News ViewSonic plans dual-boot slate

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2010/08/24/viewsonic-plans-dual-boot-slate/1

 

This will be fidgety and a real niche gizmo.

 

I am just wondering what that Windows system would be capable of? because if it's only for browsing the Internet and stuff then I would probably stay with Android

 

yep but it will also have those few applications you need to have windows to run.

 

i don't think people will really be dualbooting with this thing. They will either use Android or Windows and that's it. Once you have your environment setup they way you like it and you have all your apps on either one of them you won't find a reason to go into the other. What i would REALLY like is a tablet that can run a full version of Ubuntu. I believe that would have a lot more appeal than an Android tablet.

 

Why not just virtualize, and allow for fast swapping? If the unit only has 512MB/1GB ram, why not just bundle two extra NAND Flash chips on the board, so that when you want to swap OSes, it just hibernates the one you're running at the time.

 

*yawn* I#f I'd get a penny for everybody "planning" a new device.

Where do I buy the Ipadkillers?
Where do I buy a 100$ laptop?
Where's my Epaper?

Hot air...

 

QFT:

They never are. It is always the new "iPad killer" (because we all know how flawed and overpriced a product the ipad is, so obviously anyone can do better), but also always: "firm details are not yet available...."

Sure. Come back when you have a working commercial unit in your hands.

 

The ipad killers are available as the factories in China have been churning them out. The trouble is that most of the time the processors used aren't capable enough and the few ones that are, the OS isn't fully supported. And they are largely unsupported, with regards to OS updates.

 

Where the heck are they churning them to? Domestic chinese market? I'm surely not seeing them in shops here...

 

There's quite a few on ebay. There are a few e-shops dotted about, one in Ireland iirc and a couple on the continent. Have a read of the forums on http://www.slatedroid.com/android-tablet-market/ The impression I get is that they're not ready for the real consumer market, where they can be bought in a shop. They are more an exercise in experimentation, to see what can be made to work. I'd hope certainly by next year that there should be rivals sold alongside and as available as the ipad.