Unfortunately I can't access the Giz article. That's OK, I'm not fond of them anyway.
FWIW some specs matter, most don't. Plenty of portable digital audio players preceeded, and then out-spec'ed, the iPod. The iPod still romped all over everyone anyway. Same with the iPhone.
So many of the specs will be so similar, that it really might come down to marketing, price, and whether people really do care about an open platform vs a closed and filtered one.