[Sly Fox]

First off, all hail to Apple for turning a largely ignored piece of hardware that has been around for nearly a decade into what is becoming the primary consumer hardware for the next few years. What Steve Jobs et al have accomplished through marketing and innovation is remarkable.

But now that all the players have come to the table, we appear headed for another PC vs. Mac-style battle between Apple and the seemingly endless number of Android-using OEMs. Cupertino clearly had a huge head start and has stronghold on the market today. But as CES showed us, Android is rallying quickly ...

Android Tablets Gain on Apple IPad in Fourth Quarter

By Pavel Alpeyev and Hugo Miller - Jan 31, 2011 8:54 AM CT

Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Tab tablet computer, which runs Google Inc.'s Android operating system, is displayed during the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Google Inc.’s Android software boosted its share of tablet computers almost 10-fold in the fourth quarter, narrowing the lead of Apple Inc.’s iPad, market researcher Strategy Analytics said.

Android devices captured 22 percent of global tablet shipments in the three months to Dec. 31, up from 2.3 percent in the preceding quarter, the Boston-based researcher said in a statement today. The iPad accounted for 75 percent of shipments in the period, down from about 95 percent, it said.

Click Here for Full Story

The crazy thing to me is that Android's only real entrant into the fray in the 4th quarter was the Galaxy Tab ... frankly I can't think of any reason to buy what is frankly just a smartphone too big to fit in your pocket. But once the Motorola Xoom and scores more like it hit the market in the coming weeks, it will be game on.

And don't forget our friends at RIM. Their Playbook figures to sell extremely well in the same places their BlackBerry still holds on ... the corporate world.

[RubberMallet]

the only 2 complaints i have with the ipad i have at work is the same issues i have with the iphone. the text editor/cursor is terrible and i still can't dl media direct from websites.


i can expound more on the text editor if needed.

[rueful]

Google is also negotiating with more carriers to allow users to have app purchases appear on their bill, rather than using a separate payment system, as is already possible on AT&T. Finally, a team of honest to gosh humans is working on helping to weed out apps that violate the company's terms of service, sifting through the Market to find bogus downloads, perhaps an admission that the "open and unobstructed environment" ideal isn't working out. We wonder if they'll also be looking for free apps that quite capably provide the functionality of premium ones. Those, it seems, are the greatest threat to the paid apps -- and perhaps the greatest asset of the Market itself.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/26/goog ... many-chan/

To me I feel like everything else is just trying to catch up with Apple, and just isnt doing it nearly as well. Other tablets may be cheaper but id rather spend the extra money for a better product

[ALUmnus]

And don't forget our friends at RIM. Their Playbook figures to sell extremely well in the same places their BlackBerry still holds on ... the corporate world.

This may be, but I know the corporate world has really taken acceptance to Apple and has begun to by iPads en masse. Blackberry better not wait too long.

And let us not forget our friends at HP. They are really going to take the tablet market seriously, and have a superior OS to run it (except for those darned apps).

[flamesbball84]

what i've seen out of android tablets is pretty nice. what android has going for it is that there are going to be several competent, low priced, entry level tablets that are really going to make people consider going android rather than forking out the extra money for an iPad.

i also wonder how many people are going to release wi-fi only ones to take away some of the market share from the wi-fi only ipad. i like the galaxy tab (not enough to buy it), but I don't want sign a contract for mobile data because I just don't want it. i'm sure i'm not the only one who thinks that.

[TDDance234]

And don't forget our friends at RIM. Their Playbook figures to sell extremely well in the same places their BlackBerry still holds on ... the corporate world.

This may be, but I know the corporate world has really taken acceptance to Apple and has begun to by iPads en masse. Blackberry better not wait too long.

And let us not forget our friends at HP. They are really going to take the tablet market seriously, and have a superior OS to run it (except for those darned apps).

Which is where Apple excels, IMO. The apps available for the iPad make it a much better investment. Droid isn't far behind but not quite up to Apple's level yet.

