Acer unveils Windows, Android tablets to compete with Apple's iPad - Page 3

So let me get this straight: AI posts an article on the success of the Galaxy Tab in order to troll Apple fans into coming in for a massive circle jerk, a GT owner proclaims how much he likes his instead of joining in with the Apple fanboy's illogical bashing of the device, now you create an alt to mock the guy...

Actually, I'm honestly not surprised I'm seeing this from someone on these forums.

When it comes to Android, you fanboys call people morons for buying any device that runs an OS not designed for morons...

Based on Acers announcement it sounds like what they are doing, but it makes no sense. If you have a monopoly on mindshare you can do such things and get away with it, but Acer doesnt have that.

If the obvious name change doesn't clue you in that this dude is a poser, the number of comments posted by the account should...

WOAH WOAH WOAH. Careful now.

iOS ****IS****** OS X. And OS X is definately not "aging" (sure aqua is, but not OS X)

I very much like your general definition of a satellite computer.

However, the universe shifted, just a little [more] with the realization of AirPlay 1.0 two days ago.

The iPad satellite now has:
-- adequate control-from/monitor-from capability with VNC
-- robust control-from/monitor-from capability with specialized apps

-- robust stream-to capability
-- preliminary stream-from capability

What I am trying to say here is that the satellite definition becomes a little blurry when you consider who's in charge (what computer) and who is doing the work (what computers).

What happens when they add AirPlay to Keynote?

What happens when the iPad hardware is robust enough (CPUs, GPUs, RAM, SSD) to run OpenCL and, say, Final Cut Motion (with a reworked touch interface) doing real-time rendering.

So that would be an upgrade from his original tablets?

Don't forget the special iPad/AppleTV bundle for black Friday!

Hmmmm... a voyeur who comes here to watch us circle jerk... kinky...

Can you publish a picture of your tool belt?

So what I don't "get" is HDMI out, so you want your tablet / phone being tied 5' from your tv, how does that help and how do you use it as a remote, you have to get up to use the remote. Just silly IMO and i've never understood the need for this.

With airplay here this really negates the HDMI out as a selling point to me.

Earlier this year, Acer understood what they are up against. But now it seems that their board of directors panicked and said "Do something! Anything!" and these me-too tablets are the result. It really seems that the rest of the world is in a deathrace to be #2 behind Apple.

Why are they in a race to be #2? Because only Apple creates their own hardware and software together. Everyone else is a system integrator, trying to build their own hardware as cheaply as possible to run someone else's software (Microsoft or Google.) And that has two built-in disadvantages.

Built-in disadvantage #1: Lower profits.

Everyone but Apple uses the same software as you do, so you're shipping a generic commodity product. You can only compete on price, which means your profit margin drops. Welcome to the Race To the Bottom. (You pay Microsoft for Windows, and Android is free, but you're still competing against other generic Windows and Android tablet manufacturers on price alone.)

Built-in disadvantage #2: Impossible to innovate.

So you want to add Feature X to your 2011 model. Now you need to somehow get your software OEM (Microsoft or Google) to add Feature X support to their OS. And, since you want to be different, you're the only generic tablet-maker who is asking Microsoft or Google for Feature X. And their answer will be "Not now. Wait until 3 or 4 other generic tablet makers also want Feature X, then we'll think about it." The result? Your tablet will be generic forever, no matter how much you want to add new software+hardware features to it. Which brings you back to built-in disadvantage #1: low profits due to selling a generic commodity product.

OK, so the Iconia does have a new gimmick with the touchscreen instead of a physical keyboard. I thought Apple might do that with the MacBook Air in order to make it super-thin (because of a lack of physical keys, separate trackpad etc.) But in practice the all-touch keyboard seems to be best suited for smaller devices like iPad and iPhone, where you're not going to touch-type all day. And the other GUI elements they've added to the touchscreen keyboard will get old after a few days of actual use.

Certain posters here, conjure up the image of a one-man circle-jerk!

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Agree. It's a quick hack. A knee-jerk reaction to iPad's 95% tablet market share.

As long as you have an aTV and a wireless login. Let's say in a conference room at a potential client's office where the expected norm is to hook up your computer to a big screen. Consequently a really a big selling point for Macs when conference room TVs started replacing projectors. The Windows laptops had these troublesome VGA to DVI adapters that never worked but a MBP would just sync up instantly. Really left the IT guys scratching their heads.

So, your kit includes:
-- an iPad $500
-- an AppleTV $100 (power cord included)
-- an HDMI cable $30

So for $630, and a total weight of 2.2 lbs, you have everything you need to give an HD preso!

Not only the conference room -- the class room, lecture hall, training room, and the team-party room at the local pizza parlor.

I suspect that we'll see an AirPlay upgrade to iPad (and Mac) KeyNote real soon!

Add an iPhone 4 and a Camera Connection Kit and you can capture ad hoc HD images to include in the preso.

In theory it could work, but I think the aTV might freak out if it woke up in a different wireless environment than when it went to sleep. My point is that in certain situations it pays not to have to get the IT/AV department involved. Kind of spoils the moment. The Apple iPad/VGA adapter could work. Depends on how small the text is in your presentation, but HDMI would be better.

I think the aTV can probably handle WiFi discovery OK, I'd be more hampered by the current limited state of AirPlay.

I sincerely hope that Apple's engineers are working hard on extending the functionality here, and that it will be included in the rumored Dec. update. A robust AirPlay with the $99 Apple TV media extender is truly a killer feature, but at the moment it's more in the "handy for a few specific things" category.

