TAKEAWAY: Come December, it is going to be hard for someone not to get that desired “tablet” under the Christmas tree. It may not even take a lot of money to get one, either. The Indian company AllGo has been showing off their new Stamp prototype, which will cost a little more than the much hyped $35 Android tablet.
The discount tablets are here
It is an important part of my presentations all the time: no matter how you look at it, if you are in the publishing business, you will be working with a tablet soon, if not already. For the most, media houses are concentrating heavily on Apple’s iPad for reasons we all know well—-more than three million sold, Apple’s recognized quality and support of its products, and usability, not to mention aesthetics and the versatility of the tablet.
However, come December 2010, I can foresee at least a half dozen other tablets, priced cheaper, which will entice users who want to read on the tablet, but can’t afford the iPad or other more expensive models.
Now, AllGo, the Bangalore-based Indian company, has built a mock prototype of a $50 tablet with Android 1.6 as its operating system. AllGo Embedded Systems showed the prototype on Wired.com with a reference platform called ‘Stamp’ and a 7-inch, 800 x 480 pixels resistive touchscreen monitor. The device is Wi-Fi capable and comes with a USB and ethernet port. Production is planned for 2011.
Somehow, and I can’t help myself here, the image that comes to mind when I think of this Indian-made tablet is that of a famous cardiologist based in Chennai, a small, talkative man, with assorted degree designations next to his name on his business card. This peculiar character has been present at every major event or launch gala I have attended for The Hindu, one of India’s most prestigious English language newspapers. Indeed, the doctor talked to me everytime we met, and I was curious to see that he always carried a small red suitcase around, from which he could produce a medical text, or a small black book of famous sayings and quotations. But, alas, the big surprise for me was when he pulled out his white iPod, and proceeded to show me that he carried there 550 of the best Indian songs of all time, many from Bollywood movies. “I never go anywhere without my iPod,” he told me.
Well, doctor, I am sure you already have the real iPad in your small suitcase, where you can store your books and all those songs, plus more, including reading The Hindu perhaps.
The Stamp prototype above runs Android 1.6, also known as Donut
Acer going Android tablet too?
Acer
is rumored to be developing a tablet as well, possibly even two Android-based tablets slated for launch later this year. According to a rumor out of Digitimes, those plans may have been derailed by the company’s decision to forgo version 2.2 and wait for Android 3.0.
Motorola’s tablet
With a catchy named like The Stingray, Motorola‘s tablet is said to sport a 10-inch display, NVIDIA Tegra 2, and will likely be FiOS-enabled for Verizon. Speculation is that Motorola is waiting for Android 3.0 Gingerbread before releasing the tablet
Preparation time
Now that you know that there is definitely a tablet in your nearest future, you need to continue working hard to develop apps that are customized to the specific characteristics of your newspaper or magazine.
Remember, a tablet is not a newspaper nor a magazine; it is not television; it is not an online edition, yet, it is a little of all of the above.
The first step for tabletizing is a simple one—-quite useful, if you ask me——and it involves X-raying your newspaper or magazine to find how it can grow longer legs to go tablet. More importantly, how will the tablet translate the brand, the familiarity that exists between readers and their publication, but will enhance it all ten fold to accommodate what tablet junkies will come to expect of their new gadget—-regardless of how much they paid for it.
TheMarioBlog post #619