple rival can come up with a tablet that pretty much answers that question for itself. And I’ve come up with thirteen ways it could happen.

Most of these answers aren’t going to lure massive numbers of people away from the iPad all by themselves; it’s pretty clear that it’s unlikely that any one tablet will offer any one thing that lets it grab massive market share from Apple in the immediate future. But if you could ask a tablet why anyone should buy it instead of an iPad, here are the kinds of responses* that would make a difference.

*(Yes, for the purpose of this exercise, tablets can speak.)

1. “I have more and/or better apps.”

The single best thing about the iPad is the amazing quantity and quality of the third-party applications available for it–software that was designed with it in mind and which often isn’t available for other tablets at all. Any manufacturer that had a tablet with more nifty apps than the iPad would have no trouble making the case for it as a viable alternative.

Any examples of other tablets that offer this? No. Not hardly. Nowhere near. And how long would it take for any competitive platform to get there? The real question isn’t when someone will surpass Apple; it’s when someone will have a selection of well-done tablet-optimized software that deserves any description other than “skimpy.”

2. “I have noticeably better hardware.”

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1

There are people who will buy a tablet because it has the fastest-possible dual-core processor, or the largest amount of RAM, or the camera with the highest megapixel count. If that makes them happy, fine. It’s clear, however, that with tablets–even more than PCs–impressive numbers don’t translate directly into the most impressive user experience. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no opportunity for an Apple rival to build a tablet with hardware that’s unquestionably better in ways that matter–something that’s much faster, for instance, or far lighter, or way better in terms of battery life.

Any examples? Not decisively so. Some will argue that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 is there, but Seth Weintraub’s cogent explanation of that tablet’s virtuesuses words like “marginally” and “silly” when discussing the Tab’s edge on the iPad 2. I’m still looking for a tablet that blows the iPad away hardwarewise.

3. I have hardware with features Apple doesn’t have.”

Toshiba's Thrive.

The iPad doesn’t have 4G connectivity. Or an SD slot. Or a standard USB connector. Or built-in HDMI. Or a removable battery. These are all things which reasonable people might covet in a tablet, and while I can’t imagine many folks would opt for another tablet over the iPad to get oneadditional feature, they might be intrigued by a tablet with a critical mass of them.

Any examples? Toshiba’s Thrive, arriving next month, has the SD slot, USB port, HDMI, and removable battery–as befits a Toshiba, it’s the most PC-like Android tablet I’ve seen to date, and among the iPad alternatives with the clearest identity of its own.

Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM)’s PlayBook tablet computer, panned at its April debut, has an edge over Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPad in the Army thanks to RIM’s encrypted servers.

That advantage may soon dissipate as Apple’s more broadly popular devices march toward Defense Department security certification, which may come as early as this month, military officials said.

Tablet computers are being tested across all military branches, according to interviews conducted by Bloomberg Government since May 17. The services pay $500 to $600 per tablet, less than half the cost of laptops that are “ruggedized,” or enhanced with a shell and toughened to withstand harsh environments. Tablets also may replace paper manuals, maps, biometric devices and some communications tools.

The U.S. Army is leaning toward the PlayBook because RIM “addressed security concerns from the get-go,” said Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dosmann, who oversees mobile device pilot- testing for the Army’s cybersecurity division. Security remains an issue for Apple and may hold back wider use of iPads, he said.

Apple, Dell Inc. (DELL), RIM and other tablet makers are vying to tap the military market for computers, laptops and servers worth $2.9 billion in the government’s 2010 fiscal year. Of that amount, spending on enhanced laptops was $33 million. The department spent $37 million on tablets in the same fiscal year, according to Bloomberg data.

‘Disruptive Technology’

Tablets are a “disruptive technology” that can replace heavier and more expensive equipment, Dosmann said. “As an infantry soldier, the last thing I want is something more to carry.”

To secure the devices so they can only be accessed using the common access card carried by all military service members and Defense employees, the services must install additional software or hardware, Gary Winkler, the Army’s former program executive officer for enterprise information systems, said in a June 20 telephone interview. Winkler oversaw about $4 billion, or 56 percent, of the Army’s information-technology budget.

“It’s very tough to drive the manufacturers to make the tablets and the devices with the embedded security that only the Defense Department needs or only parts of the federal government needs because the market just isn’t big enough,” said Winkler, who now heads Fairfax, Virginia-based Cyber Solutions and Services Inc., a government consulting and contracts support company.

Read more here from Bloomberg.