Axon Logic, the company that not many have heard of before has announced it is game for a bout in the highly competitive tablet segment and for this, they have armed themselves with a tablet PC named Axon Logic Haptic. And the one thing that sets this tablet PC apart from the rest is that it does not come pre-loaded with any specific operating system. Instead, Axon Logic is leaving it upon the users of the tablet to decide which operating system they’d wish to have on their tablet. There will be more on the OS later but for now, let’s focus on the other aspects of the tablet.
The Haptic tablet has a 10.1 inch LED back-lit LCD touchscreen up front that in the company’s own words “will enable you to touch the world like never before”. The touch sensitive screen has a 1024 x 600p resolution display with a stylus included. Speaking of the screen, Axon Logic says, “Don’t be limited to how you touch. Use the built in stylus, your fingers, or even a glove,” this in spite of the screen being based on the older resistive technology.he screen also includes on-screen keyboard and handwriting recognition feature.
At its core, the tablet has a 1.66 GHz Atom N270 processor coupled to a 2 GB RAM while hard disk space spans a massive 320 GB. The other key features of the Haptic tablet include a built-in 1.3 megapixel front-facing web cam for video chatting, built-in speaker, three USB ports along with Mic, Ethernet, headphone and VGA ports and a memory card reader. The Haptic tablet also comes with 3G CDMA-VErizon SIM slot while also supporting a/b/g/n Wi-Fi.
Now coming to the most interesting aspect of the tablet and yes, you guessed it right, its about the OS of the device. Axon Login tablet PC is compatible with every Drawin OS which includes PureDarwin and even Apple’s proprietary operating system Mac OS X. It is to be noted the Mac OS X is based on the Darwin open source specification.
Axon notes: “We give you the choice of easily choosing which OS you want to boot up to.” “Whether you want Linux one day, or Windows the next, Of course, we suspect that you’ll be using Darwin the most. We’ve installed Darwin (kernel and system specific kexts) on a hidden EFI partition. That means you can effortlessly install your favorite Darwin OS, such as Pure Darwin. Just plug in the DVD drive (or flash drive), install, then reboot. You are now working with one of the most secure and stable operating systems in the world. That EFI partition also means painless updates. Apple Inc.’s Snow Leopard is a Darwin OS, however the EULA specifically prohibits installation on a ‘non-Apple-branded’ computers.”
What this means is that Axon Logic is making it specifically clear that their tablet is OS X compatible but they want the onus of using the Apple operating system to be firmly on the consumers. The company is making it clear that the “EULA specifically prohibits installation on a ‘non-Apple-branded’ computer.” This is perhaps a means to bypass the legal tangles involved in letting consumers to use the OS X in a manner that Apple prohibits.
In fact, with the Haptic tablet, Axon Logic has set its eyes on the Apple’s iPad and is enticing users by saying “touch a full blown OS instead of an OS meant for a phone,” in what is a direct reference to the iOS which is essentially the iPhone software that also finds application in the iPad albeit after necessary modifications.
Providing the power to the tablet is a removable 3000mAh battery that Axon Logic says has a life of just 3hrs. The tablet is currently available for pre-order for $750 for a single unit, $1,400 for two of the tablets, and $2,050 if you order three. It weighs 0.9 gms which though is a lot less than what the tablet’s bulky looks will otherwise suggest.
Axon Logic wishes to do battle with the Apple iPad and their primary weapon for this comes right from Apple’s armory. It will be interesting to see how Apple responds to the entire thing. Psystar had also attempted something similar but had ended up paying a cool $2.7 million in damages for copyright infringement.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
