“This past week [Apple iPads] were given a boost from Apple’s two biggest rivals,” Vlad Savov writes for The Verge. “Google released the unsatisfying Nexus 9, which had posed the biggest threat of dethroning the iPad, and Microsoft made its Office suite of apps completely and utterly free on iOS. Without Apple moving a muscle, the iPad is today smarter, more productive, and apparently better value than it was just a few days ago. Such has been the history of this device since its inception.”
“As a device, the iPad is vulnerable to the caprices of an evolving and increasingly saturated market,” Savov writes. “As a platform for a new type of mobile computing, however, it now appears unassailable.”
“Microsoft made a sincere effort to compete with the iPad through its Surface RT tablet, but it crashed against the same unforgiving barrier of app inadequacy as every Android tablet to date,” Savov writes. “The Nexus 9, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S, and Sony’s Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact are the most recent contenders to have dared to directly challenge the iPad, but all they’ve done is underscore the magnitude of Apple’s lead. Even at $100 less than Apple’s 9.7-inch Air 2, the Nexus 9 seems like a bad deal when compared to the refined design, excellent battery life, and multipurpose versatility of the iPad. As if to emphasize that point, HTC had the Nexus 9 on fire sale the day after its release. Summoning up the combined engineering and financial might of Google and HTC has produced yet another device destined to labor in the iPad’s looming shadow.”
Much more in the full article here.
If you press on the back of the iPad Air 2 (not that hard, might I mention) black spots appear on the display of the device. Go ahead, try it. It’s especially present in the lower right hand corner. Noticed this at best buy when we got a bunch of returns. Not a big problem, but it’s an issue that came from the device being so thin. It doesn’t take much pressure to put stress on the LCD enough to discolor it temporarily. I think the first Air was the perfect thickness. It’s nothing to freak out about. But I hope they do go back to a little bit thicker next generation.
Maybe you guys have already talked about this. But I just thought it was worth mentioning.
Let’s call Samsung. Maybe we can start another __Gate?
/s
Nah, no _______-Gate. Samsung will just copy and announce as their ‘next big thing is here’ ad!
I havent try it and i wont either. I know that my air 2 is super thin, so what do I do? I kind of treat with care.
Isnt that the reasonable thing to do, unlike trying to check every place that it might be weak?
I was a soldier and i watched soldiers drive tanks differently than they drove their own cars, why? Your answer is the same answer as the one for the ipad air 2.
You know what ? Don’t press on the back of the iPad. Incidentally, I’m not sure which function you are hoping to activate by doing so.
I have those very thin new RayBan sunglasses. I find them much more elegant and comfortable to wear than the classic design. They are also much more fragile, so I pay attention to them more.
So are you saying the iPad air 2 is much more fragile?
May I propose a suggestion? Don’t press on the back.
Alternatively, you could purchase a case for your iPad. It’s something I do for any device I own. Any.
If you want an excellent case for your iPad, I shamelessly offer a great source for the coolest looking cases I’ve ever seen:
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Check them out. Oh, and you’re welcome.
“destined to labor in the iPad’s looming shadow.”
gee, don’t they get it?
loom on, you afterthoughts,
This I don’t understand…” Nexus 9, which had posed the biggest threat of dethroning the iPad”
And who decided that the Nexus had any chance of doing that?
One thing they finally conceded after years of getting it wrong is that the 16:9 format is not right for tablets. Never was and never will. The new nexus is following, finally, the ipads format of 4:3.
That must be the real news. The acceptance by the android camp of being wrong all these years.
“The acceptance by the android camp of being wrong all these years.” – like that will ever happen.
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
Microsoft is going to take down google with it. They’re both going circling the rim and moving down the toilet bowl vortex at the same time.
Although I agree that MS and Google just gave the iPad a gift. Savov made some big mistakes. MS did not make Office for iPad free. They had a free version that was basically a reader. They have now include several editing tools. However for advanced tools for pro’s you will still need to pay. He focused on the lack of software as the reason for MS, Android, BB, and HP’s failures in the market. Mostly they were hardware, each with it’s own mistakes. Non, except Google, gave enough capital to have 2 to 3 generations in the pipeline and think long term. His is right that the iPad has killed the competition, but does not know why.