Umm... totes late with this, but I was actually responding to a combination of nest0r's post and Fabrice's post, the latter of which specifically brought up the idea that Japanese support was something new coming to the iPad. I just quoted nest0r because I'm a quote junkie.

So there's that.

(thought it was obvious from context lol)

That viliv x70 looks interesting. Why are 7" screens so popular though? Edit: Nevermind, I thought x70 was the new one but it's the 10" x10.

Mostly I just want a computer I can use extensively and portably with a capacitive stylus, in both English and Japanese.

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"All the contents of your Dropbox are available for viewing."

http://www.dropbox.com/ipad

Hopefully you can open text files and edit them and such, but I don't know, I just found this out.

If the "cloud" is synced to your home desktop, than that makes it a much more viable option, I think.

I use the BAMBOO art tablet for.... oh that kind of tablet. *sulks away*

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The Nook Color is interesting, if you want to get hands dirty:

Nook Color SDK Released

Nook Color rooted -- Turns $250 e-reader into an affordable Android tablet

As an example, I just saw today the Kindle reading app on the Nook (MacBreakWeekly #224). I'm guessing it was running an Android app made by Amazon.

gyuujuice Wrote:I use the BAMBOO art tablet for.... oh that kind of tablet. *sulks away*

The first thing I thought of when I read the title was some SF "pop a learning pill with breakfast every day for a week for instant language acquisition" scenario :-)

That Galaxy Tab by Docomo is getting a fair amount of advertising. I can't tell much difference between that and the Ipad at a glance, haven't really had time to go and toy with one in stores yet. but dammit if Ken Watanbe say's it's cool, then who am I to argue.

The difference between the ipad and the galaxy tab is very simple, it is *smaller* and therefore costs €750 instead of €500. Also it runs on an in my opinion far less developed operating system.

pm215 Wrote:

gyuujuice Wrote:I use the BAMBOO art tablet for.... oh that kind of tablet. *sulks away*

The first thing I thought of when I read the title was some SF "pop a learning pill with breakfast every day for a week for instant language acquisition" scenario :-)

That's what Thora thought also.

Rekkusu Wrote:The difference between the ipad and the galaxy tab is very simple, it is *smaller* and therefore costs €750 instead of €500. Also it runs on an in my opinion far less developed operating system.

Right now I can't decide what's better—to have an OS developed with multitouch/screen in mind, or to have a full OS like Windows 7 (e.g. Asus EP121). Right now I'm leaning towards the full operating system with just a 'skin' or 'shell' for the touchscreen, but I think I'd change my mind once I started using it. It comes down purely to stylus possibilities for me: how well the handwriting capabilities in both Japanese and English work for taking notes in English and practicing Japanese. Once I start thinking of having the same suite of programs open for Japanese that I have on my G73, I go back to wanting the full OS.

Even though I've since gotten the HP TouchSmart tm2, which I love, I'm tempted to get the new ThinkPad Tablet since I sort of want something lightweight I can switch to a consumption-oriented behaviour with; it looks awesome: http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/19/lenovo-...deapad-k1/

Edit: It weighs 1.65lbs (compared to iPad 2's 1.33). @rich_f seems to find that too heavy. I wonder how long till tablets weigh close to that of the Kindle/nook/etc.?

Hmm, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 also looks good, especially at 1.25lbs.

chamcham Wrote:

vileru Wrote:

chamcham Wrote:NOTE: I have an iPad and Android phone. Also, I have computers with Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux. So I'm not a fanboy of any platform.

You forgot to mention your private yacht docked at Martha's Vineyard

Yes. And I also forgot to mention the Playboy models on that private yacht.....

I call for a RevtK meetup at chamcham's yacht.

@nest0r: I've been using the Xoom now since April, and I've gotten used to it's "heft." I found that a good case helps with that a lot. (kevikev.com leather case has been a big help.) The Xoom comes in at about 1.5lbs., which really isn't too bad. Maybe my tablet muscles "bulked up" over time.

Motorola finally updated the ROM to 3.2 for the WiFi version, so now you can use the MicroSD slot with a MicroSD of up to 32GB, so now it goes to 64GB with the slot filled. Not sure about the 3G version, because I don't care.

Prices have also come down to the $400-$500 level, IIRC, which is what it should have been from the outset.

