14 DAY TRIAL // Once upon a time people used to love tablets and device manufacturers loved to produce new, better models. Until it all came to an abrupt end. Sure, tablets are still being produced, but the enthusiasm created around them has faded considerably.
The thing is, tablet makers just don’t seem to find a way to innovate anymore. We’ve already seen tablets with large displays, advanced resolution, powerful processors, huge batteries, styluses, pico projectors bundled within them and so on.
In recent times, increasingly larger smartphones have slowly started to replace the need for tablets. Now it is customary to launch a flagship model with a 5.7-inch display and form factors above 6-inch are becoming increasingly abundant.
Despite the blurry picture we’ve been painting for you so far, some device makers continue to believe that customers want tablets. Look at Apple, who recently unveiled the iPad Pro with a 12.9-inch display. The Cupertino tech giant arrived quite late to the big tablet party, but nevertheless felt it had to make a contribution.
Can Samsung re-invent the large tablet?
Device makers like Samsung have been offering large tablets like that for a while now, as you might remember the Galaxy Note/Tab 12.2 models which were unveiled back at CES 2014.
We’ve also been hearing some rumors earlier this year saying that Sony is also looking to unveil a massive 12-inch slab, but the device never seemed to materialize in the real world.
So is there a demand for extremely large tablets? Samsung seems to think so. Back at IFA 2015, Sammy ended its press event by teasing a tablet that seemed pretty big, which it called the Galaxy View.
We’ve had knowledge of such a device, which leaked online repeatedly and featured an 18.4-inch form factor. Even the specs of the tablet leaked online, revealing the slob is expected to make a debut with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, an octa-core Exynos processor (older version), 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage with microSD card slot plus an 8MP/2.1MP camera combo.
It appears that Samsung wants to market the Galaxy View as a mid-range affair, but why is that?
Samsung might be looking towards a broader spectrum, hoping to push the Galaxy View in several markets such as the business one or the educational one. What’s more, families who no longer wish to pay for cable TV could also take advantage of the services of the Galaxy View. So the tablet could also be offered as a media streaming device.
In the teaser images Samsung showed us during the IFA 2015 event, it appeared that the Galaxy View has been designed with a kickstand companion.
So could it be that tablets will soon start replacing TVs? It’s a possible route the evolution on slates might take.
Samsung could also be betting on the fact that for the time being the Galaxy View has no competitors. So despite the not-so-attractive specs, the device still has a chance to be noticed at the office, in the classroom or at home.