While The World Wants Apple I Prefer Fire!

After purchasing the Apple iPad 2 a month ago and the Kindle Fire a week back, I thought I would surf the net and see what others say about both the devices. I was astonished to find that majority users prefer the iPad to the Kindle because I personally love my Kindle more and tend to depend on it all the time. In fact, I am now thinking of getting rid of my Apple tablet gifting it to my Dad who never has tried a tablet before. Here is why I prefer Fire over Apples!

Apple iPad 2

Apple may have revolutionized the world of touchscreen handhelds the moment it launched the iPhone in 2007 and subsequently the iPad in 2010 but its latest offering, the iPad 3, does not sway me one bit. Why? See what I faced with the iPad 2.

My Biggest Concern With Apple I Pad 2

Nobody told me that Apple does not have flash compatibility before I purchased it. This is a big problem for me because I love browsing websites with a lot of interactive content. Maybe it’s just me but no flash meant that I was left with mostly text and picture mode browsing on the iPad. For reading and pictures, why should I be paying nearly $400?

Another thing that bugged me a lot was that my tablet kept lossing connection to the WiFi network all of a sudden and the worst thing is that if I was in the middle of watching a movie on it, I would never realize this. While, I do not face this situation frequently, for some reason, it keeps happening every time I download a lot of data on it. Maybe the OS needs an upgrade.

The final problem that I have with it is the weight. Why does it have to weigh so much? I am not a frail person but I like things that I can carry around easily.

What I Adore About The I Pad 2

Apple iPad 2 Safari browser is definitely the fastest among tablets with pages loading as fast as 3 to 5 seconds. This helps a lot if I am in a desperate hurry to find a local restaurant number from the internet.

Another excellent feature of the iPad is its touchscreen. Apple really knows how to make touchscreens responsive to the slightest pressure. The large screen does help a lot. Because of the touchscreen I find it easier to navigate through my music files, videos and magazines. Oh! before I forget, the magazine reader is one of the best I have seen in tablets but it does take sometimes a little longer to load these applications even though they are inbuilt.

Processor speed and a fine tuned OS are probably the biggest plus for the iPad 2 but all the above pros for the iPad still does not justify spending so much on a tablet that I mostly use indoors or as a book reader.

Note:  I have no qualms with the camera as a tablet is not even designed for taking pictures. If you complain about its camera then you should not even be looking at a tablet. Spend that money instead on a good DSLR and click yourself onto Flickr. Also, the screen does bloat a bit with grains but this is to be expected since it is a touchscreen.

Amazon Kindle Fire

Ok, I must say that before I purchased the Kindle, I had no wish for another tablet because I was perfectly happy with my iPad, however, its low cost (I spent just Rs. 10,000, approximately $200 on it) swayed me into buying it. The moment I started using the Kindle Fire, I felt many things missing but the more I started delving deeper into the tablet, I found it a better deal than the iPad.

My Biggest Concerns With the Kindle Fire

Getting on with this comparison, I found hardly anything wrong with this device. For me the screen was, not small, rather cosy because now I had something that I can carry around without feeling burdened. Moreover, lack of full HD is not an issue because with just 7 inches and 1024 X 600 resolution, any movie, even in mkv format, looks amazing. Plus, this saves a lot of battery power for me. Nevertheless, there were two problems that irritated the hell out of me.

First, the touch interface is obviously lacking. Amazon had to cut costs somewhere to get it down to $200 and it shows with the touchscreen as it constantly nags me saying, “That was a small swipe. Do you mean to tap? Try Again”. When in a hurry to pull up a file, it tends to increase. Now that I have had it for a week, I have learnt how to get around it.

Second, the browser speed is slow even with Amazon’s heuristic reading protocol that is supposed to read cloud results for global Kindle searches and speed up my browser loading time. Maybe, it is the fact that flash player support is enabled in the Kindle but its still not as fast as I would like it to be.

What I Adore About the Kindle Fire

Again, the weight, size and compactness are what make it simply adorable for me. The Kindle Fire may be lacking in speed, processing power and space but it more than makes up by providing a good enough media service. I do not understand why people keep saying that the online store from Amazon is crap because I loved the huge collection of apps found there.

Another thing that I cannot stress enough on is the way it reads ebooks. Its size makes it easier to flip through pages, read and search ebooks. After all, isn’t that the reason why one would get a tablet?

