It seems like just yesterday that Steve Jobs stood on the stage and revealed the iPad to an uncertain but eager audience. More than three and a half years later, the iPad is a household name all the world over, with a popularity that rivals the iPhone. Today Apple revealed the fifth iteration of the full-sized iPad, and it's the first to carry a major physical redesign ... and a new name.
Meet the iPad Air. If its design looks familiar, that's because its casing looks like a larger version of its smaller sibling, the iPad mini. It's the mini's narrower bezels and thinner build married to the larger model's 9.7-in. Retina Display. The iPad Air measures at just 7.5 mm (0.3 in.) thick, and weighs a mere 454 g (1 lb), 30 percent lighter than the previous iPad.
On the inside, the new iPad should be much faster than last year's 4th-gen iPad (Apple advertises 2x faster processing and graphics). The new model is powered by the new A7 system-on-a-chip, found in the iPhone 5s. It also adds the iPhone 5s' M7 motion coprocessor.
Despite slimming down, Apple advertises the same ten hour battery life from the previous full-sized iPad. The tablet also adds faster Wi-Fi (with support for multiple antennas), and more LTE bands in the cellular-data enabled model. It ships in silver/white and space gray/black color options.
The iPad Air launches next Friday, November 1, for the same price points as its predecessors: starting at US$500 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi only model, and moving up from there.
Rocky is absolutely right in that if there is a tablet worth considering, it has to be Win 8
I am not too sold on the Lenovo Yoga though. The form factor is not very useful and they cost a bomb
My heart is set on the Dell Venue Pro 11. I also liked the HP OMNI 10 and the Asus T100 ( T300 is 13 inch version of the same), but there have been very intriguing thoughts from some very learned people here as to why Surface was made 10.6 inches and not 10.1 inches as is the norm with 10 inch tabs. I learnt that for an ideal mix between usability and design, the Win 8 tab is ideal at anything between 10.6 and 11.1 inches. Now since Surface 2 Pro and Sony Vaio Tap 11 are way too expensive for me, I decided on the Dell Venue Pro 11
Cant wait for my baby !
If the device is to be used for productivity, the 128 GB version makes the most sense or an SD card can be utilized via the camera connection kit accessory. Logitech makes a keyboard accessory that's very similar to Microsoft's Type Cover accessory to ensure additional "productivity" ease of use.
Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 costs $70.00 more for the same capacity device but the OS continues to utilize a disproportionate amount of the available storage. And this is without the LTE connectivity in Apple's iPad Air. Aso, the absolutely necessary a Type Cover 2 will set you back an additional $130.00. Add the Surface Pro 2's thickness ans weight and suddenly the device seems or be more of a laptop than a tablet.
At the end of the day, people purchase the device that they find most compelling to use, be it for leisure or productivity. If Apple's iPad was truly such a bad product, why do people continue to purchase it en masse?