Tablet Round-Up:5 iPad Alternatives

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iPad Alternatives

It seems you cannot go anywhere without hearing something about Apple’s new iPad.  Millions will undoubtedly flock to Apple stores to purchase their own.  After all, it does offer some particularly revolutionary features: particularly its multi-touch functionality (made popular with the iPhone) and its exceptionally long battery life (reportedly up to 10 hours).

But Apple is not the only player in the game, and rumors are starting to swarm that Google, Nokia, and many others are going to produce tablets of their own.  If that does indeed happen, Apple will face some stiff competition, just as it has with its iPhone.  For now, however, the iPad does enjoy the comfortable position of being the only such tablet of its kind.  Tablet PCs have been around for quite a long time, but none of the past tablets had the sleek design, finger-touch functionality, and wireless carrier connectivity of the iPad.

Although the big name corporations may be a little slower in answer the iPad’s challenge, there are a few smaller competitors with pretty compelling arguments for why you should choose their tablets over Apple’s.  We have a complete round-up of five of those tablets, all of which offer open source flexibility and freedom, the biggest feature missing from the iPad.

1. WePad

Although we cannot give the German company Neofonie credit for innovative product naming, they certainly win points for style.  The WePad is probably the most likely device to position itself as an iPad killer.  It offers an 11.6-inch 1366×768 screen, considerably larger than the 9.7-inch iPad.  One might consider that a plus or a minus, depending on taste, but while it is a bit heavier and wider, it is actually thinner than the iPad.

It offers multi-touch support and a host of features not present on the iPad, including a webcam, expandable SD card slot, 2 USB ports, and support for Java, Flash, and Adobe Air.

The WePad’s operating system is called WePad OS and is apparently Neofonie’s own version of Linux that supports Android and Adobe Air apps.  They also offer cloud services to provide online storage for their customers.  Although it runs an Intel Atom processor, the WePad reportedly still churns out 6 hours of battery life.

2. Touch Book

This is perhaps the most intriguing of all of the iPad alternatives.  Created by a company called Always Innovating, the Touch Book is a netbook/tablet hybrid.  When it netbook form, it has a netbook-size keyboard and 9″ 1024×600 display.  Separate the screen from the base, and you have an instant tablet with an accelerometer to play iPhone-style games and other important tasks.

Most impressive of all, the Touch Book has 7 USB ports, 4 of which are internal and boasts 10 hours of battery life, largely due to its ARM OMAP3 processor.  My immediate concern was to wonder how powerful this device actually its with is very lower-powered processor.  Without trying one, I can only speculate.

One uniquely impressive feature is that the Touch Book can run numerous operating systems, including Android, Google Chrome OS, Maemo, and a host of Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu.  For those who want full customization capabilities, this may be the way to go.

3. NotionInk’s ADAM

With its 180-degree swivel camera, an NVIDIA Tegra T20 chipset, and 1080 Full HD video playback, the ADAM seems almost too good to be true.  If it is half of what it claims to be, it might very well be the Lexus of tablets.  Like the Touch Book, it runs on an ARM processor and has an impressive 10 1024×600 inch transflective LCD screen (even though transflective is not a real word).  Like the others, it supports multi-touch, has ebook support, and offers 3G and WiFi connectivity.

ADAM runs a modified version of Google’s Android OS and features a unique dual display function that allows either a full-color LCD mode or a low-power e-paper mode, which works well when using it as an ebook reader.  The transflective mode makes the screen easier to see in sunlight.

4. iFreeTablet

There is not much information on this device, apparently being manufactured in Spain.  The website offers impressive photos, which makes it at least worth mentioning.  The OS is a modified version of Debian GNU/Linux.  It boasts a 10.2″ screen, an Atom N270 processor, a webcam, 3 USB ports, and a 160 GB hard drive.  Currently the battery life is only 2.5 hours, probably due to the hard drive, but they say they are planning to improve this.

5. Rumored or in development

Since there are several projects with little or no information available, number 5 on the list is reserved for projects that are either in very early development, secret development, or are simply rumors at this time.

1. HP Slate (Android OS) – Out of all of those in development, the HP Slate has been the most publicized and anticipated and appears to be on track for a Summer 2010 release.
2. Google tablet (Chrome OS or Android) – News of a Google tablet just hit the Web three days ago, and the sources for the information are largely based on hearsay.  Google has not been known to produce hardware or devices, so it will be interesting to see if this will be contracted out to another company.
3. Asus Eee Pad - Some have seen this device, but very little is known.
4. MSI Dual Screen – It looked impressive at the conferences and showrooms.  Time will tell.
5. Nokia/Intel (MeeGo OS) – This is still a rumor.
6. Lenovo IdeaPad U1 hybrid notebook – Like the Touch Book, this will be a notebook/tablet hybrid.
7. Microsoft Courier – Still a rumor, it is difficult say what Microsoft is actually doing behind closed doors.

Prices:

WePad	$611
Touch Book	$299 (tablet only), $399 with keyboard
iFreeTablet estimated between	$400-$500
ADAM	$327-$800

Tags: Apple, iPad, iPad alternatives