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It seems everywhere I look while doing my g-tab research, this debate rages. And, just like abortion and the relative value of left wing versus right wing, most of the time the debate degenerates into name calling and general idiocy. I actually think it IS an interesting discussion to have.....and one with valuable points to be made on both sides. It is important for people to go into the decision of which product to buy with a full quiver of knowledge rather than buying something which doesn't meet their needs or wants. Whether we are talking about three hundred bucks or six hundred, it is not pocket change.
First and most out of character for me, I want to talk about the strengths of the ipad. It is, in typical Apple fashion, a beautiful, iconic, well designed gadget that makes gadget whores the world over salivate to get their paws on it. Despite the many negatives about a closed technosystem (which I will get into later) Apple's technosystem also provides a simplicity and elegance that is almost unmatched in the operating system universe (with the possible exception of Webos). When I am advising friends on what computer or gadget to buy, if money is not an object, I always say this: if you want to do ten things simply and elegantly, ios is a great choice. But if you want to do an eleventh thing, or any of the first ten thing in a different way, Apple won't let you.
Surprisingly, one of the arenas that Apple is really dominating is portable gaming. After years of being a PC gamer and scoffing at my Mac gamer friend with their pathetic game library, I thought that Android would at least be on par. Much to my shock, even Webos is a vastly superior platform for gaming when compared to Android. It is my opinion that Google and Nvidia need to address the sad dearth of good games ASAP if they have any hope of breaking into a race in which they are already a lap behind.
Finally, I will say that Apple has done a masterful job of building an absolutely rabid fan base. As an overarching company, it's frankly shocking the kind of product dedication they are able to inspire. A few years back when Apple laptop hard drives were failing at an alarming rate, my hard core Apple friends looked for ANY excuse to let the company off the hook. But they have worked VERY hard through marketing and mostly (minus Steve Jobs) fantastic public relationsto build that kind of relationship with the consumer. Android and it's various licensees need to develop an interface that is much more user friendly and accessable to the non technically minded public.
Now to my beloved Gtab. Clearly from a hardware perspective it is on par with, or arguably superior to, the ipad. What seems to be overlooked in these discussions over and over is that to compare the Gtab and the Ipad is essentially the same thing as comparing a Honda and a Lexus. A Honda will most likely last as long or longer than a Lexus, and run as well or better. But people who buy Lexus are willing to pay a tax on luxury and brand name. But the Lexus costs over twice as much, so ultimately comparing the two based on their merits is less valuable than asking what the owner wants from their purchase. Clearly the Gtab, clocking in at around half the price of the Ipad, is a far better bang for the buck. But if what the consumer wants is the brand name, cool factor, and the 'it just works' mentality, and they are willing to pay a premium for the 'privilege' of owning Apple, then an Ipad may very well be the right choice for them. However, I think that with VERY little
technical know how, the Gtab quickly becomes an obvious alternative. It obviously holds the advantage when it comes to the web (complete flash compatibility is a fairly huge advantage right now and could become a bigger one as people develop useful flash apps for business), and the open market is both an advantage and disadvantage. There is no quality control in the Android market, but there is also far more scope for creativity and innovation now, and depending on how Google etc play their cards, and most definitely in the future.
Obviously, cheap memory expandability is a massive advantage to the Gtab. Non- expandable devices, in this era of cheap flash memory, cannot be looked at as anything but simple greed. The same goes for proprietary ports and cables. Gtab has a clear advantage here with usb, micro usb, microsd, and the possibility of easy hdmi out in the future.
Android itself has major advantages and disadvantages. It is not nearly as intuitive or as easily picked up as Ios, but it has far greater room for quantum leaps forward. Ios, to avoid alienating it's core users, is forced to take a far more conservative, evolutionary approach. Android needs to use this to it's advantage by making bold, market changing leaps forward and continuing to undercut Apple on price point, rather than playing catch up and releasing expensive tablets and trying to compete with Apple at what they do best (I believe the Xoom was a fairly major miscalculation, but won't go into that now). Apple is at risk of falling into operating system complacency like Palm did in the early 2000s. Android should leap on innovation, and reward it well....swype is a fantastic example of this. I'm writing this on my Gtab with swype right now, and there is nothing in the virtual keyboard world that even comes close.
In closing, let me say that I choose Honda over Lexus. I choose an open technosphere where I can use technology as I wish. I love my Gtab and plan to use it for the foreseeable future...but I pray that Nvidia and Google get together and realize that an open system doesn't have to mean a system without a game plan. Nvidia needs to get on the stick and release a raft of games that show off the technology Tegra 2 can bring to the table. Android tablets, and specifically sub 300 tablets could be a real draw to young gamers as an alternative to the new DS and the forthcoming PSP IF they had a good library of possibilities. They need to continue to support those of us that have already jumped aboard. Make us be the missionaries of their coolness. Just in the Woot/Tigerdirect liquidation over 10,000 Gtabbers have been added to the ranks. That is NOT an insignificant number. They need to build as many IT/business friendly apps as humanly possible. Apple's insistance on doing things their way has left them extremely vulnerable to any companies that can offer a more business friendly solution. This and this alone is why RIM is still in business. If Viewsonic and all other licensees could get even a portion of the 18-25 portable game market AND get a portion of the 30-50 business market, they would be in an excellent position to take a bite out of the big Apple. Having said all this....I admire Apple. I admire their consistant refinement of already existing technology. They may only make evolutionary leaps, but damn they do it well. But as long as I can buy more product and more freedom for half the price, that's the way I'm walking.
I'll just say that I bought the gtablet for the family so that we could surf the web on a comfy couch. Web content includes flash. The ipad doesn't support flash.
