Apple iPad mini review - Telegraph.co.uk

The sacrifice in screen size from a 10-inch tablet is balanced out by the more convenient size. You can hold it in one hand, slip it into a jacket pocket or a handbag and still have all the power of an iPad at your fingertips. In practice the smaller screen size is not much of a problem and it is because of that 0.9-inches, which gives 35 per cent more screen area than the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD.

All three devices are fine as ereaders - better suited to the task than 10-inch tablets, really, so it's no surprise that Apple emphasised iBooks when the iPad mini was unveiled. This is Apple's best ereading device.

But it's with tasks such as web browsing where the extra screen real estate counts. Viewing a full-width web page on the Nexus 7 means the text is uncomfortably small, for my taste, making it essential to zoom in and scroll to read everything. The iPad mini is just about as small as a screen can get without necessitating zooming and scrolling.

Of course, this depends to a large extent on your eyesight and the size of text that you're comfortable reading. For me, the 7.9 screen beats the 7-inch screen. Though, overall, I still prefer a 10-inch tablet for web browsing. Whether that changes after a few more weeks with the iPad mini, time will tell.

Where rival tablets have an advantage is in pixels-per-inch. The iPad mini screen has 162 pixels-per-inch, fewer than the 216ppi Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. The extra 54 pixels provide a slight increase in sharpness on the rivals but even then, not as much as I'd like. Having used a retina display iPad and iPhone for so long, the iPad mini screen just looks a little blurry.

Another area where the rivals have the upper hand is in HD video: the iPad mini doesn't have a high definition display. I'm not convinced that this is the tablet size you would choose if you planned to regularly watch films on it but plenty of people seem happy to watch films on even smaller screens.

This puts the iPad mini in the position of being able to shoot higher quality video than it can play back. Obviously, you can share these clips at their full resolution online or stream them to a television using AirPlay, should you be the sort of person who likes to use a tablet to take photos and shoot video.

While a retina display this would be a knock-out device but its unlikely that Apple could put one in a tablet this size at this point. The third-generation iPad has a retina display and it is thicker and heavier than the iPad 2. The battery needed to power such a display to the 10-hour battery life Apple insists on for its iPads would probably have compromised the mini's size too much.

Apple could probably have matched the pixel density of the 7-inch tablets if it had wished to but that would have changed the screen resolution, meaning that existing iPad apps would have run with black bands of unused pixels alongside them. As it is, the 1024x768 display means the existing library of 275,000 tablet specific apps are all available.

I tested a few more recent - and demanding - apps to see how the iPad mini coped and found no problems at all. The mini is powered by the same Apple A5 chip found inside the iPad 2 and apps didn't seem to run slowly, nor did the device get particularly warm.

When it comes to tablet-specific apps, the iPad is still some way ahead. You won't find the amazing Touch Press apps, such as Shakespeare's Sonnets or The Waste Land, on anything other than an iPad, for example. Android will catch up, just as it has with smartphone apps, but for now the gap is significant enough that it should make you think twice about buying a rival.

On the other hand, what will make some think twice about buying an iPad mini is the price. Starting at £269 for a WiFi only model, this is £100 dearer than the Kindle Fire HD or the Nexus 7, which is now available in a 16GB version for £159.

Whether it's worth it depends on how much of a premium you put on great design and a vast ecosystem of apps. Apple will sell a lot of these little beauties, that's for sure.

Intel shows off Windows 8 ultrabooks from Lenovo, Dell and Acer - V3.co.uk (blog)

With Windows 8 now available, PC manufacturers will be hoping to see improved sales in the coming months after disappointing figures over recent quarters, mostly as firms and consumers awaited the launch of Microsoft's new platform.

Another firm that has plenty riding on this is Intel, which has thrown its weight behind the ultrabook category of devices now entering the market as it aims to boost sales of Windows device, and Windows 8 gives it another opportunity to do just that.

So it was no surprise that the firm held an event in central London on Tuesday showing off a raft of products from its partners such as Lenovo, Dell and Acer running the platform.

V3 popped along to have a look to try out some of the devices on show.

Certainly all the devices had something to recommend them, whether the novel combinations of display options such as the Lenovo Yoga (below) with four different viewing stances: laptop, tablet, 'tent' or as a single screen, with the keyboard used as the stand at the back.

The device itself was nice to use, with a good quality keyboard and the system responsive to both touch and mouse-based inputs.

We also had a chance to see the new Windows 8 version of the Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook (below). The device has been on the market for a while running Windows 7 and secured a four-star review when we looked at it last year.

Now it's been updated with a touchscreen system so it can run Windows 8 in full and is certainly one of the nicest looking devices on display, with a compact 13.3in screen and weighing a lightweight 1.35kg.

