Apple iPad Mini vs Google Nexus 7

Power :

The iPad Mini is powered by Apple’s A5 dual-core chipset which promises to be plenty fast enough to run all your favourite games and apps. The device also features 16, 32 or 64GB of storage, though, being an Apple product, you won’t find support for micro SD cards here, so use that internal space wisely.

The Nexus 7 is driven by an NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset which consists of a quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A9 CPU and a ULP GeForce GPU that’s able handle any game you throw at it. The device also sports 1GB RAM and comes in 8 and 16GB flavours, and we’re expecting a 32GB version to drop soon too, giving you a nice extra option.

The device doesn’t offer support for micro SD cards though so, like the iPad Mini, you’ll have to be picky with your content.

Display :

The Google Nexus 7 is fronted by a 7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD which operates at 800 x 1280 and offers a pixel density of 216PPI.

The screen is bright and vibrant, and offers some of the best viewing angles around, but if you plan on using the device outdoors on a sunny day you’ll likely be disappointed.

The iPad Mini sports a 7.9-inch LED-backilit IPS display which operates at a resolution of 768 x 1024 and offers a pixel density of 163PPI. The screen looked superb in Apple’s demonstrations, as you would expect, and we’re looking forward to doing some testing of our own, but expectations are high with this one.

Software :

Google’s Nexus 7 runs on Android 4.1 AKA Jelly Bean, and the most recent iteration of the company’s mobile platform is by far the most comprehensive.

It’s fast, offers unbeatably smooth graphical performance thanks to Google’s ‘Project Butter’ initiative and expands on the new UI first seen in Ice Cream Sandwich to offer users automatically resizing widgets, great new notifications system and the spookily accurate Google Now enhanced search solution and a ton more to boot.

In addition to the core functionality of the OS being taken up a notch, users can also still make use of the Google Play Store for all their app, game and media downloads, and the selection is great.

The iPad Mini runs on version 6.0 of Apple’s ageing iOS platform. The software is (still) remarkably easy to pick up, with intuitive gestures and menus throughout, and also looks polished and pleasing, but the lack of widgets, real-time information and customisation options set it back against Google’s platform.

Fortunately it isn’t all bad though, because iOS gives users access to Apple’s App Store, which is chock full of great apps and games, and you’ll also find iTunes too, for your media needs.

Form :

Apple iPad Mini - 200 x 134.7 x 7.2mm, 308g

Google Nexus 7 - 198.5 x 120 x 10.5mm, 340g

The iPad Mini is a thin, light, well designed device which looks every inch the Apple product. Its lines are clean and the device looks to be ergonomically sound, which is more than can be said for many tablets.

The device is priced competitively and only time will tell if Apple has had to cut any hardware corners for the privilege of rivaling the Nexus 7 on that front.

The Nexus 7 is small, light and easy on the eye, and remarkably well built considering its bargain basement RRP, in fact you’ll find very little to complain about in Google’s joint venture with ASUS – the device simply checks all the boxes.

Camera :

We’re dealing with tablets here, so photographic prowess isn’t exactly top priority. That said, it’s nice to have the ability to snap the odd image and Google’s Nexus 7 obliges by offering a very simple 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera which is more than adequate for video calling and casual use.

If you want to make use of the camera you’ll have to take to the Google Play Store and download some third-party software to enable it though – and we have no idea why. Answers on a postcard please.

The iPad Mini features a 5-megapixel primary camera and a VGA front-facing camera which, like the Nexus 7, is fine for FaceTime and Skype use but doesn’t offer much more beyond that.

Apple Introduces iPad mini Smart Covers For $39

Apple updated its website to let us know that the Smart Cover would also be available for the newly announced 7.9 inch iPad mini.

The iPad mini Smart Cover is largely similar to the larger iPad Smart Cover with the same magnetic attaching and hinging mechanism, except that it seems to be available only in polyurethane, as opposed to the larger Smart Cover which comes in both, polyurethane and leather.

Another difference between the two covers is the absence of metal in the hinge of the iPad mini Smart Cover. This lets the entire color wrap around the edge of the device, maintaining uniformity all across the front, while the back remains exposed.

The iPad mini Smart Cover is available in six colors – pink, green, blue, light gray, dark gray and (PRODUCT) RED.

The covers aren’t on sale yet, and will presumably be available for pre-order on October 26 along with the iPad mini.

iPad Mini Features, Release Date & Price Announced

After several years of rumors and speculations, Apple has finally unveiled the smaller and cheaper version of the full-sized iPad called iPad Mini to compete with cheaper Android based tablets like Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire.

iPad mini features a 7.9-inch screen with 1024x768 resolution, front and back facing camera, powered by Apple's dual-core processor and support for 4G LTE networks.

Design/Form Factor:

iPad mini looks exactly like the smaller sibling of the third generation iPad with the aluminum casing, but it's more beautiful with the diamond cut edges and sleek metallic finishes.

As rumored, the smaller iPad comes with thinner bezels along the sides in portrait mode like the iPod touch. It is 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the full-sized iPad. It is only 7.2 mm thick, whereas as iPad 3 is 9.4mm thick.

It also weighs only 308 grams, making it significantly lighter than iPad 3, which weighs 652 g.

Display:

iPad mini comes with a 7.9-inch display with 1024x768 resolution, not that much smaller than the full-sized iPad's 9.7-inch display. As expected, the smaller iPad doesn't come with Retina Display. It comes with a pixel density of 163 ppi, the same pixel density as the original iPhone.

It has the same resolution as the iPad 2, so you will be able to use all the apps that are available for the original and 2nd generation iPad.

