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The Tablet War: Apple vs Everyone Else

Posted on 03/24/11 in blog, business about business, computers, reviews

Amber’s Note: We all know Apple rules…but I’ll let John have his spotlight for the day

After watching Steve Jobs present the iPad 2 this week, and hearing him utter the words, it dawned on me: we are truly in the post-PC era. Think about it: when you head to the store to buy a new tablet (or any other device for that matter), you don’t actually (well, if you aren’t the technical type like me for instance) look at the specifications, but more at what is currently running on it, and how good it looks and what others will say when they see you with it

This being said, Apple has *cringe* won in the software applications in the tablet war … for now at least. But how does its hardware offerings (iPad 1 & 2) stack up to the rest of the tablets available? How does it fare if one looks past the apps that are being developed and look at the device itself? Well, this is what I will try and convey and highlight here today

Note: I am a Android fan(atic). That said, I will not be biased here, as this will try and raise some points so that you as the customer buying one of the tablets available can make a informed decision

Technical comparison

So, lets stack up the tablets next to each other, with their current (or at least released) technical specifications:

As you can tell, all the tablets are pretty much on par, so its difficult to tell which one is better by just looking at the specifications. But nonetheless, it is interesting to note that all the devices have dual-core processors, whereas everyone had single-core last year.

So, needless to say, one can’t actually differentiate between the devices just on a technical specification stand-point. So, how does one compare them now? Well, you take them for test-runs of course

Let the games begin…

iPad 2

Unfortunately, due to it not been released yet, we can only go on what was presented at the keynote this past week. One thing that stood out, is that the operating system (iOS 4.3 in this case) still makes using the device a simple and easy going task. It still has FaceTime, multi-tasking and folder support built-in, which is nice to have for these types of devices. Even though Apple has made great strides in the multi-tasking area, I still find that on my iPad 1 it starts to use quite a bit of RAM and become sluggish when you have FB, Twitter, Safari, listening to my favourite Rammstein song on iTunes and say a 52 MB eBook open on it. But heres to hoping that this will be solved in the new release of iOS Improvements have been made with regards to graphics and performance from the upgrade from the A4 to the A5, but I will only be able to test that different (which I will post a video off) once I get my grubby paws on one and let it run side-by-side with the iPad 1.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Just like its older (in the sense of being on the market, not size ) brother, it sports the Android operating system for tablet devices. In this iteration, it is running the latest build, version 3.0 codenamed HoneyComb. Unfortunately, as this device is also still to hit the shelves as well, I couldn’t play with it. But, I was able to upgrade my current Galaxy Tab (the older brother) to HoneyComb, and I must say: it just feels right now. The multi-touch gesture support has been tweaked quite a bit, and the awesome Swype input on the onscreen-keyboard makes typing on a tablet so much more bearable. The notifications system has been tweaked a bit as well, as you can tell it is more responsive. Once the Galaxy Tab 10.1 hits the shelves, it will definitely be something to look forward to.

Motorola XOOM

In the past couple of weeks after MWC2011 in Barcelona, there has been quite a lot of talk about this tablet. Personally, I haven’t had the privilege to play with one … yet. What I can tell from a colleague of mine who managed to get one, it is quite a awesome piece of hardware. As he stated (and I quote) “I have already put my iPad up for sale on eBay”. Needless to say, I was able to catch a quick glimpse as he worked on it, and I must say that it was quite impressive at how quickly he was able to switch from the browser while having a 14 MB Google Spreadsheet open to another tab running a full 1080p HD YouTube video without any noticeable delays or re-rendering. Its Tegra 2 CPU is definitely something phenomenal, as nVidia had demonstrated it being able to render not just 1080p, but 1280p full HD videos (bare in mind that no display currently on the market exceeds 1080p). So there is quite a behemoth of a processor in this tablet. Whether Android OS will harness it to its full potential and thus making the experience so much better for the user, we will have to wait and see once we can do a hands-on

