Well, as expected, after Steve Jobs and the Apple crew released the overly anticipated and much ballyhooed Ipad earlier this month, quite a few competitors came out of the closet with their version of the “Ipad”. Here are a few of the competitors mentioned by Inc. magazine in their April issue.
1. Notion Ink Adam
With the press of a button, the 1.7-pound Adam switches from low-power e-paper to full color. Unlike the iPad, the Adam, due in June, has a camera, an HDMI port, and a memory card slot.
COST: Unavailable at presstime; Notion Ink says it will be competitive with the iPad, which starts at $499.
2. Lenovo Ideapad S10-3T
This 3-pound tablet has a physical keyboard and a 10-inch display that swivels to switch from laptop to tablet. Other features include Quick Start, for going online without booting into Windows 7, and DirectShare, for syncing files. A charge lasts seven hours, compared with 10 on the iPad.
COST: $499
3. JooJoo
The JooJoo’s 12.1-inch screen is great for streaming high-definition video. The 2.4-pound tablet, which has shortcuts to Twitter, Hulu, and Facebook, is all about the Web; it promises to get users online in nine seconds. Unlike the iPad, it has a webcam — but it has only five hours of battery life.
COST: $499
4. Entourage Edge
A so-called dualbook, the eDGe has two screens: a 9.7-inch eInk display for reading books and a 10.1-inch LCD for surfing the Web. The 3-pound device has a camera and runs on Google Android, giving users access to apps. It lasts 16 hours in eReader mode and six hours in color.
COST: $499