The OS is irrelevant when you're surfing the web, so the choice is obvious.
What was the point of your thesis? Who and why would you go with any general consensus on any man made products these days especially when they are mostly made in China with the exception of the lexus Isn't that one of toyota's non-braking brands? Mostly people are swayed by emotional responses to what they feel they may be getting. It is sad to know so many are building their self esteem, self worth, value from having or owning innate objects including g tab. Enjoying is one thing but feeling superior as a result of is another.
I can't stand apple products for me they have no value. The company is not environmentally or human rightfully responsible. Coupled with the arrogance of jobs thinking the entire Internet should change their usage of flash because he doesn't have the capacity to put it into his products. And I particularly don't like the ipad because it is nothing more than a pictorial cash register with the lion's share going to apple. Nothing about Apple appeals to me not even the design. The fisherprice gui or the odd shapes and the rotten apple logo. Anytime you bite into an apple and leave it uneaten it rots. To each his own reasons to buy or not to buy.
edirector said:
Enjoying is one thing but feeling superior as a result of is another.
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Funny story. So, I was sitting on the train other day going home. Had my gtab out playing some games. Out of all the seats that were available around, one guy had to sit down right next to me. I usually don't mind so I usually have my stuff between my legs instead of taking up a seat like some people. So, without pausing, this guy got out his ipad 2 and started playing games with it.
What I found funny was that I was dressed practically in rags because I had spent the whole day in the concrete lab working on one of our test machines. This guy was in some casual business attire (very white collar-like).
The gtab really is the poor man's tablet while the ipad and the xoom are the rich man's tablets.
I can't stand apple products for me they have no value. The company is not environmentally or human rightfully responsible. Coupled with the arrogance of jobs thinking the entire Internet should change their usage of flash because he doesn't have the capacity to put it into his products. And I particularly don't like the ipad because it is nothing more than a pictorial cash register with the lion's share going to apple. Nothing about Apple appeals to me not even the design. The fisherprice gui or the odd shapes and the rotten apple logo. Anytime you bite into an apple and leave it uneaten it rots. To each his own reasons to buy or not to buy.
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I wouldn't go that far with apple. I do recommend apple to most people who ask for my advice. Let's admit it. Apple really is made for those who only sees the outside. And it works right out of the box.
goodintentions said:
Funny story. So, I was sitting on the other day going home. Had my gtab out playing some games. Out of all the seats that were available around, one guy had to sit down right next to me. I usually don't mind so I usually have my stuff between my legs instead of taking up a seat like some people. So, without pausing, this guy got out his ipad 2 and started playing games with it.
What I found funny was that I was dressed practically in rags because I had spent the whole day in the concrete lab working on one of our test machines. This guy was in some casual business attire (very white collar-like).
The gtab really is the poor man's tablet while the ipad and the xoom are the rich man's tablets.
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I can't stand apple products for me they have no value. The company is not environmentally or human rightfully responsible. Coupled with the arrogance of jobs thinking the entire Internet should change their usage of flash because he doesn't have the capacity to put it into his products. And I particularly don't like the ipad because it is nothing more than a pictorial cash register with the lion's share going to apple. Nothing about Apple appeals to me not even the design. The fisherprice gui or the odd shapes and the rotten apple logo. Anytime you bite into an apple and leave it uneaten it rots. To each his own reasons to buy or not to buy.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't go that far with apple. I do recommend apple to most people who ask for my advice. Let's admit it. Apple really is made for those who only sees the outside. And it works right out of the box.[/QUOTE]
But it doesn't ipad 2 has serious operable issues and economic standing in life has no correlation to tech toys. Who can't afford an iphone they are selling for $49 and you can get ipad at walmart. People utter such nonsense in reference to apple products. I paid $500 for my cell phone cash.
It boils down to a matter of choice. For myself I will own 2 or 3rd of these products none apple. I will pick up playbook next as soon as I see what the development community can do with it. My spouse offered to buy me an ipad not costing me a dime I said don't waste your money.
I agree and have said much the same thing since I bought my first Droid 1. I have since upgraded to a Droid X and the Gtab.
Apple is great, if you like living inside a tight little box. Android is for those who like to express themselves and push the limits.
Then I started some new classes and they give me a Macbook Pro. I must admit, the packaging was very nice, especially compared to my last HP (that is now trash because HP won't support it...) but the first thing I did was pull out my copy of Windows 7 and partition the hard drive. I might have to do some of my design work on the Mac partition, but the rest of my time is spent on a "normal" computer.
I would agree with a lot of the thoughts already expressed on this thread, however I don't think that the gtab is a "poor man's tablet". To say so implies that our tabs are somehow less than the xooms and ipads. In almost every category the gtab holds its own or far exceeds the competition. In fact, with the exception of the display (which I actually don't have issue with since I'm in landscape all the time anyway), I think the hardware is superior in every way to the ipad. The fact that Viewsonic managed to make a product compete on a level playing field with the top tablets in the market today for less than half the price is incredible and goes to show how much the manufacturers (especially Apple) are making off of consumers.
I do recommend ipads for my friends who aren't tech-savvy. As was said before, Apple products just work and you do have to respect that. The completely closed system in which they operate allows for total control and an unparalleled experience for the AVERAGE user. My Evo and my gTab are inoperable for some length of time about once a week because I won't stop messing with them. And Apple products do look sexy, in a man-purse gucci sunglasses kind of way.