However, if we're talking lightweight then we should probably mention the NEC Lavie Z Ultrabook (pictured below).

Although this isn't available in the UK at present and doesn't run Windows 8 either, the device is hugely popular in Japan for one key reason; its weight. It's just 875g.

The weight of devices is always something touted by manufacturers and usually it worth nothing more than a "yes it's quite light" comment but the NEC device was probably the lightest laptop device we've ever seen; there are paperback books that are heavier.

While it's not set to come to the UK - a shame - it's a good indication of how light laptops could still become. With the portability of tablets often touted as a selling point over laptops devices like this undermine that argument to some degree.

Lastly, no product showcase would be complete without something from Dell, so Intel had brought along the Dell XPS12 Duo ultrabook which has a rather nifty rotating screen that can be swivelled within its casing to work as either a tablet or a laptop.

This mean it can also be propped up in the "tent" style akin to the Lenovo Yoga, as pictured below.

Overall, then, it's clear there's no lack of interesting, novel and quality devices from numerous manufacturers on offer for Windows 8, with Intel's technology an integral part of that.

Whether consumers take to the new system and this helps boost flagging sales, though, is another matter.

30 Oct 2012

Google announces Nexus 10 tablet with iPad-beating specs - The Independent (blog)

Look out Apple, Google just declared war on the iPad.

The Nexus 10 is Google's answer to Apple's iPad 4, complete with stereo speakers, front and rear cameras, 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 2GB Ram and either 16 or 32GB storage options. This impressive hardware sits behind a 2560-by-1600 pixel display, boasting the highest resolution of any tablet on the market with a pixel density of 300 pixel per inch, far greater than the iPad's 264 ppi equivalent. Apple's 'Retina' branding doesn't seem all that impressive anymore.

The Nexus 10 is encased in unibody plastic chassis, which Google say is an essential feature in order to ensure the device is as thin, light and affordable as possible. The tablet weighs in at just 603 grams, with a mind-boggling thickness of just 8.9 millimetres.

The only feature currently missing in the Nexus 10 is 3G or 4G LTE connectivity, meaning you'll need to tether the tablet to a mobile hotspot or internet connected smartphone whenever a WiFi connection is unavailable. It's possible Google will add 3G/4G models at some point in the future, like they have with the Nexus 7, but until then it's WiFi only unfortunately.

The Nexus 10 does however support MIMO WiFi, a new technology that can theoretically speed up web browsing up to four times faster than traditional WiFi speeds can deliver. However, this remains to be seen. It seems Google are more interested in targeting the Nexus 10 towards families, designed for use in the home, rather than out and about. Referring to it as "the perfect couch or coffee table companion".

The latest version of Android (4.2) will bring with it the ability to fast-switch between user accounts, making it possible for several people to share the same tablet with completely separate logins, all running side-by-side.

Google are pushing their Play store content heavily with the Nexus 10, as they want users to consume paid digital content on the device, such as apps, movies, TV shows, books, magazines and music.

For the first time we're seeing an Android tablet that truly competes with Apple's latest iPad. The Nexus 10 is thinner, lighter, faster and higher resolution tablet, but it takes more than a few impressive specs to persuade consumers to part with their well earned money. Google are well aware of the uphill battle they face against Apple's tablet dominance, which is why they have priced the Nexus 10 accordingly.

You'll be able to purchase a 16GB Nexus 10 for just £319, direct from Google's Play store. That's £80 cheaper than Apple's cheapest fourth generation iPad. At £389 for the 32GB model, the price difference increases even further to £90.

When you combine the Nexus 10's price, power, technology and multi-user support, Google really have built a tablet that goes toe-to-toe with iPad in almost every way, and in many cases outshines Apple's offering altogether. It will be fascinating to see how well the Nexus 10 fares against the iPad this holiday season.

The Samsung Nexus 10 will be available to purchase on Tuesday November 13 direct from the Google Play Store.

Tagged in: 4G, Android, apple, google, ipad, iPad4, LG Nexus, Nexus, Nexus 10

Dell launches multiple Windows 8 devices in India - NDTV

Dell had announced its Windows 8 tablet, ultrabook and All-in-One back in September. The company has now officially launched the Latitude 10 tablet, Latitude 6430u ultrabook and OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One devices in India.

In addition, Dell has also announced the XPS 12 convertible that can be used both as a laptop and a tablet and the S2340T Win8 multi-touch monitor.

All Windows 8 devices are targeted at enterprise users and come with various security features.

