Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1
and 8.9 are holding the fort at the $400 price point, reduced from
around $500 to compete with the flood of Android tablets out there. Both
models are scheduled to receive an update to ICS sometime during Q2
2012, when the new
Galaxy Note is also supposed to arrive. Otherwise the
Sony Tablet S, which has received high marks for its unconventional yet ergonomic design, is also available for ~$400.
Asus' Transformer Prime
is only available in 32GB and 64GB varieties starting at around $500
(used to be a hundred more bucks only a week ago). The Taiwanese firm is
pitching this as a premium tablet, with plenty of power courtesy of
Nvidia's Tegra 3 chip and some neat add-ons like a keyboard dock -- if
you're willing to part with another $150. The Transformer Prime has
received plenty of praise but that enthusiasm hasn't been backed up by
huge sales volume.
Regardless of that, Asus plans to keep
pushing out powerful tablets
in the coming months. The upcoming Transformer Infinity will up the
ante with a high-resolution 1920 x 1200 pixel 10.1-inch Full HD display
and optional 4G, while the Padfone will essentially combine a smartphone
and tablet in one package.
Lastly, we have the
Kindle Fire.
Amazon is one of the few players that bet on a low-cost tablet coupled
with a host of tightly integrated services. It's far from the most
powerful device out there, but as we've learned already, tablets are
about the whole experience and specs are only part of the picture. This
strategy -- together with Amazon's sales platform and expertise -- has
resulted in the best-selling non-iPad tablet. No doubt, Amazon will
follow with a second generation Kindle Fire sometime this year, but
nothing concrete has been revealed thus far.
