iPad nothing more than an oversized Apple iPhone: Motorola

The Apple iPad is nothing more than a giant iPhone, according to a new spot for the forthcoming – and as of yet untitled – Motorola tablet. Let's see: Apple iPad as oversized Apple iPhone? Yep, we've heard that one at least a few times before. (Video from Motorola tablet advert below.)

But extra points to Motorola for the execution of the advertisement, which takes place in a museum, and follows the evolution of the tablet, from Egyptian hieroglyphic tablet ("good graphics, but weight makes for difficult portability") to the Rosetta Stone ("multi-lingual support but low-resolution screen").

Near the end of the advert, the camera pans over the Apple iPad. "It's like a giant iPhone.... but it's like a giant iPhone," reads the banner copy. (Motorola also takes its shots at the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which is described as having "Android OS, but Android OS for a phone.")

Of course, as Brooke Crothers of CNET points out, "it's easy to claim just about anything when promoting a product that hasn't been formally announced and subjected to the rigors – and possible slings and arrows – of independent reviews."

Say what you will about the iPad – yes, it is a lot like a big old iPhone – but the machine sells like crazy, to the tune of something like 7.5 million units since the spring launch. (The iPad has also won a good deal of rave reviews.)

Meanwhile, even if Motorola does have a smash hit on its hands, it will likely have to contend with an Apple iPad 2. Earlier this month, DigiTimes, a Taiwan-based newspaper, reported that a range of component makers have confirmed that an iPad 2 – iPad 2, incidentally, is probably not going to be the real name for the device – will ship in February and hit store shelves in April. The first shipment of next-gen iPads will total 400,000 to 600,000 units, DigiTimes says.