Google has quietly crept out of the tablet business, removing the "tablets" heading from its Android page. Perhaps it hoped no one would notice on a Friday and by Monday it would be old news, but Android Police caught them in the act. It was there yesterday, but it's gone today.
[...] Google in particular has struggled to make Android a convincing alternative to iOS in the tablet realm, and with this move has clearly indicated its preference for the Chrome OS side of things, where it has inherited the questionable (but lucrative) legacy of netbooks. They've also been working on broadening Android compatibility with that OS. So it shouldn't come as much surprise that the company is bowing out.
[...] Google's exit doesn't mean Android tablets are done for, of course. They'll still get made, primarily by Samsung, Amazon and a couple of others, and there will probably even be some nice ones. But if Google isn't selling them, it probably isn't prioritizing them as far as features and support.
Also at 9to5Google.
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The first Chrome OS tablet is here
Apple Expected to Compete Against Chromebooks With Cheaper Education-Focused iPads
ChromeOS Gains the Ability to Run Linux Applications
Ask the Community: In the Market for a Modern Tablet
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Just three ChromeOS-based devices currently support Android apps: the Asus Chromebook Flip, Acer Chromebook R11 / C738T, and Google Chromebook Pixel (2015). Soon, that list will jump to at least 61 devices:
Google said in May 2016 that select Chromebooks--laptops built entirely around its Chrome browser--would support apps originally made for Android devices. Now the company has updated the list of devices gaining access to the Google Play marketplace to include every Chromebook debuting in 2017.
[...] [That] paltry list of three devices will expand to include 61 products from Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and other manufacturers. Some of the products are expected to debut in 2017; others have already been released and will receive updates with Play Store compatibility. The flood gates have opened: Google said "all Chromebooks launching in 2017 and after" will be able to run Android apps. The platform has finally gone beyond the browser.
Apple is ready to fight Google's Chromebooks with cheaper iPads
Apple has a big problem. Just five years ago, its iPads and Mac laptops reigned supreme in US classrooms, accounting for half of all mobile devices shipped to schools in 2013. Apple has now slipped behind both Google and Microsoft in US schools with Google's Chromebooks leading the way in classrooms, securing nearly 60 percent of shipments in the US as overall iPad sales declined for three straight years. Apple is now ready to strike back against Chromebooks with some cheaper iPads.
Apple is holding a special education-focused event on Tuesday that promises "creative new ideas for teachers and students." Rumors suggest Apple is preparing to launch a $259 budget iPad model this year, while Bloomberg reports that a "low-cost iPad" will be announced alongside new education software. The new iPad could even support a stylus, like the Apple Pencil found on the more expensive iPad Pro models.
The article notes a cancelled $1 billion program to give iPads to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Administering the iPads back then wasn't easy, but Chromebooks store their data in the cloud. If a student forgets their Chromebook at home, they can log in to another device using their Google account. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has criticized Google's G Suite for Education for storing students' personal information in the cloud without their knowledge or consent.
Related: L.A.'s iPad-Friendly School Superintendent Resigns Under a Cloud
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NH School District: One Chromebook Per Student by 2018; Paper Textbooks Going
Chrome OS is getting full-fledged Linux apps
Google Chrome is getting a big upgrade with the ability to run Linux apps, with a preview set to be released on the Google Pixelbook today before rolling out later to other models, according to a report from VentureBeat.
It's a major addition to Google's web-based operating system, which up until now has offered web-based Chrome applications and, more recently, the ability to run Android apps. But the option to run full-fledged Linux software marks the first time that real desktop applications have come to Chrome OS.
According to Chrome OS director of product management Kan Liu, users will be able to run Linux tools, editors, and integrated development environments directly on Chromebooks, installing them from their regular sources just like they would on a regular Linux machine. According to Liu, "We put the Linux app environment within a security sandbox, running inside a virtual machine," with the apps running seamlessly alongside Android and web applications on Chrome OS.
I tried searching and came to the conclusion this does not exist. I would like a tablet with the following features:
- Easy to install (or pre-installed) LineageOS, or some other open source OS that doesnt require any fighting with bloatware or control over updates (please give your opinion on what is best)
- Easy to open up and repair (and mod) the device hardware myself without any special tools (ie, standard electronics screwdrivers, etc)
- Matte screen with dynamic range that allows the screen to be bright enough to use in the sun but dark enough to use while falling asleep.
I don't plan on using it for anything besides basic web browsing and pdf reading, so it should be cheap. However, price is no object if it has those features. There was one other soft criteria but it sounded like an ad so I removed it... See if you can guess.