[El Scorcho]

Which is where Apple excels, IMO. The apps available for the iPad make it a much better investment. Droid isn't far behind but not quite up to Apple's level yet.

And it's not just that the apps are so much better. (Though they usually are.) iOS users buy more apps, period. There are a number of reasons for that, but the bottom line is that developers know it. Android is not going to be ignored. Not by a long shot. However, if you're already invested in iOS (like me), it's another reason to stay right where you are. I've spent a ton of cash on apps (relatively speaking) at this point. The idea of buying new ones on another platform does not appeal to me at all. That's where Apple's real stranglehold is, IMO.

However, a lot of folks have gone the Android route at this point. If Google can do what it takes to get apps bringing the same kind of dollars for developers that iOS does, then we'll see some real competition.

I like competition. I want to see them both get better. I think there's room for both and at this point I'm just happy that one of the players isn't Microsoft.

[Hold My Own]

Yeh, it's not financially smart for developers to spend much time on the Android platform right now, but it's getting better and there are better options providing different ad revenue models.

[ALUmnus]

So I see that the Xoom is going to start at $800. Ouch.

http://www.androidcentral.com/moto-xoom ... -price-tag

[Sly Fox]

That price point can't be defended. The product looks great but not $800 great. If the new iPad has LTE-compatibility then the XOOM won't sell a lick.

For the record, I love the product. But the price is ridiculous.

[El Scorcho]

And not just $800... You can't use the WiFi until you activate it with Verizon for at least a month.

Talk about lockdown.

[ALUmnus]

Though it's not just "Apple vs. Android" now, but here's what we've got so far. Has anyone jumped on a tablet yet? I would seriously consider getting one, but if they're going to be updating them as quickly as they update cell phones, I can't justify the cost of something that will be out of date in six months. What do you guys think of the current lineup?

[Sly Fox]

I love the stereoscopic 3D on the LG device ... this is the first device on the planet in any product to bring S3D to the market. It is easier to pull off S3D on smaller devices than larger ones. So I wouldn't expect it on television sets for awhile. But it is mega cool.

Otherwise it is a toss up between the iPad2 & the Xoom. Clearly the Apple product has the edge in pricing. I am curious to hear if the reported speed increases on iPad2 will be legit and if power management will be significantly affected.

Honestly, I feel like I can wait things out at least until the summer when more devices will begin trickling out. But it is tough to fly and have everyone around me pulling out their iPads while I kill time on my Droid. Peer pressure sucks.

[El Scorcho]

Clearly the Apple product has the edge in pricing.

Even more so with the original still being for sale at a lower price. ($399) Even lower if you get the refurb models. ($350)

That may not seem important, but in terms of the overall war, it really is. This is why being first was so important. Getting the ecosystem entrenched with consumers is what it's all about.

[Hold My Own]

Here's How Huge The Tablet Market Could Get

http://e.businessinsider.com/294x.gng/T ... Ns1_lCad21

Apple's iPad tablet is probably the fastest-selling new consumer electronics device ever, but the potential for growth in the tablet market for Apple, Google, RIM and others is still massive.

Only 0.3% of the Earth's inhabitants owned a tablet at the end of 2010, RBC analyst Mike Abramsky notes today in a detailed, 88-page report about the future of the tablet market. That means 99.7% of the people on Earth still haven't bought a tablet yet!

In this chart, Abramsky plots the tiny smartphone and tablet user base (394 million worldwide) versus other market, such as TV subscriptions (600 million), total PCs (1.3 billion), and mobile subscribers (5.1 billion).

Abramsky predicts more than 400 million tablet users worldwide by 2014, including 185 million tablets sold in 2014. But he thinks Google Android, not Apple, will come to lead the market, representing 40% of the 2014 tablet market, versus 34% for Apple, 13% for Microsoft, 8% for BlackBerry, and 5% for HP WebOS.

