ARM To See Over 50 New iPad-Like Devices This Year

Steve Jobs is a creative genius in the way he shrewdly keeps his competition dancing to the beat of his drum. With the impending launch of Apple’s iPad, the road has been paved for a slew of rival products this year. Will any of these be worthy competition for Jobs and company? Find out after the jump.

An ARM executive said, speaking to Computer World, that over 50 tablet PC devices will be launched globally. For those unfamiliar with ARM, they are Intel’s main rival in the mobile microprocessor business, and with the Computex Electronics trade show coming up this year in Taipei, ARM has rented more space to show off the devices. That and e-readers and mini-laptops are just a few of the other devices being presented that use ARM processing cores.

“The first tablet devices will launch in the second quarter by [mobile network] carriers,” said Roy Chen, ARM’s worldwide mobile computing ODM manager, during a press meeting in Taipei. “You’ll see a lot more in the third quarter.” China looks to be the home for many of these new tablet-like devices, but companies everywhere also have plans to launch their own this year. Specific companies weren’t named, but you can expect to see the top 10 telecommunications network operators to drop something for a price lowering than the $499 iPad.

Companies like Compal Electronics, a Taiwanese electronics maker and second largest contract laptop manufacturer in the world, working with Ubiquitous, are showing off their tablet devices at the Taipei news conference. Compal’s double offering both run Google’s Android mobile OS, with one unnamed device carrying a 7-inch screen, and uses a Nvidia Tegra 2 chip. There are two choices of screen sizes, 7-inch and 10.1-inch. Both include an HDMI slot so it can be connected to a high-def TV. The smaller screened tablet, simply named the Armadillo, used ARM cores, as well as the Android OS. Ubiquitious, a Japanese software maker, is also featured in the Armadillo. QuickBoot had the device up and running instantly.

Does any of these iPad-like tablets stand a chance of making a splash with consumers? Stay tuned as Black Web 2.0 dissects the upcoming War Of The Tablets soon! Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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