Comparing iPads and gTabs as Honda and Lexus isn't a fair comparison. A better comparison would be a modded out Nissan Skyline GT-R with twin oversize turbos, nitrous, and a shake-your-neighbor-out-of-bed-to-watch-your-burnout tunable exhaust (That's the gTab) versus an out of the box Ferrari. Both are fast. Wicked fast. And both look sexy in different ways. The most important thing is that they both run a 1/4 mile in pretty much the same time. The Ferrari has a v12 and a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis from the factory, but the Skyline has more cupholders. The guy driving the Ferrari gets out of his ride at the local Starbucks and has every money-grubbing trophy wife drooling on it. The guy with the skyline has to reprogram his standalone ECU to back it out of the garage, but gets his hood shined by models for Turbonetics. The Skyline has a back seat.
The gTab is not a poor mans tablet. The gTab is a tablet for people who want to smoke that d-bag in the ferrari but are smart enough not to drop $120k on it. And comparing the gTab to the iPad isn't even worth doing. The hardware is too close to call, the benchmarks are inconclusive at best. What we should be doing is comparing end users of these products.
I would say both have their places. I love my gtab and believe it suits my needs and temperament to a tee. However, I am by training and inclination a tinkerer and I don't mind the occasional lockup or reboot as the price I pay for the ability to tinker. My wife and mother, on the other hand, would be seriously torqued if it happened to them on anything approaching a regular basis. Consequently, they both have iPads and not gTabs.
I am the antithesis of an apple fanboy (my wife gets pissed because I constantly refer to her iPhone as an iSuck) but not really for any reason other than what I perceive as the inherent arrogance of The Steve and his minions. And I dislike being dictated to. But other than my philosophical issues with apple I really can't say too much negative about the iPad, other than I think it's ridiculous that they have neither SD card support or, and I consider this borderline criminal neglect, USB ports. For people like my technophobic mother though, they are just what the doctor ordered. The iPad is the only device we've ever found that will consistently allow her to access the web and email without turning her off or intimidating her.
On the other hand, I think the android tablet market has a lot of promise but is trying hard to strangle itself at birth with the pricing structures the manufacturers keep adopting. That's all I will say about that for now (though I did rant about it here: http://www.swamphole.org/content/tablet-computing-101). If the vendors can get that under control and Google doesn't piss too many people off with their to-date refusal to release Honeycomb, I think these tablets have a very bright future. Right now I don't think any of them are stable enough for anybody but the people who are tech savvy and/or don't want an iPad for whatever reason. For those folks that are willing to put in the effort I think devices like the gTab can be made into far superior tablets than any iPad.
Thanks, Macros764, for your post. This us (non-Apple users) versus them (Apple users) feeling has existed for ages now and it's good of you to remind us that there are 2 almost entirely different markets (and possibly mentalities) at work here. Another person noticed what you hinted at in your post (the Honda vs Lexus distinction) and commented on it long ago.
I'm talking about Neal Stephenson's interesting essay, "In the Beginning... Was the Command line", which you can search for on Google (as a new poster, I can't add a direct link here).
His essay written in 1999 was about Linux, Windows and Apple users, but you can replace Linux with Android everywhere in that essay and it will still all ring true.
I like Mr. Stephenson's terms for the different kinds of users. Android users are like H. G. Wells's Morlocks--they're the ones who like to tinker with stuff and tend to know how those things work. Apple users have always been the Eloi. They don't care how things work as long as it does (and it looks good).
I tend to be a Morlock (and I suspect a lot of the users on this forum are too, to varying degrees), but some days, I wish I could be an Eloi.
Enjoy reading the essay. Be warned that in true Stephenson style, it is a very long piece.
An enjoyable and thoughtful piece - better than the usual flames and rants that the word Apple usually provokes. Never one to miss an opportunity to add my two cents, here I go. To begin with I have many years experience - I was in IT before the PC was born so I've had a chance to watch the whole thing from start to finish. There was a time when there was just DOS and every computer ran it - branded or clone. There was another alternative CP/M and I used it but it died by natural selection. I think there was even Unix around at that point but it was specialized. Later there were a lot of different things to choose from Windows, Apple, Commodore and lots of other things that have disappeared. Windows evolved into the os for business (after IBM shot itself in the head with OS2) and Mac became the os for graphic arts. It kind of stayed that way for a long time and Apple really was a niche market. Linux appeared but it was brutal in those days. Everything was manual setup, X sometimes worked and sometimes didn't and you had no idea how things would work on your particular box. I have been playing with linux since those early days but ultimately in my business environment windows was the os of choice. Apple remained something that "the print guys" used. In my mind the displacement of the walkman by the ipod marked the shift of Apple's fortunes. Whether it was the cash or the public perception of Apple or both they suddenly became a much bigger player. They clearly "got" the marketing thing and their closed garden approach did make them very palatable for the masses who were willing to pay extra to be safe from the blue screen of death, endless virus attacks and debacles like Vista. Linux has continued trudging but the continued fragmentation still prevents it from really getting into the game. Ubuntu is the best hope for Linux in my opinion. They seem to have figured out that mainstream users don't need 10 different word processors in each distribution - just one good one that works something like Word that people are used to. I think that if Ubuntu continues the way it is going it will see more and more adoption over time especially as Windows becomes more and more clunky in the effort to squeeze cash out of increasingly savy users. The problem for Ubuntu is that it may be too late.
Increasingly, I find that the tablet idea that I once scorned is probably the direction that things will go in for many users. Executives where I work want to know if they can have a tablet - not a laptop to take with them. People at home are happy to curl up on the couch with a tablet to surf the web, read email and interact with friends. Apple knows this because they have had the experience with the ipod, the iphone and now the ipad. Their closed world gives them a huge advantage because they don't have to worry if google is going to release the source code for them or if Invidia will bother to write drivers for them. They control it all.
