Would You Use A Tablet To Make A Phone Call?

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
BetaNews wants to know if you would you use a tablet to make a phone call? Well?

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, in Q2 2014 nearly 25 percent (around 3.5 million units) of all the tablets shipped in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) region had cellular voice capabilities, allowing users to make calls by holding a tablet up to their faces. And we’re talking devices with screen sizes of 7 inches and up.
Click to expand...
 
Hell yeah, and its stupid as hell that the functionality is disabled.

And you don't have to hold the tablet to your head. You just use an earpiece or bluetooth system in your car or worst case scenario speakerphone. Most of the time you can text or email or lync message anyway, I don't place calls much these days.

It needs to be enabled universally via an update on all 4G tablets.
 
Ducman69 said:
Hell yeah, and its stupid as hell that the functionality is disabled.

And you don't have to hold the tablet to your head. You just use an earpiece or bluetooth system in your car or worst case scenario speakerphone. Most of the time you can text or email or lync message anyway, I don't place calls much these days.

It needs to be enabled universally via an update on all 4G tablets.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, 4G tablets do not have voice capabilities. Note that's because there's no 4G network in the U.S. (or, as far as I know, in the world). Certainly in the U.S., cellular voice calls are circuit switched. Providers want to move to VoLTE, but until they've done it, voice on a tablet requires extra hardware. That said, the Notes are pretty damn close to a tablet.
 
nilepez said:
As far as I know, 4G tablets do not have voice capabilities. Note that's because there's no 4G network in the U.S. (or, as far as I know, in the world). Certainly in the U.S., cellular voice calls are circuit switched. Providers want to move to VoLTE, but until they've done it, voice on a tablet requires extra hardware. That said, the Notes are pretty damn close to a tablet.
Click to expand...
Its not a hardware issue, as wifi calling has existed on tablets forever. If you can do calls via internet, it doesn't matter if its wifi or 4G.

This can be purely fixed by a software update that provides you a keypad as far as I know, and in fact I'm pretty sure if I install Skype I'm good to go.
 
Yeah, size doesn't matter on handsfree in a car, or earpiece plus the larger size is more useful to work with.
 
Errr, "wifi caling has existed on phones" I meant to say. Only thing worse than lack of calling on tablets is lack of edit feature....
 
skype video call probably, but voice-only calls? I doubt it, unless I ain't holding it up next to my face
 
All these tablets have Bluetooth, so you just use a wireless earpiece if you don't want to hold a device up to your ear. Heck, you can get a Tegra K1 tablet for $300 with 3G built-in direct from China these days for $250. Yet people are still spending big money on contact phones... silly people.
 
Voice calls are why I own a phone. The problem with a tablet is not the way you make calls, it's the portability. Hands-free is really a moot point. A phone fits in my pocket comfortably, a tablet does not.

And let's be real...what are you more likely to do, walk around with a bluetooth headset paired to your giant tablet in your pocket all day waiting for a call to come in, or simply stick a smaller phone up to your ear when that call comes in?
 
SRTie4k said:
Voice calls are why I own a phone. The problem with a tablet is not the way you make calls, it's the portability. Hands-free is really a moot point. A phone fits in my pocket comfortably, a tablet does not.
Click to expand...
A Nexus 7 4G LTE fits just fine in my pocket. Maybe stop wearing skintight low cut girl pants. *shrugs* :p
 
Has been available in HP and Dell laptops for awhile now.
Look in the battery bay for the SIM card slot.
Mostly used in the EU because its an inexpensive service
They aren't holding laptops up to their heads there.
 
BTW, on a related serious note though, I wish they'd make magnetic latch tablet holsters that looked kind of cowboy action style. I thought with the right leather, and USB memory drives and the like in place of little bullet loops on the belt, it would be kinda neat! Maybe even a low slung style the way Han Solo carries his blaster.
 
Hail no. A 5.5 - 6" phone is as big as I would ever want.
 
I wouldn't hold a tablet up to my head, no.

I have made a phonecall from my 2013 Nexus 7 when I couldn't find my phone, but I used a headset and Google Voice....
 
You guys need to take the first world glasses off. People buying them are probably a poor family household where they can consolidate numerous devices to one:
- Phone
- PC
- Books
- TV

Why choose when you can have them all?

Hell doctors use video conferencing to diagnose patients from afar. When you live in a remove village and too poor to commute long distance it can be a life saver financially and healthwise. You could save a trip if its not serious or come into the doc's office if they feel it warrants a further look.
 
Ducman69 said:
A Nexus 7 4G LTE fits just fine in my pocket. Maybe stop wearing skintight low cut girl pants. *shrugs* :p
Click to expand...

Parachute pants? :p

I mean, after work, if I wear cargo shorts or something like that, a tablet would fit comfortably in a pocket.

With normal slacks, khakis and the like, like one would wear at work, I might be able to force my Nexus 7 in there, but it certainly wouldn't be comfortable, and it would take some finagling every time it went in or out.