Processor:

iPad mini is powered by the dual-core A5 chip, which powers iPad 2 and the fifth generation iPod touch and not iPad 3's A5X chip or iPad 4's A6X chip.

Camera:

iPad mini comes with front and back facing camera. The back-facing iSight camera is a 5-megapixel camera and the front-facing FaceTime camera is an HD camera, which will allow users to take 1.2-megapixel photos and record 720p HD videos.

Battery Life:

iPad mini comes with the same battery life as the full-sized iPad, which is amazing. It offers up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music.

Ultrafast Wireless:

iPad mini will also support 4G LTE networks around the world. It also supports HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA. It can also connect to Wi-Fi networks on 2.4ghz and 5ghz on 802.11n.

Lightning Connector:

As expected, iPad mini comes with Apple's new Lightning connector like the iPhone 5, 5th generation iPod touch and 7th generation iPod nano.

Siri:

iPad mini comes with Siri - Apple's personal assistant feature.

Storage Capacities:

iPad mini will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage capacities.

Colors:

It will be available in two colors: Black & Slate and White & Silver.

Pricing:

iPad mini will be available for $329 for the 16GB model, $429 for the 32GB model and $529 for the 64GB model.

Apple is also offering 4G LTE versions of the iPad for a premium of $130.

Availability:

It will be available for pre-order on Friday, October 26th in the US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK.

Microsoft Surface Pre-Orders For All Models Are Sold Out

Microsoft is still taking pre-orders for the Surface tablet, but shoppers can no longer order one to be delivered on launch day -- the company has sold out of its pre-release stock.

Microsoft SurfaceThe Windows RT edition of this computer went on Microsoft's website on Tuesday, and the least expensive version sold out within 24 hours. Several days later, all three versions of this device are sold out.

Microsoft is still taking pre-orders, but shoppers will have to wait at least week to get their purchase, even though the Surface with Windows RT is going to debut on Oct. 26. Exactly how long the wait will be depends on the version. The $500, 32GB version will be available in about 3 weeks, the $600, 32 GB one with Touch Cover ships in 1 - 2 weeks, and so does the $700, 64 GB model with Touch Cover.

More about the Surface Series :

There will be two distinctly different versions of Microsoft's upcoming tablet. One of these will run Windows 8 RT, which was designed for ARM processors. The other, expected out next year, will run the full version of Windows 8 Pro on an x86 processor.

Despite their differences, the two editions of the Surface will have a certain amount in common, including a 10.6-inch display and support for the Smart Cover, which is both a keyboard and a cover.

The tablet will be sold only in Microsoft's own stores, and there won't be a version with cellular-wireless connectivity.  Instead, this will be a Wi-Fi only tablet.

Ubuntu running on Nexus 7

Up until now, we haven’t see much of Linux in the tablet world– well, except for the Linux-based Android OS. This is about to change as Ubuntu 13.04 will see a greater focus on aspects like battery life and memory consumption.

Ubuntu has become quite touchscreen friendly in the last few years, thanks to its new Unity interface. With that in mind, it seems that the Nexus 7 is now up and running with Ubuntu 13.04. According to Canonical (the folks behind Ubuntu) this particular tablet makes a great reference device for running Ubuntu.

The only downside to using Ubuntu on a 7-inch screen is that the icons are kind of small. Still, this is probably easily adjusted and we might see a slightly more “tablet optimized” version of Unity in the near future. For future testing, Canonical will focus on Google’s flagship tablet hardware. Who the actual vendor for a real Ubuntu tablet might be remains unseen though. It is also possible that Ubuntu on tablets will largely remain DIY project.

T-Mobile LG Optimus L9 release date October 31 for $80

The new T-Mobile LG Optimus L9 is a nice phone for people who don’t care about technology but still want a “smartphone”, especially those who dont even know what phone updates are. they will be content with this phone which will probably never be upgraded.

For only $80, this is a very, very well specced device. Looks nice except for ICS, which is a dealbreaker, even on a mid-range phone.

The T-Mobile LG Optimus L9 features include a 4.5-inch qHD Corning Gorilla Glass 2 Display, a 5MP rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 4GB internal memory, 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, dual core 1ghz is enough for most apps and basic games. And a 2,150 mAh battery and Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 will receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It will be available in stores and online beginning October 31st for $79.99 with a two-year contract after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Nokia Lumia 510 launched

Nokia knows that not everyone is able to afford a high end smartphone, which is why when they walked with Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, there is a market segment that is crying out for an affordable model. I guess that clarion call has been met with the launch of the Nokia Lumia 510, an entry-level smartphone which does not burn a hole in your pocket, and yet looking stylish like all get out, coming in five different colors – red, yellow, cyan, white and black.

The hardware specifications one can look forward to would be a 4″ TFT display at 800 x 480 resolution, 256MB RAM with 4GB of internal memory, a 5-megapixel shooter camera at the back that does VGA videos at 30fps, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi and WCDMA connectivity. A Snapdragon S1 runs proceedings from underneath the hood, and you will still be able to enjoy Windows Phone’s signature Live Tiles, letting you check out at-a-glance updates as well as enjoy speedy access to all that you want to work with. Having said that, bear in mind that this is a Windows Phone 7.5 device, so you know for sure it will not be a handset to use if you want to remain at the cutting edge.

Microsoft Office Mobile apps have also been thrown into the mix, while the Internet Explorer 9 web browser helps you use the Nokia Lumia 510 right out of the box as it arrives in India, China, South America and Asia for $199 thereabouts from next month onward.