So much for the Xoom/Android will crush iPad argument

[62tele]

The usual Fandroid/Apple haters are remarkably silent.

It is amusing to read the comments about how Apple blew the launch, missed the boat, etc or that the device's lack of USB/Thunderbolt or file system will impact it's success.

The people are speaking with their wallets. The iPad hits the mark for the average consumer. USB be damned. Customization or "open" OS doesn't seem to matter much.

I am very happy with my first gen iPad so I am sitting this one out although it is very tempting.

Is Apple or the iPad perfect? Of course not, but Apple continues to set the bar.

 

[Dorkington]

I don't know anyone who said the XOOM would crush the iPad.

BUT, I do know people who think (I'm one of them), that in time Android OS will become more popular than iOS on tablets. This isn't about quality, or hating, or anything juvenile, it's simply about how many manufacturers Google is partnered with, and the breadth of choices.

What I was expecting with the XOOM, though, was for the Tegra 2 architecture to be quicker than that of the iPad's, and as we've seen, that's definitely been wrong.

 

[bchreng]

I'd say give 'em some more time. The iPad's been out for a while now. It'll take a while for Android to catch up and possibly surpass what Apple has going on right now.

 

[Cyberheart]

Xoom is nothing compared to IPad2 its a joke Ipad will crush anything in its path any day statistically and fact.

 

[matrix07]

BUT, I do know people who think (I'm one of them), that in time Android OS will become more popular than iOS on tablets. This isn't about quality, or hating, or anything juvenile, it's simply about how many manufacturers Google is partnered with, and the breadth of choices.

Indeed. One company can not rule them all. This is not mp3 player. The market is much more larger.

What I was expecting with the XOOM, though, was for the Tegra 2 architecture to be quicker than that of the iPad's, and as we've seen, that's definitely been wrong.

This is where the Xoom is owned. More expensive but no clear cut hardware advantage.
Android will have a chance when Google fine-tune Honeycomb and some tabs get distinctly better hardware at the same price point. Some Chinese companies might be able to do that. But it will not be as easy for Android as in a phone market where they roamed freely on a half part of the market, with less expensive phones for years.

 

[dsnort]

Android will have a chance when Google fine-tune Honeycomb and some tabs get distinctly better hardware at the same price point.

So far Androids strategy in smart phones seems to be very similar to Windows in PC's, almost as good but cheaper.

Don't know if that's going to work in tablets, where Apple is being fairly aggressive with their pricing.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Just the same you have to tip your hat to Android for keeping Apple on it's toes. Were it not for the the competition I doubt Apple would have put much priority into improving the guts of the iPad as fast as they have. Flipside: If the iPad can get other products to be more "Apple-like" in look and feel while still retaining unique qualities, it's a win-win for consumers and technophiles.

 

[Pressure]

Just the same you have to tip your hat to Android for keeping Apple on it's toes. Were it not for the the competition I doubt Apple would have put much priority into improving the guts of the iPad as fast as they have. Flipside: If the iPad can get other products to be more "Apple-like" in look and feel while still retaining unique qualities, it's a win-win for consumers and technophiles.

The iPad 2 hardware-wise were set in stone well before all these Android Honeycomb tablets were announced.

It does take quite some time to go from the design-phase to tape-out of the actual chip.

I wouldn't be surprised if the A5 already were in the finishing stages when the original iPad were released but still awaiting A0 (first silicon) tape-out from the foundry.

Apple also secured NAND flash and other component supplies month ago.

In essence, there were really very little time, if any, to "respond" to whatever the "competition" were doing, as these things take their sweet time.

 

[master-ceo]

Each os has it's pros and cons. Different strokes for diffent folks.

If I was into arduino programming and open source I would have a android.
(which I do want to get into soon)

I'm into music and the iOS Got what I need the most right now. superior CoreAudio and CoreMidi plus tons of music related apps.

 

[camelsnot]

Just the same you have to tip your hat to Android for keeping Apple on it's toes. Were it not for the the competition I doubt Apple would have put much priority into improving the guts of the iPad as fast as they have. Flipside: If the iPad can get other products to be more "Apple-like" in look and feel while still retaining unique qualities, it's a win-win for consumers and technophiles.

I agree. It doesn't matter who is on top, they need competition. Competition fosters innovation. Companies need an "arch enemy" or else they get lazy and lethargic, like IBM and Microsoft did. I also hope companies stay focused on innovation and less on worrying about how much money they are pulling in and how else they can get money. Apple is dangerously close to being more worried about the consumer's money than the are the consumer, which is what they were always known for.

