Tale of the Tablets: 2012

One day, the year 2012 may be remembered as the year of the multimedia tablet device. At least five companies—Amazon, Google, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Microsoft—have released upgraded or new tablet devices, all aimed at competing with Apple’s iPad, the undisputed king of the tablet computing realm. Indeed Apple also released a new device—the iPad Mini. Once again, tablets and digital readers are poised to dominate holiday gift giving, thanks to a marketplace crammed with reasonably priced, high-performance devices. Here is a chart of the most popular tablets that offer consumers a place to read e-books and other content.

Price: iPad: ($500, 16GB) to start; iPad Mini ($329, 16GB) to start; iPad 2 ($400, 16GB)

Screen: iPad: high res 9.7-in. screen; iPad Mini: 7.9-in. screen (no Retina Display on iPad 2 or iPad Mini)

Operating system: iOS6

Processor: 1.4GHz dual-core

Camera: front and back facing

Titles/apps: 1.5 million free and for-pay books/250,000 iPad apps

Battery life: 10 hours (video)

Storage: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB

Connectivity: Wi-Fi/cell

Hype: It’s an iPad, and now iPad Mini, world—the small unit’s already sold millions. Other tablets are fighting for second place.

Price: Nexus 7 ($199, 8GB) to start; Nexus 10 ($399, 16GB) to start

Screen: Nexus 7, high res 7-in.; Nexus 10, high res 10-in.

OS: Nexus 7 Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean); Nexus 10 Android 4.2

Processor: Nexus 7 (1.2GHz Quad core); Nexus 10 (1.7 GHz dual core)

Camera: Nexus 7 (front facing); Nexus 10 (front and rear facing)

Titles/apps: hundreds of thousands of for-pay e-books, millions of free e-books/400,000 apps in Google Play.

Battery life: 8 hours

Storage: Nexus 7 with 8GB, 16GB; Nexus 10 with 16 GB, 32 GB

Connectivity: Wi-Fi

Hype: Both models compare well to the iPad—the Nexus 7 is light and both feature fast processors, great screens and decent content through Google Play.

Price: 7-in. Nook HD ($199, 8GB) and 9-in. Nook HD+ ($269, 16GB)

Screen: High res 7-in., 9-in.

Operating system: customized Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Processor: Nook HD (1.3 GHz dual core); Nook HD+ (1.5 GHz dual core)

Camera: no cameras

Titles/apps: 3 million for-pay and free e-books/10,000 apps

Battery life: 10 hours for reading

Storage: 8 GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB with expandable storage

Connectivity: Wi-Fi

Hype: B&N’s revamped Nook tablets now offer improved screens, faster processors, new profile, and recommendation interfaces, and more content via the newly launched Nook Video service.

Price: Tab 2 7.0-in. ($250, 8GB); Tab 2 10.1-in. ($400, 16GB)

Screen: high res 7-in. and 10.1-in.

Operating system: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Processor: 1 GHz dual core

Camera: front and rear facing

Titles/apps: millions of free and for-pay titles, apps, music via Google Play

Battery life: 7.0 (12 hours); 10.1 (11 hours)

Storage: 7.0 (8GB expandable); 10.1 (16GB expandable)

Connectivity: Wi-Fi

Hype: Hailed as the first serious challenger to the iPad when the 7-in. Tab was released in 2011, Galaxy Tab devices (now in two screen sizes) have been overtaken by just about everyone on price, performance, content, and sales.

Price: 7-in. ($199, 16GB); 8.9-in. ($299, 16GB; $499, 4G LTE with dataplan)

Screen: high res 7-in., 8.9-in.

Operating system: customized Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Processor: 1.2 GHz dual core

Camera: front facing

Titles/apps: more than 1.2 million for-pay e-books, millions of free books, hundreds of thousands of audiobooks, movies, TV shows, apps

Battery life: 11 hours reading or video

Storage: 16GB, 32GB

Connectivity: 7-in. (Wi-Fi); 8.9-in. (Wi-Fi/4G LTE)

Hype: Upgraded in every way, it’s still no iPad, but offers better performance and optimized access to Amazon’s content bonanza.

Price: $200 (8GB)

Screen: High res 7-in.

Operating system: customized Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Processor: 1.5 GHz dual core

Camera: front facing

Titles/apps: 2 million for-pay e-books, 1 million free e-books/600,000 apps via Google Play

Battery life: 10 hours reading

Storage: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB

Connectivity: Wi-Fi

Hype: Major upgrade from the clunky Kobo Vox, adding faster processor, front-facing stereo speakers, and Tapestries, an innovative content display/discovery interface.

Price: Surface RT ($499); Surface Pro (to be determined)

Screen: High res 10.6-in. HD

Operating system: Surface (Windows RT), Surface Pro (Windows 8)

Processor: Surface (1.3 GHZ Tegra 3); Surface Pro (Intel chip) specs unreleased

Camera: front and rear facing

Titles/apps: millions of for-pay and free e-books via e-book retailer apps/maybe about 2,000 apps via the Windows store.

Battery life: estimates range from 6 hours (Surface) to 7.5 (Surface Pro).

Storage: Surface (32GB, 65GB); Surface Pro (64GB, 128 GB) expandable

Connectivity: Wi-Fi

Hype: Microsoft enters the hardware business with two cleverly designed tablets (running two different OS), to the chagrin of its hardware partners; the Surface RT is available now; Surface Pro is expected in January.