Wired: "Tablets haven’t been this hot since Moses came down from Mount Sinai."

If I may butcher a line from Spider Man, it would appear as though with great power comes a great deal of interest from other manufacturers to get their own devices out the door. To that end Wired has created "...an overview of some interesting tablets we expect — or hope — to see this year." Among the contenders is a Google/Verizon offering, an Acer device expected in a couple of weeks, a Dell/AT&T device slated for later this summer, and reported other offerings by Sony, HP, and even RIM. Check out the line up at Wired.

As for me, I'd like to hold out for an Android powered device but the iPad's initial success and sleek Apple designs are just too strong to resist and therefore... me too please!

Google Going Mano a Mano With iPhone

There are plenty of reports out there that say that Google is testing it's own branded Android phone that it hopes will go head to head with Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry devices. A new Google branded phone, being dubbed Nexus one by some sites, has apparently been handed out to Google employees around the globe for trials. The Nexus one was produced, according to the Globe and Mail, by HTC the maker of the Dream, Magic, and G1 android phones but will contain no HTC branding and will be sold directly by Google independent of cellphone carriers.

“If subscribers can get a cutting-edge handset from Google, shop for the best plan, and take that handset to another provider as soon as a better service offer comes out, carriers will have to rethink what loyalty means,” Forrester analyst Charles Golvin said in a Web note. “Such disruptions would clearly be good for customers, since few actually want to make a long-term contract commitment and more choice in service will promote competition and more price options.”

I still love my HTC Dream, hopefully the Nexus one will not hit the market here for a year or so when it's getting close to time for an upgrade.

Rogers Begins Sale of Android Phones

Rogers began sales of two android powered smartphones on Tuesday. The HTC Dream and the HTC Magic. The Dream is the same phone being sold in the US as the G1 while the Magic is a touch screen only version.

“They're just the vanguard of a gigantic army,” PC Magazine analyst Sascha Segan said from New York. “These are the little scouts who are coming in front of the massive infantry.”

On Tuesday, Acer also announced that it will be making netbooks with the Android mobile operating system, which would have Google competing squarely with Microsoft.

For the record I bought my Dream on day 1 and I'm lovin it.

Source: Globe and Mail