Commenting on the occasion, P. Krishnakumar, Executive Director, Marketing, Dell India said, "The combination of new Dell hardware and Windows OS will allow customers to create and consume content in new and exciting ways which makes technology more accessible and intuitive."

He further added, "The new products launched today are all about maximizing the balance between end user preferences, productivity and IT control, backed by robust customer service, aimed at helping users and IT departments navigate the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) landscape."

Latitude 10 tablet
The Dell Latitude 10 Tablet features a 10.1-inch IPS wide-angle screen with a 1366x768 resolution. It is powered by Intel's Clover Trail processor and comes with 2GB RAM, up to 128GB of storage and a swappable lithium-ion battery as well, which is rarely seen in tablets.

The Latitude 10 tablet is 0.4-inches thick and weighs about 1.5 pounds. It features a 720p front camera and an 8-megapixel rear snapper. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The tablet comes with an additional metallic productivity dock featuring four USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and an HDMI port as well.

With this tablet Dell is targeting markets such as healthcare, education and government. The Latitude 10 tablet will be available beginning November end, starting at Rs. Rs 42,490.

Latitude 6430u ultrabook
The new Latitude 6430u ultrabook is 33 percent thinner and 16 percent lighter at 3.7 pounds than the current generation 14-inch Dell laptop. The ultrabook meets military testing standards and Dell claims it can last an entire day on a single battery charge.

It comes with a  3-cell battery. The ultra book also features Intel's vPro management technology and has a uses an Intel's latest generation Core processor (i3 onwards to i7) with up to 8GB RAM and it comes with Intel HD4000 integrated graphics.

The Latitude 6430u ultrabook will be available mid November at a price of Rs. Rs 69,990 onwards.

OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One
The 23-inch all-in-one desktop, called the OptiPlex 9010 is compact in design meeting space limitation requirements and takes advantage of Windows 8 since it has a touchscreen interface. It also uses Intel third-generation Core processors, an Intel Q77 Express chip set, Intel integrated graphics and a variety of security features. It also comes with a stand for a comfortable working experience.

The OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One will become available from November 10th at a starting price of Rs. 49,990.

XPS 12 convertible
The XPS 12 convertible features a flip hinge design that allows easy transition from laptop to tablet and vice-versa. It comes with a 12.5 inch LED backlit touch display with True Life and FHD resolution coated with Corning Gorilla Glass and is made up of aluminum and carbon fibre that makes it sturdy and durable.

The Windows 8 device features Intel third-generation Core processors, an Intel QS77 Express Chipset and Intel integrated graphics. it is powered by a 6-Cell Lithium Ion battery, has a 1.3MP webcam and a spill resistant standard full-size keyboard. Ports include 2 USB 3.0 ports, one mini-display port and a headphone/microphone combo port.

The XPS 12 convertible is now available at starting at a price point of Rs. 90,490.

23-inch S2340T multi-touch monitor
Dell has updated its line of computing peripherals with the 23-inch S2340T multi-touch monitor and notebook hub designed specially to extend the Windows 8 experience.

It is the company's first multi-touch monitor and comes with a 90-degree articulating stand that allows the display to be tilted for as per the user's comfort. The monitor is optimised to take advantage of Windows 8 features and it comes with a Full HD display (1920x1080) resolution.

Dell's Image Enhance feature sharpens images and creates more colour contrast to produce images that exploit the Full HD screen. The machine comes with In-plane switching technology and has an ultra wide viewing angle of 178 degrees. The S2340T comes with integrated camera, microphone and speaker and display port, HDMI, USB 3.0 ports and an Ethernet port.

The S2340T multi-touch monitor will be made available early next year.

Forgetting Microsoft: How Steve Ballmer's Surface could win - Register

Open ... and Shut In a Windows world we bought the product. In Google's world we are the product. Judging from market share trends, we apparently don't mind being bought and sold. At least, so long as the price is right.

Yes, Apple gets all the news (and profits), but it's Google Android that is set to displace Microsoft Windows by 2016, according to Gartner. So much of the media's focus is on the battle between Android and Apple's iOS for the heart and soul of the mobile industry that we forget the meta-battle between both iOS and Android against yesterday's desktop market, still owned by Windows.

But owning the desktop is like being the sexiest nun in the convent. Microsoft put on a good show last week at its Windows 8 launch, but the only thing that really matters is how well Windows performs in mobile device markets.

Given Microsoft's continued reliance on an outdated, licence-based revenue model, Microsoft may have an uphill battle winning in mobile.

