When Former Senator Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon ran for the recent Philippine Presidential Elections, I clearly remember him flashing an Amazon Kindle during one of his speeches. His idea of having an ebook reader for public schools to address the lack of books was quite appealing. Although at that time, knowing that the Kindle had a hefty price tag, the idea seemed improbable. Apple soon followed suit and developed the iPad but being Apple, you pay for the name more than the actual product, the price was just as hefty as the Amazon Kindle.
But Apple started a trend, which seems like they may face a losing battle when it comes to price. As Apple announced that the iPad will soon go global, China finally steps up to the plate and began releasing its ‘fake’ iPads. Sure the Apple fans have began dismissing the product as a cheap knock-off…but hold on for a minute…
If you are going to use only certain features to surf the internet, read eBooks, watch an occasional movie or two…the iPed can definitely do all that at a cheaper price. Of course the sacrifice comes in the from of the screen size and resolution wherein the iPad is definitely superior to the iPed but for anything else…the price is certainly a great bargain.
And this is just the start. Soon more manufacturers from China, Taiwan and Korea will jump in the bandwagon and the tablet PCs will get cheaper and cheaper. And hopefully when it does, Dick Gordon’s dream might become a reality. Call it cheap. Call it unappealing. Call it uncool. Call it jejemon (or whatever). But at the end of the day, if the device does work as promised, then its well worth it and definitely a great bargain compared to the overpriced ‘originals’. For me the only thing I want to do is to be able to read ebooks, fanfics, manga, comics while lying down with my head on the pillow.
Did I mention that the iPed has a USB port?!?! GASP!!! The only thing I want to see now is how this device actually displays PDF files and work on some sites that I normally read. If its all ok then it's definitely a go for me.
For those interested, below are the specs of the iPed which is said to retail around 100-150 USD.
Features:
CPU: VIA 800MHz
Software: Google Android 1.6
Screen: 8 inch LCD, multi-touch display with IPS technology, 800*480 px (Screen size should fall approximately 7 inches)
Built in E-book Reader: iReader software, support TXT, UMD, CHM, HTML, PDB etc. Enjoy the E-book format comics freely!
Language: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Spanish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese
Memory:87.95M, support TF card up to 16GB extended
Multimedia codes: Support MP3, MP4, AVI, Word, Excel, Mail, Ebook, video online
Network support: Ethernet 10/100M, WiFi: 802.11B/G
High-fidelity stereo speaker output
3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
Microphone
Dock connector port
USB slot
Built in Camera: No
You Tube: Support
Other functions: WiFi, Alarm, Calendar, Contacts, Documents to go, Email, iReader, Maps, Browser, Voice recorder, Gravity Sensor
Size: 221*180*15mm
Net Weight: 593g
Color: White, silver
Battery: 2100MAh
Videos of the iPed:
The video below is for the iRobot which is similar to the iPed. Or is it the same? With China you'll never know!