Yesterday, Gizmodo posted the above video of the new Android powered Samsung Galaxy tablet. they descried it as being hot in action, but to me it looks an awfully like an iPad, but without all of the tens of thousands of iPad applications, of course.
The video shows the Galaxy tablet being used with an Apple like Blue-Tooth keyboard, but, unlike the iPad itself, the galaxy also incorporates telephony features, complete with the need for an expensive contract. So is it an over sized smart phone or a small tablet?
To me, anyway, it looks like a blatant iPad clone, and much like all of the Android phones before it, it basically seems to copy pretty much everything from Apple's designs. No doubt, however, Samsung and other tablet makers will be blowing their horns on what they supposedly have that the iPad doesn't, like built-in cameras, etc.
So, as cool and iPad looking as the Samsung Galaxy Tab appears to be, is it and others upcoming tablets good enough to topple the iPad? That remains to be seen, of course, but Android has been making huge gains against the iPhone, and thus many are predicting that Android based tablets will do likewise, but that's not guaranteed.
Unfortunately, it's mostly smoke and mirrors as far as I'm concerned. Apple's proxy suit against Android, via HTC, which many are predicting Apple will win, could certainly clip Android's wings big time, and might even possibly give it a death blow. No wonder Google, as some are reporting, is hiring a phalanx of lawyers to deal with, what they perceive, is Apple's so-called aggression!
Of course, there's always Oracle's suit as well, which could also provide another very real death blow to Android based phones and tablets. Then there is also the very real prospect of Apple's AT&T exclusivity coming to an end soon, it could also eliminate Android's biggest and only real advantage over that of the iPhone, namely, it's not limited to any one carrier as the iPhone is now.
As fine-and-dandy as the Samsung and other tablets might first appear, there are some very real threats posed to them ever overtaking the iPad. For one, Apple won't be standing still, and you can bet your last pair of candy-colored bloomers on that one. Apple is already reported to be testing new iPads, possibly even including a seven inch version, as well as newer models that will include cameras and certainly even more powerful hardware and iOS software. According to a recent Yahoo news report, one thing in the iPad's favor is that it interestingly could end up being the better priced tablet of them all, at least according to this article: Apple iPad: The Low-Price Leader? - Yahoo! News
So, even though I must admit that the iPad looking and iPad functioning like Samsung Galaxy Tab seems to be a really cool tablet, the question remains: is it really cool enough to really take on the iPad?
Maybe, but I also think that if anyone thinks that Android or Windows based tablets are just going to simply walk in and knock off the iPad, as some people might like to think, they may have another thing coming. The iPad has a lot going for it besides being the first real tablet out of the gate. For one, its lead means that it already has more software and accessories going for it, something that will be hard for other to catch up with. Not only that, as big as Google, Microsoft and other might be, people should remember that the iPad is powered by the second largest company in the world, a company with more money in the bank and other resources than most other companies could even wish for, Microsoft and Google included.
Trust me, in conclusion, this powerhouse isn't exactly going to be easy to take on, nor will it simply lay down and die without a fight like its competition might wish!
And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, September 24, 2010
2 comments:
Competition is always good -- it drives product quality up, service up, and price down. If they would let the market work, the end result will be a better iPad, sooner. And how did you know about my candy colored bloomers?
Thanks Paul for you comment. And, yes, I agree that competition can be a good,thing, but only if it's real competition and not a case of simply copying everything down to the minute detail that your competitor is already doing.
It's one thing to come up with a new mpeg player, such as the Zune, but it's another thing entirely when a company violates another's intellectual property the way some are doing with Apple's own 'multi-touch' patents' for instance. Clearly, this isn't competition.... it's theft, plain and simple!
As far as knowing about your color bloomers, well, to be honest, it was just a lucky guess on my part!
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