David RichardsIt’s the “Imposters” as Apple calls them Vs the new Apple iPad 2, so who has the best tablet?
At an Apple launch today in San Francisco, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs surprised a crowd of fans by officially introducing the new iPad 2 which Apple claims everyone is trying to copy.
While the price of the new iPad 2 is set to be cheaper especially when compared to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab which started out at over $900 and is now selling for sub $600, the specs are still falling short of some of the alternate models such as the Motorola Xoom, which is tipped to be launched in Australia soon.
On paper the Motorola Xoom is coming up as the best spec’ed device with a 5MP Camera and a 1280 X 800 resolution screen Vs the 1024 X768 Screen found on the new Apple iPad.
One nice feature of the new iPad 2 is the introduction of HDMI and 1080p streaming which allows users to watch content from the iPad 2 on a TV screen with a loss of resolution.
 Chart from Engadget |
When it comes to performance the gap between the iPad and other tablets is now virtually non-existent.
The iPad 2’s A5 chip and its (likely) PowerVR SGX543 graphics are set to deliver a major increase in speed of over eight fold on the current iPad.
HP has a faster 1.2GHz Snapdragon on the TouchPad, but we still don’t know when or if that device is ever going to be launched in Australia.
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As we tipped the new iPad is startingto be priced from as low as $598 which could be the new benchmark that tablet manufacturers have to compete at to get shelf space.
The new version will start at $499 in the USA, which is the same price as the original model. It will also be available in black and white and is expected to go on sale with Telstra, Optus and Vodafone on March 25th.
Other manufacturers such as Samsung have said that they will have white version of their 10 inch tablet later this year.
One thing is clear, a looming tablet price war is set to drive the market and only vendors who can deliver volume sales are going to survive in the mass market.
Apple’s place at the table is guaranteed after Steve Jobs said that iPad V 1, which debuted last year on April 3, generated $9.5 billion in revenue in 2010. More than 2,500 publishers have joined the iBook store that was created for the iPad and the company has paid $2 billion to developers of programs sold at its App Store.
We have already counted 30 different tablets that are trying to get air in the market, however retailers such as Telstra, Optus, Vodafone as well as Harvey Norman and JB Hi Fi are only going to sell a handful and one of them is the new iPad 2.
According to research company PRTM. The company now counts 102 tablets from 64 different makers that are either available now or in development.
The category “is completely overbuilt,” said Brian Gladden, Dell’s chief financial officer, in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal.
The most outstanding feature of the new iPad 2 and the reason to buy it is the iOS software which is still one of the easiest to use and the most responsive of all of the tablets that I have seen since CES.
The pinch-to-zoom works easily and every time on the iPad, unlike some Android devices which is why I still favour an iPad over an Android device. Having said that I am still keen to get a long play with the new Samsung 10 inch Galaxy 2 Tablet.