News: iFreeTablet: the GNU/Linux Answer to the iPad

Fierce competition in the media tablet market in Australia and New Zealand has seen a doubling of sales in the second quarter this year, with Android outpacing Apple’s iPad over the three months. Multiple launches of Android-based devices drove the market, with more competition coming soon from Amazon Kindle Fire and other global players.

Apple is finding itself having to defend the iPhone and iPad market share against stiff competition from the likes of Samsung and Google. But this is uncharted territory for Apple, and as yet it's unclear whether playing defense is in the company's DNA.

Hours before Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled the iPad Mini today, The Wall Street Journal noted that Apple faces intense competition from Amazon Kindle and numerous Google Android tablets that have seven-inch screens. But The VAR Guy was shocked to see the Journal did not mention Microsoft’s Surface tablet, running Windows 8 or Windows RT, which launches later this week.

Amid all the Microsoft Surface vs. Apple iPad noise, The VAR Guy is closely watching Samsung’s endpoint and mobile device strategy — which includes smartphones, tablets, Google Chromebooks, Chromeboxes and perhaps even some cloud services. Here’s why Samsung demands The VAR Guy’s attention — and partner attention. Let’s start with the Google Android market.

Google passed Microsoft today for the title of third-most valuable publicly traded company, following market leaders Exxon Mobil and Apple. The company overtook Microsoft this morning on the New York Stock Exchange, and while some speculated that the new position would be temporary, the market has now closed, solidifying the company’s number three spot.

A report from Japan’s largest business daily newspaper shows the Nexus 7 has surpassed the iPad in market share.

Just like the competing manufacturers in the smartphone market, the tablet market seems just as fierce. Recently statistics showed that iPad devices control a whopping 52% of the market share out of all tablets!  Keep in mind that there are a lot of other tablet manufacturers that make up the other 48%.

Steve Ballmer’s presentation slidefrom 2009 shows GNU/Linux as bigger than Apple on the desktop

Summary: The company of gadgets and supposedly shiny things does not perform as well as US market surveys (which Apple helps fund) would have one believe ONCE in a few months we remind people that Apple is too small a player on the desktop and hardly a threat to GNU/Linux.

We knew this Android thing was kind of a big deal, right? Well due to the fact that no other real competitor has stepped up to try and challenge Apple and Android, the two have benefited from the lack of competition in the tablet market. It was originally thought back in 2010 that both would lose market share in the tablet market due to outside competition.