Smartphones are more powerful than Tablets?

[ArmageddonX]

I have been shopping mainly for a new Smartphone lately; but I have also been shopping for a Tablet. I've noticed we've got 1.2ghz Dual Core phones coming out with 8mp camera's and all the bells and whistles. Not to mention the Smartphones usually have crazy-nice screens like SA+ or qHD-LCD.

I went to look up the top 3 most powerful Tablets on the market right now and they're sporting Specs lower to or equal to the new smartphones out this summer. Seems like these new phones are more powerful than their Tablet counterparts. You would think the opposite!

Am I reading something or understanding something wrong?

 

[Pochi_X]

Tablet = bigger screen smartphone that may (or may not) be able to make calls

And tablet technologies are still proceeding slower than smartphones, but it's a matter of time before they can catch up.

Personally, I detest tablets!

 

[Martimus]

Tablets are new technologies just now coming into their own. When they get a few years of mainstream acceptance under their belts I'm thinking that you'll see them showing up in much greater numbers... and with much more state-of-the-art technologies behind them.

 

[Pochi_X]

Tablets are new technologies just now coming into their own. When they get a few years of mainstream acceptance under their belts I'm thinking that you'll see them showing up in much greater numbers... and with much more state-of-the-art technologies behind them.

They're yet to reach the "perfect" state of being not either a big smartphone or a Laptop replacement.

Though the honeycomb (i.e. Moto Xoom) could have reached such state?

 

[Liamo_210]

have you searched the htc flyer or motorola xoom their suppose to be leading tablet tecnology

 

[sonofaresiii]

Can't see any reason I'd ever want to or need to own a tablet. Personally, I think tablets just got big because Apple make it its next "It" thing, which of course meant it sold well, and everyone else mistook that for there being a market for it.

Just my opinion, but I don't really think there's enough people out there willing to shell out the money to sustain the product lines. But I could be wrong. Or maybe the tech will advance enough to prove me wrong.

 

[mikedt]

Tablets are new technologies just now coming into their own. When they get a few years of mainstream acceptance under their belts I'm thinking that you'll see them showing up in much greater numbers... and with much more state-of-the-art technologies behind them.

I did see tablets been used in great numbers during a recent visit to Hong Kong, mostly Android devices of various sorts usually around 7inches, with some iPads as well. Especially in coffee bars and restaurants, where they might have previously been using netbooks. In fact even in the shops, very few netbooks, but many tablets. Plenty of full sized laptops as well though, as there is really no way a tablet in it's current form can replace a full sized laptop.

Looks like there is mainstream acceptance of tablets in Hong Kong, we just wait for the rest of the world to catch up.

Here in Inner Mongolia, absolutely no tablets whatsoever, athough many here do know the word 'iPad', which is probably due to Apple's extensive TV and internet advertising campaigns. Plenty of e-ink electronic readers though.

 

[takeshi]

I went to look up the top 3 most powerful Tablets on the market right now and they're sporting Specs lower to or equal to the new smartphones out this summer. Seems like these new phones are more powerful than their Tablet counterparts. You would think the opposite!

I wouldn't think the opposite. There's stronger demand for smartphones and smartphones are on a much faster release cycle at the moment.

Can't see any reason I'd ever want to or need to own a tablet. Personally, I think tablets just got big because Apple make it its next "It" thing, which of course meant it sold well, and everyone else mistook that for there being a market for it.

My tablet suits me just fine and I didn't need Apple to tell me that. YMMV, of course.

 

[sonofaresiii]

Ah, by "everyone else," I meant manufacturers, sorry if I was unclear. I'm sure there are some people that find tablets very useful, but for MY uses (and I believe MOST people's uses), there's nothing a tablet offers that can't be covered by a smartphone and netbook, for cheaper, which leads me to believe there's no real demand for tablets, only an artificial demand created by Apple. But yeah, YMMV. This is just one guy's opinion.

 

[mikedt]

Ah, by "everyone else," I meant manufacturers, sorry if I was unclear. I'm sure there are some people that find tablets very useful, but for MY uses (and I believe MOST people's uses), there's nothing a tablet offers that can't be covered by a smartphone and netbook,

I was thinking of what I saw in Hong Kong recently with all those people using tablets mostly rather than netbooks.

