There are two news regarding Android tablets. First is a bit surprising one not because of any enthusiastic approach from Dell for their tablets but because when everyone trying to get in the tablet spotlight Dell has suddenly taken itself out of it. Dell launched Steak 7 at CES about an year ago. It was the successor of their Steak 5 tablet. Neither of these tablets gave any big time feel, they just felt another tablet for Android. But that’s what most of Android tablets are except may be Kindle Fire which has shown some great early success both at Amazon and BestBuy.
Dell pulled off Steak 5 from their online store earlier this Summer and just yesterday they pulled Steak 7 as well. However Steak 7 will be available on retail stores. That pretty much leaves Dell out of tablet business. We have no clear idea about their intentions but here is the statement that they gave to Engadget about their future in Mobile industry.
Dell remains committed to the mobility market and continues to sell products here and in other parts of the world. Streak 7 delivered a unique experience for customers who wanted a larger screen-size yet the freedom of staying connected to their personal and professional content while on the-go. It continues to be available in many markets through retail, distributors and carrier partners such as Optus in Australia. A 10-inch version of the tablet, Streak 10 Pro, is currently offered in China, offering the ultimate digital divide between work and life. The Venue and Venue Pro devices, as well, continue to earn accolades for performance, design and functionality around the world. We also recently launched the Latitude ST, a 10-inch Windows 7-based touch-screen tablet designed for vertical markets such as education, finance and healthcare in November of this year. We remain committed to expanding our reach beyond PCs with a targeted set of open, standards-based mobility solutions and services designed for commercial and mobile professional customers.
The statement above shows that they are still committed to the Mobile industry. But their actions say something else. Dell is a PC company and that’s where their prime business lye. Moving into tablet business may have been just another venture that didn’t work out so they opted out of it. CES 2012 is approaching near and if they are committed to Mobile industry we may be seeing something big come out from that event for Dell. Otherwise Dell may opt out to wait until Android tablets put some series dent on iPad’s dominance and than step in.
The second news is about the arrival of Motorola’s Zoom 2 tablet. Motorola is calling it XYBOARD. Tablet will be hitting Verizon stores anytime in this month and will support Verizon’s LTE network.
The tablet will come in two different sizes; a bigger sized 10.1″ and a smaller one of 8.2″. The size will not have an impact on Performance though. Both the devices will feature a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and 1GB of RAM. Both will have a 5MP rear end and 1.3 front end camera. And last but not least both will have IR transmitter for controlling your home theater. However the size will impact the cost. The 10.1″ will come in three different memory variations. 16GB will cost $529, 32 GB will cost $629 and a mighty 64GB will cost $729. The 8.2″ 16GB will have a price $429 while the same sized 32GB will be sold at $529. There is no 64GB for the smaller size. All these prices will have a 2 year contract so make your decision considering that as well.
Also to use LTE network of Verizon you will have to pay extra each month. That pretty much stacks up a lot of considerations for a buyer. However there is also a bright side that I left out earlier. Motorola is saying that all of these new devices will have access to the latest version of Android i.e. Ice Cream Sandwich.
