We've been asking where the iPad competition has been for a while now, and it seems like it's slowly starting to pick up with LG, Palm, and Google/Verizon hitting the news this week.

We'll take a look at a few of them, after the break.

Palm, recently acquired by HP, is full steam ahead on a webOS tablet, which may just be the best OS from a UI standpoint to compete with iOS:

In their earnings call today, HP responded to a question about whether or not tablets (read: iPad) were hurting netbook sales. In reponse, HP publicly confirmed that a webOS Tablet is coming in the timeline we were expecting, saying they will release "a webOS-based product in Early 2011." [PreCentral.net]

Verizon, who's had great success with the Android-powered Droid smartphone brand looks to be turning towards Google's other OS, Chrome, for their tablet (DroidPad?):

Yes, our source tells us that Google is building a Chrome OS tablet. It's real, and it's being built by HTC. No surprise there, since HTC churned out the Nexus One for Google.

Yes, they plan to offer it in conjunction with Verizon -- which probably doesn't come as a shock to anybody at this point. The two recently tag-teamed that Net Neutrality proposal and they've had plenty of discussions in the past about cooperating in some capacity. [Download Squad]

LG, who makes the terrific LED IPS panels for the current iPhone 4 and iPad, says they're going to focus on content creation as a way to compete, and that their tablet will "be better than the iPad":

The tablet will include content focused on creation such as writing documents, editing video and creating programs. It will also have "high-end features and new benefits," many of which will focus on productivity, Mr. Ma said.

"It's going to be surprisingly productive," he said. [WSJ]

Think any of these will put a dent in iPad sales this holiday season?

According to our sibling site, Android Central, in the wake of Apple's iPhone 3.1.3 update and new iPad hardware, Google issued a Nexus One software update of their own -- one that enables multitouch pinch-to-zoom in the built in apps like the web browser, maps, and gallery. Oh, and there's also a coincidentally timed Chrome OS tablet "concept" making the rounds.

We're being more than a little facetious in linking Google's Android updates and Chrome OS concepts to any iPhone and iPad news. I mean, who could have seen Apple announcing a tablet last week, right? Other than Fake Steve's prime suspect, of course. But that's the nature of the new Apple vs. Google frenemy relationship.

Really, though, anything that keeps the pressure on Apple to keep up the pace of innovation, we're all for. Give us that A+ iPhone update already!

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When Google first mentioned ChromeOS, we figured it was their reaction to launching Android, then seeing Palm come out with webOS, and smacking their heads -- they could have done that with V8! (What, too nerdy?)

Lame JavaScript rendering engine jokes aside, the very traditional Android never really seemed like the OS Google should, or even wanted, to give to the world. ChromeOS does. (For those unfamiliar, when I guessed what it would be before the unveiling yesterday -- Brin and Page booting Linux which then auto-started the WebKit-based Chrome browser -- that wasn't a joke. It's really what I -- and many others -- thought they'd do, and pretty much what they did. Casey at Android Central has a bigger write up on it if you want the details).

Now bear with me because this will be a little bit all over the place (yeah, what else is new, but the future is woven from many seemingly disparate threads). The business reason (and remember Google is a business) makes a lot of sense -- booting in 10 seconds and getting into Chrome, and just Chrome, means users only have access to the web, and Google owns the web and most of its advertising revenue. Boot into Windows, Mac, or the *nix OS, and users may waste time in native apps, totally outside Google's reach. That's why targeting SSD-only netbooks on hardware approved by Google with mass storage access and (we're guessing) internet-driven printing gives Google a chance to own ultra-small scale computing. Free as in Google indeed.

And that's why it makes perfect sense for Mobile handsets in the coming age of ubiquitous connectivity. We're not there yet but we will be soon. And maybe that's why TechCrunch is following up their rumours of a branded Google gPhone with even more rumours that it will be a data-only VoIP device. That's right, no voice plan, just cheap data with Gizmo5-fortified Google Voice and all those other cloud-based Google services like Gmail, navigation, docs, etc.. (It's also suggested this device would run on AT&T, giving them some glamor back if they lose iPhone exclusivity next year).

Bringing this back to the iPhone, we all remember in 2007 when Steve Jobs announced the first "sweet" iPhone development platform -- WebApps, and the resounding thud of that landing on unenthused developers and users alike. But Google isn't Apple and next year is 2010. ChromeOS is, as Casey says, ambitious in concept if tame in current realization, but for iPhone users, that may not matter.

See, as iPhone users, we're excited because we're counting on all those Google ChromeOS WebApps to run just great in our iPhone Safari browsers as well, just like Google's current cloud-based apps -- which is something Android apps won't do (they only run on Android devices). Microsoft going web-based with Office 2010, which we're also looking forward to running in iPhone Safari, only makes it "sweeter". Cheap or "free as in Google" gPhones for those who just want data and browsers, iPhones for those who want all that and more?

Could we be getting the best of all worlds again? Apple and 100,000+ apps native on our iPhone (or Windows, Mac, *nix desktop), Google and Microsoft filling up our cloud along with their own? Yes please.

Let us know what you think!

When he's not borrowing CrackBerry Kevin's personal handset to snap quick pics and give Android Cassey conniptions, Google CEO Eric Schmidt is responding to reporters about his role as a member of Apple's Board of Directors in light of Google entering the operating system space -- again:

"I'll talk to the Apple people. At the moment, there's no issue,"

Since Google Chrome OS is little more than announce-ware at this point (or, "darn, we should have made webOS instead of Android?), that may be true, but it's hardly a tenable situation going forward. What this will mean to Apple/Google relations is unknown. Though right now the iPhone clearly benefits from Google data pipes, especially in the Maps app, how much do they benefit from Schmidt being on the board?

Our guess? Schmidt was using that BlackBerry camera to zoom on the unlicensed Mercedes -- and glaring Steve Jobs -- that's been shadowing him since Tuesday, and carefully penning his resignation letter...

[via Macrumors]