The iPad is a unique innovation that allows people to access the internet, personal documents, and a variety of applications while on the go. The iPad combines the best features of a laptop and an iPhone in order to offer uses a tablet that is easy to transport, fun to use, and includes a screen just big enough to comfortably watch videos, browse pictures, and even read books. However, while the iPad was the first and currently most popular tablet to be released, there are a variety of others that can compete with its technology.

The Blackberry Playbook.

This tablet offers users a 1 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, and all of the capabilities of a laptop. The Blackberry Playbook is great for internet browsing, game play, video, and can even be used for video conferencing. What makes this tablet an iPad competitor is its Flash capabilities and its camera. While the screen is almost three inches smaller than the iPad, users can take pictures and enjoy carrying a lighter tablet.

The Dell Streak.

Currently, at five inches, this is the smallest tablet offered. While this may appeal to some users, others might dismiss this tablet in favor of one offering a bigger screen. However, this tablet is extremely portable, offers a camera, and at $299, is much more affordable than the iPad.

The WePad Android Tablet.

The WePad is an 11.6 inch tablet, offering a 1.66GHz processor, memory expansion options, a camera, and supports Flash. This tablet also has a SIM card slot and two USB ports, which is an upgrade from the iPad. While this tablet offers users a larger number of features than the iPad, it is a bit pricey. These tablets range from $611 to $744, which may just place them out of many consumers’ price range.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab.

This Android tablet will appeal to users comfortable with Google. This tablet is also priced approximately $100 less than the iPad and includes a camera, which the iPad is lacking. While 7-inch tablet may not be as large as the iPad, it supports Flash, offers memory expansion options, and will appeal to shoppers looking for a deal.

The Amazon Kindle 3G.

There are a number of things about the Kindle 3G that makes it a strong iPad competitor. The first thing is its price. The Kindle 3G retails for $189, which is hundreds of dollars cheaper than even the most affordable iPad. The second thing is the fact that the Kindle screen uses e-ink, and can be read easily outside in direct sunlight. While users cannot watch videos or use apps, the affordable price is a huge benefit to many budget conscious consumers with simple needs.

When she’s not getting excited about new gadgets, Britney Baker writes about prepaid cell phones for PrepaidCellphones.net. Her latest article took a look at the GoPhone from AT&T.

Despite a few hiccups, Google’s launch of VoIP integration for Gmail has gone rather smoothly, with the company stating they placed over one million phone calls (about one out of every 3,000 phone calls made that day) the first day the service was live. According to Google, more than 200 million people worldwide are active Gmail users, and all of the company’s users in the U.S. now have access to this new functionality. Google is allowing users to make free calls to either the U.S. or Canada at least until the end of the year, hoping to ramp up adoption quickly as they take aim at Skype and Skype’s 560 million registered (124 million active) users.

Link to the original article…

It’s been already noted that Motorola is building an Android-based tablet to be sold by Verizon later this year, with functionality tied to FiOS TV. Now come reports that HTC is building a Chrome-driven tablet computer for Verizon that will launch on November 26.

Tablet mania has clearly infected many ISPs, who will either be offer TV Everywhere Internet video apps for tablets (Comcast, Cablevision, AT&T, Time Warner Cable) or offering tablets themselves later this year. Much like the recent netbook craze, expect ISPs to give these things away at a subsidized price point if you sign a long-term wireless broadband contract.

Update: Verizon today also expanded on their iPad application ambitions today in great detail.

Update: Seems like this was a hoax. Damn.

Link to the original article…

It was already known that T-Mobile planned to nurse HSPA+ for as long as possible, and that their fourth generation wireless broadband plans were murky at best. Rene Obermann, CEO of T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom, says the company won’t even consider making a move on LTE for at least two years. According to Obermann, the company isn’t worried that they’ll lag LTE efforts by Verizon and AT&T, who’ll both have deployments underway by that time. Says Obermann:

“We’ll get a fourth-generation wireless network either by buying spectrum or re-farming existing spectrum, or potentially leasing spectrum together with others. I don’t think we’ll trail others in the next two years. With HSPA+ we’re in a very good position. We still have plenty of capacity, so we are competitive” said Obermann.

T-Mobile does have some time (but not a lot) to dilly dally as they consider their next move. The company’s current upgrades allow theoretical downstream speeds of up to 20 Mbps, and there have been rumors they’ll try to push HSPA+ towards 40 Mbps down the line. While Verizon plans to offer 4G services by the end of this year, their LTE deployment will be initially capped at 5-12 Mbps downstream. AT&T meanwhile is taking their time on the shift to LTE, and like T-Mobile is nursing HSPA+, albeit less aggressively.

Link to the original article…

Now basing their determinations on real data and not just lobbyist Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, the FCC earlier this month released a study highlighting U.S. broadband coverage gaps. While highlighting that ISPs have done some amazing work at getting broadband deployed to many areas, there’s still roughly 14-24 million Americans without broadband, and their hopes over ever getting broadband is “bleak.”

