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The Grid 10 paper from Fusion Garage.

Companies ready disagreeable to contend with the iPad, and they ready dropping brief of the mark. The stylish to verify intend -- and change to impact -- is Fusion Garage, which fresh free the Grid 10 tablet.

This is Fusion Garage's ordinal try at the iPad, and it is understandably disagreeable to see from its mistakes. Unlike its prototypal tablet, the JooJoo, which utilised an Intel (INTC) chip, the Grid 10 uses an Nvidia processor that's supported on an ARM design, which has embellish the accepted for smartphones and tablets.

The newborn figure is thinner and figure than the JooJoo -- and lacks its clamorous fan. And instead of the JooJoo's copyrighted UNIX software, the Grid 10 runs a edition of Android and supports Android apps.

But Fusion Garage seems to be disagreeable to see not exclusive from its possess mistakes but those of added would-be Apple (AAPL) rivals. At $300, its entry-level Grid 10 is $200 cheaper than the iPad and whatever of the iPad knockoffs streaming Android.

And it's not meet added Android clone. Instead of streaming Honeycomb, the edition of Android that Google (GOOG) bespoken for tablets, the Grid 10 has its possess unequalled interface.

On the tablet's bag screen, you'll encounter clusters of conservativist app icons unreal on a colossus grid, exclusive a assets of which is viewable at whatever digit time. You crapper analyse assorted parts of the installation by panning around it with your fingertips, much as you strength inspire a Web-based transpose to expose unseeable areas. You crapper also intend to portion areas of the installation direct by tapping on a diminutive transpose that shows an overview of the whole grid.

The installation programme allows users to easily assemble kindred applications and to hold them same piles on a actual desk. But for grouping same me whose desks are auto collections of chaos, the concealment metaphor isn't abominably useful. I ofttimes had a hornlike instance remembering where to encounter portion apps, especially if I hadn't manually settled them to a cluster.

Because the exclusive fleshly mend on the Grid 10 is its noesis button, the exclusive artefact to interact with it -- added than to invoke it on -- is finished gestures. You touch on icons to start apps. You swipe downbound from the crowning of the pass with digit fingers to go backwards to the bag screen. To go backwards to a preceding screen, you swipe digit fingers from the correct bounds of the pass to the left.

I'm mostly a follower of gestures, but I ofttimes institute the Grid 10's ingest and dependency on them frustrating. I uncomprehensible having fleshly buttons to change the volume; having to invoke on the device, touch an picture and change a realistic selector to invoke downbound the intensity was at small digit likewise whatever steps for me.

And I was ofttimes potty by the gestures because they are neither coupler nor consistent. For example, the backwards swipe sometimes returns you from an app to the bag screen. At added times, it returns you to an primeval schedule concealment exclusive an app. At ease added times, it takes you to a previously belief bag tender within an app.

Part of the difficulty with the Grid 10 is that it feels same a impact in progress. During the digit weeks or so that I had to try it out, Fusion Garage pushed discover binary grouping updates to mend bugs and add newborn features. But modify by the instance the consort pushed discover what it termed the test transport code, the Grid 10 ease had whatever manifest problems.

The figure doesn't closed downbound programs erst you opening them. So you crapper be streaming binary programs at erst and not actualise it. That crapper be a problem, because assorted added devices, the Grid 10 doesn't seem to curb memory rattling well. Particularly when a aggregation of programs are streaming at once, apps crapper break dead and the figure crapper seem sluggish.

A feature called Heartbeat -- which you crapper start with added two-finger swipe -- does exhibit you every the programs streaming at once, but you hit to manually near them downbound digit by one. That effectuation that you effectively hit to near a information twice, erst when you opening discover of it and erst by actuation up Heartbeat.

Fusion Garage touts the fact that assorted the iPad, the Grid 10 not exclusive supports, but comes with Adobe's (ADBE) Flash technology. But when temporary sites much as Pandora and Amazon.com's flick store, I was repeatedly prompted to establish Flash. I finally did so and was healthy to check a flick lodging on Amazon -- but ease couldn't intend Pandora to impact right.

Because the Grid 10 is using a highly bespoken edition of Android, Fusion Garage can't unification it to -- and users can't download apps from -- Google's App Marketplace. That effectuation that for now, users crapper exclusive intend apps from Amazon's app store. While Amazon has a beatific selection, it's absent whatever celebrity apps, not exclusive those from Google but favourite ones from Amazon competitors much as Netflix (NFLX), Spotify and Pandora. Fusion Garage says it plans to start its possess app store, but doesn't feature when.

Fusion Garage is to be applauded for rising on its preceding try and for disagreeable to do something different. But its newborn figure ease leaves a aggregation to be desired.

Contact Ilium Wolverton at 408-840-4285 or twolverton@mercurynews.com. Follow him at www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton or Twitter.com/troywolv.

What: Fusion Garage Grid 10 tabletLikes: Inexpensive, supports Android apps, unequalled programme stands discover from added Android tabletsDislikes: Lacks fleshly intensity curb buttons; doesn't automatically near apps when you opening them; gesture-based controls contradictory and confusing; equipage softwareSpecs: Dual-core 1GHz processor, 10.1-inch widescreen display, 16GB of built-in storage, front-facing 1.3 megapixel cameraHow much: $300 for Wi-Fi exclusive model; $400 for help with Wi-Fi and 3GWeb: www.fusiongarage.com