So, what's a g-tabber to do. Well we can't make Google release Honeycomb, we can't force Invidia to write drivers and it doesn't seem like we can even get Viewsonic to do much of anything. I worry that Android will fragment the way Linux did and all the competing versions will just sap the strength of the whole.
That said - I've got Vegan Ginger on my tablet, I've added Clemsyns kernel with CIFS support so I can access my files on my server. I've picked and chosen apps, 99% of them free so I can do almost everything on my g-tab that I can on my PC. It is fast, cool, and completely under my control. I keep pushing the envelope to see what else I can do with it. If it never evolves beyond where it is right now it will still be the best $300 I've spent on gadgets. The developer support in this forum is enviable and I know that I haven't done or learned everything about the g-tab yet. So my g-tab may not be the expensive fancy sports car ripping down the highway that the ipad is but man, when I go off roading and mud bogging with my g-tab, I have a blast! So choose your vehicle for you activities and don't try and second guess yourself or anyone else. Life is short - be happy!
austontatious said:
I would agree with a lot of the thoughts already expressed on this thread, however I don't think that the gtab is a "poor man's tablet". To say so implies that our tabs are somehow less than the xooms and ipads.
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I don't think it implies any such thing. It does, however, define your social status. It's like what school you went to for college. For some, the only reason they went to school A, which costs $60,000 a year, is because they're following the family tradition and the father is some lawyer or doctor. For others, a school like Iowa State or U. of I. looks just as good but costs only a fraction of what school A charges.
The ipad and the xoom really were designed for people to show off. Everything about them looks, exterior wise, looks good and classy. The gtab, for lack of a better word, is ugly looking. Here is what Robert has to say about the difference between an android device like the gtab and something more high class like the xoom or the ipad.
Android is like having an old beat-up Chevy - not much to look at at first, but after some tweaking under the hood, a good paint job and redesigning the interior, you have a great car that not only runs and looks good, but is designed for you because you made it that way. iOS is like a really nice looking car that came off the assembly line - looks nice, runs great and all the car shops have accessories for it, but there's nothing unique about it. Looks like everyone else's car. So it depends on what you want.
In almost every category the gtab holds its own or far exceeds the competition.
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And yet a lot of people on this forum have specifically expressed that if they had the money they'd buy the ipad or xoom.
In fact, I am convinced that if the ipad, xoom, and gtab all cost the same, nobody would even consider buying the gtab... except for me. I like to hunt down non-mainstream items to own. I don't like my stuff to look like everyone else's.
I have a G-tablet. I like it. I wish it had Netflix and HuluPlus like the Ipad. I wish it was easy to find accessories for it, like the Ipad. Having not ever actually used an Ipad, at this moment I sort of wish I had one, If I had one I would probably miss all the tinkering I can do with my Gtab.
If my Gtab could stream netflix and huluplus it would be no contest.
Pexcer said:
I have a G-tablet. I like it. I wish it had Netflix and HuluPlus like the Ipad. I wish it was easy to find accessories for it, like the Ipad. Having not ever actually used an Ipad, at this moment I sort of wish I had one, If I had one I would probably miss all the tinkering I can do with my Gtab.
If my Gtab could stream netflix and huluplus it would be no contest.
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I have both an iPad2 and a Gtablet. The iPad2 is very nice, and does what it does very well. And, it prints to the local laser printer. Streams netflix, etc.
You have to jailbreak it to get access to the stripped down MacOS that is iOS, with shell, etc, which I'm not doing - did that with an iPod Touch a few years ago, and although its fun it really doesn't add much now that the app store has soaked up most developers.
iPad2 = just works. If it does what you want, you're golden. If you're willing to risk a $600 device, you can jailbreak it and gain a level of tinkering that is about 20% of the tinkering you can do in Android on the GTablet.
So, yeah - GTablet is way more fun to tinker with, swapping in new kernels, playing with various roms... Android is still a lot rougher as well, and more open (you can drop in stuff *not* from a walled garden) but for the average person who just wants a pad to couch surf, read the news at breakfast, do their email, read books, or play games... iPad2 is going to do it. It's going to do it as well as a laptop, and a lot more conveniently, without the hassle of virus checking or other crap that most people would just as soon not deal with.
I feel like the "status symbol" argument is a strawman. If you're just a regular person, not into coding, tinkering, etc... not into more than surfing and email and maybe some games, the iPad is going to be as good as a laptop, and about as much if not less in cost. This is why the iPad is eating into laptop sales, and killed the netbook market.
Can Android get there and compete? Unless Honeycomb is way WAY better than Gingerbread, I think they're at least a year if not two away from parity with the current iPad2 just on software. Again, I'm not considering myself (or likely anyone who would even visit xda-developers) as the iPad target market. But there are way more people in the target market than are here
I have both. I bought the G tab back in January knowing full well the issues with it. It was my intention to mod it like most here but for one thing or another haven't done it yet. I do like customizing main screen anyway I like to, with widgets and such, something the IPad can't do. The fact that I can convert movies on my pc and copy by USB drive is great. Photo viewing, music, surfing the net, audio books are great on it.
I decided I really wanted the IPad for my business which has many more and better apps suited for it. I can take pictures of job sites , keep track of estimates and invoicing with some very good apps.*
The whole Mac cult is creepy but I knew about that. The display is very good, no denying. Form factor, great.
I am keeping both of them.
So I've been playing around with my Transformer Prime and looking for the best games for it when I realized the PS Vita is coming out soon, I think today. When I first heard about it I was so excited about it and was going to buy it on the spot, but now that I have a quad-core tablet, I see less of a reason to own a dedicated video game handheld. Yes The PSV has better graphics and better games right now, but quad-core tablets just arrived. I see a lot of potential in this next generation of tablets. Is it logical to buy a PSV or a 3DS anymore?