Of course the very idea that U.S. broadband wasn’t a shining beacon of absolute perfection “upset” ISP policy, PR folk and lobbyists, who very quickly attacked the FCC for simply acknowledging what every major study concludes without fail: the U.S. is a mediocre player in terms of broadband deployment, speed and price. Today FCC boss Julius Genachowski defended the FCC’s findings in a Seattle speech (warning: pdf link):

The different reactions to this report were telling. Some saw that high-speed broadband was available to a very large percentage of Americans, and said everything is fine. Nothing more to do. Mission accomplished. I disagree. When up to 24 million Americans don’t have access to a communications technology that is essential to participation in our 21st century economy and democracy, I say that is unacceptable.

Again however, the primary reason the U.S. remains mediocre in broadband price, speed and availability is a lack of competition. And again, the FCC isn’t going to tackle competition because it would upset some of this nation’s biggest campaign contributors. Trying to “reform” the infinitely-broken USF and doling out grants isn’t necessarily a bad thing but none of the FCC’s current proposals really get to the real problem: the fact that most people live in a monopoly or duopoly broadband market, and as a result pay too much money for frequently sub-par connectivity.

Link to the original article…

According to the New York Times, despite not having the Apple iPhone, Verizon’s been slowly leeching smartphone customers from AT&T for the last two years. Verizon’s share of the smartphone market has jumped from 20 to 26 percent since 2008, while AT&T’s smartphone market share has dropped from 45 to 40 percent during that same period. What’s more, Verizon is only paying $300 for each Android, BlackBerry and Palm phone sold, while AT&T pays Apple at least $450 for each unit sold. There’s no doubt that having the Apple iPhone exclusive helped AT&T, but there’s also no doubt that their inability to provide a network that can handle the device hurt AT&T. The real question is, if AT&T’s bleeding subscribers while they have the exclusive, what happens when that deal expires?

Link to the original article…

As some insiders leaked last week, Verizon yesterday unveiled their new ad campaign from the ad agency (McGarryBowen) that’s been powering their new Droid ads. With the ad campaign comes a new Verizon logo: “Verizon, Rule The Air!” Verizon’s new rebranding comes with a new promise by Verizon that they’ll stop hammering users with bizarre fees, work tirelessly on billing their users accurately, and make it their life’s mission to bring consumers low wireless data prices in line with real-world costs.

Just kidding.

Nothing substantive (pricing, phone lineup, billing) is changing. It’s simply a new ad campaign (though a very nice, CGI heavy one) utilizing a new ad agency and a lot of new slogans (like “the real communications giant is you”). Of course the real goal is to draw attention to the arrival of some fairly sexy new Android-based phones including the Droid X and try to deflate some of the hype surrounding the iPhone 4.

Rumors of an iPhone on Verizon’s network appear to once again be fluff and nonsense, Verizon seems dedicated to the Android platform, and unlike AT&T so far isn’t crippling handsets. One issue they face is that supply constraints (of 3.7-inch AMOLED screens specifically) have resulted in users who ordered the HTC Droid Incredible facing delays in actually getting the device.

Verizon users now tell us that those who have Incredibles back-ordered are being told they can switch their order to the Motorola Droid X and likely get a Droid in their pocket sooner (July 15 for the X, vs. July 28 or later for many Incredible backorders).

Link to the original article…

MSI will unveil its next-generation tablet PC Wind Pad aimed at the Apple iPad at Computex Taipei 2010 to be held from June 1 to 5 in Taiwan.

Available in either Windows 7 OS or Android OS, the Wind Pad features a 10-inch LED touch screen, Intel Atom processor and Intel GMA 3150 graphics card.

Weighing 800 grams, it supports Wi-Fi/3G, GPS module, a webcam, a USB port and eight hours of battery life.

Link to the original article…

Love Rock Band? Got a competitive spirit? Love winning stuff? MTV and Harrah’s Entertainment got the hookup.

We’re guessing you haven’t heard about the sweepstakes. So, listen up. This totally rocks.

For our loyal Rock Band friends who can’t get out to a qualifying location in the next several weeks, enter NOW for your shot at a trip to compete in the BIG EVENT in Atlantic City from June 30-July 4, 2010 with up to three of your fellow band members. Sorry, no roadies allowed.

Oh, did we forget to mention that you’ll be flying round trip in private jet?

Uh-huh, that’s right, we said PRIVATE JET.

To really blow your mind, you and your buddies will also win tix to the Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band concert at Caesars Atlantic City on July 3, 2010.

Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for up to the minute news.

