Big week for tablets

It’s hard to argue with the notion that this week has been anything other than a huge week for tablets. First, with the announcement of the iPad Mini and iPad 4, and then the launch of Microsoft’s Surface tablet running Windows RT, the first version of Windows to support ARM chips rather than x86 (the architecture used by Intel and AMD). By Monday, it looks like we’ll have a third (fourth?) horse in this race, with Google expected to announce a Samsung-manufactured Nexus 10.

The iPad 4 is mostly notable for making iPad 3 owners angry, so the Mini, being the new form factor, has been getting the most press. It’s a signal from Apple that they are finally being forced to compete on their value proposition in the tablet space, even if the £269 price point isn’t really getting even close to competing on price with budget devices like Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Fire HD. The Mini has still had its margin squeezed though, and you can be pretty sure that Apple wouldn’t even consider narrowing its margins if it didn’t feel at least a little under threat from a shrinking (if still huge) market share.  Bringing out a refreshed iPad in the form of the iPad 4 so soon after the release of the ‘new iPad’/iPad 3 can also be taken to mean that Apple understands that competitors will eat their lunch if they don’t stay ahead of the game. Apple certainly knows how to churn out quality device after quality device, and I have no doubt that this pair will perform stunningly well. Whether they’ll outperform everything else like they have since the original iPad was first introduced, I don’t know, but I think that it’s safe to say that the iPad is the best tablet going (and I’m an Android man).

Microsoft is finally bringing heat in the premium tablet space with the Surface, the first tablet that the company has brought out since people actually started caring about tablets (i.e. when the original iPad was unveiled on April 3rd, 2010). It certainly looks nice, and as a productivity tool will certainly benefit from having Microsoft Office bundled with it, though its initial reviews have been lukewarm. Still, its pre-orders sold out and the PC market is still massive, so Microsoft and its hardware partners can be pretty sure to shift a big number of touch-enabled Windows 8 devices, whether they be tablets, laptops, or hybrid devices (touch-enabled desktop computers can’t really be lumped in as competitors to the iPad). It went on sale today, so I’ll update you all on first-week(end) sales figures when they come out.

As for the Google’s Nexus 10? Well, I’m certainly interested to see what it can bring to the table. I have an Android tablet in the form of an HP Touchpad on which I installed Android (thanks, CyanogenMod team!), but Android tablets aren’t really getting close to competing with the iPad on its home turf (i.e. $500+, ~10″ devices and tablet-optimised apps). The iPad 4 is probably going to keep things that way for a while (and the fact that the iPad Mini is going to sell a ton of devices that can handle apps made for the full-size iPad won’t hurt, either).

It’s a competitive marketplace out there, but if it means that we keep seeing a steady stream of great new tech then I’m all for it.