

An Affordable $199 Tablet for Everyone -- And It's Not From Apple - cmars232
http://www.pcworld.com/article/185764/an_affordable_199_tablet_for_everyone_and_its_not_from_apple.html

======
chaostheory
This isn't a real product; it's a reference design. What's unclear is whether
199 is what it will cost manufacturers to make or the price it will be on the
street.

~~~
elblanco
Even if they sell it at 2x that, it'll still be cheaper and potentially more
capable than the iPad.

------
awa
The article was published on Jan 4th 2010. According to the article, they were
suppose to demo it during the CES which has already come and gone and since I
didn't see any headlines regarding the $199 tablet from Freescale, I would
assume they have already pushed their release dates to much later (or may have
abandoned the plans).

------
cmars232
An interesting up-and-coming alternative to a recently hyped, closed-platform
tablet.

~~~
tvon
It's a concept car, at this point. I may never arrive, and there is certainly
no promise of price point.

Don't get me wrong, I hope it does, and I hope it's cheap, but for now it's
vapor.

------
willwagner
The specs:

[http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?co...](http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=RDSMARTBOOK)

Also, an article saying they have it running android, chromium os, and ubuntu:

[http://www.liliputing.com/2010/01/freescale-tablet-
running-c...](http://www.liliputing.com/2010/01/freescale-tablet-running-
chromium-os-video.html)

------
wan23
Does anyone know if there's an easy way to get something like this to play
with? It might be fun to start thinking about iPad killers.

~~~
dagw
Since it's a reference design I'm guessing they're only sold in batches of
10000 or so to companies who want to slap their own brand name on them.
Perhaps if you can call them out and sound like you have the money lined up
and are really seriously interested in putting in a 50000 unit order, they
might send you a few samples for free.

------
pyre
I don't understand how a camera above the screen on this thing is even usable.
Are you supposed to grab the tablet by its sides and aim it at you photo
target? The tablet seems large enough to make such an operation unwieldy. Not
to mention the need to somehow press a button to actually snap the shot in
addition to using both hands to hold the thing....

~~~
tvon
People have been calling for a front-facing camera on the iPhone, and one was
rumored (among other things) to be on the iPad, but I really don't see the
point. The only real use seems to be video chat, but who want's to hold the
damn thing steady for video chat?

~~~
warfangle
If it has decent auto-correction software, small bumps shouldn't futz with the
picture. Much.

(The main method I could see for this is making the viewable area of video
smaller than the sensor; an accelerometer or clever image analysis could
determine if the picture is shaking, and autocorrect it)

~~~
tvon
True, but I'm not so much thinking about small bumps as having to hold it
relatively still and pointing at your face. With a laptop it's easy, the thing
has a large base and even if it's on your physical lap it's not going to move
that much, and it's oriented so the camera points at you when at rest. A
tablet device on the other hand, well, try it with a small mirror, how long do
you want to hold it like that? How jarring would it be to the other end when
it shakes (minor steady-cam business aside)?

I could be wrong of course, maybe people would get the hang of it quickly, but
it seems like one of those potential features that people look at with their
rose colored glasses (like full OSX on a tablet, imo), without really thinking
about what it would be like in practice.

------
vaksel
let's be honest here, noone would expect something "affordable" from Apple,
they are a premium brand. It's like BMW coming out with a ~12,000 car....just
won't happen.

~~~
cwilson
I'm actually quite shocked people are saying the iPad isn't affordable. This
is probably the most affordable overly hyped product Apple has ever released.
I was expecting $1,000 just like Steve Jobs said and was blown away when it
was as low as it was, and even more blown away by the pay as you go unlimited
3G for $30 a month.

~~~
wvenable
Yeah, Steve Jobs is a genius -- he says it's $1,000 and then you're not
shocked that the _minimum configuration_ costs nearly twice as much as a
netbook.

~~~
jsz0
I don't think you can easily compare a $250 netbook to the iPad. Lower quality
screen, heavier, thicker, significantly less battery life, no multi-touch,
lower build quality, and of course weaker software. They may serve some of the
same purposes but I don't think they're directly comparable.

~~~
poppysan
Weaker software, lower build quality? Have you even used the ipad? Its a
beefed up ipod touch, not a scaled down laptop. The netbook wins from many
perspectives.

The multi-touch is sexy, i'll admit. but form is not greater than function.
Imagine chatting, posting on HN, or uploading photos to Flickr. These 3 easy
actions are not easily handled on the ipad.

<edit> I have never used it and cannot comment on the build quality (which is
the point i was trying to make. Sorry!)

~~~
elblanco
You forgot doing all that while listening to mp3s and driving a 60" tv as a
second monitor showing a movie.

------
ghjkmjn
The price of the unit is irrelevant. If it has a 3G modem you will need to
sing up for $100/month data plan for 3years (much more outside the USA) So you
are really buying a $3600 3year old computer

~~~
cubicle67
Say what?

I pay AU$10/100MB (about US$9) for prepaid (no contract) mobile data

~~~
poppysan
In the US it is MUCH more expensive my friend.

~~~
dangrossman
Unlimited 4G internet (small USB dongle for a tablet like this) costs $30/mo
for 6 months then $45/mo through CLEAR or Comcast if it's available in your
city

