Apple's latest edition to the iPad range - the iPad Air - seems to be going down with a storm with those who already have their hands on the 9.7-inch tablet. The latest and so-called greatest iPad yet is thinner, lighter and blazing fast thanks to the new A7 processor and 64-bit architecture, but more important than all of that, it seems to be getting rave reviews from those using it. With the new iPad being such an early success, it was only a matter of time until we started to see new concepts flying around the net, with one of the first bringing the same Air treatment to Apple's iPhone hardware.
EBooks and other book offerings through the Kindle or iBooks remove a lot of that publishing overhead and allow readers to quickly get access to great content wherever they are. The next step in that progression is to remove the need to actually read the book yourself and have it auto-read out loud by the system.
OS X Mavericks brought with it a great blend of new feature additions mixed perfectly with enough power-saving ability to make the operating system a great option for Apple's desktop and notebook using consumers. However, with the initial seed of a new OS there is always going to be a few bugs that managed to slip through the pre-release controlled beta test. If you are one of those perturbed users who has been experiencing some difficulties with the native Mavericks Mail app working alongside a Gmail email account, then hopefully today's Mavericks update will offer up a solution to those woes.
It's commonplace for tech companies to mock competitors in ad campaigns, although in the mobile industry, it's usually between arch-rivals Samsung and Apple. The Cupertino company has today bore the brunt of some ribbing from a different source, though, with Amazon's new Kindle Paperwhite ad taking a not-so-subtle pop at Apple's iPad. Since, as we learned just yesterday, the Kindle Fire HDX can more than hold its own against the new iPad Air (read: display is far superior), perhaps Amazon has a little lee-way to sound off, and although this compares the Paperwhite's readability versus the iPad, it does seem as though Amazon is emerging as a real force in tablet circles.
Both of Apple's major operating systems - iOS for mobile and OS X for Mac - have been the subject of heavy updates these past couple of months. The introduction of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks has meant that many apps, including the iWork family of utilities, have been altered rather significantly. But while some have been pleased with the changes made to the Cupertino company's famed productivity suite, which consists of Keynote, Numbers and Pages, many of the purists have been bemused with the apparent decision to omit some long-standing key features. As ever, they've been inundating the Support Forums with their complaints, to the point at which Apple has now announced some of the important features and changes to be made to iWork in the near future.
We all know Apple has a diverse range of fantastic hardware and software based products that seem to resonate with consumers all over the world. Sometimes though, those products just aren't enough and the financial success of a company invariably comes down to converting that consumer interest into sales that puts cash in the Cupertino bank. Apple's financial records indicate that extracting dollars from users isn't the most difficult thing they have to do, but in an attempt to make that purchasing process more widespread and efficient, they have extended the Apple Store Passbook support beyond the shores of the United States.
The iPad Air is the hottest topic in the mobile world right now, and since its predecessor, the iPad 4, was rather far from overwhelming, the prospect of a thinner, lighter and altogether more stylish model has certainly been a long time in coming. The tablet has been cost analyzed by none other than IHS Suppli, which has released its estimated component cost of the new and improved iPad Air. In short, it is reckoned that the total component cost is somewhere in the region of $274 for the bare-bones model, which works out at about 13% cheaper than the iPad 3.
Apple's iPad Air is currently being lauded as the best thing since sliced bread, but as DisplayMate's Dr. Raymond Soneira points out, numerous aspects of the just-released slate fall short when compared to Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX. There's no doubt that a new iPad was always going to make a little more noise upon announcement and subsequent release than the retail giant's latest export, but as Soneira's in-depth comparison shows, the Retina panel is noticeably outperformed by that of the new Amazon slate.
iOS 7 may only have been around for six or so weeks, but already, some are looking ahead towards its eventual successor, iOS 8. There's no doubt that, at least in terms of design, iOS 7 has been the biggest jump in the operating system's lifespan, but like any piece of software, there's still plenty of room for improvement both to looks and general functionality. With this in mind, designer Sangam Bhandari has come up with a rather beautiful concept of iOS 8, and even though we do like the changes Apple and Jony Ive have made with 2013's release, it's hard to pick holes in this elegant, ingenious figment of Bhandari's imagination.
The holiday shopping season is undoubtedly one of the most lucrative period for any company. Consumers who are usually very stringent with the way they spend their hard-earned cash generally loosen the purse strings a little at this time of year and grab the latest piece of technology either for themselves or a loved one. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, has already stated his belief that the end-of-year shopping period will be very important for the Californian giants. Keeping that in mind, it seems like app marketing company Fiksu have some great news for Apple and the iPad Air that derives from their own product adoption tracking service.
