Is An Ubuntu Tablet In Your Future?

Ubuntu is well known as being Open Source software which you can download and install on a computer. And for those who have worked with it, there is an appreciation for just how well it works. And given the experience on the desktop, anything done on a tablet is going to have the same ease to work with along with some fairly advanced features for those who using it.

Canonical, the parent company for Ubuntu is announcing Ubuntu for the tablet. And with that comes a number of claims for the OS they will be delivering. We are getting a preview on what you can expect to see when the Ubuntu OS is shipping on tablets. And some of those things include merging of the smart phone, tablet and desktop into something which seems to be seamless. While this will be shipping on hardware later this year, you still may be able to start experiencing what it can do for you this month. It can run right now on selected Android hardware like the Nexus Tablet. But this is not for the faint of heart. Head on over to the developers site and take a look for yourself.

You can see a number of great features on their site, but one of the interesting ones is the claims regarding convergence between the Ubuntu tablet being a full PC and claims of being able to access Windows apps with a thin client. By having the exact same OS running on the Ubuntu phone, Ubuntu PC and Ubuntu TV, you get a single platform to run everything. This is what Microsoft is trying to do with Windows 8 and has some successes and some not so successful. Given what Ubuntu has done over the past few years in delivering their computer OS, they may well be in a better position to accomplish this.

In the video below, they demonstrate the ability to show things from your Ubuntu phone in a side panel of the tablet. Or the capability to take your tablet, attach a keyboard and mouse to turn it into a computer. Seems pretty impressive if they can deliver. We talked previously about coming smartphones using the Ubuntu OS to drive them. With coming tablets based on the Ubuntu OS, it looks like there is an organized challenge to Google. And that challenge is going be a big uphill battle to take away market share from Google's Android OS.

Ubuntu is working to provide for a comprehensive package by providing Ubuntu for the smartphone, Ubuntu for the tablet and Ubuntu TV. There is even Ubuntu for Android where they promote Ubuntu as being able to run on existing Android devices as we have already talked about. And it may be that simplicity and multiple platforms which will give them the inroads to convince people to give Ubuntu a try on either their smartphones or tablets.

If you have ever worked with Ubuntu as a desktop OS or even as a server OS, you know how easy they have made things to install and work with. If they carry that forward to the tablets, they are going to make life difficult for Google. Is an Ubuntu tablet something which you are will to consider?

Hyundai T7 Tablet Breaks sub-$200 Price

It was not that long ago that there were few 7 inch tablets in the market for you to look at. Just about all of the companies were targeting the same market as Apple and their popular iPad. Since then, 7 inch tablets have become very popular with growing sales. So much so, that Apple has come out with their 7 inch tablet which is selling very well. With the growing market, we have seen a growing market for cheaper tablet in the $100 - $200 range. And even one from a Car Manufacturer.

Hyundai has been selling tablets and phones last year and now they have released their latest in the Hyundai T7 tablet. Yes, the popular car company has released a new and faster 7 inch tablet. While it has not arrived here in the US, it is available outside the US for prices less than $170 and lower if you look around for the T7 tablet. This is an interesting one because at first glance it looks very much like an over-sized Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note. And that may lend to it selling very well. Not sure how Samsung may react to this obvious copy.

It comes with the same quad core processor as found on the Galaxy S3 which is the Exynos 4412 will will provide excellent performance. And with a 7 inch display showing 1280 by 800 resolution, it matches the Galaxy Nexus, but at a lower price. It contains 1 GB of RAM along with 8 GB of storage. The lower storage may not be enough for some people, but will be sufficient for those seeking a lower priced device. There is an microSD slot to expand the internal storage for those who need more. This comes with Ice Cream Sandwich installed and not the expected Jelly Bean which is a surprise. You get the expected 802.11b/g/n WiFi connection, front and back cameras along with Bluetooth on the T7 tablet.

The one draw back to this is going to be the battery life. The battery is a 3300 mAh as compared to the 4325 mAh on the Google Nexus 7. And it is this single item which is going to make the biggest difference to most people. While the Nexus 7 tablet gets up to 8 hours, the T7 gets up to 5 hours on a charge. And the big question will be whether the 3 hour difference is going to make a difference or not. Some reports are showing the T7 coming with a 3000 mAh battery and up to 4 hours of use. Since there is a difference in reports, we will not know for sure what we will see here in the US until it actually arrives. We If you are not going to be a serious tablet user, the T7 battery life is probably not going to make a difference.

Another feature setting this one apart is the HDMI output giving you the ability to use this to feed a larger screen for sharing. And this is not something that you will see on all 7 inch tablets. Beyond that, the Hyundai T7 tablet comes with all the other items that you would expect to see on a 7 inch tablet. If price is your primary concern, this would be an excellent choice for a 7 inch tablet. If battery life is more important, you should look at the Nexus 7.

Microsoft Becomes Hardware Company With Surface

Entry into the tablet market at a high price.

Microsoft's core business has long been software. And the focus of that software has been the desktop. Microsoft for most of its life has believed that the desktop is king and in may respects that has been correct until recently. A shift is moving away from desktop computers and even laptop computers towards tablet computers. Microsoft has made the coming Windows 8 to be the OS for tablets. But that is not enough for Microsoft. They have decided they need to be a hardware company as well. They have really been a hardware company for almost as long as the company has existed.

You just do not think of Microsoft as a hardware company. They have been producing the Microsoft Mouse for so many years along with their Microsoft keyboards. They have manufactured cards that go into PCs and so much more. It seems that they have been in the hardware business for 32 years out of the 37 years they have been in business. So, they are a hardware company, but we just do not view them as such. The reality is they have been involved in hardware for years. And that includes the xBox and Kinect which have been extremely popular for them. But, they have not really been considered a hardware company because they do not build computers.

Building a desktop computer or laptop would have moved them into being seen as a hardware maker. Given the shift to tablets, Microsoft has made the decision to move into what most would consider as being a hardware company with their Surface tablet. This is entering them into a highly competitive market with the likes of Apple and Amazon. Those two companies basically control the tablet market making the entry of a new comer somewhat difficult.

Microsoft has their new Windows 8 OS to run their Surface tablet and that may make a difference for them. Microsoft has their great marketing arm which knows how to promote products. But that may not be enough for them to be successful. The one big thing that Microsoft has going for them is the integration of their Windows 8 OS. It is immediately ready to integrate tablets into a Windows environment within companies. Its built in security within their server OS makes it an immediate success for businesses.

Whether Microsoft can achieve a level of success is an unknown. Part of the problem is the pricing they are putting out with their newest hardware product. Starting at $500, this may be a tough sell when compared to other tablets, such as the Apple iPad. If they were to come in with a price less than the Apple iPad, it would give them a sales boost. The market for tablet prices is currently facing a lot of downward pressures for price. This is especially true for the 7 inch models. At 10.6 inches, it looks to be one that is a little less portable, but could do well.

Just how well Microsoft is going to do with their Surface tablet will depend on exactly who they are targeting for this. It does not look like it is a good fit for small businesses.