The focus on Apple TV has all been around it's status as a competitor for things like Google TV or Roku or Boxee, but at $99 it could be the magic dongle that gives you access to most any screen you come across-- projectors, plasmas, LCDs, etc. But only if you can do something approaching what you can currently do with a hardwired external monitor-- mirroring or extended desktop type duties.

If Apple is determined to avoid such "computeresque" complications, I'd settle for third party APIs and a very thorough thinking through of how it works with Apple's productivity apps-- chiefly Keynote and movies. There's probably issues with Safari and content providers, since being able to send any web video would enable an end-run around Hulu types of restrictions, but hopefully that can be worked out at some point.

This is one area that I really hope Apple won't insist on an app-centric approach, where you may or may not get some varying level of functionality depending on what you're doing. AirPlay needs to be a predictable, system wide service, like WiFi or stock I/O. You wouldn't want to discover that only some apps could connect wirelessly, and even then only with a limited subset of capacities, and I don't think the full potential of AirPlay will be realized till you know you can actually rely on it to do something predictable.

When your iPhone, Touch or iPad can trivially toss their screens onto the local big screen, or serve as a controller for any presentation you want to make, that's a whole new world.

Well, I think it would work pretty well. I just unplugged my AppleTV, then replugged it in!

Less than 30 seconds later I was streaming a movie from my iPad.


AirPlay came about 16 days too late, for a real live test.

The last game and team party for my two grandsons soccer team was November 6.

There was a HDTV in the meeting room and I had some movies of highlights on the iPad.

I was prepared to bring the new AppleTV & do my thing... but, alas, no AirPlay.


Anyway, one of the kids was mouthing off to my grandson that Droids were better than iPhones... he was going to get a Droid... yadda, yadda, yadda,

It kinda pissed me off, so I whipped out my iP4 and started taking pictures as fast as I could -- over my head, behind me (point-and-shoot, no time to look at the viewfinder, focus, etc.).

I connected the iP4 to the iPad and sucked in a couple of hundred pictures.

Within minutes, everyone was gathered/handing around the iPad showing the almost-real-time slideshow.

The coach told his wife: "That's what I'm getting for XMAS!".


Here's a medium-res video I made form the slideshow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YNIW579dUo

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Just like it was the downfall of the iPhone...

It's kind of creepy how Apple's competitors have adopted the tone of internet Apple bashers to make their case. "Steve Jobs is a control freak! Reality distortion field! Sheep! Walled garden!"

And lately, "Maybe if we all just keep hammering away at 'openness' it'll stick? Maybe we can talk consumers into thinking it matters?" I think that part just comes free with Android, and speaks to not really having any ideas of their own. Use Google's OS, parrot Google's PR.

I can't recall exactly but I think the aTV needs to be set up with a DHCP wireless access point and an iTunes account first. When you move it I'm not sure you can reestablish functionality in an ad hoc environment with only a companion iPad.

If that's the case then I'll add fixing that to my list of demands above. Apple would be missing a huge opportunity if they only think of Apple TV as being a stay in one place living room device. I mean, you can literally slip the thing into your pocket, it takes up less room than an actual VGA cable.

took me a second

I'm not at home right now but you could unplug your wireless router and then restart your aTV to test it.

Ahh... I see!

How can I test this?

Turn all the computers and routers off, then power off/on the AppleTV & iPad?

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Sounds like the way to test it. You'll make my day if it works. I'll also have to run not walk to the Apple Store to buy an AppleTV.

Wouldn't aTV remember its last settings? I think you'd need to physically take the thing to a different wireless environment, fire it up cold and see what happens.

I don’t think many people realize just how small this thing became with the update.

I think it would be the same as if it found no wireless. That is the scenario you want to test first then in the presence of a foreign network which you would want it to be able to ignore or join gracefully.

Yeah, that's what got me going. You make something that small (iPod size) you seem to be suggesting something about how you might put it to use. It becomes an accessory, or a dongle, instead of a "set-top box."

Assuming Apple can (or wants to) work out the particulars, I can see just keeping one on my person and knowing that I can show stuff most anywhere.

It's the "join gracefully" part I'm particularly interested in, since that would make popping an aTV onto whatever screen was available as easy as plugging in a monitor cable. Better, because once you're set you're not tethered.

Honestly, I think Apple should just start including these with Macs, like a kind of super cable.

This is getting exciting. Dick what's the hold up? I may have to unexpectedly go home if I don't get the answer soon.

I had lots of computers to turn off.

Both ATV and iPad require a WiFi Network to be available -- mine is an AirPort Extreme.

Don't know if you can ad hoc connect these.


More in a few minutes.

Day before holliday... Market is closed... AAPL up...

... Take rest of day off -- tell'em I said it was OK. \

I talk to myself all the time anyway.

It's okay to talk to yourself, so long as you don't listen.

Not to mention that all your work would have to be vetted by a legal department to try to cover possible patent infringements and then executive level decisions would be made as far as licensing of IP or how far the company should go in pushing the boundaries of existing IP before your work sees the light of day.

Having to go back to the drawing board would have to be disheartening.

Listening's OK -- It's bad when you begin telling yourself jokes...

...Then stop yourself, because you've heard that one before!

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I just got my main computer back up -- I never shut all this stuff off.

I'm going to poke around and see what I can find about ad hoc networks on the iP4, iPad and AppleTV.

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I just got home and I plan to check it out as well. We know that aTV can run on ethernet so what affect that has on Airplay I'm not sure, but I will report back if I find anything.

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