Google, Microsoft debut tablets

Scores of companies have tried to knock the iPad off its pedestal – but to no avail. Amazon has come the closest to nipping at Apple’s heels with its low-priced Kindle Fire, but the iPad maker still outpaces its rivals by a long shot. But, is all that about to change? Google just unveiled the Nexus 7, a tablet with a 7-inch screen that costs $199, a price that’s comparable to Amazon’s Kindle Fire and substantially less than Apple’s cheapest iPad. The Nexus tablet will include the next version of Android, called Jelly Bean, and will be able to transcribe speech into text. And while it’s seen as more of a threat to the Kindle Fire than to the iPad, the Nexus 7 may force Apple to think twice about its decision to focus on the high-end market. As Computerworld’s Gregg Keizer noted, “…  Apple will not be able to ignore the low-end of the tablet market dominated by 7-in. devices.” Washington Post’s Hayley Tsukayama and Amrita Jayakumar agreed. “By pricing the device at $199, Google can target the market that is shut out by Apple’s higher prices—as Amazon’s Kindle Fire has—and make its money on the revenue it pulls in from its entertainment content,” they wrote. “In the long run, under that model, Google could be competing not only with its fellow technology companies but with media companies, too.”

What’s more, in a rare hardware push from a company that’s kept software at its core, Microsoft recently announced the Surface tablet, a 10.6-inch device that’s aimed at the iPad and its high-end brethren. While industry watchers agree that it’s no iPad killer, one shouldn’t dismiss it right off the bat, writes AllThingsD’s Ina Fried. “Obviously, Microsoft could bring both Windows and Office to the device. But, the company also has its Xbox gaming abilities, plenty of licensing deals with Hollywood and the music labels, as well as the Barnes & Noble partnership it stuck when settling a legal battle earlier this year,” she explained. But The New York Times’ David Pogue believes Microsoft is singing the same old tune when it comes to moving in on Apple’s territory. “[T]he opening scenes of this movie sure look familiar,” he wrote. “Apple comes up with a hit product (iPod, iPhone). Microsoft comes up with a rival that’s nicely designed (Zune, Windows Phone). Unfortunately, it doesn’t add anything attractive enough to lure people away from the safe choice, and nobody buys it.”

• Google’s New Role as Gadget Maker (Wall Street Journal)

• Google Unveils Nexus Tablet, Stepping Up Apple Challenge (Bloomberg)

• Google Introduces Nexus Tablet, Stepping Up Apple Challenge (Ad Age)

• Google’s Nexus 7 could force Apple’s hand on ‘iPad Mini’ (Computerworld)

• Google Reveals Nexus Tablet, a Kindle Fire Competitor (NY Times)

• Google Nexus 7 Could Heavily Influence the Great Tablet Wars (PCWorld)

• Google and Microsoft follow Apple and release their own tablets (Washington Post)

• The Surface: Celebrate the Competition, Question the Premise (NY Times)

• Why Today Is a Major Watershed in the History of Microsoft (AllThingsD)