Toshiba to make quad-core Android 4.0 tablets in 7, 10, and 13 inch sizes

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/04/toshiba-to-launch-a-line-of-quad-core-android-40-tablets.ars

by iProject • 14 years ago

28 31 14 years ago

makmanalp• 14 years ago

To me, this seems akin to Gillette's ads. "Now with 20 blades!!!" 1 core is good enough for most and 2 cores is good enough for anyone with a tablet. Maybe later, after all the usability and product design issues are solved and mobile software can properly make use of multiple cores, this change would be justified.

Edit: This points towards a more global trend I keep seeing with product companies (with apple as the poster child) focusing on a single product with minor variations in the product line and iterating that, versus hardware companies coming up with 6 new tablets every year with model names like tsb-vtbl-32blk. Guess which one generates more of a user following.

maggit2• 14 years ago

The point of cramming lots of cores into mobile devices is apparently to reduce battery drain, not to gain processing power. This might or might not be new to you, but to me, short battery life is still an inconvenience :)

(Random corroborating source: http://www.tested.com/news/news/articles/1483-more-cores-mea... )

AnIrishDuck• 14 years ago

This makes no sense to me. More cores means more processing throughput. Design advances lead to reduced power consumption. Both are happening at the same time, which is the only reason there might be any correlation.

dreadsword6• 14 years ago

Its shocking how effectively Apple is able to move the eight-ball on companies like Toshiba. "We have lots of cores!" "Available in any screen size!"

Hey Toshiba: no one cares about those specs right now - Apple shifted the conversation for the majority of the tablet market to screen res, where they have an essentially unassailable competitive advantage for quite some time. And, Toshiba missed the boat, which makes their claims for cores and screen sizes seem flat and mis-timed.

Note: I have an awesome toshiba laptop that I carted around the world for me in 2008, which is still going strong. Added a hybrid ssd/platter drive to perk up win7 performance, and its still my daily driver. Toshiba makes great products, they're just eating Apple's dust, like everyone else.

listic• 14 years ago

Care to elaborate what's your particular hybrid drive model? I thought the fashion for hybrid drives faded away.

dreadsword6• 14 years ago

Sure - Seagate Momentus XT, 750GB model; 16GB SSD. The OS boots at SSD speeds, and the ~7 applications that I use frequently do too. But, I have the storage of a traditional drive, and the whole deal cost $170.

Hybrids aren't for eveyone - gamers, pro photogs, heavy developers, etc. I think would overwhelm the hybrid's ability to offer any advantage. But I knew my usage patterns (a limited retinue of light weight applications) were ideally suited for it.

The laptop is a U200, has a first gen Core Duo, and 2GB of RAM. Bought in 2008 ($800!), upgraded the RAM too, obviously. Boots Win7 to password screen in ~15 seconds.

huggyface4• 14 years ago

* "We have lots of cores!" "Available in any screen size!" Hey Toshiba: no one cares about those specs right now*

We're talking about the Apple that is trialing a 7" tablet, right? The one that talked up "4 cores" at the 3rd generation unveiling? Same Apple?

There are millions and millions of non-Apple tablets being sold. This seems like a laughably tiny number compared to the incredible success Apple has yielded, but in consumer electronics it is substantial. It is bloody sad, however, that every time someone tries to make a product this whole clucking "nah nah Apple is better" nonsense gets carted out.

Keep on keeping on Toshiba, and samsung, and LG, and...

dreadsword6• 14 years ago

You've managed to nail my point exactly in your pugnacious response. A year from now, when Toshiba, Dell, and everyone else have pivoted and are talking up even better screen resolution, Apple's going to move the eight-ball again: maybe to 7 inch tablets, maybe to cores, nobody knows but Tim & Jon.

Did you even read my post? I don't think Apple is "better" - I think they're great at wagging the dog, the dog being us consumers.

gurkendoktor2• 14 years ago

> We're talking about the Apple that is trialing a 7" tablet, right? The one that talked up "4 cores" at the 3rd generation unveiling? Same Apple?

I may be biased here, because I visit apple.com frequently but I never bother with the announcement videos. I don't care about Apple's market metrics, and I didn't care about quad-core.

As far as websites go, apple.com/ipad shows me lots of useful stuff. Safari has a reader mode and a read-later list. There are great apps on the store, for education and whatnot. iBooks can do this and that. Everythings syncs and gets backed up.

And this is already their most technical release in a long time, the first two iPads were heavily marketed by simply showing apps.

The first Google result for Toshiba tablet's is http://www.thetoshibatablet.com/. It only mentions hardware, except for stating that it runs Android 3.1, without any explanation of course.

That is why these spec announcements get ridiculed all the time. If either company were to ship their devices with genuinely awesome bonus apps, ones that Apple hasn't nailed yet, I doubt anyone would point their finger at them and laugh.

cryptoz• 14 years ago

Has anyone ever launched a modern tablet with a 13" screen size? I don't think so. And it doesn't matter what Apple sets the conversation to; just like most consumers don't care how many cores it has, most don't care how many pixels it has.

The product has to work well, be priced right, have good marketing and be visible to consumers. A 13" tablet is unique and may attract some attention, if only as an experiment (which may fail in the market, but would still provide valuable lessons and information to the industry).

cultureulterior• 14 years ago

Uh, the toshiba thrive 7 had retina display months before apple did.

noonespecial• 14 years ago

These guys can't make a "better" tablet than the iPad no matter how many cores they put in it. Take a hint from the HP touchpad sellout.

We don't need another me-too ipad. We don't need 4 cores. We need capacitive multi-touch tablets that don't completely suck for less than $200.

If they're not planning on delivering that, they should just save their research dollars until they can. I need another not quite as good as iPad for the same price as iPad choice like a broken leg.

nl• 14 years ago

7" is a great form factor.

I have a cheap 7" Android tablet (along with a 10.1" Transformer, and iPad2, a Galaxy S, and iPhone 4 and and iPod Touch..), and I love the size.

It's slightly heavy for me to use comfortably as an ebook, though. I've tried the Samsung 7", and that thing seems fantastic - roughly as light as my ebook reader, but so thin.

Toshiba as a tablet manufacture.. meh. I'm not impressed with what I've seen so far, but I guess they might get there.

I'm not sure about 13", but I'm sure for the I'm a basketball coach with big hands and 10" is too small for me market it will be a big hit.

JVIDEL• 14 years ago

"the Excite 7.7 will start at $499.99"

Wasn't Asus going to launch a 7 inch tablet with Tegra3 for $250?

If that's the case Toshiba is borked, big time.

noarchy• 14 years ago

Borked in a big way. You can't sell an inferior tablet for the same price as an iPad. The ones who are succeeding against Apple (like Amazon) are effectively competing on price.

Toshiba to make quad-core Android 4.0 tablets in 7, 10, and 13 inch sizes

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