Steve Jobs said today the launch of the iPad 2 along with latest iPhone 4 and iTouch developments signals the full flowering of the post-PC era. Notably the idea of post-PC era was made by Steve at the beginning and emphasized again at the end of the presentation. And there is solid substance to the post-PC idea in the comparison tables below and the emergence of a client-based Computing Divide.
However, Steve scoffed at the idea of this being the year of the tablet because so many competitors to the iPad had emerged in the market. Instead Steve offered his thinner, lighter, faster and more feature rich iPad 2 as the torch bearer for tablets. And as you can see in the specs table, Apple has garnered some of the green “best in tablets” ratings. But Apple has left a lot of room to maneuver for Apples competitors especially in the RAM, camera and sensor features. And Apple continues to give away Flash/Java support as software advantage to competitors.
iPad2 is not a knock blow although Apple is certainly trying to deliver one. The price for the updated iPad2 is staying the same. There are lots of new neato software [GarageBand is a favorite].Aand there is again a huge iPad app lead over Android Honeycomb, webOS, and RIM. But the sharpest jab may be the early delivery to market in the US on March 11th and many markets worldwide on March 25th. Now all the tablet pretenders but Motorola will have to stand and deliver.
| Feature | Apple iPad | HP TouchPad | Motorola Xoom | Apple iPad 2 | RIM Playbook |
| Price [32GB+3G+WiFi] | $729 | $600 | $800 | $729 | $600 |
| Screen Size | 9.7″ – 1024 x7 68 |
9.7″ – 1024 x7 68 |
10.1″ – 1280 x 800 |
9.7″ – 1024 x768 |
7″ – 1024 x 600 |
| Screen Resolution | 132 DPI | 150 DPI | 132DPI | 170 DPI | |
| Camera Front/Back | NA/NA | 1.3MP/NA | 2MP/5MP | 0.3MP/2MP | 3MP/5MP |
| Video Records/Plays | NA/720p | 720P/1080p | 480+720p/1080p | 1080p/1080p | |
| Speaker/Mike | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes |
| CPU | 1GHz 1Core A4 |
1.2GHz – 2 core Snapdragon |
1GHz 2Core Tegra 2 |
1GHz 2Core A5 |
1GHz 2Core Tegra 2 |
| RAM | 256MB | 1GB | 1GB | 256MB? | 1GB |
| Max Store internal/external | 64GB/NA | 32GB/NA | 32GB/32GB | 64GB/NA | 64GB/NA |
| Size | 13 x 190 x 243 | 14 x 190 x 242 | 13 x 168 x 249 | 9 x 190 x 243 | 10 x 130 x 193 |
| Weight | 730gms | 750gms | 730gms | 590gms | 400gms |
| Battery Life | 10 hrs | ?? | 10hrs | 10hrs | 10hrs |
| Dock Keyboard/Recharge | Yes/Yes $70 | ?? | Many/Many | Yes/Yes $70 | Yes/Yes ?? |
| OS – Operating System and Apps | |||||
| OS | iOS4.2 | webOS 3.0 | Android 3.0 | iOS4.3 | QNX OS |
| OS Apps/Tablet Apps | 300k/65k | 10k/10k | 200k/1k | 300k/65k | 4,000 |
| Flash/Java Support | No/No | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes | No/No | Yes/Yes |
| Full multitasking | Not yet | Yes | Yes | Not Yet | Yes |
| Turn by Turn Navigation | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | NA |
| Video Chat | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sensory Devices | |||||
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gyroscope | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Compass | Yes | ?? | Yes | Yes | No |
| Proximity Sensor | No | ?? | Yes | No | Yes |
| PhotoSensitive | Yes | ?? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Barometer | No | ?? | Yes | No | No |
| Still+Video Camera Features | |||||
| Camera Front/Back | NA/NA | 1.3MP/NA | 2MP/5MP | 0.3MP/2MP | 3MP/5MP |
| Video Records/Plays | NA/720p | ??/?? | 720P/1080p | 720P/720p | 1080p/1080p |
| LED Flash | NA | ?? | Yes | Yes | NA |
| AutoFocus | NA | ?? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image Stabilization | NA | ?? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Geo-tagging | NA | ?? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Communication, networking, and connectivity | |||||
| 3G/4G | Yes/No | Yes/?? | Yes/Yes update | Yes/No | Yes/Yes |
| WiFi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HotSpot | No | ?? | Yes, 5 devices | No | No |
| DLNA | No | ?? | Yes | No | No |
| GPS/BlueTooth | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HDMI | No | ?? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| USB/SD Ports | Proprietary/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | Proprietary/No | Yes/?? |
| Features | Apple iPad | HP TouchPad | Motorola Xoom | Apple iPad 2 | RIM Playbook |
| Color rating system: lowest rating uncertain rating highest rating | |||||
Sources of Information
Apple – Apple iPad specs, iPad2 specs, iPad speculation, myCellphoneMyTerms
HP TouchPad– Engadget Preview, PhoneArena, Know Your Mobile
Motorola Xoom – Droid-life on Xoom, myCellphoneMyTerms, Phonearena on Xoom, SkatterTech on Tablets
R IM Playbook – Computerworld on Playbook, Skattertech on Tablets, Digital Trends