Vega Tablet is real, has Android 2.0 and a Webcam
The Vega tablet: killer Android device?
(Credit: ICD)As if Apple and Microsoft didn't already make it clear (editor's note: by Apple, we mean the ever-pervasive rumors of their upcoming "slate"), 2010 looks like the Year of the Tablet. First viewed sitting on a table of an Nvidia executive, the Vega tablet will try to beat Apple's tablet (if the rumors are true), Microsoft's in-process Courier concept, and the semievaporated Crunchpad to the punch.
ICD, the manufacturer of the Vega, has confirmed the existence of the tablet as a real product, whose details will be more fully revealed at CES. Vega...Vegas...it seems appropriate.
The sleek black pad will come in sizes of 7, 11, and 15 inches, and will run Android OS 2.0. Its internal processor will be a Nvidia Tegra, which means that HD and even gaming-level graphics should indeed be possible.
The Vega tablet from the back.
(Credit: ICD)Other specs, according to ICD:
- Resistive touch-screen display
- 1,366x768 screen (for the 15.6-inch model)
- 512 DDR/512 NAND storage
- 1.3-megapixel Webcam
- MicroSD card slot
- Bluetooth 2.1
- 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
- USB 2.0 port/s
- 2g/3g data accessible
- Magnetic docking
- Accelerometer
- Dual microphones
We like that dock.
(Credit: ICD)The fact that it has magnetic docking and an accelerometer sounds promising, and ICD also claims video chat, gaming, and "on-demand Web TV" as features.
The dock, in the photos, seems to allow the Vega to be stood up like a photo frame, which is a nice touch. The most disappointing aspect: ICD's fact sheet claims 4 hours of battery life. We also would have preferred a capacitive touch display, like the iPhone's, as opposed to a resistive.
What's the cost? Well, we'll find out that soon enough.
Scott Stein, a New York Jets fan and CNET senior associate editor, has written about tech, entertainment, video games, and viral culture for outlets including Laptop, Wired, Maxim, Esquire Online, Asylum, and Men's Journal. He also appears on the Digital City podcast. In his spare time, you might see him performing improv in New York City (when he's not being a dad).
I'm wondering if a mobile phone's OS is right for a product like this. Even though I can be an apple fanboy, I think so far Microsoft's proposed software solution is is the best suited for a tablet format. it needs to be more like a notebook/planner than what a streamlined mobile os should be, and that includes the iPhone OS.
just my two cents.
Any other abilities would be gravy for me.
@ rfelgueiras
Also 15.6" model is probably aimed primarily at people who want to use it at home and take advantage of any apps from Android App Store.
Sketchbook + Scanner @ home is a much cheaper process.
I mean, I hear ya. It's very cumbersome using a tablet and laptop on the go. But pencil/pen to paper is a much more satisfying experience. Wacom does a decent job at replicating the paper feel with some of their tablets, but overall I don't feel that a tablet would be a great experience overall.
By the way, you will need some serious guts in there to run some Adobe products at a rate that you are used to.
I guess if the os is right maybe but the last thing i want is to lug another thing around.
My Cell phone does everything I need while I am on the go, even though my laptop sits in my front seat of my car I only get it out if I have to start coding, work in Photoshop, or start putting something together in Open Office.
I am sure Apple will make this a must have item, they are a marketing machine that can't be stopped right now.
I would rather put my money into Apple stock than to buy a tablet from Apple.
Why?
Because I really don't need a tablet, its an expense not an asset! The paper will make me money before some tablet ever would.
The tablet is for people on the go and I don't see why they need such a powerful tablet which will only raise the cost in the end.
If you want something more powerful, just get a smaller notebook then.
Apple has not even hinted formally (only on patents) that they intent doing anything netbook or tablet.
They said if im not mistaking, that they dont know how to make something cheap to compete in that market and make a profit, so yeah cnet stop spreading lies please.....
Unless there are special styluses that can write on capacitive screens, I don't know that it makes sense to go with this technology for a tablet. More so than with a smartphone, one would presumably want to sketch and write with a stylus on a tablet, as opposed to just finger pressing.
it's not about practicality, at least, not in the way you think of it. I don't want it running Photoshop, not necessarily. I have my desktop for that. I don't want it running Windows, or OS X for that matter. it's not a Computer Desktop so it shouldn't function that way, but more like a grouping of readable and writeable books (sketchbook, address book, maps, internet resources, photo album). Not to sound too "avent garde" but you're all thinking of what computing is like now (either mobile phone or desktop) instead of the more fluid way we interact with non-computing tasks (note-taking, sketching, swatch collection, the list goes on). this could be one of those devices that changes our interaction and therefore our application of electronics in our day-to-day. We as electronics users adapt to a platform instead of the other way around. I see the tablet as an opportunity to change that.
@ rnaoncfixd - it's not about cheap (though i am by no means not concerned with price) but more about process. Keeping everything digital in one place, without having old sketchbooks you can't part with. Something that can be digitally backed up with no worry about bringing the wrong one or the wrong marker colours...
@ carbine68 - Tablets up till now have failed because all they did was replace the mouse with w stylus and take out the keyboard, in some cases they didn't even do that. But the biggest mistake was keeping the desktop "experience" for the tablet. Current OS interfaces are meant to be seated some where, That idea needs to be re-addressed.
@ friscoG - maybe for the way you are thinking of using a computer, not the way I am. For the record, I am not looking for a "Bigger iPod Touch". Instead, I'm looking for a tablet that replaces my sketchbook, address book, email on the go, browser, and test editor, plus the ability to "toss" all of those things to my main machine to develop them. Microsoft's courier project looks really promising (and I'm an admitted apple fan boy)and I'm sure if something like that came out, people would be looking at a tablet in a whole new light.
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by koma2191
November 17, 2009 4:00 PM PST
- Resistive screen = fail
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