I'm hoping there is less whining about "Apple did this first" or "Android has this first". In the end, who cares who had it first. That's a lawyer thing. If features move across to other platforms and no dumb patents were copied, the consumer wins. I'd love to see some android features on my new ipad 2, and vice versa on my phone. It only strengthens what *I*, the user, can do with my stuff.

 

[maflynn]

The usual Fandroid/Apple haters are remarkably silent.

well that's because this is a apple fan site. Most "fandroid" folks are on android sites

Also where have you heard here or else where that the xoom would crush the iPad?

Both platforms offer advantages and disadvantages. Why sound like a close minded apple fanboy harping on android hate when you can enjoy your iPad and let those who buy the xoom or other android based tablets enjoy theirs.

 

[M87]

The only competition that sounds plausible to me is Amazon.

 

[Pressure]

Each os has it's pros and cons. Different strokes for diffent folks.

If I was into arduino programming and open source I would have a android.
(which I do want to get into soon)

I'm into music and the iOS Got what I need the most right now. superior CoreAudio and CoreMidi plus tons of music related apps.

Why don't you just buy the Arduino (be it Mini, Pro, Uno, etc)? It's very inexpensive at a mere $15 to $40.

 

[bossxii]

So far no crazy bashing hyperbole. Kudos to all that commented, this thread is off to a great start indeed. For the record I own both and while I am on the iPad 2 typing this the Xoom did surprise me, in many good ways. I don't think any one device will sell the numbers the iPad does, but in time Android across many tablets will likely take over in sales volume specific to tablets. This happened in smartphones and I'm sure simply due to the "shotgun" effect of very bad, bad, good and great ones combined, will eventually take over total number of tablets running Android vs iPad. Not a big surprise.

The Xoom is the nicest non Apple product I've used in some time. Very well built, sold Aluminum back with great tactile feel. Honeycomb is, IMO, much better than 2.1 or 2.2 that is available for smart phones in terms of stability, smooth UI and overall "user experience". The crazy thing is the price tag. Let's face it people think of the Apple brand as more of a premium priced iDevices while Android has the thoughts of a low cost "iPhone like" device. I think everyone on both sides of the debate is a bit shocked at the price point the Android devices are coming to market at. Apple is clearly flexing it's bank account and knowledge to bring quality products at a reasonable price based against what we now see from the competition.

Bottom line, Xoom is a step in right direction, but it was pushed out the door to fast. Any consumer that hasn't done a bit of research and gets home to find out the SD card slot doesn't work will have a fit thinking they bought a faulty device. Moto should have simply waited for everything to be functioning properly before launch if they wanted achieve decent market share. I personally bought it out of curiosity and will likely swap it out for the wifi only version as the wife can latch onto the iPad at times. It nice to actually know what's out there and use it vs all the garbage talk on forums from people that have never even used the OS or understand how it works. Yes that goes both ways, but the Xoom is no where near as bad as people try to make it out.

 

[gquiring]

Let me prefix this with I have owned a iPhone 1, 3GS and currently a 4.

I don't think anyone including Steve Jobs would have thought Android outsells iPhone now. There is only one Android 3.0 tablet out there today and it's very pricey. Give it a year and then Steve and company will be watching their backs very often.

The key to Android's success is variety and availability. Within a year we will see tablets from from all major consumer electronic companies running HoneyComb/3.x. Apple seems to me to be a difficult company to partner with. Look at Adobe, Facebook and wholesale chains like CostCo. These are even more reasons Android has done so well.

Right now buying a Xoom is going to get you a bumpy ride. The software is not complete. The tablet apps are not there. I would assume 6 months from now things will start changing. Most developers should be on board to tweak their phone apps to run correctly on Honeycomb. The hardware will be available from several players at cheaper prices. Then the acceleration will happen quickly. We will see Flash, USB, non restricted app store, and folks like Firefox on tablet that will not happen on iOS.

 

[barkomatic]

I think the *hardware* of the Xoom is probably better than that of the iPad2. Come on, *twice* the RAM? I think the reason Xoom did so poorly on the benchmarks is because honeycomb is not optimized properly for the hardware its running on. Unfortunately, its little consolation knowing that you have a fast piece of hardware which isn't reflected in your experience in using the device.

Obviously, Apple's advantage of the tight integration of hardware and software is what makes the difference in the experience of using the device--and that's what ultimately matters most. There will be a new Xoom on the market before all the bugs are worked out of honeycomb.

 

[trssho]

The iPad 2 hardware-wise were set in stone well before all these Android Honeycomb tablets were announced.

It does take quite some time to go from the design-phase to tape-out of the actual chip.