Google says it's done making tablets and cancels two unreleased products
Google will not be launching a sequel to last year's Pixel Slate tablet, according to Business Insider and Computer World, and will instead focus its Chrome OS hardware efforts on traditional laptop devices like the Pixelbook. "For Google's first-party hardware efforts, we'll be focusing on Chrome OS laptops and will continue to support Pixel Slate," a spokesperson told Business Insider.
[...] Google went so far as to reveal that it has axed two in-development tablet products, moving the employees who had been working on them to other areas of the company. (Most have apparently joined the Pixelbook team.) The tablets were both smaller in size than the Pixel Slate and were planned for release "sometime after 2019." But disappointing quality assurance testing results led Google to completely abandon both devices. Google informed employees of its decision on Wednesday.
Also at TechCrunch.
Previously: Google Neglecting or Exiting the Android Tablet Business?
Google Hardware Makes Cuts to Laptop and Tablet Development, Cancels Products
Google Pixelbook Tablets and Laptops: Not Dead
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday June 02 2018, @11:29PM (2 children)
Yeah, I've experienced the Android functionality vanishing act. One day some function is there, and the next day it is gone, no reason, no explanation, not even a notification. And I waste time hunting for it, thinking I simply misremembered where it was, not believing they'd really treat their customers so shabbily. It' s a real a**hole thing to do. Hello, Google? Don't be Evil?
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday June 03 2018, @02:12AM (1 child)
I'm quite versed in computers, but fairly new to Android, maybe a year or so. I'm not aware of anything disappearing. Are you referring to apps disappearing? Or maybe they're being automatically updated, and the new version is different? (Everything seems to be that way these days- ugh.) Or maybe the OS itself?
Maybe it's not happening to me because I don't have a google account? I almost never use the Android as a phone either, but I don't think voice / text connectivity would affect OS or apps...
BTW, google recently dropped "don't be evil" from their "code of conduct" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil [wikipedia.org], so I guess evil is SOP again.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Sunday June 03 2018, @04:41AM
The specific functionality that came and went was the visual voicemail. I have a phone that came with Android 5, and it was upgraded to Android 6. For me, a big reason to upgrade is the addition of visual voicemail starting in Android 6. For about a month, I had visual voicemail, then it vanished like it had never existed. There are supposed to be 4 icons in a bar across the top of the various screens, and for a short while I had them. Then without any notice the reel that represents voicemail vanished, along with its functionality, and ever since, there's only been 3 icons, same as in Android 5.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday June 03 2018, @12:52AM
Get ready for a wave of maternity cases soon. Creeping about in the night is always good for that. So . . . what would Google give birth to? Or . . . what would Android give birth to?
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @12:53AM (7 children)
I don’t see why it’s popular. It’s time for Android to go out to pasture.
Owner of many android phones and tablets, as well as Apple products.
(Score: 2) by Apparition on Sunday June 03 2018, @02:16AM (1 child)
The choice between Android and iOS makes me wish that some form of Windows Mobile was still around.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 04 2018, @08:35AM
But it's close.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Marand on Sunday June 03 2018, @04:09AM (3 children)
Android sucks, but iOS sucks even more, especially if you ever try to go off the beaten path, so to speak. For all its warts, Android can still do things like side-load applications easily, have alternate storefronts such as F-Droid, and run usable Linux userlands like Termux. You can even overhaul the UI considerably with things like custom launchers. With iOS, you're out of luck if you want to do any of this in addition to the normal phone/tablet things Apple graciously allows. Yeah, I know, tablets aren't proper laptop replacements, but with a bluetooth keyboard and the right stuff installed you can come pretty close with a tiny device that has an excellent battery life.
I'd love to see more, better options, but so far nothing has managed to make any inroads into this market, especially in the US. Competitors like Nokia, Blackberry, and Microsoft have done a great job of fucking up over the years, so now it's an Android and iOS world. Given that, I'll take Android over iOS just due to the lack of better options. It's not great, but it still has less lock-in and more user control than Apple provides.
I had hoped that something would come of either Sailfish OS or Canonical's attempt to enter the market, but neither seems to have gone anywhere.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @09:41AM (2 children)
Hey it’s op here.
Side loading is one of the things that makes android suck and prone to malware.
I run a MDM platform as part of my day job. And I develop software for iOS. It’s not even hard to side load on iOS if you know what you are doing.
Side loading is hard on iOS because it’s actually got a security model. It shouldn’t be easy on any platform.
