Hello andriod lovers, calling on your involvement and discussion for the development of apps that will be featured on a new 10inch tablet built and designed for the Nigerian andriod lovers. So tell us what kind of apps you would like in this tablet, how do you want the user interface to look like? And any other thots you might have. I will post the hardware configuration of the tablet. Also like our facebook page, so you can get updates as they come. www.facebook.com/air360tablet

So let's start with listing apps you would like to be pre-loaded in the tablet.

Hello, I have a new update, we are thinking of choosing between a 3.2mp camera as against a 5mp camera. The challenge of the 5mp camera is that it does not allow autofocus, so let's hear your views.

95 views and no comments, common guys help me out here.

dude seriously?
half the folk on NL dont know what you are talking about!. the other half cannot be arsed.
this thing you are asking might seem trivial but should be done professionally based on your technical issues and challenges, not NL type of commenting.





that said, perhaps you should deal with specifics.

like the camera, well if its a tablet, i doubt if most pple use it for its camera, but nigerians are not "regular" pple.
id say go for quality over quantity. 3.2 MP over the 5.
how many tablets do well in that category anyway, the IPAD 2 has a VGA secondary camera!!! i dont see any fanboys complaining



as for apps, bro forget the bloat. go minimal. preloaded software you have little or no control over will hamper your product.
Just a few things, maybe Spinlet, tho u may need permissions from the company.


Android users will ALWAYS install their own things, just ensure you ship with market enabled


which OS version are you aiming to ship?

Are you intending to have a custom overlay? forget it, bad idea. go stock android.

if you intend to ship gingerbread just install ICS launcher from factory.
I sincerely hope you want to move JellyBean sha


AND PLEASE MAKE THE OS IMAGE AND KERNEL AVAILABLE SOMEWHERE FOR DOWNLOAD. and a how-to for flashing it
THATS THE BAREST YOU CAN DO FOR SUPPORT, OTHERWISE PPLE LIKE ME WILL NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. with that you will even get development going possibly sef

i no want tablet wey i no fit re-install in case accident happen



if you want help, ask specific questions

The following 'app' is for making international and local calls from your android phone or tablet.

The difference being you can pay in naira for all your calls, calls to US or UK start from N5 a minute. Domestic calls within Nigeria start from N11 a minute.

The 'app' is called SiP4MOBiLES

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sipformobiles.sip&hl=en

Free to download but your account will need a user name and password which costs initially N5000 to load the account.

for more information email me at info@omafones.com

@4llerbuntu finally someone who has something to say, i was beginning to think i was in the wrong place. first off this is not the only platform we are running surveys on. we are dedicated in making sure our final customers enjoy the android experience with our tablets.
okay down to your observations, thank you for them. you know in the phone world there are advanced users and ordinary users so we as a company have to find a middle ground to satisfy both groups. as the per the OS, jelly beans is definitely on the table, but as you know there are not yet many apps that run on jelly beans so we are considering all the angles thanks for that.
as per support that is foremost in our minds and will do our best to make sure we dish it out.
we have some hardware features we are putting in the tablet. one if them is to allow you send signals to your TV so you can duplicate your screen on your TV set so what do you think about that.
also just talk away all you would like as an advanced user you seem to know a lot about it.
thank you.

Afamdman:
we have some hardware features we are putting in the tablet.

one if them is to allow you send signals to your TV so you can duplicate your screen on your TV set so what do you think about that.
also just talk away all you would like as an advanced user you seem to know a lot about it.

thank you.

most definitely. thats a great idea.


will take time later to give you some ideas.

but i still suggest that you do this methodically. like for example start out with discussing hardware and accessories choices.

form factor, Ports, input and output options etc.

Note that your overriding constraint unfortunately is price. Its pretty difficult to convince anyone that your relatively unknown product is premium and is worthy of the same price as an Ipad or galaxy tab. so i guess you have to aim for a lower price point.
that will color your choices.


you know what its costing you from the manufacturing plants so why not give a probable spec sheet for hardware, and we discuss what each component means for your product. there are'nt that many anyway.

i guess that way more people will be willing to contribute.

Okay first things first..
Its one thing to dream and another to see it come to fruition.
Let me cut to the chase.
What makes a smartphone? Design and Hardware
Do you want to go over the board or keep it simple...that's your call.