To be honest I always thought it was a waste of money from the get go and thats before all these wicked ass tablets started to come out. I know it appealed to some peeps but I never got into it...I figure if I'm gaming it has to be on at least a 42" inch screen. From the little info I heard about the vita, it seems more of a novelty that anything else. I'd just stick to gaming on a tablet if anything. Just my two cents though lol
The big question I keep asking myself is, why should I buy a device dedicated to one thing? In a world when more devices are capable of performing a wider array of uses, it seems strange to have a device that is meant for a single purpose. I do a lot of college work so having a word processor is key, if a device doesn't have it than I'm less likely to buy it. I just want to find high quality games for my Prime, but unfortunately those are not out yet.
Howdy all! I've spent much time pondering where Sony is at for phones, tablets and portable gaming, and where I'd want to eventually see them. With Sony now in full control of the mobile phone divison and greater interaction between the various Sony departments under the new rule of Kaz Hirai, I would hope we'll Sony starting to produce market leading devices if they want to carve out any significant chunk of the market.
This thread is really just for people to voice their thoughts on what type of devices Sony should strive to produce in the coming months/years and what sort of experiences they should give their customers. I'll kick things off with my own list of things I'd like to see. I get that it may just appear the random ramblings of a fanboy, but I figured it's a good a place to start as any
- Expand Vita OS to phones and tablets. It is true that in the here and now the Vita OS isn't suitable for phones and tablets, but then again it is a very young OS and is constantly growing. We know it was designed with phone/tablet expandability in mind, so I can see Sony doing this eventually. What would this mean for Sony and Android? Well they don't necessarily have to get out of the Android game, but there's only so much you can do to differentiate yourself when everyone is running the same OS. I'd like to see them have both Android devices and Vita OS devices as that would be the smart play IMO.
It's also true that Sony doesn't have the greatest history in the software department so one has to wonder why I'm saying they should develop their own OS. Quite simply because I've spent a lot of time playing around with the Vita OS and I'm impressed with it so far. If they begin expanding it with phone and tablet use in mind, I think it could pose a serious threat to other mobile OS's. With Microsoft being able to integrate xbox gaming into the Windows mobile platform and the already substantial presence of gaming on iOS and Android, I don't think Sony can afford to not expand upon the Vita OS and carve out their own chunk of the industry.
-Bank on Playstation Mobile and toss everything you can into making it a success. PSM succeeding will be the only way the Vita OS could be expaned to other mobile devices. Sony needs an app ecosystem and PSM is it. I'm not a programmer, but from comments I've ready from people who are programmers, it seems that a lot of them are pleased with the way Sony is handling PSM. While I'm sure there's room for improvement, again it's still in its infancy. In fact, it tehnically hasn't even born yet since it's still in the beta stages.
The fact that PSM also runs on some Android devices makes it even better as you can give those people a taste of the PSM experience and if they want more they can invest in a Vita OS device. The ability to double dip should be a huge benefit here.
-More integration with Playstation. I think Playstation as a whole is Sonys ace up its sleeve. If they can get all PS1 and PSP games working on PS Certified devices, it'll open up a library of hundreds, if not thousands of titles for people to play on the mobile, and add a lot of additional revenue for Sony. Not to mention if you can get them hooked a bit with these smaller games as opposed to the relatively simpler games you find on mobile devices these days, it increases the chances that they might want to invest in the PS3/PS4 whenever it comes out.
-I do like that with their current lineup of phones, Sony is try to to cater to every market segment rather than just focus on high end devices. I'd continue this, although maybe with fewer devices as the 2012 Sony Mobile lineup is pretty substantial.
-One product concept that I'd love to see is the full integration of the phone and the tablet. Sony was already partly there with the Tablet P, but I think they need to see it through to the next step. The idea would be to have a device that folds in half and on the outside would be a normal display just like any modern smart phone. When you want to get off the small screen and onto something bigger, just open it up and inside you'll find a single flexible OLED display the size of your typical tablet screen. We know Sony (and Samsung amongst others) are working on flexible OLEDs and Sony recently announced a 9.9" version, but quite honestly we don't know when they'll be ready to put those in products or if it's flexible enough for this application. If they could make this work though, I think it would be a huge seller. It'll be expensive as hell, for a phone/tablet all in one, I'd be willing to pay more.
-Leverage more tech from their digital imaging division. Sony has their Cybershot T series cameras which really aren't that much thicker than most phones, but has far better quality optics, and even a bit of optical zoom. I'd also want to see a xenon flash of course.
There were rumours going about not long ago about Sony doing exactly this for a fabled Xperia Z, but I think that was just random speculation.
hi all,
ive dabbled with quite a few emulators on the android platform, and most are a bit dissapointing, and the paid for ones are the worse of all, totally lacking in features and compatibility.
when i got my jxd s7300 i thought it would rekindle my interest in emulation, with its 7 inch screen and half decent d-pad, but ive now dug out my old psp cos the emulators on that are better than the very basic emulators on android.
whether its snes/amiga/psx/mame, the psp emulators are the complete package, but the android emulators pale in comparison.
for example, every single emulator on the psp has autofire/turbofire options in the input options, cos even back in the psp days emulator authors had the common sense to realise that the cheap tacky psp buttons were not designed to be repeatedly mashed playing some manic old school shootemup.
