- Jul 9, 2010
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2010 marked the bloom of consumer awareness for mobile tablet computing devices, jump starting with the Apple iPad in April. Despite Google's recommendation against the implementation of even the newest version of Android (at the time, Android 2.2) for tablet computing devices, 2010 was an eventful year for the growing and immature operating system for tablets on Android.
From May, the Android tablet market started to take off with a pattern of mediocrity in the form of the Eken M001, followed by a generic 7" iPad clone with Android 1.5 on Rockchip RK2808, and the 7" white Pandigital Novel. These devices arguably have less performance than the first-generation HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1 if it were used as a wifi-only device. This is, of course, less than stellar.
The Dell Streak launched as a 5" Android tablet, but is really more of an enlarged phone than a tablet at this size and also with the chipset it uses. The price was similar to similarily specified Android phones.
Gome Electrical Appliances, one of the largest privately-owned electrical appliance retailers in China, also launched their first-generation 7" iPad clone under the Flytouch brand in June. Powered again by the garbage VIA WonderMedia WM8505 as in the Eken M001. Gome heavily promoted the device nationally, resulting in over 300K in sales by the end of 2010. Many Chinese 'shanzhai' manufacturers took the chance to mass-produce generic variants. As a result, it is estimated that over a million of these variants have shipped worldwide to date. Similar VIA based platforms continue to dominate low-end Android tablet shipments by the end of 2010, mostly due to the marketing hype of the iPad and low consumer awareness regarding tablet computing devices.
With Android being an enthusiast friendly mobile operating system, many Android phone and Linux-distrubition users welcomed the new devices with open arms despite the obvious design pitfalls of the three variants of Android devices. They discovered the limitations of their evidently poorly engineered and underwhelming devices, and fought to make their devices at least usable. Their efforts were proven to be not entirely in vain, and many users have reached some level of satisfaction after significant modifications. Multiple communities have been formed with the goal of improving these poor devices.
It was not until late July that the Augen Gentouch 78 and the Telechips TCC8902 was launched to become the first affordable Android tablet with similar performance and capabilities as shipping first-generation Android phones. The Gentouch was the first Telechips TCC8902 to launch, and was followed by the HSG X5A(later variant marketed as the Coby Kyros MID7005 Internet Tablet) and a generic 7" iPad clone using the same casing as the previously popular Rockchip RK2808 based tablet (commonly variant being the Haipad M701). Telechips based Android tablets continue to be a recommended entry choice today.
Competing entry platform Infotmic X210 first shipped rebranded as the 10" ZeniThink ZT-180 tablet around August, and became well-received towards the end of the year together with the shipment other stable variants based on the same platform.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab made its debut in late October, and has sold over a million units to date world wide as the most feature complete tablet on the market carried by Google and multiple carrier support. The questionable price excluded many buyers from considering it, and a wifi-only version has yet to be launched. While this may be the type of tablet what Google wants for the Android operating system, many consumers continued to look elsewhere. It remained to be the only true Android competitor out-of-the-box to the iPad by the end of 2010.
Current generation equivalent Android tablets only recently started shipment as of late November, with the Nook Color and the Archos generation 8 lineup being the most prominent players. The Huawei Ideos S7 also quietly slipped into retail stores in North America mid-November, with little fanfare. Next generation dual-core tablets just started to appear in the Advent Vega and the Viewsonic gTablet with Nvidia Tegra 2, and later in the eLocity A7, ending the year with a very positive outlook for available Android tablets in the market.
This year surely promises to be an exciting for the Android operating system and tablet computing devices based on it. But since Google has ideas of their own for the consumer Android tablet market, they have chosen to shun all current Android based tablet devices in being unwilling to certify otherwise viable platforms for its Google Mobile applications, even with when certification requirements do not necessarily make sense for tablet devices.
(Retrieved Jan 1, 2011 from Archos Gen8 FAQ)Google requires devices to have a specific hardware profile in order to be certified. This includes having GPS, compass, telephone, and specific screen resolutions. Considering the number of Android devices entering the market, the great majority are not certified. Google could of course change their requirements.
Fragmentation is evidently going to be one of the biggest challenges for the tablet platform, even more so than for mobile phones. Smaller manufacturers continue to ignore Google Android design guidelines in their rush into the new tablet computing market. There is a flood of Android tablets entering the market for Q1 2011, and of course also many Android based iPad clones. In addition, Apple's iPad 2, MeeGo, and Palm webOS are just a couple of the potential competitors threatening to overtake Android. With all this in mind, it is also certain that the upcoming year is a dangerous and vexing time for long-term future of Android tablets.
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