So Apple effectively created the popularised tablet device market with their original iPad and since then consumers haven't looked back; With the iPad 3 due to be announced and several other manufacturers now producing their own tablets, it would appear that tablets are here to stay.
Of course now, Apple is beginning to lose its market share as more price conscious customers are buying into Android and Windows devices, offering similar, if not better functionality for more reasonable prices. Rather than accept that they cannot keep everyone happy, Apple has instead deigned to sue those competitors that come close enough to stealing their more loyal customers; rather than producing a more varied portfolio of tablet devices. Germany is a case in point, just recently a court ruling banned Samsung from selling their 10.1 tablet in Germany and potentially all future iterations of the product line, on the grounds that their device is too similar to the iPad. This of course only tells half the story, Apple actually used doctored photos to strengthen their case, and they won!
It's worth taking a step back and asking ourselves, 'who loses here?'
Well Samsung for a start, the 10.1 was considered to be one of the best tablet devices to hit the market this year, and so Samsung stands to lose significant revenues in what should have been a good market for them. The consumers in Germany will also lose out, experiencing less choice when compared to their European counterparts. It doesn't stop there though, the tech and gadget fanatics as well as bloggers and mobile technology news publishers are all engaging in online conversations that only carry undertones of negativity; the ruling certainly has not painted Germany in a favourable light, and many view the entire case as Apple 'throwing their toys out of the pram', if they cannot compete fairly, it seems that Apple is willing to sue, cheat and steal to retain its market leading position.
With Steve Jobs now gone, is Apple already clutching at straws? Probably not... at least not yet anyway, but as competition intensifies, cases like this will likely become commonplace.
So if all the fuss is about devices that are too similar, how do we overcome this?
Well, NEC, the creators of the world's thinnest smartphone have their own ideas.
They have gone ever so slightly old school, packaging their tablet offering with a stand that also acts as a CD drive, allowing for the use of removable media so as not to clog up the tablet's precious internal memory; it also comes with a keyboard too... effectively making it a portable workstation for light work tasks:
http://tablet-news.com/2011/09/12/nec-lavie-touch-windows-tablet-brings-old-school-dvd-drive/
Unfortunately for some, this is only to be released in Japan. Other worldwide tablet manufacturers would do well to take note however, the best tablet solutions do not always require the use of the most advanced and expensive technologies. The rest of us on the other hand will have to make do with our regular Android and iPad 2 cases.
In the smartphone market however, with the LG Optimus debuting their latest glasses free 3D technology, it looks as though tablets will utilise the same technology. HTC already has a tablet set to launch utilising this feature and so it is quite likely that other tablet manufacturers will follow suit. With the iPad 3 due for release later this year, they may find themselves at the back of the technology curve if they have to wait another couple of years to implement this technology in the iPad 4. Then again, the technology could always flop and remain the friend of only the latest Gameboys and 3D TVs and Monitors.
Hi, I'm John King and I'm a writer, marketer, designer and general jack of all trades here at TheSnugg.com. Having expanded internationally in just one year and becoming the Amazon best-seller of Tablet cases and gadgets in five territories... We know what we're talking about. So for all things tech and mobile related, visit us today: http://www.thesnugg.com - you can also like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter for news and updates!
