As the competition for smart tablets gets tougher,
Apple introduced the iPad mini. Since it was released
last year it has witnessed a tremendous growth. In
addition to being, miniature, it featured a beautiful
design, it can be rightly said that the iPad Air is a
twin or a look alike of the iPad Mini.
The iPad Air is a totally redesigned tablet internally
and externally it is slimmer and lighter. The
processor is super fast; it uses the same magnificent
64-bit Apple A7 processor as the iPhone 5S and
Retina screen.
The iPad's success has been its functionality; it's a
10-inch tablet with a great ecosystem (integrates
beautifully with: Macbook Pro, MacBook, Macbook Air,
Mac Pro, iMac, Mac Mini and PC – windows based
operating System, etc) and a brilliant display that
works. Some might argue that the previous iPad
design is not exceptionally good-looking. It was a
design that seemed more and more dated with every
year it remained unchanged, it might well be said
that Apple's focus was to improve on the
configuration internally rather than beautifying the
external.
he iPad Air acts as one massive corrective to those
three years of stagnation. With sleek, skinny side
bezels, and shiny silver chamfers like those on the
iPhone, the Air is hands down the most beautiful
tablet Apple has in its stables.
As the name sounds, the iPad Air is light. At just one
pound less, its less than one kilogramme, it is half a
pound lighter than previous iPad's.
Apple is shipping the iPad Air with Retina Display it
comes in Silver or Space Gray with the latter
replacing the black back of its predecessor.
Messaging and Contact
The iPad Air is a fine tablet for a number of things –
but you might not necessarily think that calling is
one of them. But with the addition of Face Time
Audio, and the improved Face Time HD camera, this
is a great device.
The camera on the front of the iPad, a 1.2MP, shows
your whole face very nicely, with a detailed level of
sharpness. Of course, it depends on your internet
connection as to whether this detail is transmitted to
the person on the other end of the call, but it's a
great way to keep in touch with other.
And with Face Time Audio now an option, you can
have free voice calls with other enabled users thanks
to VOIP technology. Once in the application you can
set up your favourite people as instant contacts to
call - and helpfully they can also be set to call
through voice or video by default
Messaging
Messaging on the iPad is a much better experience.
There's iMessage and email Application that is
shipped in all iPad, and a variety of other chat
applications you can download in the apple store.
The Mail application has seen a good improvement,
with a wide and expansive view that makes full use
of the screen size. You get a decent column down one
side to see all your missives, and a gentle swipe
across allows you to move or edit the mail or send it
to the Bin.
The new improvement in the email application
makes folders easy to use and you can have all your
messages in one inbox, even with a multiple email
accounts.
Added is priority setting, or Mail VIP allowing you to
tag only your boss and colleagues, so you know when
to panic should you see a mail arriving there.
The Apple keyboard on the iPad Air is an odd
experience.
Performance
Retina Displays are pretty to look at but they take
power to push all of those pixels across the screen.
The iPad 3, the first iPad equipped with a Retina
Display, had some difficulties keeping up. This year's
Apple iPad releases both feature the new A7 64 bit
processor which is described by Apple as a "desktop
level" processor.
Apple's A7 64 bit processor is accompanied by the
same M7 coprocessor that is included with the
iPhone 5s and the iPad Air. The M7 reads data from
sensors saving the A7 from that type of continual
monitoring and processing, thus helping battery life.
The M7 then reports data back to the system when
needed.
Apple's platform architecture design means that
current applications that haven't been updated to
take advantage of the 64 bit construction set run just
fine on the newer devices.
While, the iPad mini with Retina Display bests the
previous iPad mini in performance and brings Apple's
smaller Tablet form factor to the front of the pack,
there are some slight differences in processor clock
speeds among the A7 generation of iOS devices. The
iPad mini with Retina Display is running at 1.29GHz
while the iPad Air is running at 1.39GHz. The iPhone
5s clocks in at 1.30GHz.
