游戏邦注：本文作者是Aaron Pressman，原文发表于2011年3月17日，所涉数据均以当时为准。

比起后来出现的苹果iOS操作系统，谷歌的Android系统更受绝大多数智能手机用户的欢迎。但是在平板电脑的“争夺战”中，Android设备的知名度却远不及iPad，这是怎么一回事呢？

时间便是其中的一大决定因素。Android花费了好几年的时间，一直在追赶着iPhone和iPad的操作系统，但是迄今也只能够与其中之一相匹敌。RedMonk分析师Stephen O’Grady称Android迟早会赶上iOS，但是我对此却不报太大的期望。

Android之所以会在平板电脑领域失利还有一些更深层次的原因。Android在智能手机中优于iOS的一些功能不再适用于平板电脑了。对于很多平板电脑用户来说，比起Android，他们更青睐于iOS系统。

Android与iOS的“争夺战”最初从手机领域开始，在这里Android凭借推送信息以及更简洁明了的个人相关信息展示战胜了iOS。Android所提供的这种服务就像Facebook上的状态更新，Twitter上的“提及”，电子邮件以及文本信息等功能。虽然不是所有人都重视这些功能，但是对于很多智能手机用户来说，手机是一种实时通讯终端，所以推送信息功能和状态更新功能对于他们来说更加重要。

Android还有一个很大的优点，便是它适用于各种各样的硬件设备，即无论该设备是触屏还是物理键盘设置，是2寸屏幕还是4.3寸的屏幕，是黄色内壳还是其它颜色内壳，或者电池是否可拆卸等。而苹果的iOS却不具备这种功能。反过来说，因为如今手机硬件多种多样，所以它们便必须针对供应商，话费套餐和手机零售价等因素做出更多明确合理的选择，从而吸引庞大的用户群。

虽然Android的这些优点并不足以吸引所有智能手机用户，但对那些不考虑iPhone的用户来说，Android无疑是一种理想选择。从Android智能手机超越iPhone的现象中可以看出，Android的这几大优势正是其吸引更多手机用户的关键所在。

Android Honeycomb(from newsdigitally.com)

那么在平板电脑领域这两者的表现又如何呢？情况正好相反。

iPad最大的用途之一（也是最受欢迎的用途）便是观看视频。在iPad上，用户可以从iTunes store，Netflix（游戏邦注：美国最大的在线DVD租赁商）或者Hulu Plus提供的流媒体服务，以及如今正迅速蹿红的有线电缆应用程序中购买或租赁各种各样电影和电视节目。

那么使用Android手机观看视频又是什么情形呢？这个问题一直是众人争论的焦点，因为Android手机没有一个像iTunes那样统一的视频应用商店，而且各种设备所提供的服务都需要用户付出较大的成本，所以才导致Android在平板电脑领域中遭到冷遇。

而说到各种各样的硬件设备，iPad还具备一些优势，包括多种多样的系统功能，实力强大的运营商以及丰富多彩的颜色选择，而且它们的零售价也都介于499美元至829美元区间。而与其先相比Android Honeycomb平板电脑就逊色多了，因为它不仅统一了型号，价格，颜色，而且连零售价也不具备任何竞争压力。

最后，当我们把针对iPad的6万多个应用程序与Android Honeycomb平板电脑的16款应用程序做对比时，便能明显地看出苹果iOS的优势了。虽然在手机方面，苹果（游戏邦注：拥有35万款应用程序）所占有的优势并不比谷歌（拥有20万款应用程序）大多少，但是在平板电脑领域，这种差距却非常明显。

从此，我们可以清晰地预见iPad在未来将必定会有更大的发展前景。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Why Android conquered iPhone but not the iPad

by Aaron Pressman

Smart phones running Google’s Android are outrunning Apple’s iOS-powered iPhone of late 1 but, in the tablet wars, Android devices are so far behind the iPad they might as well be invisible. What’s up?

Time is one factor. Android spent several years trying to catch the iPhone and the iPad’s only been around for one. RedMonk analyst Stephen O’Grady expects Android will catch up sooner or later, but I’m not so sure.

That’s because there are deeper reasons for Android’s failure on tablets. The features that make Android preferable to iOS for many smart phone users aren’t as important on tablets. And Android is far behind on what makes iOS preferable on tablets in the eyes of most users.

Start with phones. Android surpasses iOS in notifications and by doing a better job providing what I would call personally relevant news more clearly and concisely with minimum fuss. That is stuff like Facebook updates, Twitter mentions, emails, text messages and the like. Not everybody cares about this kind of stuff but a lot of people see their smart phone first and foremost as a real-time communications terminal. And for that crowd, the notice and updates advantage is important.

Android also has a big advantage because it’s available on a variety of hardware. Want a physical keyboard, 2″ screen, 4.3″ screen, a yellow shell, a removable battery? Not from Apple. And, in turn, the variety of hardware almost inevitably leads to a greater variety of carrier choices, monthly plan prices and phone price points. There are even Android phones for prepaid, or pay-as-you go, plans, one of the faster growing segments of the mobile customer base.

Again, these advantages are not relevant to all smart phone shoppers but to many — and for those many the iPhone isn’t even in the game. Given that Android is outpolling the iPhone, one or more of these advantages must be pretty important — even decisive — to a large portion of the smart phone buying public.

But what about on tablets? There the situation is reversed.

One of the best and most popular uses for the iPad is watching video. On the iPad, you can pick from thousands of movies and television shows for purchase and rental in the iTunes store, streaming via the Netflix or Hulu Plus apps and a growing number of cable-related on-demand apps.

What’s the video situation on Android? As discussed endlessly, it’s horrendous, with no unified video store like iTunes and the “benefit” of device and carrier variety in this area exacting a terrible toll.

And speaking of hardware variety, the iPad actually has the advantage here with various features, carriers and colors (!) available at price points from $499 to $829. The Android Honeycomb tablet out thus far comes in one size, one price, and one color fits all. And not a very competitive price, either.

Finally, the app advantage of Apple’s iOS means a lot more when there are 60,000 iPad-specific apps and only 16 apps designed for Android Honeycomb tablets. On phones, the Apple advantage of 350,000 apps to Google’s 200,000 is much less critical. The 17th best app on the iPad is going to be a heck of a lot more significant than the 200,001-st Android phone app.

And that puts the iPad way out in front for as far as the eye can see.

Notes:

1Let’s not get too worked about market share stats, the Verizon iPhone and all that. Some recent reports even show Android outselling iPhone on outlets in Europe like Tesco and Carphone Warehouse that offer both platforms. Can we at least agree that Android and iPhone have just about reached competitive parity? Maybe?（source:theorangeview）