Samsung, Motorola, and HP set stage for iPad 2's app push

OK, we've seen the best tablets now that the industry can offer.

At [Consumer Electronics Show] Motorola Xoom won best of show. Last week we saw the HP TouchPad, which looks even better. Finally, [Mobile World Congress], at the very end of its presentation, Samsung launched a 10-inch Tablet.

But let's go back through my mantra: "The only thing that matters is apps."

I want you to repeat that over and over until you get it.

Which one has Flipboard? iPad.

Which one has the History of Jazz? iPad.

Which one has Rupert Murdoch's Daily? iPad.

Which one has Oprah's new app? iPad.

Shall I go on? I could go on all day long. The entire tablet world comes down to apps.

Does Android's (er Motorola, Samsung, or all the others) new large tablets have them? No.

Does HP's new large tablets have them? No.

Does RIM's new large tablets have them? No.

Does Microsoft's offering have them? No.

Nokia? It isn't even in the game.

In other words, what the entire industry just did is give Apple a huge differentiator that they will drive a truck through. One that will be packed full of iPad 2s headed to its stores. Where Samsung took only a few minutes to show off what its tablet actually does, look for Apple to showcase new app after new app. We're living in an iPad world. All the others can only dream.

Photo credit: I shot this picture of an iPad ad in the Paris subway.

Reprinted with permission.

[Editor's Note: Do you disagree with Robert Scoble's assertion about the importance of mobile applications? Instead of commenting, contact joewilcox at gmail dot com about writing a rebuttal post.]

Robert Scoble is a long-time tech and video blogger who works for Rackspace, where he is part of the building 43 project. He started blogging in 2000 at scobelizer.com; from 2003-2006 he was a high-profile Microsoft evangelist blogger, and he helped start Channel 9. Scoble grew up in Silicon Valley. He is @scobleizer on Twitter.