Earlier, we outlined why we think Apple will continue to dominate the market for years to come

[ALUmnus]

That's pretty neat to see, but seriously, leave off the world population, that's just kind of silly. But it does show you, there's money to be made for all. It may be prudent for some of these producers to focus on certain markets. I think it's going to be a long while before Android is accepted in the enterprise market (my opinion), and Apple's share there is tiny. RIM and HP already have their foot in the door, and that could be the real money-maker for those two companies, rather than selling to the masses, where Apple and Google already dominate.

[Sly Fox]

The majority of the world population is in developing nations like China & India. That is where we are seeing the most explosive growth in technology integration. So it is not out of the realm of possibilities to see 50% of the planet internet-connected in the coming years with broadband right behind.

[Hold My Own]

I bought an iPad 2. Still not sold that this could be used for business purposes (notes in meetings etc) but I'll give it a shot. Hopefully Notes Plus does what I think it will. I also got the Zagg keyboard which is pretty slick

[Sly Fox]

One of my cousins who is one of the lead designers for one of Apple's primary competitors was tweeting last night about how cool his new iPad2 was last night. Frankly I was surprised he was so impressed.

[ALUmnus]

Anyone see that Blackberry announced that they'll make it easy for developers to get their Android apps over to Blackberry's app store? Smart move, as we know, apps are king. It kind of makes me wonder, though. How will the Playbook distinguish itself from any of the Android tablets?

http://crackberry.com/press-release-rim ... s-playbook

HUGE NEWS! We've been talking about Android Apps running on BlackBerry's tablet since August 2010 (before the PlayBook was ever announced - jump to minute 52 in this podcast) and today we see that our intuition was dead on, and we know how RIM is going to go about delivering Android Apps on the QNX-based OS. In addition to announcing the long awaited C/C++ Native Development Kit for the PlayBook, RIM announced support for existing BlackBerry apps and Android Apps.

Android apps won't come from Android Marketplace itself, but rather Android developers will simply have to repackage, code sign and submit their BlackBerry Java and Android apps to BlackBerry App World from where users will be able to download the apps. The Android and BlackBerry OS apps will run within what RIM has dubbed an "app player" on the device. I like the approach RIM took here. It makes a lot of sense. This way they don't run into any sort of legal issues with android on BlackBerry... rather, Android developers will be signing up as BlackBerry Developers with App World, and distributing built-for-android apps via App World (which kind of makes them BlackBerry apps still, no??). Hopefully we'll see a ton of Android Developers go through this little extra (and free) step. I'd think it would make sense for Android developers to do this.

[Sly Fox]

RIM's hand was forced. Developers just have thrown BlackBerry to the back of the line so working something out with the new #1 game in town was essential.

The big concern I have for the Playbook is whether or not it simply is a good enough device to distinguish itself from the pack. The "Me Too" feel to it is tough for me to shake. To knock the iPad off the throne you have to be extremely innovative and/or awesome on price points. I'm not sure the Playbook is either.

[Hold My Own]

I'd buy the ViewSoinic if you dont wan to spend the extra money for an iPad. Same specs as the Xoom and only $279

[JDUB]

I want a tablet in the future but am still waiting to see one jump at me. I'm not overly impressed with anything out there yet

[TDDance234]

My iPad has been extremely handy. We're starting to incorporate some of them in to our kids ministry. I can't wait to see where the technology behind these things end up.

[Hold My Own]

Ok, found a great use for the ipad today. I've fallin in love with EverNote and the ability for it to read and make PDF's searchable. I've taken half of my files scanned them and thrown them away. Great for meeting hand outs that you dont want to get rid of b/c you never know if you'll need it again in the future...this is perfect for that.

Now that I'm hooked on Evernote...I've spent $20 trying to find a good note taking app until I finally gave EverNote a try (which is free go figure). It's perfect because I had the PDF already scanned that I was going to use today in the meeting. Set the record button on the EverNote app...so now it's adding the audio from the meeting why I can type any notes I want on the PDF file as well. Once we get this thing jailbroken then the real fun starts...