If you’re in the market for a tablet, right now you’re going to get an iPad. In the near future, there are going to be tons of other options out there for you from WebOS based devices from HP to a slew if Android powered ones put out by a multitude of companies. Be careful of who you give your money to. HP, LG, RIM, Apple, Microsoft, etc are all well known, large, reputable companies dumping a bunch of money into tablet design and trying to keep the cost down. The iPad still comes in at $499 for the cheapest version.

So what if I said you could have a tablet that looked identical to the iPad in all ways, ran Android, had better hardware specs and was only $155? You’d tell me that I’m crazy, lying, confused or about to get ripped off. And you’d probably be right on more than one of them. A company called wiped (no connection to Nintendo) is putting out tablets, according to their website. All of the above that I mentioned are the things they claim. Whether they are true or not, I don’t know. Their website is full of discrepancies that make me think the whole thing is a sham.

Front page shows a Visa, MasterCard and PayPal logos. Under the payment tab of the site they say that they only take PayPal. That’s minor. Here is their “About Us” page:

About us

Wiipad.us is supported by Wiipad Technonogy International Limited who is specilized in consumer electronics technology for years.

We hold the faith:

Quality,Innovative,Responsive,Passion

We are planning in the near future new tablet PC  with capacity touch screen and 10.2” inches screen and upgrade google android 2.1 system and faster speed. It is You that can choose the parts and signature and optional design.

Something was lost in the translation - like grammar and spelling. I’m fairly certain they are based in China.

If you go to the shop tab you have 4 products. 3 of them are identical to the iPad and if you look closely, the images appear to be taken directly from apple. One of them even shows the standard OS 3.2 home screen that ships with the iPad, complete with default apps. They claim, however, that it runs on Android. All devices seem to ship with Android 1.6 at the moment. The NENO is their newest model that parts of the website say is here and parts say is coming soon and that it ships with 2.1. No responses to questions about 2.2 in their forums.

The Wiipad Slim 7” model claims it has a TFT screen with 800x480 resolution, 2GB of NAND storage, 2 USB parts and a variety of other specs that are unclear.

Check out the rest of the details at http://www.wiipad.us. Look for the pictures that show Apple products.

I’m not sure if it is a scam, a poor product, re-worked iPads or what. I do know that I wouldn’t send them any of my money though.

This is one example of a knock-off product out there and a prime reason why you should only deal with reputable companies who will make quality hardware and stand behind their product.

Since before the launch of the iPad, we have heard rumor after rumor about tablets about to hit the market. Time and again, these rumors proved to be just that… rumors, and we’ve seen nothing. The amazing sales figures of the iPad have overshadowed all the manufacturers and models that never arrived. Companies like Microsoft and HP are two of the most notable companies with phantom tablets.

It is no surprise that after the unprecedented success of the iPad, that surprised even the biggest optimists, competitors want to get back in on the newest and hottest hardware platform.

Toshiba announced its Libretto which is a hybrid machine that has the form factor of a netback, replacing the physical keyboard with a second touchscreen and adding an accelerometer. 

Cisco is capitalizing on the iPad’s biggest shortcoming. Of all the demographics gobbling up the iPad faster than Apple can have them made, the enterprise is the slowest of the bunch. Let’s face facts, the iPad’s strong suit is not its business performance. Sure you can get the iWork suite or DocumentsToGo and you can connect to an Exchange server but the iPad is not build for the enterprise. Cisco plans to  fill that hole wit the Cius (pronounced See us?) next year. It will sport a front and rear facing camera and do full video teleconferencing. It will be priced below $1,000 and be aimed at businesses.

The latest entry is LG. There is not much information as of press time. We do know, however, that it will be powered by Android, which should not be much of a surprise to anyone.

Microsoft remains quiet and after the failure of the Kin, needs to get into the mobile space in a big way so maybe we will hear form them in regards to a tablet.

7 July - Weekly Wrap-Up #21
- FB for iPhone update for iOS 4
- Toshiba Libretto 
- The Kin is dead 

Zagg InvisibleShield tested

Do you have a death grip on your iPhone and does it cause signal loss? Do you want to be paid for this problem? A California based law firm - Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff - is famous for class action lawsuits and now has Apple in its sights.

No actual lawsuit has been mentioned yet but they are conducting a consumer investigation regarding the drop in reception when you hold your phone in your left hand and cover the band that functions as an antenna. If you read their website they ask you to contact them if you “recently purchase the new iPhone and have experienced poor reception quality, dropped calls and weak signals.”

They are the class action equivalent of the “ambulance chaser” personal injury lawyers on late night television. Combine that with Apple’s pending lawsuits and history of settling and you have a recipe for success and notoriety for the firm.

Last year, Apple settled for $22.5 million about the original iPod and it’s susceptibility to scratching. This summer they are already entrenched in a lawsuit over the promise to provide unlimited data plans for iPad users only to have the terms changed shortly after launch pending the arrival of the iPhone 4.

Now that the iPhone 4 is in hands of users, the crystal clear screen is being trumped by its inability to hold a call when the phone is held in a certain orientation. Apple’s answer to this? Don’t hold it that way.

