Dell’s Tablet Aims to Stick It to Apple’s iPad
Say the words “tablet computer” and ten bucks says it’s Apple’s iPad that springs to mind. But that doesn’t mean other companies aren’t busy building their own version of a touch-enabled, multimedia-sporting, slab of portable computing goodness.
Dell’s first effort at a tablet will be the Mini 5 (a name that is still in beta) — a slice of plastic and glass with a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen that according to Michael Dell will debut “in a couple of months.”
The Mini 5 will sport a 5-megapixel camera on the back, a separate front-facing camera that can be used for video conferencing, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1-GHz processor. The 5-inch screen also means it will be be closer to the Sony PSP in its form factor than the longer legal notepad design of the iPad.
The Mini 5 will run the latest version of Google’s Android operating system, version 2.0 or higher. And instead of the 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad, Dell’s tablets will support the 16:9 ratio. Widescreen films anyone?
“It’s a device optimized for media consumption,” Neeraj Choubey, general manager of the tablets division at Dell told Wired.com. “It will offer the full web-browsing experience so you have something that you are holding in your hand that replaces everything the smartphone does and takes on quite a bit of the features of a laptop.”
The Dell 5 Mini will also just be the first in a series. “We are going to have a family of tablets,” says Choubey. “The first one is a 5-inch screen but we want to scale that up to a variety of screen sizes.”
That means future versions of the Mini 5 could have larger screens that will be closer in size to the iPad.
Dell wouldn’t comment on pricing, beyond saying it will be “competitive,” or when it will launch this year. Apple’s iPad ranges from $500 to $830.
With the launch of iPad in January, the tablet PCs are going through a renaissance. Though PC makers have offered slates and convertible notebooks for nearly a decade, consumers haven’t bought them in droves. With its 9.7-inch display, sleek design and Apple’s relentless hype, the iPad could alter the way we experience mobile computing. And Dell knows this.
Three years ago, Dell started expanding its product line to include mobile products. Dell smartphones are now sold in Brazil and China and it hopes to bring a version to North America. Meanwhile, the company set up a tablet division, and three weeks ago Choubey joined Dell from venture capital firm Venrock.
As he sees it, the Mini 5 will offer the apps that are available on smartphones, a set of specialized tools and programs for business users, a strong movies and music experience and web surfing — flash and all included. Take that, iPad.
Along with the apps on the Mini 5 users will have quick access to e-mail, YouTube, Amazon’s MP3 store for music, as well as spreadsheet, presentation maker and documents. It will also support voice recognition. And these are characteristics that will be common to all tablets from Dell.
Still it will be a hard sell to consumers, says Van Baker, an analyst with research firm Gartner.
“If all you are bringing to the market is another media-playing or handheld-gaming device, then it’s not going to work,” he says. “It’s all about the services you have behind the device.”
And that’s where the iPad scores, with its strong developer ecosystem and 100,000 apps, along with iTunes and iBooks, says Baker.
Dell is betting it can offer that and add a compelling value proposition for business users: a promise that its tablet won’t just be a coffee-table device but instead a powerful productivity tool.
“There’s no reason why you can’t use the tablet to take notes in class,” he says.
Dell will also offer services such as syncing that will allow users to move music, documents and other data between their PC and tablet easily.
“At a very basic level, you would have a service that will share content across the devices seamlessly and have it in the cloud,” says Choubey.
Dell also hopes to draw on the Android ecosystem by offering developers the opportunity to port their Android apps to the Mini 5 and its successors.
For the Mini 5, though, its PlayStation Portable-like form factor could be a big drawback, says Baker. The Dell Mini 5 is closer in its looks to gadgets better known as mobile internet devices or MIDs, a category that has been languishing despite products from companies such as Lenovo and Archos.
“If the Dell Mini 5 is this small and it is pocketable, then why isn’t it a phone?” asks Baker. “If I am going to carry a second device, it better have something that’s a significant advantage over what I can do with my phone. With the iPad, the value proposition is a much larger display.”
But Choubey says the innovation is not just in the form factor but also in the business model. Dell will work with carriers to bundle inexpensive data plans for the Mini 5 and other tablets.
“That type of model — the way iPad was able to do with AT& T — will become more prevalent with these tablet devices,” he says. “It allows the carrier to increase number of devices per user.” Apple introduced a $15 for 250 MB, or an unlimited $30 a month, no-contract data plan for use with the iPad.
See Also:
- Dell Plans Its Own Smartphone, Analysts Say
- Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet
- Can Apple’s iPad Save the Media After All?
