iPad Alternatives, Anyone?

-Lenovo

Taking a break from report-writing, I had the urge to find out more about iPad alternatives. Many reviewers aren't happy that the iPad has fewer features than expected. So what are the alternatives?

Here is a video about Lenovo's hybrid tablet/laptop. It's a little fancier than the iPad, has more features, and most likely will be more expensive:

IdeaPad U1 Hybrid Notebook


The IdeaPad gives you a tablet and a PC/laptop, it is 3G and Wi-Fi enabled, and is basically two systems in one.  When the tablet is connected to the laptop base, it provides the full power of a PC. The touch screen is resistive touch, not capacitive touch, but apparently it acts as if it is a capacitive touch system, if the reviewers are correct.


The HP SLATE
Brief Intro


Interview


RELATED
Pixel Qi might function like an e-reader, but is rumored to be touch-enabled in future versions.

-Thomas Ricker, Engadget 12/7/09

Pixel Qi:  The LCD Screen That Could Finally Kill Paper for Good
-Lauren Anderson, Popular Science, 1/12/10


How Pixel QI works:

-Popular Science, Graham Murdoch


Previous post:
Mary Lou Jepsen, Inventor of Pixel Qi Technology, Discusses Screen Technologies & Multi-touch Tablets

Multi-touch Linux on a Stantum SlatePC & more

-Stephane Chatty, Benjamin Tissoires; Video by G. Tabart


Information from the YouTube video:
"This video, shot by ENAC's Interactive Computing Laboratory, demonstrates how one can use out-of-the-box Linux applications with multitouch displays, using the lab's kernel drivers and modified X.org evdev driver. See http://lii-enac.fr/en/projects/shareit/xorg.html for technical details. This work was done during project ShareIT, carried out with Thales Avionics, IntuiLab and Stantum, and sponsored by Aerospace Valley. The ShareIT project explores the use of multitouch interaction for future commercial aircraft cockpits."


The multi-touch software shown in the video was created by IntuiLab.  The Slate PC multi-touch hardware was built by Stantum.  Later in the video, the software is shown running on a MERL DiamondTouch


RELATED
Project ShartIT, ENAC:

ENAC Interactive Computing Laboratory, University of Toulouse, France


Multitouch Interaction: Some Background (from ENAC)


List & Description of some multi-touch devices (from ENAC)


IntuiLab Showroom Pictures


Stantum: Notes from Guillame:
"Key to the expansion of multi-touch is finding the killer app."