Consider its competition, as Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin does:

For many years, I've been predicting that hardware will soon be free, subsidized by service providers who use open source software to build low cost devices optimized for their services. Amazon, for instance, is reported to lose money on every Kindle Fire sold. And at $250 for a decently powered laptop, I can't imagine there is much profit in the Chromebook either. The profit comes in the services you purchase or experience while using the device. As the senior vice president of Chrome at Google says in the New York Times:

"Above all, it brings all of Google services, built straight into the device."

In Google Land, in other words, the hardware and software is going to be cheap and free, respectively, with money being made through advertising or other services, largely invisible to the cost-conscious consumer. Yes, there are premium buyers happy to pay for Apple or Microsoft devices, but the majority of the market is heavily trending toward "cheap and free."

And when that happens, Microsoft (and, eventually, Apple) can kiss goodbye to the developer ecosystem critical to winning over users. Developers go where the volume is, and that volume is Google's to lose.

Microsoft could pull an Apple and sell a consolidated device like the Surface. I mean, really pull an Apple and dump its hardware partners. In Apple's world, there is no distinction between iOS and the iPhone or iPad. You buy them together or not at all. Microsoft is flirting with this strategy for Surface, but it's unclear whether it will have the stomach to continue. Working with partners is perhaps too deeply ingrained in its DNA.

It might not be enough, anyway. Apple is happy to occupy the premium segment of the market, even as Google's Android takes the mass-market lower-end. Where does this leave Microsoft? It's unlikely to be able to beat Apple at the top and its strategy ensures it has no chance of beating Android at the bottom. Even suing Android into oblivion (or fat patent royalty fees, which raise the cost of Android for users), is unlikely to succeed.

Apple has been setting the terms for competing in the new world of mobile for years. But the mantle of market leadership is shifting to Android, and the rules are very different in a Google-dominated world.

Fortunately, Microsoft has plenty of experience playing Google's online game, what with Bing and Hotmail and its other online services, coupled with associated online advertising. Unfortunately, Microsoft still doesn't know how to pay for these services effectively, bleeding $2.5bn from its Online Services Division last year.

Can Microsoft turn this ship around? Of course. Google's dominance is not set in stone, any more than Apple's was. But there's a lot of hard, painful work for Microsoft to do in a Google-dominated world, much of it Microsoft un-learning most everything that made it successful.

That's a big, big ask. ®

Matt Asay is vice president of corporate strategy at 10gen, the MongoDB company. Previously he was SVP of business development at Nodeable, which was acquired in October 2012. He was formerly SVP of biz dev at HTML5 start-up Strobe (now part of Facebook) and chief operating officer of Ubuntu commercial operation Canonical. With more than a decade spent in open source, Asay served as Alfresco's general manager for the Americas and vice president of business development, and he helped put Novell on its open source track. Asay is an emeritus board member of the Open Source Initiative (OSI). His column, Open...and Shut, appears three times a week on The Register. You can follow him on Twitter @mjasay.

iPad mini vs Google Nexus 7 vs Kindle Fire HD - Pocket Gamer

We now have three major players on the mid-sized (7 to 8-inch) tablet scene, each with its own design philosophy and distinctive approach to user interface.

In no particular order, they are, of course, Apple, Google and Amazon.

Unusually for Apple, it's playing catch-up with its newly announced iPad mini. To many observers, The Big A has entered this mid-sized tab market as a direct result of the great success the Google Nexus 7 and (in the US, at least) the Amazon Kindle Fire have enjoyed of late.

For its part, Amazon has just brought its own brand of 7-inch tablet to the UK and beyond with its new and improved Kindle Fire HD.

So, what do these cut-price mid-sized tablets have to offer? What are their relative strengths and weaknesses? We take a closer look.

Design

You won't be surprised to read that Apple wins the design round hands-down. The iPad mini is astonishingly thin (7.2mm) and light (308g), and it looks the business - more like a larger iPod touch than a smaller iPad. The other two don't even come close.

No such svelte design for the Google Nexus 7. It's far from ugly, but its utilitarian body is just what we've come to expect from the majority of Android devices. It's square, solid, and plasticky.

The Nexus 7 weighs 340g and is 10.56mm thin. That makes it a tiny bit tubbier than the Kindle Fire HD, but also a bit lighter.

Yep, the Kindle Fire HD is pretty similar to the Nexus 7 from a design standpoint. It's got that same slightly soulless black slab design so beloved of tablet designers outside of Apple's, Sony's, and now Microsoft's HQ. But, that doesn't mean the Kindle Fire HD is ugly or unpleasant to look at.

Amazon's 7-inch slate is the heaviest of the three at 395g, but it's thinner (10.3mm) than the Nexus 7.