Maybe HK is unique, because people go out and dine out a lot, but at the same time be on the internet. They just want a quick and easy way to get onto the internet, checkout at the news, look at Facebook, watch Youtube, etc. And also from what I can tell Hongkongers(or is that Hongkongese) love to have the latest gadgets. They may not be interested in Windows and the associated antivirus and security stuff. And lets be honest many netbooks have really poor battery life compared to Android tablets or iPads. IMO using Windows 7 Starter on a netbook is quite a crummy experience compared to browsing the interwebs on an iPad.

Who knows next year HK may see many people using Chromebooks, because they see them as the next latest thing.

In my previous post, I mentioned about having not seen tablets at all in Inner Mongolia. I've not seen any netbooks here either, not even at the local Lenovo dealer. Only full-sized laptops, nearly always Lenovo and other Chinese brands. Many Android phones though, but almost always cheap low-end ones from various Chinese makers.

EDIT:-

One of the first things which I noticed in the tech stores and markets of HK, was how very few netbooks where on sale, even compared to only a year ago. Plenty of tablets and full sized laptops, but not many netbooks at all. Going to Broadway and the big tech market in Shim Shua Po is one of my first stops on a visit to HK.

 

[snapper.fishes]

I was thinking of what I saw in Hong Kong recently with all those people using tablets mostly rather than netbooks.

Maybe HK is unique, because people go out and dine out a lot, but at the same time be on the internet. They just want a quick and easy way to get onto the internet, checkout at the news, look at Facebook, watch Youtube, etc. And also from what I can tell Hongkongers(or is that Hongkongese) love to have the latest gadgets. They may not be interested in Windows and the associated antivirus and security stuff. And lets be honest many netbooks have really poor battery life compared to Android tablets or iPads. IMO using Windows 7 Starter on a netbook is quite a crummy experience compared to browsing the interwebs on an iPad.

Who knows next year HK may see many people using Chromebooks, because they see them as the next latest thing.

In my previous post, I mentioned about having not seen tablets at all in Inner Mongolia. I've not seen any netbooks here either, not even at the local Lenovo dealer. Only full-sized laptops, nearly always Lenovo and other Chinese brands. Many Android phones though, but almost always cheap low-end ones from various Chinese makers.

People carry laptops to dinner in inner Mongolia? I live in HK, and even before the iPad came along, you almost never see people carry netbook or laptops to dinner.

That said, Hong Kongers are (in)famous for following technology trends blindly. I can hardly approve of it.

 

[ArmageddonX]

I will inevitably get a Tablet. Right now they are underpowered, overpriced, and they really don't serve a purpose yet if you have a nice Smartphone.

Now, if somebody would release a Tablet I could text-message from and make calls via-BlueTooth headset I would be ALL over that.

I'll wait until prices come down and the specifications of the Tablets at least eclipse the Smartphones of equal generation.

 

[mikedt]

People carry laptops to dinner in inner Mongolia? I live in HK, and even before the iPad came along, you almost never see people carry netbook or laptops to dinner.

Not formal dinners if that's what you mean, because that would be rude. But certainly when grabbing a snack and lunch at Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC and the many other 'casual' restaurants, I saw many people using tablets. Was a common sight on the MTR as well, people doing Facebook, etc. BTW this was Kowloon side, mainly in the SSP, Mong Kok and TST areas, where I was.

Actually one doesn't see much tech at all in Inner Mongolia, apart from low end cheap phones. Although inexpensive e-ink eBook readers are quite a common sight here, evidently they like to read a lot. A very limited choice of laptops and PCs, very expensive as well, sometimes almost twice the price of the equivalent laptops one can get in HK. NO Apple at all, apart from fake iPhones.

I live in a smallish rural city though. One is far more likely to see people riding bicycles, horses and tractors, than seeing anyone using a tablet. But we do have cars here though. Hohhot the capital of Inner Mongolia, tends to be somewhat less technologically backwards.

When I was in HK, I grabbed two LG Optimus Android phones for my Mongolian neighbours, and a Fujitsu UH900 UMPC for myself.

That said, Hong Kongers are (in)famous for following technology trends blindly.

You certainly have a lot of tech shops there, Broadway and the markets must do a roaring trade in the latest tech.

I can hardly approve of it.

Maybe you should come to Inner Mongolia then.

As a matter of interest, are you an expat like myself or a Hong Konger?

 

[substring]

I went to the SAP Sapphire conference in Orlando last week. There were about 14,000 attendees. I would say a good 40-50% of the attendees were carrying iPad instead of the laptops. We all predicted that next year at this conference, we should see 70-80% of the attendees carrying tablets instead of laptops, and about half of them will be Android base.

