By A lot of Android tablets look the exact same. Or maybe some would say a lot of Android tablets look like the iPad. Here is one that doesn’t… a made by Marvell prototype that just might come into production courtesy of a well known GPS company:
My two favorite features by far:
- The ruggedized rubber look that makes this device stand out from the crowd. I instantly saw it and wondered “what is THAT cool looking thing”? Lots of manufacturers have gone the sleek, sexy and simple route so this unbranded device was a breath of fresh air and I really dug it’s design.
- On the back, the holes for the speaker grill were oriented to look like the Android Robot. Lovely touch and fun to see… I haven’t seen this done anywhere else before.
I didn’t evaluate the device based on real world effectiveness – it’s clearly a prototype and doesn’t even have a brand or home yet. I was just incredibly interested in the product design. I’m not sure how well this would fare as a GPS-focused device, which I was told might be the end game, but mostly because we haven’t seen Android widely adopted as a GPS-focused device. I personally think that’s because your phone does navigation quite well with Google Nav regardless, but it also doesn’t have a huge screen.
In any case, argue with the potential for GPS-focused Android devices if you want, but you’ll be hard pressed to convince me that this thing doesn’t look pretty awesome with the tough rubber style and Android robot speaker grill.
It looks like a heat vent… Isn’t the speaker grill what you see on the top left?
http://www.mobiflip.de/2010/12/erste-eindruecke-vom-pearl-touchlet-tablet-pc-x2-mit-android-2-2/
It’s a heat vent. I own one of these tablets. And yes it does look awsome. Thats why I bought it.
Sorry for the double post as I don’t seem to understand how edit works or if this edit thing exists. Anyways for more info on the tablet check my forum thread here : http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/unlisted-tablets/4412-bluepanther-thunder-7-marvell-tablet-gps-android-2-2-a.html
I rooted it and working on a custom rom for it.
This is just what is needed in the enterprise asset management / field computing market- current tablets/GPS units all awkwardly run Windows Mobile. Outdoor / field use would also makes the resistive touchscreen advantageous(if you’ve ever tried to use a capacitive touchscreen in the rain you know what a mean).
mmm maybe I grill me some mean and tasty steak with me android.
seriously, if you want a gps because you want to go hiking in the woods and compete in Mantracker, you want it to work even if you dropped it in a puddle. heck, if you’re a cityboy you’d still want it to work if you dropped it on a rainy day while checking out tickets for a Broadway show.
I prefer the rubberized bodies on gadgets. The shiny plastic/metal looks good in pictures, but shows fingerprints and scratches too easily. Also, shiny tends to be slippery.
The grill pattern is a nice touch.
hmm but just because it is rubberized doesn’t mean that it is actually water-resistant and durable
@ari-free: on the pic, you can see through the grill… those look like electronics to me… not waterproof. Something that small is not going t be waterproof and rugged anytime soon. Take a look at the Toughbook by Panasonic and compare it’s size/weight to laptop of it’s power.
A tough table would be considerably heavier and much more expensive.
This thing has been around since last year around August. In Europe it is getting marketed as the Bluepanther Thunder. It is also known as the Leader GM10. Lack of proper CPU governors hurt its battery life. It also is missing a recovery partition.
Nook Color has rubberized body too. I’d never get a gadget in shiny plastic – it’s impractical.
Many people like the shiny. I wonder how many phones fared this winter.
It just got a software update that brings flash lite to it. Youtube works.