With the surprise announcement of the iPad 4 (not entitled iPad with Retina Display) at the Apple Keynote Event, does this mean we will now see new iPad revisions in October rather than March, or is this just a small change for this year to push the Lightning connector?

In addition to that, what competition is there in the market (ie full sized tablet) and can we see any one competitor breaking free from Apple's stranglehold on the tablet market and making a push for some decent marketshare?

Personally I feel that the iPad 4 announcement was a one off and totally out of the character for Apple and was forced for them to place the new Lightning connector in all their top level devices along with fixing a few issues with the iPad 3 (ie. not powerful enough processor for the Retina display and 4G issues).

With regards to the competition, we have the Microsoft Surface (RT) being released tomorrow and we are to expect the Nexus 10 and a new Samsung 10" tablet on Monday.  Although we cannot comment on rumours of 300dpi screens in the Nexus 10, what we can look at is the Surface.  Initially I was excited by the Surface, especially seeing as I own a Nokia WP, but now the specs have been released and the prices, I don't feel it anymore.  I am surprised and shocked that they have used a Tegra 3 alongside a 1366x768 display in a 10.6" tablet at a starting price of £399 in the UK.  In essence we have an iPad priced tablet with similar specs to the Nexus 7.  Will people realistically buy the Surface (RT Version) knowing that it's effectively just a Nexus 7 with a larger screen and 2Gb of Ram compared to 1Gb?  Who knows.

What are your thoughts?

Makes sense in a way. Revising their products before the holiday rush. Honestly though they would sell well no matter when they launch during the year. Also the Iphone 5 chip was outperforming A5X. So i guess they bumped the specs to A6X for their bigger sized product.

I have a major issue with how you are presenting the spec wars like they matter. If Surface ran true Windows 8, it would rape both the nexus 7 and iPad 4 in functionality and usability.

Besides, look up the surface reviews. The screen on the Surface beats the ipad in contrast, screen brightness, glare and color accuracy. You know...the things that matter when you're looking at stuff.

I think Apple, in a stealth and smart kinda way, is finally adapting to the fact that they cannot have year long waits for their products releases. Technology is moving too fast for them to bring out functional products only to have the competition have something better the next day.

A new processor and a new charging port can wait a year. I think Apple just looks foolish for releasing the iPad4 so soon with nothing really relevant or important added to the device. 

I agree with regards to Windows 8, and I believe MS is releasing the W8 version of Surface early next year with much better specs than the RT version, but the cost is expected to be huge.

The Surface screen is supposed to be good with contrast, but seriously, resolution is very important especially on a 10.6" screen and IMHO 1366x768 is just not good enough for a £399 tablet which is expected to compete with the iPad, Nexus 10 and Samsung's next 10" tablet.  I think I am just more surprised at the overall package of the RT Surface and it's pricing.  I reckon it would be a great alternative at £299, but can it and will it compete at the same price as the iPad 4?

Yes, I agree it looks a little foolish, and I honestly think it was to cover up the reported problems with the iPad 3 and just hide it behind the new Lightning connector.

It really isn't important and it has never been that important until Apple said so. All these 1000 dollar ultrabooks and laptops run 1366x768 on 13 inch screens and no one really complains about them. Only when it comes to tablets suddenly it matters.

You need to have a good pannel, good viewing angles first and foremost. At 10.6 inches and 1366x768 the ppi of the surface is higher than a 15.6 laptop running 1080p. This is a very high end device. by laptop standards, and Surface is a trying to be a laptop as much it is a tablet. 

1366x768 in a 10.6'' display is just 148ppi, which is really kind of low by todays standards considering the cheap $180 tablet I plan on buying even has 160ppi (1024x768 / 8'')

ofcourse brightness and contrast are very important, especially outdoors and having excellent performance there in return can make up alot for missing a bit in resolution

Could it be something to do with Samsung and parts they provide? Maybe they had to switch some components with the whole rumor that Samsung will stop providing Apple with parts?