Hardware that goes into this matters as people don't have the patience for snail-paced devices. Are you going with 2 cameras or just 1? How many MP(MegaPixel)?

Have you done enough research on the processor you want to use on it? What OS do you intend to run on it? Note that Google Play MUST ship with your device. Will your device have room for custom ROM installations/upgrades?

And finally, the price matters.

Hope this helps

Air360 hardware features.

General 2G NetworkGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G NetworkHSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 
Body Dimensions 200.1 x 155 x 11 mm    
Weight 600 g -
Touch Module Capacitive Touch-sensitive controls
DisplayType PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colorsSize800 x 1280 pixels, 10.1 inches (~149 ppi pixel density)Multitouch Yes
Sound Alert types Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes, with stereo speakers 3.5mm jack Yes
MemoryCard slotmicroSD, up to 64 GB
Internal Storage 16 GB storage,
Ram 1 GB
Data GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
EDGE Class 12Speed
HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
WLANWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth Yes, v3.0
USB Yes, microUSB (MHL) v2.0, USB Host support
Camera Primary3 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, Features Geo-taggingVideoYes, 720p@30fps,
SecondaryYes, 1.3 MP
FeaturesOS Android OS, v4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Chipset AMLogic A10 Cortex A8CPU1.2 GHzGPUMali-400
MPSensorsAccelerometer, gyro, compassMessagingSMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IMBrowserHTML5, Adobe Flash 
GPS Yes, with A-GPS support
JavaYes, via Java MIDP emulator
Colors Black, White/Silver - SNS integration-
TV-out (via HDMI Link)-
Video MP4/DivX/Xvid/FLV/MKV/H.264/H.263
Photo BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG
Audio player- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/Flac player- Organizer-
Apps Image/video editor- Document editor/viewer- Google Search, Google play, Maps, Gmail,YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration- Voice memo/dial- Predictive text input (Swype)
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 6000 mAh Stand-by -244hours Talk time -4-6 hours

thats pretty generic.

well most tabs that are not mainstream that iv checked out recently come with these specs too. eg. the new Ainol Flame, Aurora etc.


those specs are ok. other than the Screen.

like i said it depends on what your price point is, but for example the Ainol flame has identical specs but comes with an IPS screen.



the screen sizes differ, true. but realize your PPI is 149. on a large 10 inch screen that is going to take away a lot from your device.

truly lets face it, the main thing about a tab is the screen. if its looking washed out and crappy, not displaying colors properly, not bright, visibly pixellated. its a non starter. that has WACK written all over it.


your immediate competitors retail for between 150-200 dollars incl shipping. some folks even here on NL try to move them for about 38 k naira!


My point is try improve that Screen its vital.


as far as i see, thats the only spec i have ish with.


thats for hardware!

maybe other folks have a different take on this

for software. i re-iterate that

1. keep it sparse. Google Stock Apps and one or two other stuff. forget the bloatware. there is no need for it!
ensure it has GAPPS, especially Android Market (Google Play) functional.


2. You are shipping with ICS. Good but could be better if it was Jelly Bean.

gives you better room to market and wiggle. Longevity is key for you. you dont want to be trying to sell a tablet thats not upgradeable when in 6 months the OS is like 3 releases behind.


but for this ICS is ok, lots of devices are still shipping with ICS, the difference is the manufacturers promise to update to Jelly Bean(some lie). you don't have the luxury of lying (no big name yet)


3. i repeat, ask whoever is building it to provide factory images of the OS, along with instructions on how to flash.
all you have to do is then host then somewhere.

at least even if the users wont get XDA level development, they can at least be assured they can always flash to stock in the event something goes wrong.

if you want XDA level development, ask for the source code and drivers, make them available too.

[size=14pt]Can you just scrap the idea of a TFT screen and go with an IPS screen?
[/size]
@4ller
Let them start with Ice Cream Sandwich..with room for upgrade to Jellybean in the near future(weeks) as some folks are still trying out GingerBread

The specs above pack alot of punch which the other tablets in the market have which is a good thing for it.

I had to go over the specs again to pick out the processor type and a few other things&I almost lost it when i thought i saw just 2G network and was wondering where the 3G network went . The spec isn't bad.

Front and rear camera? Not bad...not bad i must say.

