The surprising iPad rival in education that isn't a tablet-Priceangels.com

If you've been tracking education tablet deployments over the course of the last 12 months, you'll have seen that business is booming for vendors.iPad roll-outs have varied from the hundreds to the thousands, with the L.A. school district recently agreeing to fork over $30 million to deploy 35,000 iPads.

There has also been a pick-up in demand for newest android tablet, especially from Dell, and even News Corp's Amplify is having some early success, with it due to roll-out a massive 23,000 Android tablets to the North Carolina school district.“A Chromebook cannot do everything that a Windows PC or a Mac (of even a Linux PC) can do. It can’t even do everything that a tablet can do. For one thing, the selection of games is very limited though there is, of course, Angry Birds,” wrote seasoned tech journalist Steve Wildstrom recently for Tech-pinions.

In theory, it’s a choice for lots of tablet buyers: Do you get the iPad, or Kindle Fire, or whatever, with a wireless data connection, or without one?But in reality, for most tablet buyers, it’s a non-issue. They are overwhelmingly buying tablets that have only Wi-Fi connections. Which means they can only get online when they’re within shouting distance of a router.

Analyst Craig Moffett spells it out in a recent research report on the telco industry: Only 20 percent of tablets are sold with wireless chipsets. And only half of those devices are initially connected to wireless networks. And Moffett guesstimates that perhaps half of that number end up disconnecting their wireless subscriptions (which is what happened in my focus group of one). Which would mean that only one in 20 tablets are connected to a wireless data plan.ds4324SG

But the numbers are also useful for people in the media business to consider as they think about where and when tablet owners are actually interacting with the Internet. Yes, it’s possible that someone is accessing your website on their iPad when they’re in the middle of a field.Its Nook tablets also are having a hard time competing with iPads and Android-based tablets such as Amazon’s Kindle. In fact, Barnes & Noble recently said it would stop making its own tablets and will instead concentrate on its e-readers. Its shares were down more than 4 percent to $17.80 as of this post.

If you didn’t think there was a market for Android Q88 Android Tablet designed specifically for kids, it appears Fuhu has been finding some level of success in this area. It was late last year they released a follow up to their original kiddie tab, the 7-inch Nabi 2 sporting a 7-inch display and Tegra 3 processor. Fuhu called it “the fastest, most powerful tablet in the world made just for kids.” They even followed up with a 10-inch version dubbed Nabi XD, this time marketed for the ever growing “tween” market.

Looks like Fuhu is just getting started, as today we discovered a new trademark filed with the USPTO for an all new tablet calling itself the “Nabi Dream Tab.” Other than the name, not much info was given, but with their kiddie and tween bases covered, we’re wondering if Fuhu isn’t ready to break out of the kid-tab market, and into something a little more high-end. With a name like “Dream Tab,” I got to thinking: what exactly would make your “dream” tablet?

What Tablet News To Expect from Google I/O 2013

Google's annual developer conference kicks off on Wednesday with a three-hour keynote address. Here's everything new android tablet users should be looking forward too.There isn't expected to be a new version of the larger Nexus 10, as that tablet only launched last fall.

Android 4.3

At one point it was thought that Google I/O 2013 would see the release of Android 5.0 (Key Lime Pie), but recent reports indicate that the next version of this operating system will be a smaller upgrade -- this will apparently be dubbed Android 4.3 and have the same code-name as the last two versions: Jelly Bean.

Among the changes that are expected is Google Play Games, which newest android tablet will be a central location where players of online Android games will be able to find each other. It will also allow gamers to post achievements and game-makers can display leaderboards online. Apple users should be familiar with this concept, as iOS has Game Center.An update to Google Wallet is also expected, but that is more smartphone software than for tablets.

A dark-horse possibility for Google I/O 2013 is a tablet running Chrome OS. This company has introduced tablets with this operating system and there has been speculation that a tablet with it could be released.François Hollande will receive a report today resulting from nine months of studying how the digital economy can contribute to cultural funding in France. This report will detail a plan to add a tax on smartphones and tablets, a tax which will go to pay for art & culture in France -whether it be keeping Versailles golden or public fountains clean. dfsWF2FR

Historically (since the 1980s), TV stations, movie theaters, radio stations & ISPs – distributors of ‘cultural goods’ (art) – have had a tax on their revenue that went straight into keeping the Louvre pretty (among other cultural works in France); thus, as smartphones and latest android tablet are now digital distributors of arts & cultural works in France, the report suggests that these items should be taxed.

Archos has a new Android tablet for your consideration, the kitchen-themed ChefPad. Rather than a stock Android experience and traditional tablet, this one is designed to stay in one place. Specifications are pretty much your typical mid-range device with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a dual-core 1.6GHz processor, 1GB RAM, and 8GB internal storage.

Android Tablets to Get Doc-Editing Features from Microsoft

To be clear, Microsoft did not this week announce what many people have wanted for a long time: native Office apps for new android tablet and/or iOS tablets.

Now that that's out of the way, here’s what Microsoft did announce: Intentions to bring Office Web App file-editing capabilities to Android tablets via the Chrome browser. Unfortunately, the announcement, which came in a May 7 blog post, didn’t say exactly when Android tablets will get the same "lightweight" (Microsoft’s term) Office Web Apps editing tools that iPad and Windows 8 tablet users already have.

Android tablet users should be able to access files in their SkyDrive accounts, create files or perform light edits on those files. The service is free; you don’t need to be an Office 365 subscriber or buy a third-party Office-compatible app. Office Web Apps also maintain the formatting in your Office documents, which isn’t always the case when you use third-party Office apps.

When will the native Office apps for newest android tablet and iOS devices be available? A recent PC World article says late 2014. Until then, third-party Office Word Apps might meet your mobile Office needs—as long as those needs are "lightweight." Some alternatives I’ve used and recommend (with caveats) include CloudOn (free), for delivering a virtual Office environment to Android and iOS devices; Office² HD ($8) for iPads; and Quickoffice Pro HD ($20) for Android tablets. sfdD3Ssjh

Consumers are going crazy for tablet devices these days. It started with Apple's iPad, which is still the best selling tablet line out there, and continues with the influx of low-cost Android slates from name-brand vendors like Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Asus, and so forth. Tablets have become so popular that Microsoft went and re-imagined Windows for touch input on-the-go. It seems unlikely these mobile devices are going anywhere, or does it? "You're going to see a shift I think. While tablets are good you're still restricted when it comes to content creation; there's always going to be a need for notebooks," Muscat told T3. "I think it's moving a lot more towards taking latest android tablet technology and effectively turning it into notebook technology."

Muscat gives the tablet form factor another two to three years before it yields to hybrid laptops. Is he crazy in thinking that? You'd have a hard time convincing BlackBerry CEO Thornsten Heins of that. At the end of last month, Heins made a similar prediction, stating in an interview with Bloomberg that five years from now, there won't be a reason to own a tablet.