Apple's iPad 2 Announcement Spoiled by iPad 3 Rumors

Apple revolutionized and dominated the tablet market with the iPad, prompting a wave of competitors trying (unsuccessfully) to knock Apple off its tablet throne.

And despite the fact that no one has created that "iPad killing" device, Apple still announced out an improved iPad 2 yesterday. With Android Honeycomb-enabled tablets like the Motorola Xoom right around the corner, it was definitely time for Apple to step up their game.

But did they maybe step up too much?

The iPad 2 does answer some of the complaints people had about the iPad, and does show marked improvement of its predecessor:

• The iPad 2 is 33% thinner, and only weighs 1.3 lbs.
• It sports a custom A5 dual-core system that should make it twice as fast (with graphics speeds up to 9 times faster)
• It features built-in front and rear cameras
• The iPad 2 also has a pretty cool magnetic case available.
• It's HDMI compatible.

However, those specs aside many tech bloggers are saying they're holding off. That's because even though the iPad was just announced yesterday, there's already rumors of an iPad 3 being released as early by the end of this year or early 2012.

Those tech pundits are claiming that the iPad 3 will address some of the issues that neither the iPad or iPad 2 addressed:

• No SD card slot available
• No USB port
• It lacks the Retina Screen that was such a big hit with the iPhone 4.
• No Gorilla Glass like most competing tablets.

So while it makes no sense to me why Apple would release the iPad 3 so soon after the iPad 2 (essentially cannibalizing the iPad 2 unless there's a steep price difference between the the iPad 2 and iPad 3), they have successfully refocused the tablet spotlight back on the original poster-boy for this emerging tech market.

The Apple of Tablet Market's Eye

Weeks ago, I wrote about the swarm of new tablets that were on the verge of being released in hopes of challenging the iPad's dominance in this emerging market, and now that Apple has hit the 1 million sales mark for the iPad, this issue becomes more pertinent than ever.

However, the two most promising tablets (the HP Slate and Microsoft Courier) have both been scrapped and won't go into production, and whether or not the companies are working on new ones has yet to be seen.

While this is great news for Apple, this is a huge blow to tablet technology as a whole. The iPad now defines the market for tablets, and that means there will be less innovation. Why would Apple need to innovate if there's no viable competition?

We've discussed the computer industry's failure to change and innovate before, and the same lesson applies here: the technology as a whole will suffer if no one is there to push for newer and better designs.

This leaves the Dell Streak as the last big-name company with a tablet device still in the works. Hopefully it won't succumb to the same fate as the HP Slate and Microsoft Courier, because as exciting as tablet technology appears to be, it will require innovation and competition to stay that way.

Opening the Floodgates

Technologically speaking, we live in a copycat world. If a company has even a small amount of commercial success with a new device, you can be sure its competitors will follow suit and ride the wave of momentum.

And over the past few weeks, it's been a wave of iPad news soaking into almost every blog and media outlet.

But now that it's been a week since Apple's tablet has launched and the waters have settled slightly, it seems like the tide may start to turn in this budding tablet market over the coming months.

That's because there's a steady stream of new tablet releases expected to launch in the next year, and each one is looking to offer its own unique spin on the tablet device (The HP Slate with its 2 cameras and USB ports or the Microsoft Courier, which has 2 screens and folds in half).

The list of companies that have tablets in the works is long one, including Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Nokia, Asus, Compal, Notion Ink, MSI, Quanta and ICD.

The latest news is that Google is testing the tablet waters as well and confirmed it's partnering with HTC to develop an Android-based tablet device, but hasn't even released so much as name yet.

Regardless, what is abundantly clear is that companies across the board obviously feel that the tablet market is a strong one with a lot of potential, and that should lead to more innovation and design.

And whether you love the iPad or hate it, it's hard to argue that it hasn't opened the floodgates for more and more tablets in the future.

Primetime Product Placement

Last week I wrote a post about how advertisers had to overcome TiVo and short attention spans through creative means. Well for years, the main weapon advertisers have used in their war against digital recording devices was product placement.

Usually, this tactic is limited to a well-placed (and name brand) beverage for our favorite TV characters to drink, or a casual off-the-cuff reference to certain restaurant or fast-food chain.

However, last week I watching the show Modern Family and the product placement went from deceptively subtle to overwhelmingly obvious.

That's because last week's episode was entirely devoted to the iPad...as if we hadn't already heard enough about the iPad, right?

The plot of the episode was basically that Phil, one of the main characters, gets an iPad for his birthday. After blowing out the digital candles on his birthday cake app, he and his family continued to gush over how great the iPad is.

And seeing as how it was indeed a real iPad and not a mock-up or a fake, I doubt it was a coincidence or the producers simply looking to capitalize on a trending topic.

Now I understand it's timely, what with the recent iPad launch and all (not to mention the flurry of media coverage that followed), but I'm not sure how I feel about being whacked over the head with the product placement.