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Tablet State of the Union 2011

#261 | 22:10 |

Lab Rats

Monday February 14, 2011

Tablets are big big big! Andy and Sean take a look at the tablets that are on the market now, talk about the Android and Blackberry tablet coming later in 2011, and speculate a bit about what the next generation of Apple's iPad will look like.

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Show Notes

Tablets are the new in thing. The iPad didn't necessarily create the category; Microsoft has been trying and trying with the tablet versions of its Windows operating system. What the iPad did is make people, y'know, actually want the thing. Now, with the rise of the Android operating system, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the about 80 tablets that were on display at CES 2011, the iPad's hitherto unquestioned dominance in tablets has some competition. Competition is almost always a good thing for consumers. With competition, prices go down while the need to innovate and offer something unique goes up.

Apple iPad
$499 and up

RIM BlackBerry PlayBook
$TBD

Samsung Galaxy Tab
$500 with cellular service provider contract

Motorola Xoom
$800 rumoured price

Creative Ziio 10"
$299

Archos is making its own brand of skinned Android tablets, primarily aimed at multimedia and entertainment.

WebOS TouchPad - As we edited this episode of Lab Rats, HP saw its way clear to launch a new tablet (plus a couple of smartphones). Sean Carruthers went to San Francisco to check it out. Hit the link above for his take on the new WebOS devices.

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