ASUS Memo 370t: $250 ICS, hdmi, 7" 1280x800 IPS, Quad core Tegra3

[=X=]

Originally Posted by David Marseilles

One non-nefarious motive...

Well I really wouldn't call the move nefarious, more of a delay tactic.

Originally Posted by David Marseilles

It could be a very different product come summer, true enough, but I have a good feeling about it and I won't let you bring me down with your relentless realism.

Don't get me wrong. I too would like to pick up one of these devices for only $250. I just don't have my hopes up.

[Shirohane]

I was wondering whether I should wait for this (since I pretty much fell in love with the specs when I saw them) or get a BB Playbook to replace my kindle.

But then you mention potential delays and change of price/specs and I'm not so sure I want to wait for it anymore...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Shirohane

I was wondering whether I should wait for this (since I pretty much fell in love with the specs when I saw them) or get a BB Playbook to replace my kindle.

But then you mention potential delays and change of price/specs and I'm not so sure I want to wait for it anymore...

Does the BB app store have the apps you want?

[robertc88]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Does the BB app store have the apps you want?

Will it ever?

One can convert apk files to bar and sideload but given it took RIM so long to roll out the software update, I would steer clear.

[Marseille]

Waiting comes with risks, much like not waiting. It all comes down to how well you know what you want.

In other news, just as India was reporting a may release for the 370t, a may release date for the Asus Nexus tablet is reported to be may: http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/9/285...ly-as-may-says

[Shirohane]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Does the BB app store have the apps you want?

Actually... most likely as I only wanted to use it to read e-books, comics/manga, consult my emails and browse the net.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Shirohane

Actually... most likely as I only wanted to use it to read e-books, comics/manga, consult my emails and browse the net.

You'd think so right? I was thinking the same thing when I bought my TouchPad and became quite frustrated with the state of apps. The only EPUB reader available had rendering errors and the "better" comic viewing app wasn't quite as easy to use as the apps I use for Android and iOS (Perfect Viewer and ComicGlass respectively). My TouchPad has been sitting unused for months until I installed CM9 alpha 2 (Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich) on it last week. With CM9, I use the TouchPad more often than the iPad now.

Of course, I seem to remember reading that you can install Android apps on the Playbook now. Not sure how well that would work.

[Marseille]

The Nexus tab and 370t, once rumored to be the same, or almost the same, may have hit a major fork in the road.

Rumor: Nexus tablet is a “done deal”, to retail for as low as $149 | Android and Me

“It’s a done deal,” said the supply chain source. We have already heard countless rumors that Google was working on “a tablet of the highest quality,” and this latest report give us further confidence it’s going to happen.

What’s most surprising about the latest rumor is to hear that the target price has been lowered to $149 and that the quad-core Tegra 3 processor is out. I’m going to assume these two bits are related.

It sounds like Google wanted to undercut the Kindle Fire, so they lowered the bill of materials by going with a processor that was cheaper than Tegra 3. We heard similar stories last year that Amazon had originally chosen Tegra 2 to power the Kindle Fire, but they went with Texas Instruments’ OMAP4 at the last moment because they got a better volume deal.

ASUS has a strong relationship with Qualcomm, so we might see a Snapdragon processor end up inside this “Nexus tablet.”

Many of our readers were excited about the ASUS MeMo 370T tablet as it stood, and I’m sure most will be upset to hear that it could be canned. Hopefully our source is wrong about that information. It could be that the MeMo 370T was slated to become the “Nexus tablet”, but Google wanted something cheaper so ASUS scrapped it and configured a lower spec’d device.

Intriguing and scary rumors. I liked thinking they'd be the same make and possibly even use the same accessories. If Google/Asus really plans to undercut the fire, one wonders whether an sd slot is gone, the high res with better dpi is gone, the camera, hdmi etc, rather unlike the earlier rumors where you could imagine just the storage being slashed. $150 would be awesome for a lot of folks, to be sure, but that makes it harder for ASUS to sell the 370t at $250, as I'm sure they were counting on volume (among other things) to pull it off, volume that might get partially cannibalized by a super cheap Nexus tab.

Then again, don't forget Google has one advantage even the bookseller's don't have -- in addition to similar or better upsides on content sales, Google also has significant and fast growing revenue from free content advertising. Maybe they think they can shoot for $150, $175 without actually slashing down features.

It'll be interesting to see how it actually shakes out when the rumors clear, but either way, I'm more glad than ever that I didn't keep my Nook Tablet. It's going to be an interesting summer.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by David Marseilles

Then again, don't forget Google has one advantage even the bookseller's don't have -- in addition to similar or better upsides on content sales, Google also has significant and fast growing revenue from free content advertising. Maybe they think they can shoot for $150, $175 without actually slashing down features.

