The Tablet Wars of 2012

Google’s Nexus 7

Tablets are the rage these days.  Apple’s iPad, which has proven to be a huge hit with trendy-types, techies, as well as kids, has about 60% market share, according to one recent market study, followed by Google’s recent release of its Nexus 7, then Amazon’s Fire, and finally a number of other companies sharing the crumbs of what’s left over.  But, coming soon, like later this summer and into the fall season, the whole tablet world looks like it might just explode, giving us a slew of new options to pick from.

Here’s just a few of the products which will vigorously compete with each other for our attention and purchases as we move from hot summer days, to going back to school, to preparing for the joys of holiday shopping:

• Amazon is rumored to be readying Fire 2 models in both 7″ and about 10″ sizes – how they will be powered and what the feature lists will be are anyone’s guess.
• Apple is rumored to be readying a smaller iPad, perhaps 7″ to compete with the likes of Google and Amazon.
• Microsoft several weeks back introduced its new Surface devices which will run Windows 8 and try to compete with the post-PC era that Apple likes to say we are in – where tablets and smartphones are becoming more feature-rich and more popular.

For sure there is a storm brewing, but for now, it’s time to just sit back and see what these fiercely competitive companies come up with for us – it will be their latest and greatest products to date, and we’ll have to buy the stuff (beware, of course, that this whole round of
product releases and upgrades will be deja vu all over again next year…).