As of now, there are a lot of brands who offer Android based tablets to compete with Apple iPad. But Samsung was the first brand ever to start competing Apple’s hugely popular iPad with their own Android tablet; Samsung Galaxy Tab. Back then, the latest version of Android was 2.2 Froyo which was not completely compatible with screen sizes and resolutions as big as ones found in tablets. Samsung had a lot of effort spent on making Android to make it fit on that bigger screen with their custom applications for Contacts, Browser, Music Player, Calendar, etc.
But a lot has changed since then, Google released 3 different versions of Android which are fully compatible with proper tablet form factor and various screen resolution, size starting from 3.0 Honeycomb to 4.1 JellyBean. Now, instead of releasing Android tablet models for nearly every screen size possible, Samsung is not being seen as the number one tablet PC maker because there have not been many new innovations from them in that space. Let us see how Asus won this and how it fares against Samsung and other Android tablet manufacturers.
Bringing Many ‘Firsts’ To Android Tablet Space
Asus managed to bring Back at the CES 2011, Asus introduced the first ever real hybrid tablet; Eee Pad Transformer TF101. This Android 3.0 Honeycomb based tablet came with a keyboard dock that helped it to be transformed into a hybrid laptop like form factor with keyboard. This dock accessory not only provided a proper keyboard but also a multi-touch track pad, full sized USB ports, additional battery, full sized SD card slot and an HDMI port. This accessory was a real help who would like to type a lot on their tablets along with many added features. An additional battery also meant that you could use your tablet for a lot more time than normal. This, to us, was the biggest real change that Asus brought to the tablet market where all the other models looked like clones of iPad. This new form factor brought accolades from critics because of the value it brought to the usefulness rather than being just a gimmick. This form factor was then adopted by many Windows 8 and Windows RT device manufacturers in their hybrid tablet/laptop form factors.
Asus was also the first brand to introduce the Full HD 1920 x 1200 display to an Android tablet with Transformer Prime Infinity. This tablet which was announced in early 2012 has a display pixel density of 224 ppi which is very close to the New iPad’s Retina display. The Transfer Prime from Asus was the first quad-core tablet using the Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset. Asus has also had a very brave experiment in making an all-in-one hybrid tablet/phone device powered by Android; Asus Padfone. This device is actually a Android smartphone which can fit into a ‘tablet accessory’ to be transformed into a 10 inch tablet which can be then attached to a keyboard dock making it a complete laptop. Samsung on the other hand have not had any real innovations other than the S-Pen which is featured in the Galaxy Note 10.1. Recent flagship tablets from Samsung have not been up to par on the build quality and design front, most of them look the same and are hard to differentiate.
Partnership with Google for Nexus Tablet
Google and Samsung have shared a long relationship. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 was chosen to be distributed to all the Google I/O 2011 attendees when Android 3.2 Honeycomb was announced. Despite this, Google chose Asus as its device partner for their first ever Nexus branded tablet; Nexus 7. Asus MeMo tablet was in limelight of Android fan-boys talks as how it can become the best 7 inch Android tablet due to its portable form factor yet powerful performance of its quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset. Fortunately, Google chose Asus MeMo tablet as the base for their Nexus tablet and priced it at just $119 for 8GB and $249 for 16GB. The Nexus 7 is a blockbuster Android tablet and it received thoroughly positive reviews from gadget experts all over the world. It managed to have a ‘sold out’ status more than once. The only decent competitor to the Nexus 7 is none other than Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 P3100 which offers more features in the form of 3 MP back camera, expandable storage and 3G (as well as calling and messaging). The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 price is around $249 but the hardware, battery and screen performance is still not better than the Nexus 7. There is a rumour that Google will release a 32GB version of Nexus 7 following its popularity and demand. There is unconfirmed news that Google is planning to disrupt the ultra-low end tablet market with a $99 tablet which will be built by Asus.
With constant useful improvements to their tablet devices, Asus has managed to be the best tablet PC maker after Apple and managed to throw down its competitors such as Samsung, Acer and Sony by a huge margin.