Display

Apple would have you believe that the iPad mini isn't even competing in the same league as the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD. A large part of that is down to its display: at 7.9 inches, it's almost a whole inch bigger than the other tablets' displays, and the screen's aspect ratio is 4:3 (like the iPad) rather than 16:9.

Of course, the iPad mini's display is also less sharp than the other two's (163ppi versus 216ppi).

So, which of the other two comes out on top? While both the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7 sport 7-inch 1280x800 IPS LCD displays, the former's would appear to have the edge.

Reports suggest that the Kindle Fire HD's display has a bolder, brighter, clearer picture thanks to Amazon's polarising filter and anti-glare technology.

Power

The iPad mini's dual-core A5 CPU is a bit of a blast from the past - it's the same unit as the one in the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2, though it's unclear how fast it's been clocked at. The point remains that this A5 processor, while still a very capable chip (especially when it comes to graphics), is decidedly last gen.

Of course, Apple's last-gen CPU is a fair bit better than competing last-gen dual-core CPUs - including the Amazon Kindle Fire HD's TI OMAP 4460, which is clocked at 1.2GHz. It's fine for general usage, but when compared to the other two, it comes up a little short.

Under its bonnet, the Nexus 7 has a Tegra 3 CPU, which powers a good number of high-end Android smartphones and tablets. It's the only quad-core CPU here, and it's clocked at a respectable 1.2GHz, which means it's likely quicker than the iPad mini's processor. However, the Tegra 3's GPU performance isn't as good.

OS

This hardware talk is all well and good, but the software a device runs is just as important in this day and age. The iPad mini's OS is a strength as well as a weakness.

It runs iOS 6 - just the same as the iPhone and iPad - which means that those familiar with and fond of Apple's mobile operating system will be right at home.

Of course, others find it to be an overly restrictive, conservative, and even dated mobile OS, so it depends upon your past experience with the platform and what precisely you look for in a modern OS.

The Nexus 7 is arguably the strongest of the three when it comes to the OS. It runs on Android Jelly Bean, which takes the massive leaps forward Google made with Ice Cream Sandwich - a distinctive UI, flexible widgets, polished native Google apps - and adds an extra dollop of buttery smoothness. It's arguably the finest mobile OS around today.

Finally, we have the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, which is built on what those in the industry call a 'forked' version of Android. No, we're not being rude. This means that while Android forms the base code for the Kindle Fire experience, the OS has been heavily modified and separated from the Android ecosystem.

It was obviously designed with the not-insubstantial Amazon ecosystem (ebooks, downloadable MP3s, videos, and now games) in mind. Amazon's UI is heavily cloud based and pushes the content front and centre, but it's not everyone's cup of tea when it comes to general browsing.

Apps

You could argue that apps form part of the OS experience, but we think they are an essential component in their own right. Especially when we're talking about gaming apps. On that front, the iPad mini wins by a mile.

The App Store has a far greater range of games and depth of gaming content than the other two tablet pretenders.

While the number of overall apps appears to be close - iOS's 700,000 apps versus Android's 675,000 apps, by one estimate - Apple devices are still the first ports of call for mobile game developers.

The Amazon Kindle Fire HD is barely even in this fight with somewhere around 50,000 apps available on the Amazon Appstore. Sure, the Kindle Fire HD can boast a few timed exclusives on the game front, but its overall range is much more limited than its Android cousin.

HTC One X Jelly Bean update starts in Asia, also brings Sense 4+ - Phones Review

The team here on Phones Review try and keep our readers up to speed with the latest news regarding the updating of Android hardware to newer versions of the operating system. Users of a variety of handsets are waiting for later versions of Android to be released, and today we have news of the HTC One X Android Jelly Bean update, which has started in parts of Asia and brings with it HTC Sense 4+.

HTC had previously promised to begin updating the HTC One X to the newer software this month according to GottaBeMobile, and it seems this is actually started to happen via an OTA update but currently only limited to the home of HTC, Taiwan.

The XDA Developers forum has stated that the version of the software is 3.14.709.16 with a file size of 352.87MB, which is quite a size so it will take a while to download and actually install it and will bring the device up to Android 4.1.2 the latest version of Jelly Bean, at least until next week when the company is set to announce Android 4.2.

Meanwhile HTC has said the One S will also see Jelly Bean at some point this month, but so far nothing has been revealed and with only a few days to before the end of October the company may have missed its original date.

Obviously there will be owners of the HTC One X in other parts of the world wondering when they will see the new operating system, but the company will be staggering the rollout and it may take a few days before it gets to most other regions, the update is reportedly also bringing with it the HTC Sense 4+ Android overlay to the handset.

Hopefully it won't be too long before users start seeing the new software reaching them in other parts of the world, and with any luck it will only be a matter of days.