HP Touchpad

And now its time for a wildcard The HP Touchpad has been claimed by some as being the next-big-thing-for-tablets-since-the-iPad. Well, to certain degrees it is, as it will motivate other manufacturers and Apple to go further with their technologies (particularly a USB port on the iPad). Make no mistake, HP has been in the mobile market far longer than any of the other players, so that have matured and learned quite a bit. It sports a lovely and bright display with a wide viewing angle, and even if there are 2 of you laying on the beach on a hot summers day you can still view it perfectly (wish I could do the same with my iPad…). Somehow, it feels like something that I would be able to use on a daily basis, but that remains to be seen once it officially launches Summer 2011 (Northern Hemisphere)

RIM BlackBerry Playbook

Then there is the one that I have been dieing to get my hands on since its announcement: the RIM BlackBerry Playbook. With its QNX based operating system, it is the most complex and native multi-tasking friendly framework on all the tablets. Remember that QNX are the guys behind the realtime operating systems that power the whole of the internet. So, needless to say, these guys know what they are doing when designing a operating system that is truly micro-kernel based. From the demonstrations that have been posted about the PlayBook, it does look impressive to work with, but we will also have to reserve our comments until it is officially launched (there is speculation of April 2011, but who knows..) One thing that I do look forward to on this tablet is the dual HD cameras. Yes, the iPad 2 has HD as well, but only on the back-facing camera. This will truly be one of those devices that you can have real live-video chats on with out loss of quality in the picture. For those wanting to know more about it, here is a quick walkthrough from CES 2011 for the PlayBook. Also, just as a side note: RIM has released the developer preview of the PlayBook which you can load as a Virtual Machine. As a BlackBerry developer, I must say that developing apps for the new QNX based environment is A LOT easier than with previous BB OS incarnations, even more easy than the Objective-C and Cacao that are used for Apple’s iPad and Mac OSx

So what does all this mumbo-jumbo mean?

Well, as current, I would recommend only 3 of these tablets. Partly because they are the only one’s available as the others still need to be released, and partly because they forfill the needs of what users will have

Average, no-frills Joe

For average Joe who just want to take out his tablet, view his e-mails, browse the web and post some photos onto Facebook or Twitter of the Nascar rally he is attending, I would recommend the iPad. Yes, the iPad, not the iPad 2. Why? The iPad 2 might be faster, and have 2 cameras, and come in white and black, but that is all that it has to offer over the iPad 1. Apple have gone to great lenghts to improve the device, there is no doubt about that. But, with the release of iOS 4.3 for the iPad 1 as well, it will automatically increase the speed and reliability of the device as well, and also offer you the opportunity of running the new GarageBand for iPad and iMovies for iPad on it as well. So, to me personally, and you might differ, there is no reason to switch to iPad 2. Unless you want to be exactly what The Oatmeal has described beautifully.

The power-hungry, work-from-anywhere John’s

Yes, I used my name because that is exactly what I prefer: to be able to work form anywhere, and in a moments notice be able to do anything I can on my laptop via my tablet. This is where my personal preference falls on two devices: the Motorola XOOM and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Being a owner of the current generation Galaxy Tab, I am absolutely happy with it. “Can you please check why the server in Germany is running slowly?” “Sure, no problem, will just open my SSH session to it quickly and have a look” It is this capability that I love, and something that I really miss on my iPad. Or, now with a couple of improvements that we are making to CodeSnipp.it, I am actually able to browse the site, have my SSH session open in the background with a script loaded in VI, and copy and paste from it to the site and submit a new snipp.it of code. I am yet to find a way of doing so on iPad, but if you know how please let me know in the comments.

So where does this leave us?

There is no perfect tablet for everyone. I want something that I can customize, and do weird and wonderful things with. Joe wants something easy and straightforward. Luke wants something that he can use to teach himself how to play the guitar and become the next Justin Bieber.

We all want something different, and there is a tablet for each of us, we just need to go out and play with them all before making a decision from a keynote (yes, you darn Apple fanboys ) alone without having physically seen or touched it ourselves.

I would love to know what you feel is the better tablet for yourself, not on what others say, but that you feel will fit your needs. And if you feel like it, why you wouldn’t want any of the others

About the author
A PhD in Computer Sciences graduate with 12 years of accumulated IT knowledge and experience in various corporate and freelancing environments, John Clarke is always willing to help out a fellow developer or colleague wanting to further their knowledge in the field. And of course, he loves all things Google.

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