There has been talk of a software fix but straight from the horse’s mouth, Steve Jobs said in an email “There is no reception issue. Stay Tuned.” Everyone is tuned in, Steve, and waiting for a solution or the opening of a class action lawsuit for a few bucks if you don’t get it together.

-Digital License Plates
- iOS 4 / iPhone 4 antenna problems
- more privacy? Your phone number? 

Installing the Zagg InvisibleShield

There’s a big detriment to being who I am. I spend a large portion of my day defending myself and it’s mostly due to Apple. It’s the same thing we go through as Yankees fans and the old “they buy championships” rhetoric. I reply to that with a simple argument of demographics creating capital for the franchise. If they have the money to hire good player who win, why would they buy players who lose? Then I make the antagonist realize that they are upset with the MLBPA for not instituting a salary cap, not with the franchise who is playing the hand it is dealt. That’s an easy conversation to win. It’s based on jealousy but people who have been watching their team of choice flounder since they were children.

The Apple thing seems to be born out of real hate by some people. I understand it to a degree. I used to be a spiteful Apple guy. I wouldn’t so much as watch a quicktime video because it was built on their platform. I wouldn’t even install the quicktime player. Ten years later I have a MacBook Pro, 27” iMac, Mac Mini, Mac G4, iPhone 2G/3G/3GS/4, iPad, and a Time Capsule. Ten years ago, Apple was also borrowing money from Microsoft to not go bankrupt. Steve Jobs says, “Yeah, things were on the rocks.” That’s underselling it, Steve.

As a teacher of technology, I run into many many students who want to know what my tech setup is and something about me gives away that I’m a Mac user. A solid 50% of them balk and say “Apple sucks.” So I say back, “Ok. Why?” and more often than not I get “because it does.” I tell them I understand. I used to think it was for artists or people who don’t know any better but I did what most people have done in the last 3 years. I bought an iPhone because it was new, cool, and commercial and when I was bowled over, I thought “What else has Apple been up to in the last decade?” So I gave them a try and I was hooked.

Am I a fanboy? No. I actually have decided that I don’t like that term. To me, a fanboy is someone who defends something blindly. Some Stockholm Syndrome-esque person who ignores fault and defends the shortcomings. iPhone doesn’t do ABC or XYZ to which a real fanboy replies something about how it doesn’t matter or it shouldn’t do those things or flat out lies and says “Yes it does” (usually with the similar tone that 8 year olds bicker with “are too” “are not” “are too” “are not”). Did the iPhone multitask before last week? No. Should it have? Yes. Did Apple tell us it’s because they wanted to take their time and get it right and release it when it’s perfect? Yes, they sure did. Now, ask me if I believe it? I believe there’s SOME credibility to that. They are perfectionists. But I don’t blindly co-sign to all that leaves Jobs’ mouth.

Macs are insanely expensive. People call it “Apple tax.” The imaginary payment you make just to own an Apple. A Lexus is just a rebranded Toyota with fancier wood burl trim yet people pay much more for them. There is a name brand “fee” associated there. Just like designer clothes that don’t use any special thread. Apple has an advantage. In the Microsoft world you have many hands in the mix. At Apple, they create the hardware and the software so they can make sure it all plays nice together.

People scream about the app store for iPad/iPhone and the tight closed system. Have you ever owned a Palm device. I have from 1996 through 2007 until iPhone. Palm made the hardware and software like Apple and native parts worked great. Every developer could create and sell an app and my Treo needed constant reboots throughout the day (sometimes it decided for itself that it was time to reboot). I’ve had Windows phones. Microsoft made the operating system, HP (for example) made the hardware and everyone else made applications. Three parties trying to leverage each of their portions against one another spread out over countless manufacturers and models. And guess what? Microsoft claims that with the Windows Phone 7, they’ll be controlling which apps can make it onto the phone.

I got the first iPhone and it worked. I tried a MacBook Pro and it worked. The iMac works better than the laptop. The iPhone 4 is better than the 3GS which was better than the 3G which was better than the 2G. Everything I get from them works as advertised and appears to be the best it could get and then the improve on it. Be sure that the next iPhone device and OS is already being designed and developed.

Does it have shortcomings? Absolutely. No A2DP until OS 3.0 was a joke. Multi-tasking taking 3 years to create was terrible. Battery life still sucks - even on an iPhone 4 I can see it in less than 24 hours that I’ve had it.

So what’s the point here? I’m done with the fanboy routine. I made a choice to use Windows for 15 years because it was the best for me. Now OS X works best for me and my purpose and I’m choosing to do that. If John Doe creates a company with a superior product, I’ll go there. I’m not loyal out of blindness. I stick with what works. It’s why I traveled for 15 hours looking for an iPad and now it’s replaced 80% of my computer time. It’s why I spent 13.5 hours trying to order the new iPhone. It improves my life by being better than the last one.

Their products work and look good doing it. They are expensive, but I’m not skipping the rent check to buy an iPhone. I’m a fan. Not a fanboy. Fanboys are the Apple haters who say “just because it does” when I ask them “why do you say that Apple sucks?” No rhyme, no reason. Just blind love for what they know, and blind hate for what they don’t.

Unboxing the new Zagg InvisiShields

20 June Weekly Wrap-Up #19 (part 2)