I wouldn't be surprised if the A5 already were in the finishing stages when the original iPad were released but still awaiting A0 (first silicon) tape-out from the foundry.

Apple also secured NAND flash and other component supplies month ago.

In essence, there were really very little time, if any, to "respond" to whatever the "competition" were doing, as these things take their sweet time.

That may be true, but Apple did move up it's normal annual release schedule, and that was in response and anticipation of the Android onslaught beginning when it did and is.

 

[Pressure]

That may be true, but Apple did move up it's normal annual release schedule, and that was in response and anticipation of the Android onslaught beginning when it did and is.

Speculation at best really - the annual release schedule is hard to guesstimate after only the second iteration of the iPad, although it do makes sense, as the in-house designed chip will power most, if not all, of their mobile devices later this year.

It is pretty apparent that the iPad 2 have been in production for some time if the estimated sales figures for these first couple of days have reached over 600,000 units.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

The iPad 2 hardware-wise were set in stone well before all these Android Honeycomb tablets were announced.

It does take quite some time to go from the design-phase to tape-out of the actual chip...

I understand the engineering, parts acquisition and production time line. You, however, misunderstood my point. I wrote "I doubt Apple would have put much priority into improving the guts of the iPad as fast as they have. "

In other words, Apple knew last year, even as it was launching the first iPad, that it would not have an exclusive market for long and Android would be coming at them hard, as it has with phones. Hence, that pressure required Apple to put priority on performance vs. making minor aesthetic tweaks, similar to what Apple use to do with the original iMac every year.

 

[Pressure]

I understand the engineering, parts acquisition and production time line. You, however, misunderstood my point. I wrote "I doubt Apple would have put much priority into improving the guts of the iPad as fast as they have. "

In other words, Apple knew last year, even as it was launching the first iPad, that it would not have an exclusive market for long and Android would be coming at them hard, as it has with phones. Hence, that pressure required Apple to put priority on performance vs. making minor aesthetic tweaks, similar to what Apple use to do with the original iMac every year.

You are absolutely correct, and I stand corrected

I need more coffee in the morning before "reading" and posting heh.

 

[master-ceo]

Why don't you just buy the Arduino (be it Mini, Pro, Uno, etc)? It's very inexpensive at a mere $15 to $40.

Yes, this will be my first step. I will get into it this summer.

 

[PhoneI]

the tablet market will be very different than the cell phone market. You can get Android phones for free with new contract, that will never be the case with tablets (most people don't want another monthly bill). Apple will probably always have the price advantage in the tablet market. I don't see Android devices overtaking the iPad any time soon.

 

[NachoGrande]

I don't know anyone who said the XOOM would crush the iPad.

BUT, I do know people who think (I'm one of them), that in time Android OS will become more popular than iOS on tablets. This isn't about quality, or hating, or anything juvenile, it's simply about how many manufacturers Google is partnered with, and the breadth of choices.

What I was expecting with the XOOM, though, was for the Tegra 2 architecture to be quicker than that of the iPad's, and as we've seen, that's definitely been wrong.

This! There are so many companies making Tablets that at one point their R&D will hit something that will be better.

 

[anthonymoody]

Well I think it's inevitable that the scores of coming android 3+ tablets will eventually make meaningful inroads in the marketplace. Prices will come down, available apps will increase, etc. and sooner or later it's possible if not even certain that android will overtake iOS in the tablet space as it has in the smartphone space. It should happen more slowly since the iPad 2 is now available for multiple carriers, but there's no particular reason to believe that the smartphone trend won't repeat itself in tablets.

But that doesn't mean android tablets are superior in any of the ways that matter

(I'm talking about user experience for you fandroids out there...)

 

[fertilized-egg]

it's simply about how many manufacturers Google is partnered with, and the breadth of choices.

Not necessarily the case. Android has been successful in the phone business where things are controlled mainly by the carriers but in other industries, such as MP3, game consoles, etc, the same strategy didn't work all that well. Also let's not forget Apple, despite bumping up their production significantly , pretty much sold as many iPhones as they could. I'd argue that Android, instead of winning against Apple, completely killed off Windows Mobile and the high end featurephone market, and to an extent stalling Blackberry as well.

Windows PC was successful because it was much cheaper and had more applications but neither can be claimed by Honeycomb licensees at this point, in fact Apple has advantages in both. Also curiously the biggest PC maker in the world is missing from the picture since HP decided to go at it alone with the webOS, plus we know Microsoft will do something to address this cross-platform space. (I must confess that I might be the only person here who actually likes Windows Phone 7) So at this point I'm not even 100% sure if Honeycomb will take that #2 spot automatically.