Tablets are Becoming an Alternative to Laptops

Tablet computers or simply tablets are becoming an alternative to laptops because they provide everything that is required from a computer at our fingertips. Following are few of tablet's characteristics that are compelling people to switch from laptop to tablets.

• Tablets are more compact than laptops. Mainly available in two sizes, 7-inch and 10-inch tablet. Being compact, a person can walk around while using the tablets.
• Tablets don't heat up as much as laptops.
• More and more features are being added to tablets. Multi-tasking capability is being added to the tablets. Tablets are made compatible to flash, Java etc. The way in which the features are being added to the tablets, no doubt, one day they will be offering more than laptops. Millions of the tablets are sold each year.
• Tablets have access to various marketplaces that have tens of thousands of apps and more.
• Tablets have more battery life than most laptops.
• Many tablets come with voice-to-text programs that enable users to just dictate their content. The spoken text will be auto converted into text through the software.
• Tablets can be used for surfing the Internet, reading, watching photos and videos. They can also be used for accessing facebook, games, email etc. Most of the tablets have built in e-Readers that enable us to read eBooks.
• Tablets have dual cameras - front- and rear-facing cameras whereas laptops have a single camera. The two cameras enable us to both capture videos/pictures and video chat with the friends. Also, when compared with that of Laptops' the Tablet cameras have higher resolutions and abilities
• Tablet computers are not expensive. Where, a good laptop if of around $1,000 or more, most tablets run from $500 to $1,000 depending on the features, storage space and other factors.
• Tablets have flat touch-screen interface that makes it more interactive than a mouse. User can activate applications with the tap of a finger or move objects around and scroll screens with a swiping gesture of their hands. At the same time, we need to take special precautions of these devices. If the touch screen is damaged, the device becomes useless.

So, it is quite apparent that tablets if not soon will definitely dominate the laptops one day.

Beginning of Tablet Era

It was in April 2010 that Apple revolutionized the electronics industry by launching its first tablet called iPad. Followed by iPad, in February 2011, Motorola released its first tablet, the Xoom. The Xoom is based on Google's open-source operating system for smart phones called Android. Xoom tablet is shipped with a dual core processor, two built-in cameras, screen of 10.1 inches and 1280x800 resolution. The Xoom comes with 32 gigabytes of expandable memory. Soon, after the Xoom was launched, the iPad2 was released in March 2011. Like the Xoom, the iPad 2 too has front- and rear-facing video cameras that support Apple's FaceTime video chat software. It is quite slim and has a dual core processor for faster processing. Where iPad is made by Apple, Android tablets are not made by any specific company but any company that makes the hardware that support Google's operating system can make an Android tablet. So, let us discuss the features of iPad and Android Tablets

Note: Besides Android, there are Windows 8 tablets such as the Surface, Ativ Tab and VivoTab Smart. Also, there is a BlackBerry tablet such as BlackBerry PlayBook.

Comparing iPad and Android Tablets

iPads

• All the Apple products are upgraded uniformly on launch of the new iOS version. Like, iOS7 will be unified across most Apple smartphones and tablets.
• Battery life of iPads is quite long. Its runs quite longer without regarding.
• In terms of apps, the iPad is quite ahead than Android Tablets. There are now over 100,000 apps available through the Apple App Store.
• Before selling an app on the online App Store, it must be first approved by Apple.
• iPad continues to be the best-selling tablet.

Android Tablets

• The video resolution of most of the Android Tablets is 1,280 x 800 pixels which is quite better than 1,024 x768 pixels on both iPads.
• Android tablets are more user upgradeable than iPads.
• Compared to iPads, the battery life of Android tablets is lower.
• No approval is required for selling Android apps on the online app stores. This attracts developers to switch to Android development, hence number of Android apps are increasing considerably in online stores.
• Being different manufactures, Android tablets are not uniformly updated on launch of the new Android version.
• Few of the popular Android Tablets include Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Samsung Galaxy Tab etc. Samsung offers a wide range of tablets in multiple sizes, including models with pen input.

By: Bintu Harwani

September 16, 2013

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