Disclaimer: I have a Touch and iPad and I like them very much. I also have an Android phone.
I think a lot of people that dismiss any specific Android device like Xoom or the Samsung tabs are missing something. Android tablets have the potential to accelerate both hardware and software more rapidly than iPads do. The companies coming out with Android tablets are accustomed to competing on hardware differentiation so I would expect a much faster progression of hardware than Apple is likely be able to match over the long term.
I also expect Android to focus on weaknesses in iOS. Wireless proximity synching would be great. HP is already doing some of this. Android will do it because it doesn't have the business requirement to cable up to the bloated iTunes as part of a business model. Android is already much better at notifications. Android is also going to be much better at supporting more video formats, etc., rather than making you convert everything to one format.
Meanwhile, Google and others will work on both apps. Yes, it will fragment the market and there will be messy edges, but you also don't have Google limiting or shutting down talented developers and making them create a Jailbreak community like Apple has done. The potential is there for Android developers.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/09/profit-shocker-android-brings-home-more-bacon-than-ios-for-pock/
I'm a software developer and I know people at eight companies making software for iOS. They are all also making Android software.
Apple has moved at a ***glacial*** pace when it comes to improving all of the iOS devices. Faster chips...what next gen device doesn't have them? Adding some cameras and some tweaks come to mind as the "major" things since the first iPhone came out. Multitasking was finally added, but only in a pretty limited way both in OS implementation and from a UI Perspective. Folders and Cut/Paste should have been there from day 1 instead of taking years. I don't care (but I understand that some may) if the next gen device is a fraction of a pound lighter and a tiny fraction of an inch thinner; that doesn't actually let me *do* more from one release to the next. The usual response is "But it does everything I want to do." That's great. If tablets are already fulfilling the majority of what they will be used for, then it's easy for others to catch up.
Apple deserves every bit of their success, but releasing what have been considered by many (including myself) to be very limited updates once a year isn't going to cut it forever. I feel like this platform is almost standing still. Android tablet manufacturers are going to be forced to move at a faster pace.
Before I get hammered by everyone... I repeat... I think my iPad is great. I'm not looking to replace it and I'm not saying any Android tablet matches it now. I do think Android has the potential for a much faster rate of improvement for both hardware and software though and I don't dismiss Android as easily as most here seem to.
Just my opinion, and it's worth what you paid for it.