Why am i insisting on the IPS screen? I have to be able to stare at the screen from different angles and STILL get the SAME rich visuals and that's where the IPS screen comes in. Most tablets ship with TN(Twisted Nematic*..not sure) display technology which packs a 6-bit color resolution and offers less viewing angles but with the IPS screen,viewing angle issues are eliminated and it comes with 8-bit color resolution.

KazeKage1: [size=14pt]Can you just scrap the idea of a TFT screen and go with an IPS screen?
[/size]
@4ller
Let them start with Ice Cream Sandwich..with room for upgrade to Jellybean in the near future as some folks are still trying out GingerBread .


The REAL problem will arise when customers aren't able to update to the next OS.

contradictory!

why are you being troublesome? are you in her place again? or u too haff taken cohiba?

why not ship JB, the source been out for ages and some tabs are shipping it already. the manufacturers have access to the drivers and stuff not available to indie devs ordinarily so its usually a question of waaaaaaaaay easier compilation and testing

the thing is shipping JB means this tablet is sellable next year around this time still.

shipping ICS means its not. unless this is a short term business idea, do the right thing as best as you can.

its not mandatory, but adviseable. My 50kobo

4llerbuntu:

contradictory!

why are you being troublesome? are you in her place again? or u too haff taken cohiba?

why not ship JB, the source been out for ages and some tabs are shipping it already. the manufacturers have access to the drivers and stuff not available to indie devs ordinarily so its usually a question of waaaaaaaaay easier compilation and testing

the thing is shipping JB means this tablet is sellable next year around this time still.

shipping ICS means its not. unless this is a short term business idea, do the right thing as best as you can.

its not mandatory, but adviseable. My 50kobo

I'm not really against the idea of shipping with JB but why do you think manufacturers churn these things out with ICS? ==> Its early days for JB end-users and most folks are still wetting their pants over ICS.

Agreed, the source code has been out for a while and support isn't far off but why go against the current trend?

Noted on the OS argument, would like to ship with JB but its still new and not yet fully tested, as you know am new into the market and cant afford any mistakes with software that will put users in trouble,which will mean trouble for me. but we have plans to make the tablet up gradable to JB over the air. as per keeping an image of the OS online for people to download for flashing purposes, no problem we have plans of building an apps website so that will be put there. and yes we will ship it with google play. as for the 149 dpi am working on getting it up to 240 at least you know cost is a constrain, but am sure in our subsequent upgrade in technology we will bring out better tablets.
also i will work out a way you guys can have a crack at the tablet so you can test it physically and see if it meets with your approval.
please more talk also hope you wont mind directing your other guys here to contribute.

I love the concept of android apps.

Afamdman: Noted on the OS argument, would like to ship with JB but its still new and not yet fully tested, as you know am new into the market and cant afford any mistakes with software that will put users in trouble,which will mean trouble for me. but we have plans to make the tablet up gradable to JB over the air. as per keeping an image of the OS online for people to download for flashing purposes, no problem we have plans of building an apps website so that will be put there. and yes we will ship it with google play. as for the 149 dpi am working on getting it up to 240 at least you know cost is a constrain, but am sure in our subsequent upgrade in technology we will bring out better tablets.
also i will work out a way you guys can have a crack at the tablet so you can test it physically and see if it meets with your approval.
please more talk also hope you wont mind directing your other guys here to contribute.

yeah, well i guess the price constraint is the most difficult obstacle you have.

well other things i think are important

QUALITY CONTROL.
you have to keep an eye on it. in manufacturing, there are bound to be the stray product thats not really up to scratch. Hope you have created an outlet where you dont get shafted with those products?

you need to be able to get them replaced at no cost to you. that type of thing erodes your bottomline badly.


ACCESSORIES
Covers, keyboard, Cables, chargers etc.

thats another way you can spec your product up, and also subsequently make little money after sales.

its needed anyway, inevitably. there is always the odd person who lost/damaged his charger, needs a OTG cable, a HDMI cable, screen protector, etc.

some will come with the product anyway, but u do need them on retail



[size=18pt]ADVERTS/PUBLICITY[/size]

Crucial.

i will be honest with you, forget that "Nigerian tablet " line. its corny, its actually harms your product.
that INYE dude can testify. there is just so far you can go with that line.

of course your product is "nigerian" but that should not be the center point of your publicity. you should stress what your product can do, its quality, the after sales support etc. thats its nigerian should just be one of the selling points.

but anyway you do need publicity, you need sales points, marketing. you need shops to stock it, you need to move it beyond lagos!

its not easy, but no real business is.

i suppose you have a concrete business plan? determine how many units you want to move in say 3-6 months that will get you to the "ok this is a good venture" point. plan how to move that volume now! do your leg work.

dont bring it in first, then start looking around for who will take them off your hands.


im sure if you do this, you will realise why i keep stressing that the price point is very important.


