MeeGo tablet

Even if many tablet manufacturers currently on Android and Windows as operating systems for their devices, there are also other fellow players. For example, Intel has developed the Linux variant MeeGo specifically for netbooks, tablets and smartphones. Intel and Nokia have combined their operating systems Moblin and Maemo.


MeeGo, Blackberry, WebOS & Co.


The first MeeGo tablet is the nPad of the Chinese manufacturer Red Flag with Intel's Moorestown processor. On the Moorestown Atom, which was presented in May, Windows does not run because the CPU does not have the necessary prerequisites such as BIOS support. Apps for MeeGo tablets should be available at Nokia's Ovi store and Intel's AppUp Center. This is already used for Windows apps, which are tailored to Atom netbooks.


Web instead of App


In addition there are tablets, which use other Linux variants. An example of this is the WeTab developed in the United States. The Atom tablet with 11.6-inch display will be sold in all MediaMarkt stores and online via Amazon. The Wi-Fi version without 3G and with 16 GB Flash is supposed to cost 449 euros, the WeTab 3G with 32 GB mass storage is offered for 569 euros.


Open race


In addition to two USB sockets, an SD card reader and an HDMI socket are also installed in the 800-gram tablet. In addition to native WeTab apps, the device can also run Android apps that will be available in the WeTab store.


In addition to a Windows tablet, HP will also bring devices with the Palm operating system WebOS, which is also to be used for HP smartphones and printers. Details about the upcoming WebOS tablets are not yet leaked. HP bought Palm in April and therefore once again put the Windows Tablet Slate presented in January by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.


The blackberry manufacturer RIM is also launched with its own tablet. The 7-inch device is designed to work with a 1-GHz Marvell processor, support 3G, and come to the market next year.


The Singapore-based Fusion Garage company has its own path with the JooJoo. The 12 inch tablet with capacitive display is a pure web tablet, local applications can not be installed. To create and store images or texts, Web 2.0 services such as Picasa, Flickr, Google Docs, or Zoho are already being used instead of apps, for which links are already created.


The JooJoo is primarily designed as a surfboard and as an entertainment platform, but the browser also supports Flash. However, the concept suffers from the fact that the content of popular US providers such as the online video service Hulu and music providers such as Pandora or Last.fm are not available at all.

A similar concept as Fusion Garage follows Google with the Chrome OS. With this Linux branch, the browser is also the interface and local applications are not provided. Apparently, a Google Chrome-OS tablet is expected to come to the market this year, the manufacturer is supposed to be HTC again as with the Smartphone Nexus.


Apple has a huge advantage with the iPad, as the competition comes only slowly into the corridors. The company from Cupertino stands however ultimately alone against a wealth of competitors with different devices and the tablet market is still young. Especially the Android devices will soon be able to take down the iPad market shares, as soon as large manufacturers bring appropriate devices, appropriate apps are available and Google acts as a strong partner in the background.


The Windows tablets should not be written off prematurely. Although Windows 7 is not the optimal operating system for tablet PCs in the current form, Microsoft is always a surprise, and more manufacturers are already announcing cheap tablets with the upcoming Intel Oak Trail Atom as their time UMPCs >

Smaller manufacturers with their own concepts like WeTab with their Linux Tablet or Fusion Garage with the JooJoo will find it hard to get through.