Tablet war: Are we witnessing the new century of “Google-soft”?

Mark Iremonger, head of digital and planning at Proximity London, says if “Android makes it as the standard software for tablets, we can officially consider the end of what was once a small search engine start-up and welcome the new monopoly Googlesoft!”…

Not long ago the chatter from the media, online tech experts and the general public revolved around the fight underway in the e-book reader market, where Kindle, Nook and Sony where looking to win leadership of a new way of reading.  While the fight was not exactly bloody this early battle set the scene for something that promises to be a much fiercer, more important fight; the battle of the tablets.

Apple has enjoyed extreme success in recent years, with its “I” products that have dominated the MP3 market and redefined smartphones.  But while its latest creation, the iPad, has been well received, the market is set to become over-crowded with the emergence of very stiff competition.  Sharp and Samsung are launching their tablets in December, and HTC manufactured Android-based tablets (developed to be white labeled by Google and Verizon) are about to hit the shelves in time for Christmas.

What’s more, the PC manufacturers, foreseeing iPad’s threat to Netbooks, have come up with their own versions of the new hip product.  Dell has recently introduced the Dell Streak – a hybrid between a smart phone and a tablet, and HP has offered a tablet bundled with the Photosmart eStation, which has a detachable display screen that serves as a tablet in its own right.

The computer hardware companies keep surprising us with new sizes, features and qualities of tablets, but to me, and I’d suggest to the marketing community, the more interesting element is the operating software which these new tools run off.  Sharp and Sony have chosen to run Android software, Linux is popular on Netbooks.  Apple is forging ahead with its own proprietary operating software.

It’s not yet clear when Microsoft will enter the fray with hardware, however, pundits expect Intel’s new Oak Trail processors to be key, which suggest mid 2011 for their first products.  It would not surprise me to see a much refined version of Windows Phone 7 on these in the future.

Google’s open Android OS has the potential to become the “New Windows” for tablets and smart phones.  The impact this may have, with Google dominating these emerging but hugely significant digital slates, is unclear, but it’s a fight worth watching.

The Nook vs Kindle battle wasn’t about hardware profits, it was about owning the e-commerce and distribution platform of books. Kindle and Nook applications are available on almost all tablets. Kindle won the race by becoming (at least perceptually) the destination for e-book purchases. The tablet market will be defined by the new gold standard of operating system.

The new tablets are quickly becoming commoditised, and we can expect in the future, that they will repeat the fate of PC’s with razor thin profit margins. However, the operating system will perhaps define how a new generation will interact with all types of digital content that leaves a mouse and keyboard far, far behind in the history of digital evolution. If Android makes it as the standard software for tablets, we can officially consider the end of what was once a small search engine start-up and welcome the new monopoly Googlesoft!