When you are outside your office, tablets can replace laptops. Think about this, when you are on-the-go, what kind of tasks will you be performing? You will most likely be emailing, Tweeting, Facebooking, or surfing the web. What device does all these tasks better than anything else? It is the tablet.

The tablet cannot replace the laptop ONLY when you are performing heavy duty tasks like programming code or creating a complex Excel model. But those complex tasks belong to the office, and not when you are on-the-go.

 

[Anthony00814]

There will be added smartphones in the apple than PCs. Technology assay close Gartner predicts that by 2013, there will be 1.82 billion smartphones compared to 1.78 billion PCs -and that doesn't cover tablets.

_______________________
herbal tea

 

[substring]

Yupe. At the SAP Sapphire that I attended last week, the keynote speaker said "Mobility is the new desktop". PC is a dying breed.

 

[ArmageddonX]

While it's off-topic; I agree the PC is a dying breed. Albeit very slowly, mobile devices are making them obsolete because they're just so darn easy to use & convenient.

I built a big new custom shiny gaming Computer last year by hand. I also have a Laptop and a Phone. I turn on the gaming PC when I want to play games on it, maybe once a week. Other than that I never need it. If I owned a Tablet I doubt I'd use my Laptop as much even because I only use my Laptop to browse the web.

Everything else, my phone does. It's so much easier.

 

[GSX]

Just my opinion, but I don't really think there's enough people out there willing to shell out the money to sustain the product lines. But I could be wrong. Or maybe the tech will advance enough to prove me wrong.

We have a desktop, laptop, netbook, two smartphones (iPhone for wife, Droid X for me) and an ipad. Since the ipad has come into the house, it is by far the most "in demand" device. The netbook rarely, if ever, even gets turned on anymore and the laptop on gets used if the ipad is in use. The desktop still gets used, but only because my daughter uses it for school work (forbidden to use computer without supervision) or if I need to view something that requires Flash (biggest downfall to the ipad, IMO). But, if I'm just sitting around the house, or heading out of town, it's the ipad that I ALWAYS reach for first. Now, I only bought the ipad because I could get it through work on payroll deduction with a HUGE discount. But, if an Android device comes along, and it should eventually, that runs as smooth as the ipad, I'll grab it for sure. Tablets are gaining a foothold and regardless of what those who don't like them may think, are the future of mobile computing.

 

[ArmageddonX]

That's a similar story I've been hearing from my friends and family. Between their Smartphones and Tablets they hardly ever turn on their Computers at all anymore.

 

[hamlin69]

I have 2 laptops; a macbook and a pc laptop.

Macbook I have because I never owned one before+quick browsing and I also wanted to see why everyone wants one.....will never buy another apple product due to incompatibility with ANYTHING(no hdmi, external hd need to be formatted into a mac format, lots of websites i need for work only work on windows/IE etc) and my PC laptop I use to stream movies and TV to my HDTV and use for work. I don't know if I could benefit from using a tablet just yet. Maybe in 5+ years.

I currently use a BB9700 but I have ordered a Samsung Captivate and will hopefully be receiving it next week. Once that time come I wont have a use for my macbook...

 

[log1c]

I honestly don't really care for a tablet, but I don't despise them, I have a laptop and a pc, I feel like my laptop is adequete enough for my portable needs, te only thing I find in a tablet more useful than my laptop would be the touch screen games. I guess you can say tablets are smaller and more portable, more meh, whatever, I am fine with a 14" laptop that can play newer games all fine and dandy while still being able to search the web or type up documents.

smart phones will always be a step ahead of tablets just like a computer is a step ahead of a smart phone......although the future says otherwise.

 

[mikedt]

I was thinking of what I saw in Hong Kong recently with all those people using tablets mostly rather than netbooks.

Maybe HK is unique, because people go out and dine out a lot, but at the same time be on the internet.

Replying to my own post.

I guess the use of tablets is a localised phenomenon, because now I'm Beijing. I've only really seen a couple of people using them. Nothing like the numbers of tablets I saw in use in HK. The tech stores here do have Android tablets and iPads though, but again nothing like the amount I saw in HK.

Beijingers are evidently more conservative about tech fads than Hong Kongers. I think they're more into designer labels and brand whoring.

But like HK very few netbooks on sale, and usually only Lenovo or Samsung. Mostly full-sized full-specced laptops here.