The Galaxy Tab doesn't have a MicroSD slot. It's only an issue if you plan to dump a LOT of media on it. The Tab has gotten good reviews, and it's slightly lighter.

The Xoom display isn't the world's greatest, but I dig AnkiDroid. I've been testing 0.7 beta, and it supports custom fonts. It should come out soon. EBPocket is awesome as an EPWing reader. Vertical Text Viewer is a great 青空文庫 reader, getting better at doing Honeycomb. DroidWing has finally been updated to work with Honeycomb as well.

Google Maps is as always, a killer app. Using it on the tablet works great, because I can plan out a travel day with it, star a bunch of places, then they will show up on my phone almost immediately. Also, navigation now uses public transport as well, so it will take trains/buses into account, so I don't have to look up everything in Hyperdia or the City of London website, depending on whatever country I'm in.

I just bought some travel guides and downloaded them to Google Books for offline reading. Google Books is okay, but has its moments of "Aaargh!" such as when it hard froze my system earlier today; or when I can't buy books when I'm out of the country, because Google hasn't finished baking its bookstore outside of the US yet. Same goes for the video rentals. Those aren't really compelling for me, to be honest.

The Kindle app is also annoying, because buying books with it is generally a pain in the butt, and when I leave the country, it's not only a pain, it also fails at letting me buy the books I want, again, thanks to licensing. Reading is forced to vertical only. Boo. But it does let you highlight words. If only those words would be in books I actually *want...*

In general, Honeycomb 3.2 has "wised up," to make phone apps scale better on the tablets, so that developers don't have to rush out a tablet version of their apps. It makes a big difference.

Still no native Google JP keyboard. Simeji has great dictionaries, but a weak landscape layout. Multiling has an awesome landscape layout, but has terrible dictionaries. Somewhere between the two, there is a great keyboard lurking. I tend to use Simeji; in spite of its god-awful-uglyness, it lets me type in Japanese effectively.

And of course, widgets still rule. The right widgets in the right places make this thing really handy. I just have to glance at it to keep on top of things. I don't have to open any apps. "No touch" > "one touch" in my world.

Most importantly, I don't have to install iTunes, and that's what I really wanted.

Good to know; looks like the 10.1 Galaxy Tab might be banned everywhere soon, since Apple has decided they're going to sue anyone who makes tablets or something like that. ;p

I guess ~1.5lbs feels something like a hardcover novel? Maybe if I just wait for the iPad 3 they'll release it in AR goggles form.

nest0r Wrote:Good to know; looks like the 10.1 Galaxy Tab might be banned everywhere soon, since Apple has decided they're going to sue anyone who makes tablets or something like that. ;p

I see your ;p, but is it possible that sales would be suspended? I was thinking about a Galaxy Tab or a new Asus one that I saw advertised. (I have an itunes allergy, too.) :-) Anyone know anything about the Asus tab?

I hate iTunes and try to use it as little as possible.

The Galaxy Tab is apparently already banned (the 10.1 version Edit: Or is it a range of Samsung devices?) in Europe, and I think they're working on the US. The ;p was a reference to how apparently Apple's claims are so general that their success with these bans doesn't bode well for other tablets. I'd like to think that's a worst case scenario but even if it isn't, it seems like douchy behaviour to me by Apple.

Meh. It's a patent slapfight. There are thousands of them. I don't expect this ban to last long, and I wouldn't expect a US court to ever ban such a device for such a vague and overbroad claim as Apple is making.

Before buying any tablet, go to a store and get the feel of it. Try it out. I wasn't a fan of the Toshiba (too fat, too heavy, felt cheap), or the Asus (also felt cheap, just didn't like it.)

Also, there's a question of preference when it comes to whether the OS has been futzed with-- I like my Honeycomb straight up, so updates roll out a little faster. Motorola is annoying with the way they update, and the skinny 12volt charging plug. (No USB charging? Seriously? Boo!)

I wish there was a Nexus Honeycomb tablet, TBH, that was more Googlerific.

I like the Honeycomb platform, I just haven't found that "sweet" implementation that gets it 100% right yet. The Xoom is "good enough" for me for now, but that's a question of individual taste and the intersection of the questions of what do you want, and what are you willing to give up.