Showing posts with label asus transformer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asus transformer. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Netflix on the ASUS Transformer Tablet

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Many owner's of the ASUS Transformer Tablet were expecting to get Netflix streaming support with their OTA update of Honeycomb 3.2 the other week.  Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.  However, on Tuesday ASUS started rolling out an OTA Update that will bring the tablet up to release version 8.6.5.9 and includes Netflix support.  Way to go ASUS!

Now, please give Acer some notes on how to handle their customers.  If the Acer Honeycomb 3.2 OTA Update includes Netflix support I will apologize.  Otherwise, enjoy your movie streaming Transformer fans!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tablet Price Drops In the Near Future? Very Possible.

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DigiTimes reported that tablet makers are expected to go through another "Tablet Price War"  probably by the end of September.  This is obviously excluding the iPad.  Apple obviously has no plans on budging on it's pricing.  But other vendors may very well be fixing to make some price cuts in order to minimize damages due to unsold inventory.

Does this mean tablets are going extinct?  Nope, it just means that the current price point for the devices is still too high for the average consumer to digest.  I think Barnes & Noble proved the point when they released the Nook Color.  I know a handful of people who have that devices and purchased it primarily to root it and run a version of CyanogenMod on it and turn it into a full fledged tablet device; and it even came to the point where the Nook Color received an official update with it's own tablet offerings.

Motorola proved that an alternative to the iPad could work (even if sales were modest it sent a message to the 'Big-A', i.e.: Apple).  And other vendor's followed suit by releasing a device similar to Motorola's Xoom but cheaper.  That is the natural progression of the lifecycle of consumer electronics.  Sure it happened fast, but right now vendor's seem to be hard pressed to rollout a device with a decent hardware configuration and keeping the price point under $350 to $400.

Would this upcoming price war bring down the price points even further, it's very possible.  Analysts are expecting some tablets to drop to the $350 price level for the average device, and could experience drops even lower than that (some think possibly $300 could be a future going price for some devices).  And by lowering the price point for these devices, it is very possible that people will feel more comfortable investing in one.

Let's face it, tablets are basically a hybrid between our cell phones and laptops.  For $400 to $600 you can buy a heck of a laptop, and for how many people really pay full retail price for their cell phones?  Not many.  That's right, a lot of those fancy smart phones on the market come with price tags in the $300 to $500 range. However, you're cellphone carrier usually gives you steep discounts on the hardware in order to make that money back on the service charges through the course of your contract.

So why would you pay that kind of price for a similar device?  Makes sense to me, drive the cost down.  Sales may pick up, which means more companies may get into the tablet market and generate competition.  Let's face it, right now if you're looking at tablet you're looking at (aside for the iPad):
-Asus
-Acer
-Motorola
-Samsung or
-Toshiba

There are cheaper tablets, but they come at a cost.  With either an older outdated version of Android, or significantly lesser hardware and resistive touchscreens.  And they often times have a poorer user experience. So I encourage the vendor's to do what they need to help drive the price down.  This can only help their sales, the end user's experience, and a means of further extending the Android (or similar) Operating System. And I see a lot of value for these Android devices and only hope that the market for them doesn't crumble around itself to due to over priced and underused devices.

Read the main article at: http://bb875c41.tinylinks.co

Thursday, July 28, 2011

ASUS Transformer Getting Honeycomb 3.2...Today?!

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Actually I guess owner's of the supported ASUS Transformer tablet will be getting the Honeycomb 3.2 update rolled out today (7-28-11).  This is great news for proud Transformer owners.  It was released a few weeks ago that Honeycomb 3.2 was being tested by Motorola and ASUS for the tablets: the Xoom and Transformer (respectively).

Meanwhile, those of us proud owners of the Iconia a500 (made by the other company whose name starts with the letter 'A'; just received the Honeycomb 3.1 update.  And from what I've beem seeing and reading a lot of the Iconia a500 owners are still awaiting the update for 3.1.  At this rate we'll probably see 3.2 on our Iconia a500's by October and maybe the release of Ice Cream by the end of the year (if this rate of updating continues).

On another note, apparently Honeycomb 3.2 is rumored to bring Netflix streaming support to the Transformer tablet.  Maybe one day fellow Iconia users.