WePad

by obsaysditto • 16 years ago

38 46 16 years ago

axod3• 16 years ago

I sometimes wonder if this fad of having a massive gloss mark right across screens will pass. It's like they're trying to say "You can be absolutely sure this will reflect everything so that you can't see anything on the actual screen".

When displayed on websites they just seem to take it to extremes. Half the device is black and half is white? :/

Hardware looks quite sexy.

nollidge• 16 years ago

Why is a glossy screen considered a "good thing" in the first place? Is there any situation in which a glossy screen is desirable?

axod3• 16 years ago

If you're in the right lighting conditions, blacks are far blacker, contrast is better IMHO than a matt display. But it's a very contentious issue as far as I know.

cesare3• 16 years ago

They're cheaper to make and they look better at a first glance or when compared side to side with glossy displays.

Of course they look crisper. The matte finish is the necessary compromise to avoid reflections.

proee• 16 years ago

This is also true of the bezel for flat-panel LCD and plasma televisions. Walk into a best buy and 95% of them have a super glossy bezel.

I've yet to buy a new tv (because I'm too busy reading HN!), but when I finally do, the bezel will be matt black.

rudd• 16 years ago

I love the glossy screen on my iMac at work for one reason: I can see when someone is walking up to my desk behind me. The great expanses of darkness in the empty spaces of my text editor make the screen a gigantic mirror.

influx• 16 years ago

Details:

http://www.neofonie.de/files/product_specifications_WePad_10...

Positives: USB ports, Java, Flash, Android apps, built on Linux, Webcam

Negatives: Less battery life than iPad (6 hours vs 10 hours)

bonzoesc• 16 years ago

Negatives: touchscreen not implemented, months or years away from sale

catch23• 16 years ago

I really don't understand a lot of these product comparisons. They read like every other iPod killer out there. All the iPod killers have more storage, FM receivers, smaller, more battery life, etc -- but they all had one thing in common: they never killed the iPod.

gte910h• 16 years ago

I'm looking forward to the android tablets.

kqr2• 16 years ago

A website completely devoted to this:

http://www.androidtablets.net/

Concours• 16 years ago

is it your site? it looks nice

DenisM• 16 years ago

I am very excited about prospects of 7" $200 tablets - they will make fantastic auxiliary displays around the house.

bartl• 16 years ago

Does this exist, or is it just a late April Fools' joke? Because it seems awfully quick to come up with a real competitor to the iPad...

Vivtek• 16 years ago

They were developing before the iPad came out, of course. I saw news about them in March, anyway.

They've been marketing to newspapers in Germany, but with the advent of the iPad it would appear they've seen a larger market. I wish they'd get more specific, though. If they're already on the market this summer in Europe, I'm probably going to pick one up.

Dysiode• 16 years ago

The specs say in Germany they're going to soft-launch it in July and publicly launch in August this year.

zephjc2• 16 years ago

more informative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO0XHMoylZ4

raimondious2• 16 years ago

I know this is an early version, but why would you show people a competitor to the iPad that doesn't include a touch interface? Maybe to show off the USB?

elblanco2• 16 years ago

It has touch. He shows it a little later in the video. One question though is that it appears that he's doing a lot of the touch with his fingernail, which makes me think that the sensitivity is poor.

Periodic• 16 years ago

They use touch later in the video, for interface and typing.

SlyShy• 16 years ago

I think those were USB ports I saw in the back.

ptomato2• 16 years ago

I'm looking forward to seeing if it actually exists, and if so, the price, which I noticed they haven't announced yet.

riffraff• 16 years ago

it's in the specs, starts at 449 with wlan, 16gb

ptomato2• 16 years ago

So about $600 at current exchange rates.

DrSprout• 16 years ago

I'd really like a full-size laptop with these exact specs (and a full-size battery.) What really detracts from these things' portability is that they basically have to be plugged in every day. It's even the same with my Droid.

acg• 16 years ago

I'm wondering what happens to ChromeOS long term if the future is Andriod for portable internet devices.

warfangle• 16 years ago

ChromeOS is for netbooks (direct hardware keyboard input, small screen) while Android is for touch devices (android phones, tablet devices, etc).

They're similar, but for completely different markets.

ErrantX• 16 years ago

I'd pay for a ChromeOS pad - probably a fair amount. With some UI tweaks and a decent context-sensitive onscreen keyboard a ChromeOS pad would be stellar!

(though I am an oddity and only wanting a pad for internet use and nothing else :))

WildUtah• 16 years ago

Runs Android: Excellent. Runs Flash: Too Bad. A year behind the market leader: trouble Will cost more than iPad: marketplace death

You just can't get away with charging more than Apple's offering unless you're providing some kind of genuine innovation. This is unlikely to offer anything iPad doesn't and even if it did, nobody would be inclined to believe it. That means it has to be cheaper, which shouldn't be so hard with Apple's typical margins.

fuxx0r2• 16 years ago

The best thing is:

At the presentation in germany they used windows mobile as operating system ;)

After 1 weeks they tell'd they truth about :P

cesare3• 16 years ago

Here in Europe the iPad will cost 499 Euro. So 449 is actually cheaper for us.

fuxx0r2• 16 years ago

The best thing is:

At the presentation in germany they used windows mobile as operating system ;)

After 1 weeks they tell'd the truth about :P

gurtwo• 16 years ago

What so hard about building these kind of devices nowadays? It seems to me that all the components are readily available (there is no technological breakthrough in any of them, excepted maybe the screen), and the size of it should make it easier to pack more features or cheaper ones. Unless it's all about the software.

cesare3• 16 years ago

Does anybody know if the battery will be user replaceable?

edster• 16 years ago

Anybody notice the picture of the woman standing up and holding the device? I think it's the last picture in the roll. Not only does she appear somewhat uncomfortable holding it but she is using a pillow in her right hand while standing to kind of prop up the device. Very strange choice for a product shot.

marknutter• 16 years ago

Not too shabby, but a few things concern me:

1. The air vent. Does this thing get hot? How necessary is the air vent? My iPad is always cool as a cucumber, regardless of what I do on it.

2. The size seems a bit big. Not only is the screen a tad on the large size (or the German pillow girl a tad on the small size), but it also looks pretty thick. The iPad is right on the edge of being to heavy, I wonder what the weight on this thing is.

3. How polished is this thing going to be? They have more features, ports, etc, but that also introduces complexity. Apple had three iphones with which to work out ui bugs, hardware problems, and other issues.

I'm excited to see how it's received, and also excited to see the upcoming android based tablets. But I'm not holding my breath.

davidedicillo• 16 years ago

I'm sure it's going to be well engineered like the iPad http://cdn1.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Joo-Joo...

oh wait... that was the Joojoo

http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/dDCyRZBNfZ1FxJbI.large

mufumbo• 16 years ago

this is great news for me. I have already a couple of android apps that i am starting to port with the ipad with the iphone sdk, but my learn curve with objective-c has not been the best.

WePad

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