Head to head: Apple iPad versus Dell Streak

Dell's Streak is closer in size to a smartphone than the iPad

Apple's hotly anticipated iPad tablet goes on sale in the UK today, although some lucky online buyers received theirs a day early, while Dell's Streak is due to ship in June. But whether the Streak offers any kind of competition to tempt buyers away from the Apple product remains to be seen.

Both devices represent a new category that vendors aim to fit somewhere between smartphones and netbooks in size, and more importantly to have a different usage profile than either of these existing formats.

There are parallels between the two products, but also significant differences, the most noticeable being size. The Streak features a 5in screen, while the iPad is much larger at 9.7in across the diagonal. This makes the Streak closer in size to a phone, whereas the iPad is almost as large as existing full-sized tablet PCs.

However, a look at how the companies envision their respective devices being used shows some common ground. Apple pushes web browsing, email, photos and video viewing as uses for the iPad, while Dell similarly talks about a great web browsing experience, photos, movies and music on the Streak.

Under the skin, both devices are powered by ARM-based chips and are effectively running smartphone operating systems; the iPad's software is based on the iPhone OS, while the Streak runs Google's Android platform.

In theory, this should provide buyers with a wide selection of existing applications, but things are not so simple. It appears that applications created for the iPhone will require updating, or else they will continue to run at their original screen resolution and appear as a tiny window on the iPad screen.

Android was designed for devices with different screen sizes, so many applications should run without modification. In practice, however, applications on Android Market are often customised for specific Android devices.

One point in Dell's favour, depending on your point of view, is support for Adobe's Flash in the browser. Dell has promised Flash Player 10.1 support with an update to Android 2.2 due later in the year.

However, there is already considerable momentum building behind the iPad in the consumer and enterprise spaces.

Software vendors have been queuing up to announce support, especially with remote client software such as Citrix's Receiver or Wyse's PocketCloud that provide access to virtual desktops or thin client sessions.