Let's hope so. I don't really mind if they downsize the processor but the lack of higher resolution display and microSD slot is a deal breaker.

[cfrizz]

I was pretty much all set to buy this, but if they strip it down to meet the price point, I won't be getting it.

[grumbles]

Hmm... 1280 x 800, 7" screen. That works out to about 215 dpi. Not bad, not great but not bad. This is better than any of the current e-ink devices. The $50 premium over the crippled Vox or Fire is not a problem. A 7" screen is about the same size as the page of a paperback book, bump the resolution up to about 250dpi and it is the almost ideal device. The ideal device would be a colour e-ink screen but I'm not going to hold my breath. a truly open operating system would be nice too!

[Marseille]

The resolution, if it happens, is a big draw for me. I felt the Nook Tab's standard res was perfectly fine for video and games, but while reading, I was actually a little surprised that it was less comfortable, precisely because of the dpi. I had learned this lesson years ago when I upgraded my handheld (my primary reader) from vgaish to WVGA, but I guess I had forgotten.

If it doesn't happen, I might just grab a $100 NC refurb and keep my reading on my handheld.

[Marseille]

There's a slew of stories claiming Nvidia's CEO is predicting (as of march 27thish) $200 tegra 3 tablets will hit this summer. The all seem to link back to this NYTs tech blog post: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...3d-chromebook/

Comments by Nvidia’s chief executive, and one of its customers, indicate the company’s efforts will also lower the price and raise the performance of some products months from now.

The key Nvidia chip in tablets that run on Google’s Android operating system is called Tegra, which came out in a third major version last November, and is now making its way into the market. Jen-Hsun Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, figures that the chip incorporates enough cheap commodity components that, once these cost savings take hold, Android tablets will by this summer cost as little at $199.

“We took out $150 in build materials, things like expensive memory,” he said. “At $199, you can just about buy a tablet at a 7-Eleven.”

His remark is so chopped up, you kinda have to take the blog's word that that price point is actually a reference to tegra 3. More real context would have been nice.

Assuming they didn't butcher his statement though, this bodes well for the 370t, or something very much like it, actually coming out.

[Marseille]

Fresh from the presses. Hasn't been any news on this in a while, though the cheaper tegra 3ish kai package has been in the news, and the release of that was mentioned by someone in this forum months ago as the cause of the delay for the asus nexus tab -- can't remember who anymore, but they appear to have been dead on.


Google Nexus Tablet Details Revealed: Built by Asus, NVIDIA Tegra 3 On Board (Exclusive) | TechnoBuffalo

By Todd Haselton on May 24, 2012 in Android
We’ve just received details from a trusted source about at least one piece of hardware that Google is going to unveil during its Google I/O conference, which kicks off in San Francisco on June 27th.

Rumors have long been swirling that Asus and Google have teamed up to produce Google’s first Nexus tablet, which will allegedly offer a 7-inch screen. We’ve confirmed with a trusted source that Google will indeed unveil the Asus-built Nexus tablet during the conference and, better yet, will give a unit out to each of the developers attending the conference. We’re hearing conflicting reports on whether or not the developer device will come pre-loaded with Android 5.0 Jelly Bean, but that’s also a sign that Google is getting ready to deploy the new OS in June. Here’s where things get a bit more interesting, however.

First, let’s connect the dots a bit. NVIDIA recently said that its “project kai” tablet strategy includes a goal to develop a tablet priced under $200. Well, our source has confirmed that Google’s Nexus tablet will include NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 chip. That, then, seems to back up early rumors that the Nexus tablet will carry a $200 price tag.

So what else is in store for Google I/O? That much is still unclear. We’re expecting Google will announce multiple manufacturing partners for its next Nexus smartphone, and recent rumors suggest five new Nexus-branded phones will launch on November 5th to mark the 5th anniversary of Android. TechnoBuffalo will be in attendance, so stay tuned for more news from the show.

I haven't seen kai detailed yet, as to how it differs from existing tegra 3. Lower clocks I can live with, but I hope it doesn't skimp on ram (active memory, don't care about storage) for speed or quantity, and I hope it's still got all the power saving voodoo (actually, I think they might lean on the processor to save on other components).
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404826,00.asp

"The way we that we do that is with a platform that we've developed called Kai," he continued. "So this uses a lot of the secret sauce that's inside Tegra 3 to allow you to develop a tablet at a much lower cost by using a lot of innovation that we've developed to reduce the power that's used by the display and to use lower cost components within the tablet."

[HansTWN]

A race to the bottom on price and specs instead of better functionality --- something to look forward to, lol.