today, on touchscreen tablets and tablets and phones etc with very cheap and small weedy physical controls, the need to not constantly mash the buttons is even more important, and not to mention making the whole screen shake in ones hands as one stabs the buttons like a demented gibbon playing some old school manic shootemup, which were designed in the day for arcade quality joysticks and buttons which were much easier and more comfortable to repeatedly hammer.
on android, mame4droid reloaded, snes emus, final burn alpha, epsxe, and nearly all versions of various emulators for just about every old school system, AND NOT ONE OF EM has the common sense option of an autofire option in the input options, what the hell is going on ?, are todays emulator authors convinced that modern tablets and phones have arcade quality microswitched buttons on them ?
the only half decent emu with an autofire option is mame4droid, but thats old and runs only a few pre 80s stuff properly. mame4droid reloaded is much better, but the autofire option was removed !! (by mame devs i suppose), but what excuse has the author of final burn alpha, the authors of the various snes emus, amiga emus, psx emus, etc etc,
all pretty good emulators, but lacking in features and compatibility, and in the case of epsxe, not even able to sync the sound correctly.
all these emulators rendered virtually unplayable cos of lack of even the simplest autofire option, and believe you me, there are not many old school games that dont require constant stabbing of the fire buttons.
also, as an aside, ive posted for months on a few forums asking if anyone knew of an android app that could assign an autofire rate to a single button, to be effective whilst using various emulators, and to date, NOT A SINGLE REPLY to any of the posts, so it seems this avenue is not an option, so that makes it all the more important for emulator authors to implement this simple feature.
cheers
mattemat said:
hi all,
ive dabbled with quite a few emulators on the android platform, and most are a bit dissapointing, and the paid for ones are the worse of all, totally lacking in features and compatibility.
when i got my jxd s7300 i thought it would rekindle my interest in emulation, with its 7 inch screen and half decent d-pad, but ive now dug out my old psp cos the emulators on that are better than the very basic emulators on android.
whether its snes/amiga/psx/mame, the psp emulators are the complete package, but the android emulators pale in comparison.
for example, every single emulator on the psp has autofire/turbofire options in the input options, cos even back in the psp days emulator authors had the common sense to realise that the cheap tacky psp buttons were not designed to be repeatedly mashed playing some manic old school shootemup.
today, on touchscreen tablets and tablets and phones etc with very cheap and small weedy physical controls, the need to not constantly mash the buttons is even more important, and not to mention making the whole screen shake in ones hands as one stabs the buttons like a demented gibbon playing some old school manic shootemup, which were designed in the day for arcade quality joysticks and buttons which were much easier and more comfortable to repeatedly hammer.
on android, mame4droid reloaded, snes emus, final burn alpha, epsxe, and nearly all versions of various emulators for just about every old school system, AND NOT ONE OF EM has the common sense option of an autofire option in the input options, what the hell is going on ?, are todays emulator authors convinced that modern tablets and phones have arcade quality microswitched buttons on them ?
the only half decent emu with an autofire option is mame4droid, but thats old and runs only a few pre 80s stuff properly. mame4droid reloaded is much better, but the autofire option was removed !! (by mame devs i suppose), but what excuse has the author of final burn alpha, the authors of the various snes emus, amiga emus, psx emus, etc etc,
all pretty good emulators, but lacking in features and compatibility, and in the case of epsxe, not even able to sync the sound correctly.
all these emulators rendered virtually unplayable cos of lack of even the simplest autofire option, and believe you me, there are not many old school games that dont require constant stabbing of the fire buttons.
also, as an aside, ive posted for months on a few forums asking if anyone knew of an android app that could assign an autofire rate to a single button, to be effective whilst using various emulators, and to date, NOT A SINGLE REPLY to any of the posts, so it seems this avenue is not an option, so that makes it all the more important for emulator authors to implement this simple feature.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bear in mind though that getting emulation to work- especially on Android, considering its mostly for phones- is a feat in itself. On many emulators, graphics rendering in itself is still a problem. Developers would rather make sure that a game can actually run decently rather than focus on things like autofire which (considering the beta stages of most emulators) would only slow progress down.
Android wan't designed to be a gaming system. The fact that we even have DS and PSP emulators- yes, barely capable, but still- is quite a big thing.
You seriously can't expect miracles when it comes to emulation. The developers work hard as is, trying to make things work. Autofire isn't a "common sense" feature, its an extra. "Common sense" features would include graphical rendering engines and other options such as frameskipping and display options that could help smoothen game performance. Whereas PSPs are meant to render games and the like properly even through emulation, Android wasn't. Again, bearing in mind that this is an OS that was meant to run on a phone or tablet.
End of the day though, entirely at the dev's discretion, but the dev would rather have a playable game than features which make it easier.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk HD
Soryuu said:
Bear in mind though that getting emulation to work- especially on Android, considering its mostly for phones- is a feat in itself. On many emulators, graphics rendering in itself is still a problem. Developers would rather make sure that a game can actually run decently rather than focus on things like autofire which (considering the beta stages of most emulators) would only slow progress down.
Android wan't designed to be a gaming system. The fact that we even have DS and PSP emulators- yes, barely capable, but still- is quite a big thing.
You seriously can't expect miracles when it comes to emulation. The developers work hard as is, trying to make things work. Autofire isn't a "common sense" feature, its an extra. "Common sense" features would include graphical rendering engines and other options such as frameskipping and display options that could help smoothen game performance. Whereas PSPs are meant to render games and the like properly even through emulation, Android wasn't. Again, bearing in mind that this is an OS that was meant to run on a phone or tablet.