[ Links: Harrahs, MTV Games, 2nd Annual Rock Band Competition ]

According to an FCC announcement (warning: pdf link), the FCC will officially unveil our first ever national broadband plan at an FCC meeting next Tuesday, March 16, at 10:30 EST. That’s one day earlier than the plan was supposed to be unveiled before Congress, though technically it’s about a month behind its originally-scheduled unveiling date.

The plan is expected to put a heavy emphasis on delivering more spectrum to incumbent wireless carriers, the construction of a national wireless emergency network and “digital literacy” efforts. However, early glimpses indicate the plan does little to shake up a stagnant U.S. duopoly market or to seriously tackle limited competition and high prices.

Link to the original article…

Rumors began circulating late last year that the FCC was considering making line sharing part of their national broadband plan. Line sharing, as most of you know, involves requiring that incumbent carriers lease their networks to new entrants. The idea is that those ISPs then grow into larger carriers, capable of competition with incumbents. While we discarded the idea here (more accurately it was lobbied to death by major carriers and bungled by incompetent regulators), it has worked in markets like France, where consumers now see 100Mbps/50Mbps fiber service, VoIP and IPTV bundles for $40 a month.

Obviously carriers don’t like the idea because no giant incumbent carrier wants eroded revenues or added competition. Incumbent carriers spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars attacking the plan at every turn, and are in no hurry to have to fight this particular fight all over again. While rumors of a return to line sharing blossomed last fall, broadband plan boss Blair Levin (who was primarily responsible for line sharing in the 1996 Telecom Act) seemingly harpooned that idea in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last December:

“There are certain things where what s going on in other countries really isn’t germane for where we go from here. As to (line sharing rules), the courts threw that out and we re not that terribly interesting in moving toward things that will just freeze capital investment and have long, drawn-out court battles, he said. “That doesn’t strike me as that productive.”

In other words, Levin suggests that the FCC will avoid a return to line sharing because the agency will just wind up in the courts indefinitely fighting AT&T, Comcast and Verizon lawyers and their bottomless pocketbooks. But while Levin seemed to kill the idea, Business Week interviews an aide to FCC boss Julius Genachowski, who seems to think that line sharing remains very much on the table:

Letting competitors lease lines into businesses may boost Internet adoption, help small businesses grow and aid job creation, said Colin Crowell, an aide to Democratic FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, in an interview. “That is certainly something that we ll look very closely at, and has a lot of appeal as part of a national strategy,” said Crowell. The change may be proposed as part of the FCC s national plan for increasing the use of high-speed Internet, or broadband, that is to be delivered to Congress in March, Crowell said.

It still seems unlikely that the agency will take such a bold step, given that early glimpses of the plan by consumer advocates seems to indicate the plan doesn’t really do much of anything to seriously address competition. That of course would be a huge mistake, given that competition can cure all manner of problems in the sector (network neutrality, overly expensive metered broadband plans) without the need for additional, potentially dysfunctional regulation. We’ll see if line sharing is part of the equation with the FCC unveils their plan to Congress in 33 days.

Link to the original article…

Guess what’s good for Verizon is also good for AT&T too. It all started with Verizon’s “There’s a map for that” which led to AT&T suing over the ads and Verizon’s statements about their network. Then AT&T fired back by hiring Owen Luke Wilson and aired a bunch of quirky ads that showed that AT&T’s 3G network has the ability to use data and voice at the same time. The back and forth between the two has now extended to their forthcoming voice plans:

AT&T today announced new unlimited plans across all devices – including its industry-leading lineup of smartphones – to provide more value and choice for customers who want to talk, text and surf on the nation’s fastest 3G network.

The new plans, which will be available beginning Monday, Jan. 18, can be ordered at AT&T’s 2,200 company-owned retail stores and kiosks, through convenient online service at www.att.com, or at one of the thousands of authorized AT&T retail locations.

• Feature Phone customers may choose unlimited talk for $69.99. Family Talk customers (prices assume two lines) may choose unlimited talk for $119.99 per month. Texting plans remain unchanged at $20 for unlimited plans for individuals and $30 for Family Talk plans.
• Quick Messaging Device customers may choose unlimited talk and text for $89.99 per month. Quick Messaging Device customers with Family Talk plans may choose unlimited talk and text for $149.99 per month (for two lines). These prices include a required minimum of $20 per month for individual plans and $30 per month for Family Talk plans in texting and/or Web browsing plans for new and upgrading customers.
• All smartphone customers, including iPhone customers, may now buy unlimited voice and data for $99.99. For smartphone customers with Family Talk plans (prices assume 2 smartphones), unlimited voice and data is now available for $179.99. Texting plans remain unchanged at $20 for unlimited plans for individuals, $30 for Family Talk Plans.

Competition is good. Lower prices for voice and data is better. But if only they can fix the amount of dropped phone calls… that will be the best. Does make you wonder if voice is no longer the crowd draw and now data has become paramount. And yes… this does cover the Apple iPhone.

[ Links: Yahoo, AT&T ]