The best tablet out there? Wait for it ... - Tulsa World

It's nigh impossible to keep up with all the touch-screen computers that have hit or will hit shelves ever since the iPad kicked off the craze earlier this year. And since most of these new tablets are running Android, it's looking like the Apple vs. Google smart phone war has spread to a different front.

Much has been already been said about the Samsung Galaxy Tab ($400-$650), currently the flagship Android tablet, so I thought it would be most interesting to do a full-on comparison between it and the iPad ($500-$830).

Let's start with the form factor. At first glance, there's little difference: Both are rectangles dominated by a touchscreen. The iPad has Apple's traditional single physical button, while the Galaxy has Google's familiar four.

But the iPad has a 10-inch screen, while the Galaxy is just seven. That might not seem like a big difference on paper, but the iPad looks like a behemoth compared to the Galaxy. So which is better?

Really, it depends on what you want to do with it. While the screen quality of both is good, obviously video on the iPad is much more impressive. The extra size gives you more room to use the iPad's touchscreen as a traditional, 10-finger keyboard when trying to get some serious work done, while the Galaxy's is much more cramped.

Then again, the iPad is significantly heavier than the Galaxy. It's not by much, but that extra weight makes a big difference during extended web-surfing sessions or when reading

a book. Unless you invest in some kind of stand or prop, the Galaxy is much more comfortable in the long term.

Galaxy also has a rear-facing camera with flash, as well as a front-facing camera for video chat. The current version of the iPad doesn't.

As for the content of the Galaxy, it's very much an Android, running the latest version of the system. It's got the exact same layout, the exact same use of widgets, the exact same pull-up menu, you name it.

In fact I couldn't really find anything that's changed significantly from the transition to phone to tablet. That isn't a huge problem, as the Android setup works fine for tablets as is. The many thousands of handy Android apps work just as well on the tablet as they do on the phone.

Then again, the iPad launched with many small tweaks to the operating system to take advantage of its size and move it beyond "fine." Its e-mail client can display messages, a list of mail and options simultaneously, while Android still makes you access one at a time.

And Apple's App Store was revamped to make it easy to find apps tuned for the iPad - smart phone apps look a little grainy when running on tablets. There are tablet-specific Android apps trickling out, but good luck trying to find them, as Android's app store doesn't filter between smart phone and tablet apps.

I should also point out that Apple's weird jihad against Flash - the widely used program that powers most video and browser games on the net - is an even bigger blemish on the iPad than the iPhone, since the tablet just begs you to consume media. The Galaxy runs Flash just fine, though popular TV site Hulu blocks itself.

As it stands now, the iPad is a more fully featured and compelling product than the Galaxy. Then again, the Galaxy can be cheaper, and it's more portable. I'm also sure the iPad and Android will continue to evolve and make for better tablets, so it might be worth waiting to see what comes down the pipeline.

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Google still polishing Chrome OS, postpones debut - TMCnet

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It's taking longer than Google Inc. anticipated to deliver a new operating system designed to make computers run faster.

After more than a year building a much–anticipated system around its Chrome Web browser, Google announced Tuesday that the first laptops powered by the new software won't hit the stores until the middle of next year. The revised timetable is about six months behind Google's goal of having the Chrome OS completed in time for it to debut during the current holiday season.

Google's engineers decided they needed more time to fix bugs and fine tune the Chrome OS before the company launches its ambitious challenge to computers running on long–established operating systems made by larger rivals, Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc.

While Google polishes the Chrome OS, it will collect user feedback through a pilot program allowing a relatively small number of consumers and businesses to test unbranded devices running the software. Consumers will be invited to receive the test laptops through the Chrome Web browser and Google's YouTube video site. The companies getting the Chrome OS machines include AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, Kraft Foods Inc. Logitech (News - Alert) International, and Virgin Airlines.

Acer Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. will make the first Chrome OS laptops available in stores next year. The prices of the machines will be determined by the manufacturers next year.

The postponement threatens to intensify the competitive challenges facing the Chrome OS machines. More people already are snapping up sleek, touch–screen tablets such as Apple Inc.'s iPad to surf the Web and run a variety of applications customized for the devices. Apple sold about 7.5 million iPads in the first six months after its April debut and the tablet is expected to be among the top–selling gadgets this holiday season.

The rising popularity of the iPad and an array of copycats has started to undercut sales of lightweight laptops, or "netbooks," according to industry analysts. Even the next version of Google's Android operating system for touch–screen devices is supposed to include more features tailored for tablets.

The Chrome OS computers will have a 12.1 inch display screen and standard–sized keyboard, but no hard drive. That means the Chrome OS computers will need online access to run more programs. Google is teaming up with Verizon Communications to sell Internet access over Verizon's wireless network when there is no other way to connect to the Web. Online consumption of up to 100 megabytes per month will be offered for free during the first two years of computer ownership. Larger data plans will cost as little as $9.99 per month with no long–term commitment required.

