A crazy time for tablets

MANILA, Philippines - It’s been a dramatic week for the tech industry’s newest beloved toy, the tablet.

Steve Jobs, the driving force behind the runaway success that is the iPad, stepped down as Apple’s chief executive last Wednesday. Tim Cook, Apple’s operations chief who filled in for Jobs during his medical leaves, is now CEO, while Jobs sits as chairman of the board.

Jobs’ change of role at Apple created some uncertainties about the company’s future, especially at a time when a heated battle between the Apple iPad 2 (soon to be iPad 3) and the forces of Android-based tablets led by the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is raging.

Then there’s HP, which created its own uncertainty, by announcing that it is exiting the PC business and will no longer be selling tablets and smartphones using its WebOS operating system.

As if that were not enough of a shocker, HP also slashed $300 off the price of its months-old HP TouchPad and tossed it into the $99 bargain bin. Never mind if it’s only 16GB, runs on webOS and generally critiqued as being clunky and dated. A bargain is a bargain; just don’t rub it into the poor 25,000 souls who excitedly bought their HP TouchPads last July.

HP said it would give a full refund or credit for the price difference to early TouchPad buyers — small consolation for consumers who became technology orphans so soon.

Still the $99 offer has tempted enough people to clear out the reportedly heaps of unsold HP TouchPad inventories in the US. 

It’s queer how only yesterday some touted the webOS-based TouchPad as an iPad killer, only to become one of the shortest lived tech products in history. Its international endorser, boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, probably didn’t expect the TouchPad to be knocked out in Round 1.

With the Palo Alto, California titan out of the tablet picture, Cupertino-based Apple now has its battle back squarely against Google, the true lord of Androids which is headquartered in Mountain View, and its platoon of tablet makers from South Korea and China.

Taking its design cue from Apple — a strategy that opened a pandora’s box of legal suits — Samsung has officially released two new Galaxy Tabs, the 10.9 and 8.9 models, that aim for the same five-star ratings that “Brand A” got.

Running on Honeycomb Android OS, the new Galaxy Tabs carry their own weighty hardware and unique software features (please check out Samsung website for full specs) to still give users a different experience. In some key areas, the Galaxy Tab arguably did better than the iPad 2. The display is nicer at 1280 x 800 resolution (1024 x 768 for iPad 2) and both new Tabs cut a more sleek profile.

By making it 0.2-mm thinner than the iPad 2, Samsung gets to brag that both models are the “world’s thinnest tablets” at just 8.6-mm thin. The 10.1 and 8.9 models are also, in effect, lighter at 1.24 pounds and 1.03 pounds, respectively, compared to iPad 2 that weighs 1.33 pounds.

Why the 10.1 Tab has no USB or micro SD slot (unlike the 8.9 Tab) is a mystery. But then again, iPad 2 was designed without those ports, too, so Samsung might be thinking, why argue with success?

A 32GB Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 will be sold here for P32,490 and P34,990, respectively. The 16GB models are P5,000 cheaper.

A padded market

Also hoping to have their piece of the hot tablet market are LG Electronics and Lenovo which recently launched their own Honeycomb “Pads” that, clearly, are a tad late.

In comparison to the iPad 2, the LG Optimus Pad is slender (5.84 in) yet longer (9.57 inches) and definitely thicker (0.50 inches) and heavier (621 grams or 1.37 lbs). LG claims its tablet will “give a one-of-a-kind multimedia experience” with its five-megapixel primary and two-megapixel secondary cameras, and stereoscopic photos and videos powered by a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor. It even comes with a pair of 3D glasses.

The LG Optimus Pad was offered briefly in the Philippines last week only through online ordering. An e-mail was sent to prospective customers to reserve a unit from July 20 to Aug. 7. It stated: “The LG Optimus Pad will not be released in the Philippines, so invite your friends to get this exclusive offer and be one of the few to own this awesome device in the country!”

Those who responded positively received an order confirmation thanking them for reserving a discounted 32GB LG Optimus Pad for P34,990. The original price is actually a whopping P50,000, but with the P15,000 discount, the 32GB LG Optimus Pad becomes as pricey as the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

At Apple’s online store, the 32GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi goes for P28,990; the 3G model with the same specs goes for P35,990.

The LG Optimus Pad was to be delivered to a buyer within three to four weeks after the payment processing period through PayPal, which ended last Aug. 17. Unless you’re a hotel heiress, would you pay that much (even after the P15,000 discount) for something that he or she has never seen, held and tested?

Meanwhile, Lenovo finally entered the tablet market last week by officially releasing the IdeaPad K1 with its own set of preloaded apps. At 10.4 x 7.44 x .52 inches and 1.6 pounds, the IdeaPad K1 has more heft and weight than the iPad 2 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Like its other Honeycomb brethren, the IdeaPad K1 also runs on a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor. For a unit with 32GB of storage, one has to fork $499 which is a good price to set for a latecomer who wants to win some converts to its tablet which early reviews summed up as neither the thinnest, the sexiest and meanest tablet computer ever to hit the market.

In the hierarchy of tablet computers, the mainstream iPad 2 is still the king. Samsung Galaxy Tab has successfully fashioned itself as the strongest geek Android tablet. The “other” geek tablets have more work cut out for them. It may not be too late to make a difference, but slapping the word “PAD” to name a new product is probably not the most inventive way to start.