Mobile Computing News

Photo: Microsoft

As the tablet PC market heats up, and everybody scrambles to catch up with the runaway success that is the iPad, two long-time rivals look set to cross swords again in the mobile OS department: Microsoft and Google.

The fighters and their training camps

With virtually every noteworthy computer manufacturer rushing to ship a tablet PC after Apple validated the market with the iPad, Microsoft with its Windows Embedded Compact 7 OS finds itself locking horns with Google Android OS in trying to woo manufacturers into adopting their mobile OS.

The fence sitter

Asus, the sole fence sitter, has committed to making different Eee Pads, with some supporting the Microsoft tablet PC OS and the others supporting the Android tablet PC OS.

In the Schmidt corner

Photo: Samsung

South Korean consumer electronics giant LG have an Android tablet in the works, as do competitors Samsung with their Samsung Galaxy S tablet. Acer is also rumoured to be preparing Android powered tablets, too. And putting the cherry on the cake of Microsoft’s woes, Cisco is preparing the Cisco Cius, an Android powered tablet aimed at enterprise users.

And in the Ballmer corner

Microsoft have the distinct advantage of having relationships with many different OEMs, even manufacturers we’ve never heard of, meaning in sheer volume, they’re likely to outdo Google Android (note: likely, not definitely). The Archos 9 tablet features Windows 7 for tablets. As do tablets by fringe companies like Viliv, FIC, CZC, CTL. But the tablet we think could be Microsoft’s big ace in the hole is the MSI Windpad. That tablet has a lot going for it aesthetically, even at this early stage.

The rank outsider

One competitor many are overlooking by focusing on the Microsoft tablet PC OS and the Google Android tablet OS solutions is HP with the inevitable HP Palm webOS tablet. Incidentally, HP was one of the earliest supporters of Microsoft’s foray into the tablet PC space, when the two companies announced the HP Slate at CES 2010.

Who will emerge victorious?

Photo: Apple

At this stage, it is very difficult to call an outright winner. Much of the success of either Google Android for tablets or Windows Embedded Compact 7 for tablets will depend on the type of devices they ship with. Hardware, in tablets more so than on any other computing devices, will make or break these companies.

Assuming all things are equal on a hardware front, though, we see the Microsoft tablet PC struggling to keep up with a Google Android tablet PC or a Google Chrome tablet PC, for that matter, for reasons articulated elsewhere. Long story short, Windows Embedded Compact 7, on early inspection, just doesn’t sit right with the form factor.

The big plus, of course, with Microsoft and Google both fighting hard in this space, is that tablet PC prices may become depressed further, making them as affordable (if not cheaper than) netbooks in the coming months.