I get that Apple’s iPad is hotter than hot with over 3-million sold so far, but, please, to say “Apple has won the battle for tablet computing already” is really over-reaching. I mean, come on, the Android Linux-based tablets, or if you insist, the iPad killers, were only supposed to start showing up in mid-summer.
Guess what? They’re finally starting to show up. The Dell Streak, a cross between a smartphone and a tablet, will be out later this summer. It will first show up with Android 1.6 under the hood, but it will be user upgradeable to Android 2.2, Froyo, the latest Android release.
At the same time, Kmart, of all places, is advertising the Augen 7-inch tablet, the GENTOUCH78, on sale for just $150 through July 31. Don’t rush out to your local Kmart though. The demand has already, sight unseen, been so high for this tablet that most Kmart retail stores are handing out rain-checks.