End of the day though, entirely at the dev's discretion, but the dev would rather have a playable game than features which make it easier.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you make some valid points, and i understand android is not the ideal platform for emulation, BUT, the fact that android does have some pretty good emulators, afba (android final burn alpha), mame4droid reloaded, being two of the best, shows what can be achieved,
but its a crying shame that running some classic old school shooters in these emulators is such an awkward and uncomfortable experience due to stabbing away on the cheap and nasty controls of modern tablets and phones, and not to mention the damage visited upon on said controls after a lengthy session of frantic button mashing, thousands of presses on a single button just to maintain a steady rate of ingame weapons fire or whatever.
im not asking for the moon on a stick, just simple autofire options, and those that dont need such a thing can easily choose not to use the autofire option if they choose not to, although why anyone would rather bang away on their expensive phone/tablet buttons thousands of times in a session of flying shark on mame, or whatever, rather than simply toggle autofire on, is beyond my comprehension, yes, the original arcade game did not have autofire (some purists say), but the original arcade game had a fantastic quality joystick and big red buttons !, perfect for mashing away on.
todays phones/tablets have nothing like the dream controls of the original arcade machines, and even if they did, im sure if you were to hold an arcade cabinet in the palm of your hands you would not wish to be stabbing away on the fire button due to shaking the damn thing whilst you did so !
Developers have lives and bills to pay. Honestly alot of the emulators are made as a hobby because there isnt any real money for the amount of work that goes into an emulator. Making an emulator is one of the most difficult things to program on earth , seriously. If there was more incentive we would get better emulators. Also remember the device that the developer is using the emulator might run better than on your device.
hmmmmm
mattemat said:
you make some valid points, and i understand android is not the ideal platform for emulation, BUT, the fact that android does have some pretty good emulators, afba (android final burn alpha), mame4droid reloaded, being two of the best, shows what can be achieved,
but its a crying shame that running some classic old school shooters in these emulators is such an awkward and uncomfortable experience due to stabbing away on the cheap and nasty controls of modern tablets and phones, and not to mention the damage visited upon on said controls after a lengthy session of frantic button mashing, thousands of presses on a single button just to maintain a steady rate of ingame weapons fire or whatever.
im not asking for the moon on a stick, just simple autofire options, and those that dont need such a thing can easily choose not to use the autofire option if they choose not to, although why anyone would rather bang away on their expensive phone/tablet buttons thousands of times in a session of flying shark on mame, or whatever, rather than simply toggle autofire on, is beyond my comprehension, yes, the original arcade game did not have autofire (some purists say), but the original arcade game had a fantastic quality joystick and big red buttons !, perfect for mashing away on.
todays phones/tablets have nothing like the dream controls of the original arcade machines, and even if they did, im sure if you were to hold an arcade cabinet in the palm of your hands you would not wish to be stabbing away on the fire button due to shaking the damn thing whilst you did so !
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Click to collapse
I may be a little off here so bear with me.
Have you tried using an actual gamepad on the device? i'm sure you have seen gamepads with autofire buttons already on them.
I use Retroarch (in my opinion absolutely fantastic bit of software) and i know that a great many differing types of game pad can be used with it, the dev/s update them all the time. All you need is the app to connect the game pad and you are all good.
Take a look at the thread, i cant be sure but i think someone mentioned autofire in there somewhere:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2116468
It also gives a good guide to what you need to do to connect a gamepad.
Hope this helps,
Creamy
I find GBA.emu, MD.emu, Snes9x Ex+, N64oid/Mupen, nds4droid, FPSE and PPSSPP to be quite good actually
Granted I use a Sony Dual Shock 3 to control them
The object of emulation is to replicate the original experience
If the original hardware didn't have autofire why would an emulator have it
That wouldnt be true to the original game/hardware
i dont think connecting a pad of some sort to a 7 inch tablet is feasable ?, does such a thing even exist, and if it did i doubt a physical autofire switch would be on it.
ive never seen a decent clip on pad for 7 inch (or 10 inch tablets), i think one is maybe due on some kickstarter project, but thats pie in the sky right now.
also, could someone help me contact the author of afba (android final burn alpha), ive tried to pm him but my message will not go through.
afba is the best emu ive seen on android so far, but how i would love a simple autofire option in the input menu.
cheers
mattemat said:
i dont think connecting a pad of some sort to a 7 inch tablet is feasable ?, does such a thing even exist, and if it did i doubt a physical autofire switch would be on it.
ive never seen a decent clip on pad for 7 inch (or 10 inch tablets), i think one is maybe due on some kickstarter project, but thats pie in the sky right now.
also, could someone help me contact the author of afba (android final burn alpha), ive tried to pm him but my message will not go through.
afba is the best emu ive seen on android so far, but how i would love a simple autofire option in the input menu.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course its feasable, i wouldnt have suggested it otherwise. At least try the suggestion and read the thread..........why so negative?
I run Retroarch (containing most of the popular emu's) on my Samsung galaxy Beam (the one with the 50" Projector onboard) and i use the six axis controller app to connect a ps3 pad to the phone. POW!! instant gaming on a huge screen.
Furthermore, I was in the local Tesco yesterday and saw a ps3 type wireless pad, it has autofire switches all over it and was little more than £15........Bargain.
So i think i have covered all of your needs there, you just have to see if it works for you.
As i mentioned before, you may get a little further if you read the thread i linked.
Best of luck,
Creamy
Yeah, full-featured emulator would be good (like SNES)
creamy said:
Of course its feasable, i wouldnt have suggested it otherwise. At least try the suggestion and read the thread..........why so negative?
I run Retroarch (containing most of the popular emu's) on my Samsung galaxy Beam (the one with the 50" Projector onboard) and i use the six axis controller app to connect a ps3 pad to the phone. POW!! instant gaming on a huge screen.
