In the tablet market, there are two primary philosophies when it comes to device design. On one side you have the juggernaut: the Apple iPad. Apple has strict control over the entire design of the iPad from the user interface (UI) all the way down to the actual hardware. Every design decision comes from Apple itself. On the other side, you have Android tablets. While Google is responsible for the Android operating system (OS), other companies produce the hardware. Hardware manufacturers may even alter the UI without changing the functionality of the operating system. The bottom line is that if you look at two iPad 2 devices side by side, they'll essentially be identical. But pick any two Android tablets and you may notice some big differences. Google doesn't set standards for a tablet's size, weight or screen dimensions.

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Which philosophy is better? That depends upon your own point of view. If you like sleek design aesthetics and an operating system that works in a clean, predictable way, the Apple iPad may appeal to you. But if you like to tweak settings and change things around, the Android approach may suit you best. In the end, both types of tablets will let you perform similar tasks on the go.

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Another reason that defining an Android tablet is tricky is that you can find the Android operating system on numerous devices from many different manufacturers. Some of those devices run an older version of Android that isn't optimized for the tablet experience. These devices rely on versions of the OS before Android 3.0, so you'll get a tablet device running an operating system originally intended for a smartphone.

Once Google released Android 3.0, manufacturers like Motorola Mobility began to produce tablets with an optimized operating system. That means Google designed this build of the operating system with tablets in mind. Tablets running on Android 3.0 will have features and options you won't find on older tablets.

A device is really only as good as the applications it can run. Android owners may not have access to the sheer number of apps available to iOS owners -- at the time of this writing, the Apple App Store boasts more than 90,000 apps for the iPad and over 400,000 for iOS in general [source: Apple]. But Apple limits iPad owners to purchasing apps from the official App Store exclusively. With an Android device, you can install any app designed for Android whether you find it in the Android Market or elsewhere. You may have to change your device's settings to allow it to accept apps from unofficial sources but the freedom is there. But be warned; downloading apps from unofficial sources may be dangerous. You could download malware to your Android device.

It boils down to this: An Android tablet is a touch-screen, mobile device that runs some version of the Android operating system on it. And it's not a smartphone, though with the right software and hardware you might be able to make calls over Wi-Fi networks using one.

Next, we'll dive into the Android operating system and see what makes it tick.

Do Androids Xoom?

In August , Google released news that it intended to purchase Motorola Mobility. Besides being known as the company that invented the cell , Motorola Mobility manufactures the Motorola Xoom Android tablet. Could Google's move signal a shift toward an official Android tablet design?

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Tablet computer history

Listed below are the important events in history relating to tablet computers, including release dates for many popular tablets and the technologies used with tablets.

In his novel "Foundation," Isaac Asimov included details about a device called the Calculator Pad, which some people think could be a very early description of a tablet computer.

The concept of a tablet computer was developed by Alan Kay in . While more like a laptop than a tablet, Kay's Dynabook was a precursor to the tablet computer.

The touch screen technology, which would later be used by tablet computers, was patented by four engineers at Hitachi in Japan in .

The GRiDPad was released by GRiD Systems in September , utilizing an extended version of MS-DOS. It was considered the first tablet computer to be successful in the commercial market.

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Atari developed the ST-Pad (originally called the Stylus) in , a device featuring an early form of handwriting recognition.

IBM announced its first tablet computer, the ThinkPad, in April . It used the PenPoint operating system developed by GO Corporation.

In , Compaq released what is considered by some people to be the first 2-in-1 computer. It was named the Compaq Concerto. It could be a laptop and tablet, featured a pen for use with a touch screen display and a detachable keyboard. Unfortunately, the Concerto did not gain popularity for itself or 2-in-1 computers.

The NewsPad project was started in by the European Union, to develop a device to deliver news electronically to users. Acorn Computers developed a touch screen tablet device named the NewsPad, for the project. The NewsPad was released in Spain in as a pilot program, but ended the program in .

Palm, Inc. released the first PalmPilot device in , which featured the PalmOS and a stylus pen for interaction with the device. While the PalmPilot is considered a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) device, it helped pave the way for later tablet devices.

Microsoft released the Pocket PC (personal computer), a PDA device, in April . It featured the Windows CE operating system and a touch screen display.

Ericsson Mobile Communications announced a tablet device, named the DelphiPad, in . It featured a touch screen, a Netscape Navigator web browser, and a Linux operating system.

Nokia released its first tablet computer, the Nokia 770, in . Dubbed an "Internet tablet," it focused on Internet browsing and viewing news as use cases.

Microsoft reportedly was developing a booklet tablet, named the Microsoft Courier, in . The Courier had dual touch screen displays and could fold in half like a book. However, the Courier booklet tablet was canceled in .

The first Android-based tablets were released in , including the Archos 5, the Camangi WebStation, the Ultra, and the Vega.

Toshiba released the first booklet tablet computer on the commercial market in August , the Toshiba Libretto W100. The Libretto W100 featured dual 7-inch touch screen displays and could fold in half like a book.

The first iPad tablet was announced by Apple on January 27, , featuring a 9.7-inch touch screen display.

Samsung released its first tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab, on September 2, , featuring a 7-inch touch screen display.

Barnes & Noble released its Nook Color device on November 16, . It featured a 7-inch touch screen display and used an 800 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor.

ASUS released its first 2-in-1 tablet computer, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, on March 30, . It featured a 10.1-inch touch screen display and an optional keyboard that could be docked with the tablet, turning it into a laptop.

Amazon entered the tablet computer market with the release of the Kindle Fire in November , which featured a 7-inch touch screen display.

Apple released the first version of the iPad mini on November 2, , featuring a 7.9-inch touch screen and 32 GB or 64 GB of storage.

Microsoft released its first 2-in-1 tablet computer, the Surface Pro, on February 9, . It had Windows 8 Pro 64-bit pre-installed and featured a 10.6-inch touch screen display.

The first gaming tablet was released by Razer, named the Razer Edge Pro, on March 1, . It is a tablet computer designed for playing PC games, with the power and performance to do so. It featured an Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2 GB video card, and a 10.1-inch display.

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