http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11665362

Samsung looks like it might have a winner and would, in my humble opinion, be the biggest competitor to RIM’s PlayBook.

Screen quality and readability seems to me to be the deciding factor. Although if you think of it as a touchscreen computer, then you’re expecting it to update your blog and such.

I’m thinking Android and iOS have a little farther to go before they can reliably offer up network management features.

As someone who has become very familiar with a Wi-Fi only iPad in the past few months I can say the differences are enormous. A touch screen, and the not inconsequential design needs of a touch screen, changes everything about using a tablet to consume media, check mail, shop online, read e-books, note take, and handle photos, music, movies, and the like.

The processor and interface marriage with any of the tablet PCs I’ve had the pleasure of using couldn’t hold a candle to the iPad’s elegance. Running more than one program on a tablet PC impaired the entire experience and don’t get me started on setting up the cell phone cards or handling the pen-boxes on the screens. Running with cell cards activated drained batteries so fast only a single meeting could be done without plugging back in.

I could go on. But my original question was which other companies have made a touch screen tablet to compete with the iPad (in not the same number of words perhaps) and all I’m getting back is that people have been using pens on screens for some time now. Well, that may be true but it doesn’t mean it compares to the new touch screen environment.

RIM’s effort may turn out to be truly useful. And the other vapourware (which people are suggesting may be just as good as the iPad) still needs to perform in real-world conditions.

The rest of you be sure to let me know how well these other ‘products’ perform in the hands of disabled people and the elderly. I know first hand because I’m already there. I look forward to seeing what Android or Win Mobile products do or don’t do – there is no try.

If you take the time to do a quick search on eBay, you’ll see how many Android based tablets are available. They may not be on sale at your nearest Future Shop or Best Buy just yet, but they are still available on the market today. Beyond that, there are also several other tablets as well, some running Android, and others running a different OS. Granted we may not want to compare those “other” tablets to something running Android or iOS, they’re still considered to be tablet pc’s nonetheless.

To Bob Smith:
Thanks for recognizing a great Canadian icon. I may be dead but I’m not gone.

I still claim there are no shipping “pad” tablets beyond what Apple has offered as the article seems to suggest (incorrectly). So many announcements, and so little product to compare.

The medium is the message.

The Tetrad for the iPad is quite an illuminating construct. Hopefully RIM is aware of the implications and making themselves ready for the shift. I’m most excited about how the tetrad reveals the reclamation of ‘the book’ through the portability of a touchscreen interface. Now if we can only get rid of the need for a battery we would have it.

Cheers.