All this, and I’m primarily a java developer. Android is easier for me to develop for, but it’s a steaming pile of bullshit co pared to apples platform.
As for the rest of your post, agreed.
(Score: 2) by Marand on Sunday June 03 2018, @11:54AM
That makes sense. Some of the things that make iOS suck for an end-user are the same things that make it more appealing for someone that needs to lock down devices. I understand how ease of side-loading can be a headache from an admin perspective, but I thought Android had a way to block side-loading on managed devices. Am I mistaken on that, or does it exist but is poorly executed?
Regardless, you have my sympathy for having to deal with securing either type of device. Ultimately both OSes are consumer platforms, so I suspect enterprise management of them is probably an afterthought at best. I'm guessing that's probably a good source of frustration.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 04 2018, @08:40AM
I'm willing to accept ads in an app but too many developers seem to make them really really bad - cover the whole screen etc. Many android apps go from buggy to good to full of annoying ads.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @02:22PM
(Score: 2) by Apparition on Sunday June 03 2018, @02:14AM (1 child)
Unfortunately, the iPad and iPad Pro are the only good tablets. I use a tablet to read digital comic books and graphic novels (I purchase and read over a dozen each month), and a few digital magazines. I hate giving money to Apple, but Android tablets are complete junk and reading comic books, graphic novels, and magazines on a tablet is far better than reading them on a computer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Marand on Sunday June 03 2018, @04:25AM
The tablet situation seems pretty dire right now. I'm still using a Galaxy Note Pro 12.2" [wikipedia.org] from early 2014 because the market for tablets with screens larger than 10" is absolutely tiny, especially if you want an active pen like the iPad Pro and the Galaxy Note lines use.
On the Android side, it looks like the larger-sized tablets are being phased out in favour of 2-in-1 Chromebook devices, especially now that Chrome OS supports running Android applications. Samsung released two Android+Chromebook devices with active pens (one Intel, one ARM) last year, for example. Given that Chrome OS is starting to get real support for Linux programs too, this might actually work out okay for me in the long-term. For now, though, I'll just keep using my aging, no-longer-updated tablet until I no longer can.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by stormwyrm on Sunday June 03 2018, @02:41AM (3 children)
I badly want a successor to my ageing Nexus 7 I bought back in 2013. I have found the 7 inch tablet form factor to be ideal for my purposes, and it’s really showing its age, and it doesn’t seem like any of the other tablets in the same form factor from other manufacturers are definitively superior to the Nexus 7 2013. The main thing is that the Nexus 7 has a 1920×1200 screen (and for a time it was the highest resolution screen I had), where most other tablets on the market nowadays have 1024×600 screens or even lower resolutions, and the difference is rather noticeable when you read a lot of text on it. I'd have wanted a modern tablet with a USB Type-C port for faster charging and more modern CPU and display technology. Not sure where I can find such a thing, maybe I’ll just have to find a way to replace the battery on my tablet, if it is cost-effective to do so.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Sunday June 03 2018, @03:39AM (2 children)
Yeah, I had a Nexus 7 and 10. Loved them. Then got a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 with S Pen. Wow, a real stylus, like a pen. When you're old and your fingers are fat it's a damned godsend! :) And, you can get the older S Notes for it which, for some, is superior to Samsung Notes.
(I'd post a link to Samsung's site about it but they insist on permissions I won't allow. Won't subject you all to that as well. Amazon had a good price going on a month ago...)
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday June 03 2018, @05:56PM (1 child)
I like my Samsung tablet, with accurate stylus. I watch anime from Crunchyroll and read comics on it. But I read the agreement that they wanted me to agree to to use Samsung's app and consequently never installed them.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Sunday June 03 2018, @06:48PM
Search the net for S Note if you like. There's an apk out there that is standalone. Not sure what EULA might be there during installation.
(Score: 4, Informative) by KritonK on Monday June 04 2018, @08:38AM
No.
According to an update to TFA, this was caused by a bug when updating the site. The page is back up.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by darkfeline on Monday June 04 2018, @08:42AM
Chrome OS runs Android apps, and there are lots of devices with tablet form factors now, so basically you can choose between an Android device or a Chrome OS device that can run the same apps plus more and comes with a keyboard.
Basically, the average person wants two devices, a smartphone and "something bigger". At first that something was a tablet, but not having a keyboard is annoying which is why there are so many keyboard covers. Netbooks were weak and lacked the large app libraries. Now, it makes sense for that "something bigger" to be a Chrome OS device instead of Android.
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