Furthermore, I was in the local Tesco yesterday and saw a ps3 type wireless pad, it has autofire switches all over it and was little more than £15........Bargain.
So i think i have covered all of your needs there, you just have to see if it works for you.
As i mentioned before, you may get a little further if you read the thread i linked.
Best of luck,
Creamy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive had a look at that thread, but what i would be after is a way to physically attach ps3 pad to the tablet.
ive had a look at the 'gameclip', but it only supports certain phones, and one of the few 7 inch tablets it supports is the nexus 7, but that device is getting slagged off big time in current reviews (hardware problems after a years use)
and anyway, for comfort a tablet needs dpad on left and face buttons on right (like the jxd gamepad), and sticking a ps3 pad under a tablet is not ergonomically comfortable for long periods (the tablet overhangs the pad and its weight is not evenly distributed for comfort in the hands)
anyway, i should not need hotch potch solutions like that, the jxd has decent controls built in, but i can not enjoy them cos every single amiga/arcade/psx/cps/neo geo emu on android insists on making the player furiously stab away like a loon cos of lack of auto/turbo fire options.
I just use my psp 1000 for emulators since I hate playing oldschool games with a touch screen it just takes the fun out of oldschool games but with the psp you have actual buttons which makes it more fun to play Sega Gen games like street fighter or Atari 2600 games but I know some people Actually like touch screen for emulators I was just pointing that out
Sent from my psp 1000 and kindle fire hd
mattemat said:
ive had a look at that thread, but what i would be after is a way to physically attach ps3 pad to the tablet.
ive had a look at the 'gameclip', but it only supports certain phones, and one of the few 7 inch tablets it supports is the nexus 7, but that device is getting slagged off big time in current reviews (hardware problems after a years use)
and anyway, for comfort a tablet needs dpad on left and face buttons on right (like the jxd gamepad), and sticking a ps3 pad under a tablet is not ergonomically comfortable for long periods (the tablet overhangs the pad and its weight is not evenly distributed for comfort in the hands)
anyway, i should not need hotch potch solutions like that, the jxd has decent controls built in, but i can not enjoy them cos every single amiga/arcade/psx/cps/neo geo emu on android insists on making the player furiously stab away like a loon cos of lack of auto/turbo fire options.
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Click to collapse
Looks like you are at the mercy of the developers then pal, i doubt you are the only one who would like this feature so you could just ask the teams that make the Emu's.
I would reitterate however, as previously mentioned.....its is exactly that....a feature, and one that appears to hold low priority (otherwise it would already be there) It is also worth noting that autofire was always considered 'cheating' when these consoles were initially around, so this may be another reason that the feature isnt there.....i do however get your point about the devices getting bashed during emulation.
I also dont understand why you have to physically hold the tab instead of using it as a screen, but hey your preference is your own.
One final tip, your are coming across as frustrated and a touch miffed. I can understand that you are looking for help and that you have posted in a fair few places without response, however if someone who can help reads one of your posts (and it does read as if you consider them incompetent for not including this feature) They may be a little less willing to help you or funish you with the feature you require.
Again Best of Luck,
Creamy
creamy said:
Looks like you are at the mercy of the developers then pal, i doubt you are the only one who would like this feature so you could just ask the teams that make the Emu's.
I would reitterate however, as previously mentioned.....its is exactly that....a feature, and one that appears to hold low priority (otherwise it would already be there) It is also worth noting that autofire was always considered 'cheating' when these consoles were initially around, so this may be another reason that the feature isnt there.....i do however get your point about the devices getting bashed during emulation.
I also dont understand why you have to physically hold the tab instead of using it as a screen, but hey your preference is your own.
One final tip, your are coming across as frustrated and a touch miffed. I can understand that you are looking for help and that you have posted in a fair few places without response, however if someone who can help reads one of your posts (and it does read as if you consider them incompetent for not including this feature) They may be a little less willing to help you or funish you with the feature you require.
Again Best of Luck,
Creamy
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Click to collapse
point taken !
but i really do not like stabbing away on the fire button on handheld devices, its noisy, bad for the hardware, uncomfortable, not ergonomic, and ultimately pointless, and the small screens shake whilst doing so.
Is there a 'best phone for gaming'? I know it's a broad question, but I want my next phone to be really good for gaming in terms of tech specs and ideally in terms of community, exclusives etc.
If someone asked me what the best console setup is, I would say PS4 and for PC, Alienware is debatably the PC for gamers/gaming. Somewhat surprising that there isn't a best for mobile gaming. Suggestions?
When it comes to gaming on mobile devices, your choices are Android and iOS. There's lots of really cool games that are exclusive on iOS, so if you want the most variety, an iPhone (the Plus sized one) or iPad will give you the most games. That's a lot to spend just on a device to game on though.
Android obviously has the most variety of devices. My choice right now is the Nexus 6. Big screen, powerful front-facing stereo speakers. Hardware is slightly aged, but will still play any game I can throw at it. Previously I used a OnePlus One, and I can tell you that I'll never go back to bottom-firing speakers.
Interesting, I just read on techcrunch that the founder of Atari is working on a phone for gamers called wonder. Doesn't say when it will be out yet.... and doesn't look like techcrunch has a ton of faith in it. Hopefully this is what I'm looking for.
As much as I really love Android - as a developer, I have plenty of phones and tablets here! - I will have to say... if gaming is a priority, just get an iPhone. Mind you it's not about the "quality" or even performance (since most apps are cross-platform now anyway) but the different approach to monetization that's still present in many many titles. Most iPhone games can do just fine with 2$ versions and fair ads, while the Android equivalent doesn't make much from regulars users and needs to target whales instead (heavy grinding unless you pay).