- Hands-On With the Apple iPad
- Designers Unearth Apple Tablet Prototypes — From 1983
Photo: Dell Mini 5 (ndevil/Flickr)
Mystery Nvidia Tablet Identified: 2010 Arrival and Android Rumored [Nvidia]
An update on that sleek, but unknown Nvidia Tablet we showed you yesterday. As widely expected, it’s actually a prototype Tegra-based device built by an ODM for Nvidia to shop around to wireless carriers worldwide. Here’s what we may know:
Engadget says a credible tipster suggests it currently runs Windows CE and has a resistive touchscreen, but Android and capacitive upgrades (and different screen sizes) are likely. A March 2010 arrival is rumored, as is T-Mobile’s involvement. Interesting, but definitely still an undercooked rumor at this point. We’ll let you know when we hear more. [Engadget]
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Gadget Lab Contest: Show Us Your Apple Tablet Mock-Up
Apple recently told media that its “holiday lineup is set,” meaning there will be no new Apple products for the rest of the year. That means for the next few months, Apple fanatics have nothing better to do but speculate, trade rumors and argue among themselves while they wait for the Cupertino, California, company to deliver a touchscreen tablet, rumored for an early 2010 release.
Why not pass the time with some creative fun? A few impressive mock-up illustrations of the fabled Apple tablet have surfaced on the web (like the one above), and we’d love to see even better ones. That’s why we’re hosting a contest inviting Wired.com readers to produce their own illustrations of the highly anticipated Apple tablet.
We’re handing out swanky JAYS V-Jays headphones ($100 value) to the winners of either one of two categories: Most Realistic Mock-Up, for anyone who can create the most realistic, convincing illustration of an Apple tablet based on the consensus of various rumor reports; and Most Creative Mock-Up, for anyone who can dream up the Apple tablet that we all really want.
A few notes: Even though many anonymous sources have described Apple’s tablet as a “larger iPhone,” you’re unlikely to win if all you do is re-size a photo of an iPhone. That would be yawn-inducing. Challenge yourselves artistically, have some fun and make a compelling device worthy of all the hype.
The image must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. In the Reddit widget below, please submit images that are relatively large (ideal size: 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side).
We don’t host the photos, so you’ll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you’re using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it’s displayed. Using an online photo service that requires a login will not work. If your photo doesn’t show up, it’s because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).
If all else fails, send your submissions to itabletcontest [at] gmail [dot] com and be sure to include a description; we’ll do what we can to get your mailed submissions into the form below.
You have until 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on Monday, Nov. 2. The Gadget Lab team will judge the images and our choices will determine the two winners, although the top popular vote-getter will get bragging rights and, perhaps, a consolation prize from the stacks of swag here at Wired HQ. Photoshop your hearts out!
Illustration of an Apple tablet: Photo Giddy/Flickr
To enter the contest, submit your iTablet mock-ups in the form below. Then vote on your favorites!
Submit an iTablet mock-up
While you can submit as many illustrations as you want, you can only submit one every 30 minutes. Images must be your own. No HTML allowed.
Posted: October 28th, 2009
at 2:47pm by Brian X. Chen
Topics: Apple, Contests, Media Players, Tablets, illustrations, mock-ups
Apple Tablet Rumors Spread to Australia
Apple has reportedly met with major U.S. publishers, including The New York Times and Wired.com’s parent company Condé Nast, to discuss the future of digital media — perhaps floated by a touchscreen tablet. Now, even Australian media companies appear to be in talks with Apple, too.
Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday that Australian media companies have received specifications of Apple’s tablet. However, the Herald said none of its sources would go on the record (presumably because they are barred by a non-disclosure agreement.)
Corroborating previous Apple tablet rumors, The Herald claims the device is “tipped to be a larger version of the iPhone,” with a strong focus on e-reader capabilities.
The Herald’s report trails a video making rounds on the web yesterday, in which NYT editor Bill Keller alluded to an “impending Apple slate” during his keynote speech discussing digital strategies. Keller declined to comment when Wired.com requested clarification on the remark; he responded, “I ain’t sayin’” to All Things Digital.
Nevertheless, to date there’s a heap of independent reports citing anonymous sources who claim a media-centric Apple tablet is due out early 2010. To keep up with the news and rumors, read our previous round-up aggregating rumor reports about the Apple tablet.
See Also:
- In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing …
- Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
- How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
- Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …
Illustration of an imaginary Apple tablet: Factoryjoe / Flickr
Posted: October 27th, 2009
at 1:13pm by Brian X. Chen
Topics: Apple, Australia, International, Media Players, Tablets, rumors, touchscreens
In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing?
