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Platform options (Operating Systems)
Android Ice Cream (or Ice Cream Sandwich)
No official announcement yet, but widely rumoured to be out in late 2011 and combine the capabilities of Gingerbread and Honeycomb, with dual core support.
Android 3 Honeycomb
Targeted for tablets. Formally released with Motorola Xoom February 2011: now improved to become 3 .1.
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
Available since December 2010. Does not support dual core processors. Improvements to user interface, speed and battery life.
Android 2.2 Froyo
Available since May 2010 and finally became the most common version on Android smartphones in January 2011. Froyo supports Flash and will allow your device to work as a WiFi hotspot (if your tablet has 3G support, SIM card and contract.) The importance of these two features in particular makes anything running earlier versions seem a poor choice.
iOS
This is Apple's wildly successful mobile operating system. While it only works on Apple hardware and does not support Flash, it has withstood the attentions of more (and more demanding) tablet users than any of the alternatives.
Notes
The official Android Market now has 250,000 apps (May 2011). However, a number of tablets are not officially recognised by Google who appear to want all devices running Android 2.x to be fully functioning mobile phones, despite their size. As a result, many tablets are not officially permitted access to the market. In most cases, the manufacturer has added some sort of library of their own. Generally, these aren't very successful. However, the more ambitious user can follow reasonably simple instructions to download an unofficial copy of the Android Market and install it. This market should work properly, giving you access to free and paid apps and taking your money in the normal way. However, paid apps are not available in all countries.
Until recently very few of the apps available were optimised for Honeycomb. Developers of the most popular apps, however, have taken the time to optimise their apps: one compendium estimates that there are around 400 apps optimised for Honeycomb (August 2011). It was also recently announced that Honeycomb 3.2 will feature a 'zoom-to-fill' compatibility mode, giving the users a chance to experience non-optimised apps in full screen.
Updates:
29 January 2014 |
Added Microsoft Surface 2 Pro |
4 April 2013 |
Added Microsoft Surface RT and Asus VivoTab (Removed Asus Eee Slate EP121 and ZooStorm SL8) |
10 October 2012 |
Added Microsoft Surface RT |
10 May 20/11 |
More specs for Acer Iconia W500 added. |
14 March 2011 |
bModo 12G added. |
08 March 2011 |
Page created and information moved here from other pages. |
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