********************

FOR APPS. maybe you do need to try collate the productivity and educational stuff that can make your tablets attractive to schools at primary and secondary school level! stuff that teachers can use t teach, students can use to learn

also the additional things like being able to run presentations off it etc.

thats a potential market, not many schools can afford IPADS, but you know nigerians love the effizy.

@poster
If you listen to 4llerbuntu, you'll fail miserably.

@4llerbuntu
What part do you not understand? That the OP is going up against established players with no brand recognition? Or that he has to significantly undercut the likes of Samsung et al if he is to have a prayer of a chance to succeed?

He's most likely running with a rebadged Chinese tablet that almost certainly will run ICS. Asking him to devote (expensive) developer time to JB is not feasible. It's not always a simple port...there's a reason why most of the CM10 builds for existing brand name tablets still are not very stable. I run JB on my SGS III and believe me, there are bugs!

I'm not sure why you people are babbling about IPS...he says the device has a PLS screen. that's technology comparable to IPS (it was used in the Galaxy Tab 10.1) so it's pretty decent. Not sure why he threw in the 'TFT' though.


Please remember that this is intended to be for BUSINESS and hence he NEEDS to show a profit. No unknown brand Android tablet will sell well in the > 50K range.

You want him to remove bloatware. Sorry, Nigerians LOVE bloatware. They want free games, free office apps and perhaps a few others. For example an NTA news icon on the tablet will be called 'bloatware' by the folks on Xda devs but in Nigeria it will be excitedly marketed as a killer feature "watching NTA on the go".

I agree with stock, unskinned Android. That is what you should talk about and not 'bloatware'.

wondering when you would show up.
as far as i know this isnt sposed to be a debate thingy but this is my line of thought

texazzpete:
@4llerbuntu
What part do you not understand? That the OP is going up against established players with no brand recognition? Or that he has to significantly undercut the likes of Samsung et al if he is to have a prayer of a chance to succeed?

He's most likely running with a rebadged Chinese tablet that almost certainly will run ICS. Asking him to devote (expensive) developer time to JB is not feasible. It's not always a simple port...there's a reason why most of the CM10 builds for existing brand name tablets still are not very stable. I run JB on my SGS III and believe me, there are bugs!

Please remember that this is intended to be for BUSINESS and hence he NEEDS to show a profit. No unknown brand Android tablet will sell well in the > 50K range.

yes i know its a rebadge. thats precisely why i suggested it.

the manufacturers do not have the constraints xda devs have,

they use generic parts that they have been using for a while, they have sources and drivers etc.

a few are already shipping JB. its china, you get what you want. moreover, i did also mention quality control. if it turns out they cant get JB, ICS is good. i NEVER SAID MANDATORY, I SAID PREFERABLE. if its possible, if not ICS is fine.

im sure you didn't actually read the thread


[size=18pt]i did mention price point/undercutting quite a number of times, are your glasses misty?
matter of fact i predicated all my posts on the issue of price repeatedly. smh[/size]

and i did tell him also that people even on NL were already selling tabs like this for 35k naira!!!!

texazzpete:
I'm not sure why you people are babbling about IPS...he says the device has a PLS screen. that's technology comparable to IPS (it was used in the Galaxy Tab 10.1) so it's pretty decent. Not sure why he threw in the 'TFT' though.

the spec he posted is:

DisplayType PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors Size800 x 1280 pixels, 10.1 inches (~149 ppi pixel density)Multitouch Yes


i said what i said because i saw TFT, 10.1 INCH, 149 PPI PIXEL DENSITY

will the fact that its PLS make up for the pixels/size ratio? i dunno. seems you know better.
but i do believe that the tab 10.1 has above 220 PPI? i may be wrong

IPS screen look waay better than PLS screens, and quite a few chinese tabs i know ship IPS screen for $150 dollar products! why settle for crap when you can get better?

texazzpete:
You want him to remove bloatware. Sorry, Nigerians LOVE bloatware. They want free games, free office apps and perhaps a few others. For example an NTA news icon on the tablet will be called 'bloatware' by the folks on Xda devs but in Nigeria it will be excitedly marketed as a killer feature "watching NTA on the go".

