Post-CES 2012: The Best Tablets This Year
The recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was a big hit especially for people who are interested in the latest gadgets available as they took a peek on the hottest technological gadget that is coming for the year 2012. One of the most popular gadgets in the show was the tablets presented from different companies.
There was a wide range of tablets shown at CES 2012 and most of these tablets differ in size, specifications, and features. Some of the experts who attended the show remarked that almost all of the tablets showcased have one goal in mind: beating the dominance of Apple's iPad 2 in the tablet market. There were some tablets that were forgettable as it did not offer new in the tablets presented while there were a number of tablets that were really revolutionary in their own right. Here are some of the best tablets that were recently presented to the public.
Best Tablets at CES 2012:
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime
This is one of the most anticipated tablets in the market due to its sophisticated design and powerful features. The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime sports a metallic spun design which is available in two colors: colors Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold. It is considered as one of the thinnest tablets in the market to date, having dimensions of 10.35"x 7.12" x 0.33" and weighing around 1.3 lbs. It also has a display size of 10.1-inch pressure-sensing multitouch display with a pixel resolution of 1280 x 800. Many people were pleasantly surprised about its display features as well as the features inside the tablet. It is one of the first tablets to have Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 chip running at 1.4GHz and 1GB of RAM. The tablet is currently running with Android 3.2 Honeycomb but there is a chance that it would be upgraded to Android 4.0 or Android ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) as soon as the update would be available. CES attendees were also impressed with the tablet's ability to transform into a notebook with the use of Eee Pad Transformer Prime's mobile dock. The tablet will be available in Australian stores on Jan. 18 (through normal retail channels) with a promised upgrade to Android 4.0. Retail price for the tablet is set at AU$799 (32GB) and AU$899 (64GB).
Acer Iconia Tab A700
Acer Iconia Tab A700 also utilizes a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and 1GB RAM. It has a 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 pixels of full screen resolution, storage space of 16GB or 32GB, micro SD slot, mini HDMI out, micro USB port, Bluetooth and 3G capability, and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n. As for the tablet's OS, it would be utilizing the newest version of Android which is Android 4.0 also known as Android ICS. This new tablet offering from Acer is very much different from the very first Iconia tablet called the A500. One of the reasons why this tablet has caught the eye of many spectators is due to its display features like having an anti-glare coating and the small distance between the display and the glass. These things might be small but users are very aware of such details. This tablet is reported to be available in the U.S. market by second quarter of this year. As for its availability in the Australian market, Acer has yet to release an official announcement regarding its release in Australia.
Toshiba Excite X10
This tablet is another 10.1-inch tablet which claims to be the "thinnest and lightest" tablet in the market today. Toshiba Excite X10 measures 0.3 inches in thickness, weighs around 1.2 lbs. and is made up of Magnesium alloy shell, a lightweight metal that is utilized in Toshiba's Protege Ultrabook. As for display, the tablet has a 1280 x 800 resolution IPS display while it has TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor with 1.2 GHz CPU. Other features of the tablet includes a a 5MP camera that is capable of utilizing 1080p video recording, Micro HDMI port, Micro USB port, audio headphone jack, Bluetooth and WiFi capability, Micro SD card slot, and docking port. In terms of OS, this tablet is currently running on Android 3.2 Honeycomb but Toshiba confirmed that it will soon be running on Android 4.0 as soon as the updates become available. The selling price for this tablet is between US$530 (16GB) to US$600 (32GB) with a probable release date sometime in the next three months. There is no news yet if Toshiba would make this tablet model available in the Australian market.