2011 looks to be a pretty serious year in the now never-ending battle for tablet supremacy. Current MWC excitement is centered around the three Android powered contenders and HP’s recent announcement. But who comes out on top?
Spec-wise, HTC has made the decision to opt for a non-Honeycomb approach, nor have they picked up on the dual-core bug. But then Motorola and LG’s offerings aren’t exactly cheap, so let’s hope HTC brings the value for money Android option to the consumer.
We all know that WebOS is much underrated and the changes brought about by the new 3.0 version are definitely exciting. But it’s early days yet and we can’t know just how well HP’s TouchPad will do.
Looks like things are up to you guys then. Not easy, given the specs overload that is MWC. So we have done a nice little versus for you.
First up:
The HTC Flyer:
The first Android tablet to carry the HTC pedigree definitely has us excited. What doesn’t is the decision not to include a dual-core processor and to opt for Android 2.4, not Honeycomb. HTC has tried to make up for this with a new version of its Sense overlay but whether it makes the Flyer more exciting than Android 3.0 is yet to be seen. Plenty of internal storage and 1GB of RAM is a definite bonus, so too is the 4000 mAh battery with up to 820 – 1470 hours of standby. All HTC needs to do is get the pricing right and the Flyer could do seriously well.
Motorola XOOM:
The Motorola XOOM boasts the latest version of Google’s Android operating system known as Honeycomb. With this comes a tablet-specific version of the OS and plenty of additional features that give the XOOM the one up over HTC’s device. The tablet also has a bigger screen than competitors at 10.1 inches, and packs the powerful Tegra 2 dual-core chipset.
The XOOM is very much the spec leader, with little competition out-doing it hardware-wise. The only threat to its supremacy is the lack of full 1080p video something that the LG Optimus Pad includes.
LG Optimus Pad:
On paper, there isn’t much between the XOOM and the Pad. Both have the same processor, roughly the same resolution and run on Android 3.0. Size-wise the Pad sits between the Flyer and the XOOM, with an 8.9” display. But then along comes the 3D stills and video support. Currently no other tablet competition is capable of recording in 3D and this could be a serious selling point for the Pad.
HP TouchPad:
HP has succeeded in trumping all processor speed competition with a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon buried within its recently announced TouchPad. The lack of Android however may be enough to persuade all but the most power hungry of tablet purchasers to look elsewhere. Shame as they will be missing out on what is an extremely smooth and easy to use operating system.
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