First, I call BS on the 10 hour estimate of the iPad. None of the reviewers have come close to getting that, and the only one claiming it is Apple.

Also consider that the competitors also both allow full flash and give you root equivalent without jailbreak. (Sound familiar?) They also both offer bluetooth for network, file transfer, audio, and more. Both also run significantly faster than the iPad (at/over 1Ghz), and have more memory.

If you lock them down, underclock them, and play the other tricks the iPad has played, you can probably eek the same use time out of them, I'm sure. Plus both weigh in at weights near or under the iPad. Less use time, more functionality, lighter pad... it's a priorities thing.

The real point here though is that there are (and have been) other tablet devices with the same or better technologies. The only reason the iPad has done so well is the iMentality of people buying the latest iGadget because it shiny and is marketed well. Jobs could have introduced the iToilet, with a "new quite flush techonolgy" and a "special soft seat option" and people would be clamoring to get it. It's not the hardware or the software that's special. It's the hype, the marketing, and (until recently) the customer care.

If you find anything new about the iPad, it's because you simply didn't look at the (admittedly tiny) tablet market before now. There are plenty of fish in that ocean, you just didn't realize it until Jaws started gobbling people up wholesale and it hit the news.