Everyone in the Tablet Business Is Trying to Be Different From Apple
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The tablet processor battle
continues, as well.
Nvidias Tegra 3 quad-core
processor is showing up virtually everywhere, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab,
the HTC One smartphone, the LG Optimus 4X and a new device from Fujitsu that
may be a tablet or a super phone. (Fujitsu is apparently also introducing a
waterproof tablet thats not Tegra-based.) Theres also a new Tegra-based
tablet from Acer, and the Asus tablets are using this processor, as well.
There are, of course, plenty
of plain ol 10-inch tablets showing up at MWC, but even those have something
that Apple isnt doing, even if its selling tablets at a lower price. And the
number of 7-inch tablets being introduced defies counting.
But the one constant is that
just about everyone in the tablet business is trying to be as much not like the
iPad as possible. Partly
this might be due to the protracted legal battles between Apple and Samsung
about whether you can patent the appearance of a tablet. But the biggest
reason is the sheer marketing power of Apple and the iPad. When the iPad 3 is
announced March 7, the floodgates will open, and the tide will suck buyers away
from anything that resembles an iPad and into Apples camp.
The
scramble to be different is based on this gotta have an iPad mindset among
consumers, and necessarily so. Fighting Apple is basically a nonstarter if
all youre trying to be is another tablet just like the iPad, but running
Android. As a number of vendors, notably Samsung, have found out, this doesnt
work. People buy tablets for a lot of different reasons, but if that reason
involves having an iPad, thats all that will work.
Fortunately, this
competition creates a sort of tablet evolution. By having to be different to
survive, tablet makers have to come up with ideas that improve the breed as it
were. Who would have thought, for example, that the stylus would make a
comeback? Who would have imagined that the long, much missed Palm Pilot would
reappear, but as the Galaxy Note?
While its wise not to be
caught up in the hype thats already surrounding the mobile device
introductions at MWC, it pays to know whats out there that your company can
use, and what is just one more piece of derivative technology. This means that
it probably makes no sense to buy a wannabe iPad. But it could make a lot of
sense to look at something that transcends the iPad and brings your company
real value.
Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazine's Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.
