The more competition there is for the Apple iPad there is the better. I say this as an iPad fan. Apple needs competition to keep on raising the bar so competition is a good thing.
My 2011 Tablet watch list includes:
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer – ASUS is or originator of the netbook and has a lot of experience building options into their hardware. The flexibility that ASUS provides with the 4 different flavors of the Eee Pad as well as features like docking stations, 16 hours of battery life and a sliding keyboard may provide enough incentive for people to explore.
HP webOS Tablet – HP wisely pulled back on releasing a tablet with the Windows 7 in 2010 and has spent the last year working on its webOS. The courage it takes for a company to forgo short term gains for long term potential suggests that they may have something really significant to release. We will all know on February 9.
Apple iPad 2.0 – This is a no brainer–Apple has had great success and will hopefully put the camera into the iPad as well as many other features that seem to be missing. If history is correct there may also be a bit of price break on the original iPad causing even more and an impact on the competition.
It is going to be a banner year for the tablet and I am looking forward to what the future will bring.
