The Kindle Fire may be shaping up to be the first real device to challenge the iPad’s share of the tablet market but it’s not going to go unchallenged: book retailing giant Barnes & Noble have just announced the next generation of their own Android-based reading tablet, and unlike the Kindle Fire, its specs match and even exceed the iPad 2’s for half the price.

Remember HP’s fiasco with the Slate, then the TouchPad? You’d think the company would run from the tablet market like a Silicon Valley investor with his hair on fire — but you’d be wrong.

Depending on where you stand, a recent mobile advertising study was good news for Apple or Android. While Apple’s iPad and iPhone were the most connected devices for advertising, Google’s Android was the leading smartphone operating system, according to the report.

Its first generation Kindle Fire hasn’t even launched hit store shelves yet, but already Amazon has the Foxconn factory in China knocking up its successor, the Kindle Fire 2, with plans to ship the device during the first half of 2012.

Android use in business gained ground during the latest quarter as some workers sat on the sidelines, waiting for Apple to announce a new iPhone. As a result, Android phones in business saw a slight uptick with iPhone use falling a near equal amount. The old adage seems to apply: Snooze, you lose.