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Motorola making Android 3.0 tablet

Platform emerging?

Motorola is the latest company to have its name associated with an upcoming - well, Q4 at the earliest - Android-based tablet computer.

Like the others - from Acer, Asus, Lenovo, LG, Toshiba and co - Motorola's offering will sport a 10in display and run Android 3.0 - aka 'Gingerbread'.

What little we know about comes from TheStreet.com, which admits the spec is "not yet established". But it's not hard to guess: 1024 x 600 touchscreen, 1GHz CPU, 16-32GB of Flash storage.

There's clearly a pattern to all this, with vendors like Motorola now viewing Android as a standard platform for tablets in the way they view Windows as the standard for desktop and laptops computers. The advantage to the Google OS: it's free.

All will go up against Apple's iOS-powered iPad, and undoubtedly take Android's share of tablet market above Apple's. Android will be lauded, but not of its supporters will as their individual shares will be lower than Apple's, much as we're seeing in the smartphone market. ®

Latest Comments

Swathes of Android tablets coming our way......

@AntonIvanov, there will be MeeGo tablets that will prob be more open to flashing like the N900 is today.

@Tom38, I think the number of Android tablets overtaking iPads is inevitable for the following two reasons:

(1)Wider distribution - most established mobile device manufacturers are making them (LG, Samsung, Motorola, Dell), so are new entrants to the market like operator-branded ones, computer manufacturers, media companies etc

(2) Price - Apple will sell their product at a very profitable premium to a limited number of people. Android tablets will come in at prices to suit segments that Apple wouldn't bother touching.

That doesn't take anything away from iPad - I love my 32GB 3G

For sure the user experience on Android slates will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and none will likely probably not as polished as Apple's.

They will, however, offer sufficient bang-for-buck and to be a cost-effective alternative and in some cases likley even better ecosystem support depending on which user segment they target.

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(Written by Reg staff)

Re: correction

The bit at the end has nothing to do with Nokia. Yes, Nokia sells more smartphones than Apple, but I'm talking about Apple vs the Android guys, not Nokia.

Though I might have to soon, given the way Symbian is going. Glug, glug, glug.

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"The spec has not been established"

You bet it hasn't given Google haven't yet decided if Gingerbread will be version 2.5 or version 3.0...

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correction

Could you correct the end of the article?

Nokia sells way more smartphones than Apple worldwide.

Maybe explicitely restrict your observations to the U.S. market...

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Excellent

Now, can the manufacturer whose tablet I can re-flash with a proper Linux distro please come forward. I will have 4 of those please (at least), straight away to sort out entertainment systems around the house and the car.

Otherwise I will continue sticking to refurbished laptops, Linux and the remote controls Redmond shipped for XP MCE (vista remote spec stinks - it simulates keyboard, not consumer IR) :)

Me coat, the one with 1024x600 sized pockets...

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