The unofficial news for Microsoft's Surface and the just in news of a tablet from Google have tech consumers hanging on edge to see just what tactics each contender will come up with to topple Apple from its covenant #1 tablet seat. Its interesting on what exactly these two conglomerates in their own right will do to appease the tablet audience, will it be a price drop,free add-ons like if you buy this____ you get this ______, or a never seen before feature off a tablet (3-D anyone).

Apple became Apple thanks to Steve Jobs, there's no denying that whether you like him or hate him, Steve Jobs brought Apple from the verge of bankruptcy to the gigantic tech enterprise it is today. Now with Steve Jobs out of the picture, the huge rift left by Steve Jobs has made the tech industry a free open market for competitors to capitalize but anyone wanting to even compete with Apple have to face a huge hurtle finding OEM(original equipment manufacture) willing to go head to head with the elaborate system of the iPad. So Google and Microsoft both settled with funding their own OEM production teams which hasn't played out as well as they hoped so far due to a lack of creating not even a dent on the iPad's reputation of having the worlds most advanced tablet.

Not only is the actual tablet hardware OEM an issue for them to compete in, they also need to contend with the software issue to match or exceed the iPad's iOS software system with their own. I can see Microsoft with Windows 8 with the Microsoft Office Suite with Word,Excel,Access as their golden egg to squeeze a win in the market if tablet productivity is what you are gearing for.Lets face it the iPad built for a more of a means to enjoy and kill time as an over sized email checker, a mobile tech device allowing games created from apps to play off of and a live video streaming medium all on the go inside a 7 inch tablet then a tablet solely focused on productivity hence the not so successful iWorks app package Apple's attempt of a Microsoft Office Suite. Google will try their hand with the Tegra known for its reputation of having the fastest processing speed there is which more then not be emphasized by Google against the iPad.

Apple lack of "sharing" of their components that goes into the iPad could well backfire on Apple, Google and Microsoft are well-known to "share" hardware and software to other industries which gives a thumbs up for IT tech guys who just love to tinker with the stuff.

Hopefully these acts of competition from Google and Microsoft will get Apple rolling in the direction of advancement it needs to stay on top as it in a stand still too busy from basking in the glory behind their new iPad oblivious to would be competitors making you wish as the consumer for some heated friction between these enterprises fully knowing it would dissolve the one way tablet experience allowing the consumer to have options in selecting a would be tablet which ultimately means a bargain for us.