Is the iPad Air Still the Best Large-sized Tablet?
Apple has made a few minor modifications since the birth in 2010, but to say these changes have been modest would be an overstatement. However, iPad is now on a diet. Today, Apple reduced the proportions of the 9.7-inch iPad-and narrowed the body to rival the size of the iPad mini. The company did away with Bezel, which eliminated some poundage. Altogether, the weight reduction hovers around 30 per cent. The change is so radical that Apple is now calling it the iPad Air.
While Apple made slow, subtle changes in the iPad, its competitors were busy perfecting and improving tablets of their own. The question is this: is the iPad Air still the best large-sized tablet on the market
Who are the Rivals?
Apple’s closest rivals are definitely still in the running, especially the top three: the nexus 10 from Google, Samsung’s Note 10.1, and the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX from Amazon. Although Apple has been slow to initiate modifications in the iPad, over the years, some of its rivals have begun adding various new apps to their tablets. The Kindle Fire HDX includes built-in customer service, the Note 10.1 works with a stylus, and the Lumia 2520 is directly targeting mobile technology. While none of those features is a must-have, it is clear that Apple’s competitors are beginning to distinguish to themselves.
The Lumia 2520 does stand out in one area: it includes built in LTE for the same price as the iPad, which has Wi-Fi-only. Apple is still charging over $100 more for an LTE-enabled version of its tablet, and this adds up to $$ for anyone interested in going mobile. However, it is difficult to dismiss Apple’s unique suite of tablet applications, which none of its competitors come close to emulating, especially since both iLife and iWork are now included free.
Apple’s iPad has changed the face of America. It is a frequent and familiar sight on the desks of students in public schools, on commuter trains and subway systems, and atop conference tables in office buildings throughout the world. You can even use it to sell textbooks online (you know, the ones that you’ve been dying to get rid of after getting your iPad). The iPad has certainly not obtained perfection yet, but maybe the company deserves to rest on its laurels to some extent. Apple invented the very first iPad, and since its birth in 2010, the iPad has been a notebook, a computer, a camera, a video camera, and a music player.
It also performs such applications as web browsing and emailing. In fact, one might even nickname the iPad the three Ms– a major miracle of modern technology. Google is finally beginning to improve its advertising of tablet applications and Microsoft is well positioned in the market, and but both still have quite a ways to go. If Apple’s competitors do not engage the interest of the buying public, through their unique applications, it’s a good bet that the new iPad Air will keep Apple at the front of the line, at least for the near future.