Before you snap up the new iPad 2, take a look at some of the other tablets coming to the market in coming weeks

HOW THINGS have changed in only a year. Since the launch of the iPad, the tablet device has become the latest must-have tech item, triggering a war between Apple and Google for the hearts of consumers.

With Apple the only tablet in town for some time, the company enjoyed an unchallenged reign. But in recent months, Android-powered tablets have been threatening to outstrip the iPad’s development.

Apple has now hit back, with a faster, lighter and more powerful machine.

The improvements to the iPad 2 are probably more evolution than revolution. Although the device wasn’t exactly slow, Apple has beefed up the internal workings, adding a dual core A5 processor and speeding up graphics so that apps are quicker to launch and web pages render faster, something that definitely stands up to testing.

It adds a front- and rear-facing camera, which means you can take photos and use video-calling applications like Skype or Apple’s own FaceTime service. HDMI out capability has also been added to the updated device.

These small changes make all the difference, particularly to those holding out for the second generation, convinced that Apple would upgrade the device quickly.

And, of course, Apple slimmed it down, shaving one-third off its width – making the iPad 2 slimmer than the iPhone 4 – and a fraction off its weight to ensure that it could be easily held by consumers, one of the more frequent complaints about the original.

The company keeps the same 9.7-inch touchscreen, disappointing some who had expected Apple to upgrade it to the high-quality Retina display seen in the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.

But before you rush off to buy the iPad 2, check out its rivals. With Honeycomb, Android’s dedicated tablet software, the choice between Apple and its rivals isn’t as clearcut for many any more.

While the seven-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, launched last year, was viewed with interest, it was the Motorola Xoom that signalled the arrival of a real competitor for the iPad.

The Xoom wowed tech fans when it was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas early this year. Not only does it run on Honeycomb, but it also has what the original iPad left out – a two-megapixel front- and eight-megapixel rear-facing camera, a dual core 1GHz processor and a micro USB port.

It has a similar battery life to the iPad – 10 hours – and the dual core processor means that it runs applications quickly, just like its rival. It also included HDMI output from the beginning, something that Apple has now introduced with the iPad 2.

The one thing it lacks is the ability to expand the device’s memory through a Micro SD card, which is where another Android contender, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, comes in.

A step up from the previous seven-inch incarnation, the 10.1 inch Tab provides more screen space and a lot more power. Not only does it use software optimised for tablets – Honeycomb – it also has a dual core 1GHz processor, and the front- and rear-facing cameras.

Its screen size outstrips the iPad’s 9.7-inch display, but yet it’s still thinner at 8.6mm and fractionally lighter – 595g compared to the iPad 2’s 601g. It also allows you to expand storage with a micro SD card, up to 32GB.

In recent days, Samsung has also unveiled an 8.9-inch version of the Tab, along with the newly slimmed-down 10.1.

You can’t deny that the iPad has been a success for Apple. In its first nine months on the market, it sold 15 million units, generating about $10 billion in revenue for Apple. On its first day on sale, it shifted 300,000 units. By the end of the first week, it had sold 500,000, and it took only 28 days for it to break the million mark.

The hype for the iPad 2, it seems, is just as high. Although the device only goes on sale in Ireland and 25 other countries today, it was unveiled to US customers on March 11th. The first weekend’s sales were a success, with initial estimates putting sales at more than 500,000. Retailers reported selling out and customers are now facing a waiting list of weeks for online orders.

It is a momentum that analysts are predicting will continue, with some estimating that as many as 5.5 million iPads will be sold this quarter.

But, while Apple boss Steve Jobs has been quick to dismiss the threat from Android in the tablet market, branding them “copycats”, perhaps he shouldn’t brush them off as lightly. According to research company Strategy Analytics, Apple had a 95.5 per cent share of the market in the third quarter of 2010, shipping 4.2 million units compared to Android’s 100,000.

