Replies

But this year will be different.

Why are so many companies imitating Apple's iPad this year?

The Motorola Xoom is only the very first among many tablet computers running Google Android 3.0 ("Honeycomb")

You might be interested in what Jason Kincaid has to say about the Xoom: http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/05/ipad-2-xoom-fight/. Kincaid is a big Android fan. After shelling out $800 for a Xoom plus a required carrier activation, he found the experience underwhelming. He said, "I think it stinks."

You have to remember that the Xoom is only the very first of many devices that will run Android 3.0 ("Honeycomb")--as such it's almost a "beta" system since no one else has such a device yet. But once the other devices running Android 3.0 start to hit the retail channel later this year I expect it to get a lot better.

I think you have to remember that when the iPad first came out in April 2010, people noted at once it felt like an iPod touch writ large, complete with the limitations of the version of iOS at the time (3.2 I believe). The iPad didn't really start to get useful until iOS 4.2.1 became available in November 2010.

There are persistent rumors that Apple may preview iOS 5.0 very soon--it's supposed to have a much-improved interface and will be part of iPhone 5 when that ships in July 2011. Don't be surprised that iOS 5.0 allows for display resolution independence, which will pave the way for both the iPhone and iPad to support far high resolutions in the future on the device displays.