Movies are great to watch on it and even though it lacks external volume controls, I found that once I got used to the  internal controls and menus, things started to clear up.

Note: I have no qualms about the pre-installed software that Amazon hardwires into the device such as Facebook, IMDB etc, because for me they hardly take up any space and I tend to use them a lot. Moreover, lack of proper parental control does not bother me as I am still single! The WiFi connection sometimes breaks off unexpectedly and requires a manual reboot of the interface but it happens much less than with the iPad, so no worries here.

Final Words

The price of the Amazon Kindle obviously means that shortcuts were taken but for the cost of procuring the Fire, it sure does pack hell of a punch. The iPad 2 is obviously better in many respects but only if you depend on it for your livelihood. Business users shall appreciate the functionality of the iPad but for home users like me the Fire is cheaper, smaller, lighter and better.

Author Name : Maino (That's the name I go by on all guest blogs)
Author Description: Maino loves writing about tips, tutorials and news on Android tablets

Apple Introduces New iPad with Retina Display, 4G and Better Camera

Apple today introduced much awaited new version of iPad dubbed as the “new iPad”, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, featuring a stunning new Retina™ display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a 5 megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video.

The new iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G connects to fast networks worldwide, including AT&T’s and Verizon’s 4G LTE networks, and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life* while remaining amazingly thin and light. Beginning today, With the launch of “new iPad, the old iPad 2 will be offered at an even more affordable price starting at $399.

The new iPad’s Retina display delivers four times the number of pixels of iPad 2, so dense that the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels when held at a normal distance, making web pages, text, images and video look incredibly sharp and realistic.

The 3.1 million pixels in the Retina display are more than one million more pixels than an HD TV, and with 44 percent increased color saturation the new iPad displays colors that are unbelievably richer, deeper and more vivid. Movies are now capable of playing at full 1080p HD-resolution, delivering an incomparable viewing experience on a mobile device.

The powerful new A5X chip with quad-core graphics was specifically designed by Apple to deliver a fast, responsive user experience while supporting the incredible Retina display. With double the graphics performance of the A5 chip, the A5X provides a superb balance between performance and power efficiency so users can enjoy all the benefits of the stunning new display while experiencing a smooth Multi-Touch™ interface, immersive gameplay, incredible visual depth and all-day battery life that iPad is known for delivering.

The 5 megapixel iSight camera features advanced optics for taking stunning pictures and recording full HD video. Backside illumination allows you to take great photos in low-light conditions and a new video image stabilization feature removes the bumps and shakes typically seen when filming with a hand-held device. Images can be enjoyed on the large Retina display, then edited, enhanced and easily shared with friends and family using the built-in Photos app on iPad.

iPad Wi-Fi + 4G with built-in next generation 4G LTE has the most comprehensive support for fast networks worldwide including HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA, and now both CDMA and GSM iPad users have the ability to easily roam internationally. The world-ready iPad delivers blazing download and upload speeds so web pages load incredibly quickly and email with large attachments can be sent and received easily. Personal Hotspot can be used to share the fast network connection on your iPad with up to 5 other devices using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB.

The new iPad also supports dictation, another amazing way to get things done just using your voice. Instead of typing, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard, then say what you want to say and the new iPad listens. Tap done, and iPad converts your words into text. You can use dictation to write messages, take notes, search the web and more. Dictation also works with third-party apps, so you can update your Facebook status, tweet, or write Instagram captions.

Apple also introduced the iPhoto app, along with major updates to iMovie and GarageBand, completing its suite of iLife apps for iOS. iLife and the iWork apps, Pages, Keynote and Numbers, have all been updated to take advantage of the new iPad Retina display. iPhoto includes breakthrough Multi-Touch features so you can use simple gestures to sort through hundreds of photos and find your best shots, enhance and retouch your images using fingertip brushes and share stunning photo journals with iCloud. iMovie now gives you the ability to create amazing Hollywood-style trailers as you record HD video, and GarageBand introduces Jam Session, an innovative and fun new feature that allows a group of friends to wirelessly connect to play instruments and record music together live on their iOS devices.

The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white on Friday, March 16 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for either AT&T or Verizon will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPad will also be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands on Friday, March 16. Customers can begin pre-ordering their new iPad today, and the incredible iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.