Just three months later that year, although Apple was shipping 7.3 million tablets globally, Android had increased its shipments to 2.1 million, dragging Apple’s share back to 75.3 per cent of the market and multiplying its own from 2.3 per cent to 21.6 per cent.

The main driver for this, Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawston said, was the Samsung Galaxy Tab. “We expect Android to increase share of the global tablet market during the first half of 2011,” he said. “The growing base of tablets will make Android a more attractive platform for media developers in the United States and worldwide.”

Android is not the only rival Apple is facing. Blackberry maker Research In Motion has revealed plans to make not just one version of its PlayBook tablet but four, covering wireless technologies such as 4G, LTE, HSPA+ and Wi-Fi.

Although it has only a seven-inch screen, the Playbook comes with 1GB of RAM and runs on Blackberry Tablet OS.

Dual cameras are built into the device, capable of recording full 1080p footage – better than the iPad 2’s offering. Not only does it support HTML5, but like the Android tablets, it supports Flash. Multitasking, an afterthought with the iPad’s operating system, is impressive on the PlayBook too.

Of course, the choice of tablet will ultimately be determined by what functions you want it to perform. While the iPad and many of the Android tablets are seen as entertainment devices, Research In Motion’s Playbook, for example, is viewed as more of a business tool, given its ability to link to the Blackberry to access calendars, e-mail and Blackberry messenger.

This week, the company ended speculation about the device by confirming it would go on sale in the US on April 19th.

One thing in Apple’s favour is first-mover advantage. It has beaten them all to the market, in Ireland at least. The Motorola Xoom is the only non-Apple dual core tablet of the four that is shipping elsewhere as yet, with the Playbook and the Tab 10.1 still to appear.

Where Apple really shines is in additional software for its devices, something Jobs was at pains to point out – repeatedly – in his address when the company announced the iPad 2.

However, it’s not quite as bleak as he made out. Android apps are growing by the week, with more than 170,000 now in the store, and the number aimed at Honeycomb is expected to keep growing.

The iPad is by no means the perfect device. It still doesn’t support Flash content and is unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future. That rules out access to some websites for iPad users. In contrast, Android has embraced Flash, meaning the Xoom and the Tab 10.1 will allow you access to online video sites such as RTÉ Player without the need for a separate app.

Apple has also continued to ignore demands for a micro USB port on the device, or expandible storage, something its rivals have offered.

In typical Apple fashion, the iPad 2 also doesn’t give you the freedom to install whatever software you like on it. And, as always, there are both plus points and negatives for that. While the quality control surrounding the App Store is high, eliminating as much potential malware as possible, some apps can be rejected for the most arbitrary reason.

Take Google Voice, for example, which was initially rejected by Apple and caused a Federal Trade Commission inquiry in the US.

You also have only one real source through which you can obtain software, unless you jailbreak the device, which goes against Apple’s terms and conditions of use.

However, an open platform like Android, while giving you more freedom over what you can install on the device, can also pose security risks, something that has been highlighted by a number of incidents.

Earlier this month, for example, it was discovered that thousands of Android phones had been infected with malware through applications submitted to the Android Market.

That follows the discovery last year of a rogue application that secretly sent SMSs to premium rate numbers.

It’s not just rival tablet makers that have to keep an eye on the market; the growing popularity of tablets is also affecting the PC market. Earlier this month, Gartner revised downwards its projections for worldwide PC shipments, forecasting growth of 10.5 per cent to 387.8 million units this year instead of previous estimates of 15.9 per cent growth.

“We expect growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives, such as the iPad and other media tablets, to dramatically slow home mobile PC sales, especially in mature markets,” said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner. “We once thought mobile PC growth would continue to be sustained by consumers buying second and third mobile PCs as personal devices. However, we now believe that consumers are not only likely to forgo additional mobile PC buys but are also likely to extend the lifetimes of the mobile PCs they retain as they adopt media tablets and other mobile PC alternatives as their primary mobile device.”

It makes for interesting times ahead.