You know, typical business casual, a classic pair of slacks or kahkis and a classic button down shirt. Neither poarticularly tight (wouldn't want to be hipstery at work) or baggy. Just right :p
 
Ducman69 said:
BTW, on a related serious note though, I wish they'd make magnetic latch tablet holsters that looked kind of cowboy action style. I thought with the right leather, and USB memory drives and the like in place of little bullet loops on the belt, it would be kinda neat! Maybe even a low slung style the way Han Solo carries his blaster.
Click to expand...

LOL THIS... Han Solo stylee!
 
Zarathustra[H];1041039255 said:
Parachute pants? :p

I mean, after work, if I wear cargo shorts or something like that, a tablet would fit comfortably in a pocket.

With normal slacks, khakis and the like, like one would wear at work, I might be able to force my Nexus 7 in there, but it certainly wouldn't be comfortable, and it would take some finagling every time it went in or out.

You know, typical business casual, a classic pair of slacks or kahkis and a classic button down shirt. Neither particularly tight (wouldn't want to be hipstery at work) or baggy. Just right :p
Click to expand...

You know, the universal "what clothes look like at work" look (not me pictured, just something I found on the intarweb)

dress-success-business-casual-world-800x800.jpg
 
Ducman69 said:
BTW, on a related serious note though, I wish they'd make magnetic latch tablet holsters that looked kind of cowboy action style. I thought with the right leather, and USB memory drives and the like in place of little bullet loops on the belt, it would be kinda neat! Maybe even a low slung style the way Han Solo carries his blaster.
Click to expand...

Lol.

IMHO, wearing anything attached to your belt makes you kind of a laughing stock, unless you are a police officer, batman or han solo :p
 
Being as I've seen retards hold up fully sized iPads as a camera/video camera... then yeah I can see people using them as phones too
 
sfsuphysics said:
Being as I've seen retards hold up fully sized iPads as a camera/video camera... then yeah I can see people using them as phones too
Click to expand...

It's one of those things, where it isn't ideal for the job, but any camera you have on you is better than a camera you don't :p

I find using the tablet cameras annoying. Apart from testing it when I first got it, the only time I used the camera in my tablet, was when I needed to take a picture of some damage on my cell phone, and I didn't have my DSLR handy.
 
Ducman69 said:
A Nexus 7 4G LTE fits just fine in my pocket. Maybe stop wearing skintight low cut girl pants. *shrugs* :p
Click to expand...

It fits fine in your pocket, if you want to look like an idiot who carries around tablets in their pockets.

I lump someone who carries around a tablet in their pocket in with the same people that walk around with a bluetooth earpiece stuck in their ear. That's not a complement, btw.
 
I say yes as well. No one's going to be holding it up to the side of their head like a phone, but it should have the ability to make calls just in case. Just use bluetooth or speaker.
 
Aren't people walking around with those giant 5.5"-6" screens already making phone calls on a tablet? lol
 
SRTie4k said:
It fits fine in your pocket, if you want to look like an idiot who carries around tablets in their pockets.

I lump someone who carries around a tablet in their pocket in with the same people that walk around with a bluetooth earpiece stuck in their ear. That's not a complement, btw.
Click to expand...

If a person can comfortably fit a Nexus 7 in their pocket they are wearing a suit jacket, huge ass cargo shorts sagging from the weight, or the largest jeans known to man kind.
 
I think some of you are kind of missing the point. The article itself states "holding it up to your face", i.e. the tablet comes with a hardware earpiece and mic on the bottom for speaking into the tablet like a phone. This isn't about Bluetooth.

No, I would not hold a tablet up to my face to talk on the phone.
 
SRTie4k said:
I think some of you are kind of missing the point. The article itself states "holding it up to your face", i.e. the tablet comes with a hardware earpiece and mic on the bottom for speaking into the tablet like a phone. This isn't about Bluetooth.

No, I would not hold a tablet up to my face to talk on the phone.
Click to expand...

Same here.

That being said, I wouldn't mind being able to receive and send text messages...
 
Fanattic said:
If a person can comfortably fit a Nexus 7 in their pocket they are wearing a suit jacket, huge ass cargo shorts sagging from the weight, or the largest jeans known to man kind.
Click to expand...

FYI my definition of "comfortably" means you can squat down, bend over, sit, and take stairs 2 at a time without noticing or adjusting the position of the device.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041039437 said:
Same here.

That being said, I wouldn't mind being able to receive and send text messages...
Click to expand...

I can do that with my ipad, though it may only be for imessage - imessage communications.
 
erexx said:
Has been available in HP and Dell laptops for awhile now.
Look in the battery bay for the SIM card slot.
Mostly used in the EU because its an inexpensive service
They aren't holding laptops up to their heads there.
Click to expand...

My laptop has a sim slot, however, I thought that was for data-only, not voice?
 
I would love if Hangouts supported SMS on tablets. It wouldn't be too hard for Hangouts to sync your SMS messages with your Google account.
 
Yes I want the functionality but not because I want a tablet to replace my mobile.

I want to make wifi calls on my nexus 7 using the default dialer apps and send/receive TEXTS over wifi using hangouts (not hangout msgs).

I hate working / playing on my tablet and having to grab my phone to check a text or answer a call (I supposed I could pay to port everything through google voice, but I am leary that google will kill that service since it has seen no love in a long time.)
 
I could see using a tablet on my desk to make calls over Skype using my bluetooth headset.
As for on the go, nope.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top