I agree with stock, unskinned Android. That is what you should talk about and not 'bloatware'.

really? the tablet loving/buying part of nigeria?

i gave my reason for advising against bloatware (which does not include basics like music player, video player;

1. dont add apps you cannot vouch for its performance.
if you add apps that slow down the tablet out of the gate, the average buyer will not/cannot root the tab, remove them or manage them properly. complaints and bad reviews ensue.

he is not going to develop apps himself or rather has not said he will.

usability of the choice of apps is also debatable. for example your NTA app, where am i supposed to get the bandwidth to watch TV on the go? in nigeria?

free apps etc are in the market, will be installed by the user who wants them by choice.
some apps though free will have to be licensed for redistribution, eg spinlet.

ironically i even got round to suggesting apps like the educational ones for marketing to schools etc.


indeed you have been a long term IOS user, you think like one


[size=18pt]maybe we can try a poll[/size], but i dont think i know many pple, noobs especially who think the apps on their phones/tabs rock so much!

DSTV MOBILE ANDROID APP.

if you can get that to work!! it pairs with the drifta anyway

but u may get sued by DSTV sha

Specs look decent...
Capacitative + multi touch
Dual core or more
Gorilla glass

Forget nta. Slap xbmc on that. Win-win!

Max #30 grand.

Nice one guys, I am taking notes. On the price thingy, what do you guys suggest, pick a figure between, 35k and 60k.

Afamdman: Nice one guys, I am taking notes. On the price thingy, what do you guys suggest, pick a figure between, 35k and 60k.

35k would definitely be a b-a-n-g for the bucks

Also guys put into consideration, that we plan to roll out customer service, plus warranty and will do marketing, TV, Print, web, radio. All that will cost money. We are not the regular folks that supply 1 or 2 pcs on nairaland. Also like I said its a 10inch with internal 3G, the ones on nairaland are either 7inch or come with external 3g via 3G dongle. No good pads with my spec are anywhere near $150. No sir. So let the pricing begin. Also I made a little mistake, so am adjusting the price range to be between, 50-60k so we can make a little money and give great tablets.

IPS IPS IPS IPS IPS SCREEEEEN.

35-40k
Quick question: Who on earth will want to waste BW watching NTA?

KazeKage1: IPS IPS IPS IPS IPS SCREEEEEN.

35-40k
Quick question: Who on earth will want to waste BW watching NTA?

my mom and the likes

Hmnn, that pricing thing is serious ish oooooo


honestly, you will have to be lower than that.

are you actually trying to make this as big as possible? cuz the publicity level i think you want to do is a bit on the "too much" side. be careful not to over extend yourself on the marketing part. you are not MTN that can afford front page ADs

pls note that @ 60k you will only be 10-15k lower than an IPAD 1, 2 and soon 3. Galaxy Tabs also retail around that price point.
next thing you know people will be telling you they would rather buy an IPAD cuz its more known!


now you see why it takes large companies to compete, i doubt if the profit margins on the big names actually make sense in the short term, but overall they do break even on good products.

remember you will also have re-destribution with profit margins for retailers

the 35k guys are making close to 11k per unit. if you order 1 yourself you get with shipping for around 150 dollars=24k

personally id say shoot for between 40-50 k. economies of scale ought to help you on this product

Also some point you are not putting into consideration, let's say it cost 150 @ factory price in china, other consideration are the cost of transfering funds also other cost consideration is that os shipping, it cost $50 to ship 1, that if you ordered one. Yes my bulk order will help, but then how much. But your point noted. And I still state those other nairaland guys are giving you eexternal 3g via 3g usb dongle, the ones with internal 3g are the 7inch. I stand to be corrected. @4llerbuntu I'll find a way so you can have a crack at the tablet and test it to see.

no problems.

do investigate the import costs part, u shld be able to get better shipping deals.

why not go to china yourself? should be quite an experience to visit shenzen.


also have you made up your minds on the apps you want to ship? when you do, give us a list here, lets discuss their propriety.


as far as i can tell, you are better prepared than most other pple attempting this business i know, and your product is ok!!

you just have to pass the actual use tests, and then your pricing/profits tests

Thank you. We are still working hard to be able to meet ur expectations.