Tablets like Apple’s iPad 2 and Motorola’s Xoom aren’t just computers. They’re mainly communications devices. Sure, they have a computer in them. But what electronic product doesn’t include an embedded controller or microcomputer or whatever you want to call it?

The bottom line is that a tablet is just a big smart phone. No, it still can’t make phone calls, unless you Skype. But it has all the communications functions that a smart phone has, like Wi-Fi wireless local-area networking (WLAN) and cellular connectivity to the network, so you can do e-mail and access the Web. Virtually every function you perform on a tablet is going to involve using one or more wireless technologies.

The basic function of the tablet form function is the larger screen. It is more convenient for touch control and keyboarding than a smart phone and just the right size for personal video. Think “tummy TV.” About the only things on a tablet that aren’t communications functions are the cameras, but you can make the case that a photo is another communication method like writing, and even then the picture you take will probably be sent to someone as an e-mail or text attachment.

Tablets are neat, as they let you do most of what you do with a PC or laptop in a smaller and more portable device. Consider what most people really do with their computers. It’s mainly e-mail, texts, Web searches, and accessing Web sites, especially social networking places. Not everyone needs to use Word, Power Point, Excel, or other common PC tools. Even PCs have become mainly communications devices first and applications processors second.

And clearly that’s why forecasts for PC growth are way down, especially in the consumer sector. Companies and the government will still buy desktops, of course. The laptop will also remain strong for the power user on the go. It is hard to predict the netbook/notebook sector, but it will also go down as consumers go for the cheaper (in some cases), smaller, lighter, and “cooler” tablets. It appears as though the laptop/netbook markets are being hit the hardest as tablets emerge.

Consider your own objectives. What will you most likely buy next? A new desktop, a laptop, a netbook, or a tablet? I bet most of you say tablet. I know I do. I haven’t taken the plunge yet, but it’s just a matter of time. Tablets aren’t the death of the PC but an evolutionary movement in technology for which we can blame—or is that congratulate—Apple for making happen in a clever and innovative way.

Apple owns the tablet market with better than 90% market share. Again, as with the iPhone, Apple has seduced consumers with a creative, “must have” product. The current estimate is that Apple has already sold over 15 million iPads and that will certainly grow with the iPad 2. One estimate expects 6 million iPad 2 sales in the first quarter of 2011. And more are on the way.

Also, about 80 new tablets were announced at the 2011 International CES in January. A recent Wall Street Journal article says that 30 tablets were available at the end of 2010 and that 102 tablets have been announced. We’re only beginning to see what the competition looks like. The year 2011 will certainly be full of tablet rollouts with Apple’s share probably dipping below 80% as some predict. Nevertheless, the iPads are the ones to beat.

The iPad 2

The iPad 2 has the same 9.7-in. (diagonal) touchscreen as the original with 1024- by 768-pixel resolution. The processor is Apple’s own Samsung-made A5, a dual-core chip that runs at 1 GHz, bringing a processing upgrade over the original iPad. It has front and back cameras, both with video recording capability. Memory sizes of 16, 32, and 64 Gbytes are available, depending on what you want to store or, more likely, what you’re willing to pay.

As for I/O, you get a speaker, a microphone, and a digital compass, as well as sensors like a three-axis gyro, an accelerometer, and an ambient light sensor. There is also a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port for big screen connectivity. The battery is supposed to last up to 10 hours on a charge, depending upon what you’re doing.

All iPads come with 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR (extended data rate) technology. And that may be all you need. If you get a cellular model, you can choose between AT&T and Verizon. Both feature 3G service, AT&T with WCDMA/UMTS/HSPA and Verizon with EV-DO and Rev. A. In the cellular models, you get Assisted GPS location technology. The operating system (OS) is Apple’s iOS4, and you do have file viewing capability with Word, Excel, Power Point, and Adobe Acrobat, but not Flash.

Many say that a major strength of the iPad is that it can run all the apps created for the iPhone. That’s about 350,000 at the latest count, but only a fraction of those are optimized for the big screen. Nevertheless, that’s hard for any tablet to top, but not a selling point for people like me who have yet to find that many really useful apps that aren’t games or gimmicks. I only have a few on my iPhone 3GS and I never even use them. And who has the time to examine even a fraction of those available?

As for iPad prices, they run from a low of $499 with the smallest memory and Wi-Fi only to as much as $829 with maximum memory and the 3G cellular capability. The original iPad is still available for $399, at least for the time being. How does the competition top that?

Motorola Xoom And Others

Looking at the current competition, few stack up against the iPad 2. The Motorola Mobility Xoom seems to come closest (Fig. 1). First, it has a 10.1-in. touchscreen. It uses Nvidia’s Tegra dual-core 1-GHz processor, and you can get as much as 64 Gbytes of memory. The OS is the latest Android version 3.0. It runs most of those thousands of Android smart-phone apps. It claims a 9- to 10-hour battery, but I suspect that is to be determined. Two cameras are standard.

As for communications features, it offers the same 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in the basic model and 3G cellular from Verizon (only) using EV-DO and Rev. A. Also included is MeFi, which turns the tablet into a hotspot for other Wi-Fi devices and is a feature the Apple iPad 2 doesn’t have. Another neat feature is its promised ability to upgrade later to 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE). The Xoom also has an HDMI connector and a MiniUSB 2.0 port that the iPad 2 does not. As for price, the full-blown 64-Gbyte memory model with 3G service is $829. A Wi-Fi only version is also available.

To me, the Xoom is a real contender because it has all the right specs, but it still remains to be seen how users like the look, feel, and experience of it, which is something that Apple has already nailed. I wish Motorola lots of luck and think consumers should consider it as well before buying the iPad 2 if they are ready to take the tablet plunge.

Then again, you may want to wait for some of those others rumored to be on the way like the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook or the HP TouchPad, which may feature WebOS from HP’s Palm acquisition (Fig. 2). The Samsung Galaxy and Dell Streak are 7-in. tablets that have been available for a while, but Samsung has a new 10.1-in. Galaxy. So many more are on the way. Will we see a Nokia/Microsoft tablet? There’s no doubt someone can beat the iPad 2 specs, features, and performance. But can they beat the Apple cachet?

Apple
www.apple.com

Motorola
www.motorola.com