Apple on Thursday made a subtle-yet-major revision to its App Store policy, enabling extra content to be sold through free iPhone apps. It’s a move that immediately impacts the publishing industry, and it could pay even bigger dividends if the Cupertino, California, company indeed delivers its highly anticipated touchscreen tablet.
While the most obvious beneficiaries would be app developers, a market segment that can also benefit from the new in-app commerce model are people and companies that create content and need to set up shop in a way that doesn’t, in effect, charge someone for just walking in — like media publishers.
Newspapers and magazines are reportedly in talks with Apple about repurposing their content onto a “new device,” presumably the rumored touchscreen tablet Apple will deliver in early 2010. Numerous reports suggest an Apple tablet would have a strong focus on redefining print media. Enabling in-app commerce through free apps was a crucial move to help make this goal a reality.
Apple’s earlier in-app sales model wasn’t ideal for publishers. Previously, in-app commerce was a feature exclusive to paid apps; free apps were not permitted to sell content. Newspapers and magazines already struggle to sway readers to pay for content to begin with, and charging for apps cuts off potential customers. By allowing commerce within free apps, Apple creates the opportunity for a free media app to serve as a gateway for readers to get hooked on a newspaper’s or magazine’s content, which could help lure them into paying for exclusive premium content.
CNN is an exception: Its recently-released iPhone app costs $2. The Wall Street Journal will later this month begin charging for most of the content it delivers through its free app, and the Financial Times has an app that only offers up to 10 free stories a month without a subscription to the newspaper. But for the most part, publishers have loathed charging for an app, even if it then enabled them to try to charge for content within that point of sale. Reducing the cost barrier of that business model to zero changes things considerably. At least one small publisher, Scarab Magazine, has already taken advantage of the change.
Picture a free magazine app that offers one sample issue and the ability to purchase future issues afterward. Or a newspaper app that only displays text articles with pictures, but paying a fee within the app unlocks an entire new digital experience packed with music and video. This is an example of the “freemium” model that Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson explains in his book Free. It’s a model that some publishers, including Wired’s parent company Condé Nast, are already experimenting with on their websites. (Our sister publication Ars Technica, for example, offers its general content for free, as well as a “Premier” subscription option for readers to access exclusive content.)
If Apple does indeed deliver a tablet, the key for publishers is to create a convenient experience that readers will pay for, as opposed to the content itself. A free app would be the first step toward offering that experience. (And then the publisher will have to figure out what to do about ads, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.)
It’s plausible to imagine that a freemium strategy would be much more effective through a tablet app than a website. If the tablet is indeed designed like a 10-inch iPod Touch or iPhone, as insiders have described it, then publishers developing apps will be able to take advantage of features such as the accelerometer, GPS, live video streaming and multitouch to innovate the way they engage with their audience — and, ultimately, persuade them to pay.
Only now is the relevance of a touchscreen tablet becoming more clear. Scores of tablet devices have come and gone in years past, and many analysts and tech enthusiasts wondered why Apple would enter what is considered a failed product category. Clearly, Apple sees a gaping hole — the publishing industry’s lack of vision for a working digital model — and a touchscreen tablet, combined with the App Store and this new in-app sales model, would seek to fill it.
What’s in it for Apple? Primarily, squashing Amazon’s Kindle. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet? Wired’s Steven Levy shares my view in his assessment of the Kindle’s newspaper experience: “[The Kindle DX's] plodding menu-based interface still made navigating newspapers difficult, and the rich graphic quality that makes magazines such an indulgence is totally missing. Even the flashiest print publication looks like The New England Journal of Medicine.”
Can Apple redefine print media to save the publishing industry? It probably has a higher chance than any other tech company out there. Apple is a market-shaper, and that’s the kind of a company the publishing industry needs to resuscitate it as the traditional advertising model continues to collapse. Daily Beast editor Tina Brown believes that, thanks to the powers of the internet and technology, we’re entering the “golden age” of journalism in the next three years. Perhaps Apple’s tablet will be a crucial part of it.
See Also:
- Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
- Apple’s Tablet Could Be Print Industry’s Lifeboat
- Rumor: Back at Work, Jobs Cracks the Whip on Tablet Designers
- How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
- Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet
- Wall Street Journal Takes Paywall Fight to Mobiles
- Financial Times iPhone App Worse Than Trialware
- CNN’s iPhone News App Is Informative and Empowering
Illustration of an Apple tablet: Photo Giddy/Flickr
Posted: October 16th, 2009
at 11:35am by Brian X. Chen
Topics: Apple, Kindle, Media Players, Tablets, amazon, app store, e-books, e-commerce, rumors, touchscreens