Google decided to build its own computer operating system primarily because its views the hundreds of millions of machines powered by Microsoft's dominant Windows software as plodding, cumbersome relics unable to provide speedy Web surfing. The Chrome OS machines are being designed so they're ready to navigate the Internet within a few seconds after hitting the power button, almost as quickly as a television set is ready for channel surfing .

Developing a Web–based alternative to Windows also realizes a long–held goal of Google CEO Eric Schmidt (News - Alert), who had previously clashed with Microsoft as an executive at Sun Microsystems and Novell Inc. during the 1990s. Google's development of the Chrome OS contributed to Schmidt's resignation from Apple's board in 2009. Schmidt stepped down because he increasingly was steering Google into the same markets as Apple, raising potential conflicts of interest.

By making it easier and more appealing for people to spend time online, Google hopes to attract more traffic to its dominant Internet search engine and boost its revenue by selling more of the ads that generate most of its income.

The push for a speedier Web experience, prompted Google to introduce the Chrome browser more than two years ago. Although it still lags behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer and the Mozilla (News - Alert) Foundation's Firefox, Chrome has steadily been winning converts. Google says Chrome now has 120 million active users worldwide today, up from about 30 million at the beginning of the year.

Chrome will soon get even faster by pulling up websites as people type in an address, in the same manner that Google's search engine displays different results with each keystroke. For example, typing "e:" in Chrome's navigation bar display ESPN's site in the browser, if that is a destination that the user frequently visits.

To help whet consumers' appetite for the new Chrome OS machines, Google unveiled a new store that will distribute Web applications that offer more features and better graphics than the content found on standard Web pages. The Web apps store opened Monday with about 500 free and for–fee applications, meeting the end–of–the–year deadline Google established when it announced the idea in May. More than 40,000 applications already have been developed specifically for the iPad.

The New York Times Co., Time Warner (News - Alert) Inc.'s Sports Illustrated magazine and video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. are among the major companies already offering applications in the Chrome store. Internet retailer Amazon.com (News - Alert) Inc. also previewed an application that for the first time will allow other merchants to sell electronic books for its Kindle reader. The app enables Kindle books to be read through a Web browser.

Like programs designed for the iPad and mobile phones, the Chrome applications store could help publishers bring in more revenue from subscriptions and advertising.

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Picard to Continue With Suits Against Mark Madoff - Wall Street Journal

The court-appointed trustee recovering assets for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme will move ahead with lawsuits brought against his elder son Mark Madoff, who killed himself Saturday morning, a lawyer for the trustee said.

"The litigation will take its course and the death of Mark Madoff will not impact that fact," the lawyer, David Sheehan, said in an email Sunday.

That the trustee intends to pursue the suits is not surprising. Among the hundreds targeted in suits by the trustee, Irving Picard, in recent weeks are estates of former Madoff investors.

After the September death of Stanley Chais, a California money manager who fed clients' funds to Mr. Madoff, for example, Mr. Picard said he would continue litigation that sought $1.1 billion from Mr. Chais and related entities. Mr. Chais had denied any wrongdoing.

On Saturday, Mr. Picard said: "This is a tragic development, and my sympathy goes out to Mark Madoff's family."

Almost a year after the multi-billion dollar fraud conducted by his father, Bernard Madoff, was publicly revealed on Dec. 11, 2008, both Mark and his brother Andrew Madoff were sued by Mr. Picard. Mr. Picard accused Mark Madoff in the October 2009 lawsuit of receiving at least $66.9 million improperly through Bernard Madoff's investment company.

His lawyer has called the suit baseless and has sought to have it dismissed.

Last week, Mark and Andrew Madoff were also named in an $80 million lawsuit filed in London against them and other former directors of Madoff Securities International Ltd. by Mr. Picard and Stephen J. Akers, a joint liquidator of the that business, Mr. Picard said. The suit was filed in the United Kingdom's High Court of Justice Commercial Court, he said.

According to Mr. Picard, the lawsuit, which has not been made public under English law, accuses directors and officers of violating their duties to the company by making fraudulent payments, including some that benefited Mr. Madoff and his family.

"The directors had duties, among others, to be honest in recording the purposes and activities of the business," Mr. Akers said in a statement. But instead, he said, they allegedly signed off on false documents and misrepresented the true nature of transactions, "all of which assisted Madoff's fraudulent scheme."

"These are baseless claims against Mark and Andrew Madoff, who were not involved in the financial operations of Madoff Securities International. They were outside directors with [minimal] ownership interests," said Martin Flumenbaum, a lawyer for Mr. Madoff's sons. "They had no knowledge of their father's crimes, including any fraudulent activity related to the London entity."

Also last week, Mr. Picard sued children of Andrew and Mark, alleging that Ruth and Bernard Madoff transferred funds to them. A spokesman for the brothers and their wives declined to comment, as did Susan Elkin, Mark Madoff's former wife, who was also sued.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr. Flumenbaum called Mr. Madoff's suicide "a terrible and unnecessary tragedy. Mark was an innocent victim of his father's monstrous crime who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo. We are all deeply saddened by this shocking turn of events."

Write to Michael Rothfeld at michael.rothfeld@wsj.com

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