Software Reality

Android Tablets could have some unexpected competition

All this talk of an incoming army of Android tablets does raise a rather important question: what exactly is a tablet computer supposed to be for?

If your own answer is "I want to use it to read books on," then Android tabs could have a serious competitor in the form of the latest Kindle (Amazon link), in all its super-thin slate grey monochrome sleekness. After all, it does have the right type of screen for it - readable in direct sunlight, and without producing eyestrain from the glare... because there is no glare.

The first couple of generations of Kindle didn't appeal hugely, probably because they looked too much like a plastic orbital transport ship from a 1970s Star Wars toy set, but also because (as with Sony's effort, which I tried very hard, but struggled, to like lots) the page update was just too slow.

And a "proper" keyboard on an ebook reader just seems wrong. Here's a keyboard on a device that's solely for reading; while devices that are more for sending emails etc (ipads, Android tabs) have no keyboard. The universe just seems all messed up.

But the latest Kindle incarnation, just released in the UK, finally lands the Kindle in "desirable" territory - even though the physical keyboard is still there. The page update speed is also much improved, as is the screen contrast.

(Of course, I *have* to buy one, so as to test Fingerpress ebooks out on there. It's a hard life... Actually mine was just dispatched yesterday - to be honest, I'm all excited and can't wait for it to turn up).

The new Kindle has the advantage that it does one thing, and does it extremely well - as long as reading a book is what you want to do.

If, on the other hand, you answered "I want to use my tablet device to watch movies on," or "browse the web", "send emails" etc, then naturally Android's still your tin man.

Archos Sends Reinforcements into the Android Wars

Just when the naysayers were starting to question the ageing mantra "Army of Android-based tablets just around the corner, here we go, any minute now," Archos unveils its own private legion of the little mechanoid critters.

Looking at the baby of the group, the Archos 28 (named after its 2.8" screen), I couldn't help wondering why anyone would buy this instead of simply signing up for an Android-based phone - which would have the added benefit of, well, being a phone. But then I saw the price, a mere $99 (or £99 in the UK, given Archos' creative currency conversion). The ickle-bickle Archos 28 is dubbed a "pocket tablet": so that'll be a PDA, then?

But the real excitement kicks in with the 7" and 10.1" devices, dubbed "internet tablet" and "Connected Android tablet" respectively. Now we're heavily into IPad territory.

Historically, Archos has had mixed reports when it comes to build quality, but the prevailing opinion appears to be that their devices are solidly built.

In the meantime Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Tab, at the IFA Conference in Berlin. In one sense I'm thinking "Ooh, looks just like an ipad." In another sense I'm thinking "No sir, I don't like it." Perhaps it's because the ipad never really appealed to me (from its DRM-mandated ebooks and walled-garden apps approach inherited from the iphone little daddy, to its looks, which I just thought were a bit "blah". Beauty, beholder and all that).

But the point really is that, despite wrongheaded suggestions to the contrary, the Android army could just be unstoppable - in both phone and tablet form factors.

It makes we wonder how Google's Chrome OS will fare, seeing as it's meant to fill the "super-phone/sub-PC, network-hungry" space; and yet Android really is the perfect tablet OS. A "small" OS growing into a slightly larger device works much better than a "fat" OS like XP/Vista/7 being squeezed down. It also says a lot for Linux's versatility, of course.

Samsung Galaxy Tab, or planet-sized cig butt?

I seem to be one among many thousands of "fandroids" hotly anticipating the release of Samsung's Galaxy Tab, their Froyo-powered answer to the ipad. And yet these just-grabbed screenshots, from Chinese website ifanr.com, left me rather underwhelmed, and hoping that they really are just badly photoshopped mock-ups, as a couple of slightly bemused commenters over here suggested.

Their suspicions were well justified: the edges of the device are raggedy in places; the charger/data plug looks exactly like Apple's 30-pin connector; the on-screen keyboard isn't Swype, and lacks a microphone/voice-to-text button; and the browser looks suspiciously Safari-esque (meaning either Samsung are paying unusual homage to Apple, or [looking less likely now] the browser is Safari, photoshopped in). One commenter in the link also suggested that the on-screen keyboard looks ipad-like, but to be fair it looked every bit the Android keyboard to me.

It's easy to see why anyone might think the photos are a hasty Gimp job combining a cheap Android clone-pad with "Samsung" pasted onto an Apple connector. But on top of all that, it just doesn't look like a super-sized Galaxy S, as an "A-pad to an Android phone is as an ipad to an iPhone" device surely should.

But for all of that, this brand-new official teaser video on Samsung's own website suggests that the photos are genuine. At the very least, the uninspiring case is the real thing. Dang, it's just a bit too minimalist, just lacking that "must-have" design flair, its heavy lines lumbering sleepily through the video's whizzy effects, like the worst X-Factor contestant growling off-key through a 1970s music video.

With talk of the Tab's resolution being a web-unfriendly 1024x600 (though that's semi-educated guesswork until concrete details are announced by Samsung) - it could be worth waiting to see what other Android tablets start to appear towards the end of the year... and there's a zombie hoard of them waiting in the alleys, just itching to eat the ipad's brains for breakfast.

Well, okay, a next-next-gen device is always just around the next street-corner, but in this case, for those of us wanting a truly sublime experience in our overgrown gadget world, it might just pay to wait a little longer.

Complete guide to maximizing your Android phone's battery life

When you first unboxed your new Android phone, if your initial thoughts were typical of most, they probably went something like this:

"Ooh, what a snug and shiny box it ships in... and what a desirable curvaceous phone... The UI is soo snappy and 'swipey-feely' and lovely... OMG, apps!! Must... download... everything... I can't bring myself to exit the marketplace, somebody STOP me! ... Oh, better plug the charger in... Ooh, location-based ferret-burger locator, who woulda thought? ... Actually, you know, the battery life is really a bit naff..."

Having installed probably most of the estimated 80,000 apps available, many of which will use battery-sapping features such as GPS and wi-fi, you may well find yourself searching for a mains socket or a USB connection rather frequently. Even with the default, out-of-the-shiny-box configuration, you might well find that you need to recharge more than once a day (depending on your phone).

Luckily, there are some immediate, and pretty straightforward, steps you can take to extend your Android phone's battery life. HowToGeek have put together a decent checklist to this end. Some of it's obvious - switch off GPS and wireless, of course - but there are some surprises in there too; e.g. use Android's built-in battery usage screen to find out exactly which apps have been sapping your juice. Another useful tip is to reduce the screen's brightness, and reduce the frequency with which certain apps poll for data updates.

It's also well worth putting the Powerwidget on your home screen, so you can quickly switch wireless/bluetooth/network services on and off without burrowing into the settings each time.

For the full battery-saving checklist, head over to the Geek.