Software and Application
The iPad mini with Retina Display comes with iOS 7
pre-installed, thou some application developers has
complained of a few tweaks here and there, That
said, Apple's combination of hardware and software
can be consider as being a success its so complete it
is difficult to think of the two as separate. The
ecosystem surrounding all iOS devices is large and
continually growing, from Applications to
accessories.
At the apple store there are a lot of freebies
application you can download, for a quick start to use
your iOS Device in minutes, some are already
preinstalled.
Remember Apple gives you 5GB of free iCloud
storage should you choose to use it. Application like
Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie, and iPhoto among
others can all take advantage of iCloud. In addition
iCloud users can set up iCloud Keychain to sync
passwords, credit cards, and address information
across multiple iOS devices.
Battery Life
Apple's designers and engineers work hand in hand
to create new devices. No where is this more
apparent than with the iPad mini with Retina Display
and battery life. Since the launch of the first iPad,
Apple has delivered 10 hour battery life with each
generation, including the first iPad mini. The iPad
mini with Retina Display continues that and perhaps
offers a little improvement.
The fact that Apple can squeeze enough battery juice
into such a small form factor capable of powering a
Retina Display and maintain battery life, with only a
negligible increase in weight and size, is remarkable.
THISWEEK ON GADGETS
Windows Phone 8
Since it was launched Windows Phone 8, has been
widely accepted by many users, it easy to use and
the Operating System runs smoothly, its been
regarded by many as being interactive and
awesome. It was another roll of the dice for Microsoft
in the mobile space and it was fairly. It's a slick
platform that's packed with features and
customization options.
Lets discuss a few tricks and helpful tips.
How to hide your caller ID
You can decide who should see your caller ID when
you make calls – everyone, your contacts, or no one
at all. To change this just go into your caller history,
tap the ellipses at the bottom right, and hit Settings.
Then choose who gets to see your caller ID by
default.
How to change the text size
If you find yourself squinting at the screen of your
Window Phone then you should really consider
resizing the text. Go into Settings > Ease of access
and you'll find five different size settings for the text.
How to Customize your Start Screen
You can change the size of tiles by holding your
finger on them to activate edit mode. You can drag it
around and tap the arrow at the bottom right to
change the size. You can change the background
color in Settings > Theme. Be sure to check out our
recommended ways to customize your Start Screen,
as well.
How to use your Unified inbox
With Windows Phone 8 you have the ability to merge
your email accounts into one manageable inbox. Go
to your Mail application and tap the ellipses in the
lower right hand corner and choose link inboxes. You
can choose to link as many as you like, so it's
possible to merge a bunch and still keep some
separate. You can always unlink them again.
How to enable Kids Corne
There's no need to install a parental control
application because Windows Phone 8 has Kid's
Corner. You'll find the option in the Settings menu
and it allows you to dictate exactly what content is
available when Kid's Corner is activated. It allows you
to give your little angel your smartphone without fear
that they'll send a text or email, phone someone, or
do something else crazy.
How to conserve battery life
If your battery is getting dangerously low, you can
head into Settings and select battery saver. It closes
background applications and puts a stop to
automatic syncing so that you can squeeze a little
extra time out of that battery. If you tap the
Advanced option in battery saver then you can set it
to come on automatically when your battery dips
below a certain percentage.
How to share your location
When you write a text, you can actually add your
current location to the message. Simply tap the
paperclip icon and choose your location. If your friend
has a Windows Phone 8 device it will open in their
Maps application, otherwise it will open in their
browser.
How to use keyboard shortcuts
When you are typing, you can hold your finger down
on a key to get more options to pop up instead of
jumping into the symbols keyboard. You can also
double tap the space bar to create a period and a
space for the next sentence. You'll find word
suggestions pop up as you type. If you type a word
that isn't recognized you can always add it to your
dictionary by holding down your finger on it and
choosing the plus symbol when it pops up.
How to quickly send out apologies if you're running
late
If you've entered appointments into your calendar
along with attendees then you can quickly send
messages when you are running late. Just go to the
relevant appointment in your calendar and tap the
rushing person icon. A draft message will pop up and
you can edit it and set the recipients, or just hit send.
