iPad 2 vs. The Competition (Apple, Galaxy, Tab, Milestones, tech, news, report, update, Auckland)

Yesterday's iPad 2 announcement threw down the gauntlet to the host of tablet challengers, many of which haven't even gotten their product to market yet. How does Apple's second tablet compare to the first generation of its rivals? We pulled the specs for the new iPad and its closest competitors: the large-format Android tablets - Motorola's Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the LG Optimus Pad - HP's TouchPad, and the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Let's see how they compare:

Processor
iPad: Apple A5 1GHz dual-core 
Xoom: NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core
Galaxy Tab: NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core
Optimus Pad: NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core
TouchPad: Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2 GHz dual-core
PlayBook: ARM Cortex-A9 1GHz dual-core

Storage
iPad: 16/32/64 GB
Xoom: 32 GB
Galaxy Tab: 16/32 GB
Optimus Pad: 32 GB
TouchPad: 16/32 GB
PlayBook: 16/32/64 GB

Network
iPad 2: 802.11 b/g/n, GSM, CDMA
Xoom: 802.11 a/b/g/n, CDMA
Galaxy Tab: 802.11 b/g/n, GSM
Optimus Pad: 802.11 b/g/n, GSM
TouchPad: 802.11 b/g/n, GSM
PlayBook: 802.11 b/g/n, WiMAX, LTE, HSPA+

Screen
iPad: 9.7" 1024x768
Xoom: 10.1" 1280x800
Galaxy Tab: 10.1" 1280x800
Optimus Pad: 8.9" 1280x768
TouchPad: 9.7" 1024x768
PlayBook: 7" 1024x800

Rear Camera
iPad: 720p HD
Xoom: 5 megapixel
Galaxy Tab: 8 megapixel
Optimus Pad: dual 5 megapixel
TouchPad: none
PlayBook: 5 megapixel

Front Camera
iPad: VGA
Xoom: 2 megapixel
Galaxy Tab: 2 megapixel
Optimus Pad: 2 megapixel
TouchPad: 1.3 megapixel
PlayBook: 3 megapixel

OS
iPad: iOS 4.3
Xoom: Honeycomb
Galaxy Tab: Honeycomb
Optimus Pad: Honeycomb
TouchPad: webOS 3.0
PlayBook: BlackBerry Tablet OS

Sensors
iPad: light, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope
Xoom: light, accelerometer, magnetometer, barometer, gyroscope
Galaxy Tab: light, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope
Optimus Pad: light, compass, gyroscope
TouchPad: light, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope
PlayBook: accelerometer

Video
iPad: 1080p HDMI, VGA
Xoom: 1080p HDMI
Galaxy Tab: HDMI
Optimus Pad: 1080p HDMI
TouchPad: n/a
PlayBook: HDMI

Available
iPad: March 11
Xoom: now
Galaxy Tab: unknown
Optimus Pad: "some time in the second quarter"
TouchPad: unknown
PlayBook: April 10? (rumor)

Price
iPad: starting at $499
Xoom: $599 WiFi, $799 3G
Galaxy Tab: unknown
Optimus Pad: unknown
TouchPad: unknown
PlayBook: $499? (rumor)

While most products have some unique feature or another that sets it apart from the rest, they are fairly comparable, at least to the casual user. What this suggests is that consumers are going to make their choice based on price and brand familiarity. And while many competitors have not released their prices yet - and may decide to set them based on the iPad - if this is the case, it could be that the iPad may continue to have the advantage for a while.

So is 2011 going to be "the year of the iPad 2?" We'll have to wait and see, though if competitors' offerings continue to be late out of the starting gate, the iPad's lead may be hard to overcome.