Android Tablets

Google has made a lot of big announcements at its Google I/O 2012 keynote currently being held in San Francisco, California. Some of the highlights include: The new Nexus 7 tablet with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), a cool looking media streaming sphere called the Nexus Q, and the pricey Project Glass ($1,500). Google also announced that Google+ is getting a tablet makeover.

The app has been optimized for Android tablets and the iPad. Google+ now features a new navigation system, Hangout video chats, and easily-tappable actions like +1 and comment. The app will also take full advantage of the new iPad's Retina display. Android users get the update today, while iPad users will have to wait a little longer.

To keep up with Cablevision and Time Warner, Comcast is working on a product called AnyPlay, which will allow Comcast subscribers to watch television on their iPads.

AnyPlay will use something like the Motorola Televation cable box to stream live TV to the Xfinity iPad app. The app currently only allows owners to watch On Demand programming and search TV listings. Users can register up to 10 devices, but will only be allowed to use one iPad at a time to watch TV. The AnyPlay box will also work with Android tablets and will include "most" channels.

Amazon sent out invites to a press conference in N.Y.C. on September 28th. We assume the media event is being held to announce their new and improved Kindle type tablet. This new device is Android's last hope to compete with the iPad.

The 7-inch tablet is rumored to look like the BlackBerry PlayBook and to feature a backlit color capacitive screen. The press has been quick to crown many devices "iPad Killers" in the past, but Amazon hopes to succeed where the others failed, by offering deeply integrated services like the Kindle app and the Amazon Cloud Player for a cheaper price. They're also rolling out a skinned version of Android to distance themselves from Google.

The HP TouchPad fire sale proved people will ignore the iPad if the price is right. Amazon has the weapons to offer plenty of material like movies, books and music, but the question is can they deliver a decent slate for such a cheap price?

Is it possible to dethrone the iPad? That seems to be the question on everyone's mind. I guess anything is possible, but the future for Apple competitors is not looking too bright as of right now. The HP TouchPad failed miserably to make a dent in the tablet war, and Apple is doing its best to make sure people won't get their hands on a Samsung Galaxy Tab. However, there is a new rumored device that people are predicting will give the iPad a run for its money -- the Amazon tablet.

Amazon has an advantage that other tablet manufacturers didn't have, they can learn from the past mistakes of Hewlett-Packard and Google. Offering a similar priced tablet with a barren app store isn't going to topple the iPad. It's going to take something creative and most-likely cheaper to grab people's attention.

Learning a valuable lesson from the music industry, newspapers and magazines have been trying to figure out way not to hand their lives over to Steve Jobs. The newest trend is offering free tablets with subscriptions to their publications. The Tribune Company, who owns newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun, is looking to develop their own tablet to compete with the iPad.

The Tribune has been working on a possible promotion where new subscribers to any of their papers can receive a free or discounted tablet. For this to happen, they will need to team up with a manufacturer, like Samsung, and a cellular carrier.

CNN writes that the "tablet is expected to run a modified version of Google's Android operating system and prominently feature software for the owner's hometown newspaper." However, developing the device turned out harder than anticipated and progress has been met with some delays.