iPad or Laptop?

I’ve discussed iPad keyboard cases earlier, but since that time more accessories have come to market, offering multiple aspects of using the iPad for productivity. Most notable is the Brydge, a Kickstarter-funded accessory that does more than folio-style keyboard cases to turn your iPad into a faux Macbook Air. The device is impressive, offering both a model with stereo speakers that are touted to be superior to the iPad’s existing mono speaker and a bracket that holds your iPad firmly.

Another accessory offering the Macbook Air experience with your iPad is the ClamCase, affording full protection for your iPad along with a fully positionable keyboard that can fold behind your iPad. The ClamCase would be an excellent choice for those that want to quickly transition between laptop and tablet functionality without having to remove the iPad from the accessory.

While both of these products are excellent accessories (to go along with the folio-style cases discussed earlier) there is an elephant in the room that hasn’t been recognized: is this option a worthy investment? Even if you choose the least expensive iPad (16 gigabyte storage, wifi-only), adding one of the two keyboard cases above (ClamCase at $149, Brydge at $210 for speaker-equipped and $170 for speaker less) raises the price to around $700. That’s very close to the entry level price for a Macbook Air that offers a full OS as well even more cloud storage options than the iPad. Pick up a larger capacity iPad or one with LTE capacity and you could easily surpass the price of the least expensive Air. Bear in mind, if you don’t need the portability of an ultraportable and aren’t devoted to OSX there are options far less expensive than the Air (caveat emptor!).

So what’s your best option? The answer depends entirely on what you need to do. If you need network connectivity from where ever you are, the iPad/keyboard case is likely your best option provided you don’t need the power of a full OS. The latest generation of iPad’s LTE connection is blazingly fast, and even 3G connectivity is  sufficient for most productivity tasks. More than a few businesses have switched to using iPads as their primary device, relying on proprietary apps for ordering and inventory; in cases like this a ClamCase would work perfectly. If you need the best battery life possible the iPad/keyboard case might be your best choice as well. While the Air offers great battery life, it can’t touch the iPad’s 10 hours (I routinely use my iPad for a full business day, including constant Pandora play without falling below 50% battery charge).

There are some tasks that are simply better on a full fledged laptop, however. I can attest that while the WordPress app in iOS is fine for quick posts, it’s much easier to collect all of the references and information I like to use in a typical post on my iMac. Having the ability to have multiple apps windowed (even on the smaller screen of the 11 inch Air) is a great productivity tool. Then there’s the physical form of your device- while the ClamCase and Brydge are solid, there are times that the aluminum unibody of the Air offers an advantage. The form is even slimmer than the combined iPad/case and offers a slightly wider screen to go along with the more powerful processor and multitasking ability. Then there’s the far greater range of applications available to the Air, all the way to being able to boot or emulate a different operating system. While the Air typically has a smaller hard drive than other Apple computers, it does afford the ability to use Bootcamp or a virtual environment like Parallels to provide access to Windows or Linux.

The question of what setup provides the best experience is actually a good problem to have. More choices for consumers is always an advantage, allowing users to tailor their devices to exactly what their needs are. The only requirement is that customers be aware of their options and have all of the information needed to make an informed decision as to what best suits their needs.

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Thoughts on the Windows 8 Tablets

Microsoft‘s big announcement is out- the long-awaited Windows 8 tablets have been teased, and the big surprise is that Microsoft is getting into the hardware manufacturing game in an attempt to spur innovation among third party hardware manufacturers and go head to head with Apple. For those of you that haven’t been inundated with the reports, the new Microsoft manufactured devices (dubbed the Surface) will come in two flavors: a unit sporting an ARM processor that will run a version of Windows 8 that will not run software compatible with other systems like desktops, and an X86 processor version running the full Windows 8 operating system.

Actual technicals specifications are somewhat thin. Both will have a magnesium alloy body and a 10.6 inch Gorilla Glass display (surprisingly larger than the iPad‘s 9.7 inch display). Unlike the iPad, the Microsoft tablets will have several ports: USB 2, HDMI, and microSD. Both models are heavier than the iPad (although the ARM version is only fractionally so). The form factor also deviates from the iPad’s as necessitated by the extra input ports; where the iPad is sleek and rounded the Surface tablets are more squared off with flat sides. Two clever and stylish covers have been featured as well; not only do they protect the unit they double as a keyboard and trackpad when opened. One version relies on an accelerometer and touch sensor to replicate a keyboard, the other has a more traditional construction (although pundits haven’t been allowed to use either yet). The Windows 8 Metro interface will immediately differentiate these tablets from competitors when powered up- while I’m very pessimistic of the Metro interface on traditional laptops and desktops, I expect it to shine on tablets (as it does on the latest generation of Windows phone).

With suggestions that the x86 tablet will be priced similarly to ultraportables I think Microsoft may be trying to create a new subcategory of device, between the tablet and ultraportable. The device’s keyboard has been stated to have a trackpad, a strange choice of input for a class of devices that focuses on touch screens as the primary source of interaction. While it’s pure speculation, it seems as though the x86 version is an attempt to make the best of both worlds- light, slim, set apart from other devices by the addition of touchscreen capability and being able to remove the keyboard but still offering the same full operating system of ultraportables instead of a pared down mobile OS.

The ARM version of the Surface tablet is the true tablet competitor. The ARM processor is the same as used by some Android tablets, and the version of Windows 8 it sports shares only the Metro interface with its more powerful sibling. The loss of functionality is a trade off for lower cost, better battery life and less heat byproduct, but there is bound to be some confusion among the Windows faithful as to why they can’t run their software on a Windows device. Other than the Metro interface there’s not a great deal to differentiate the ARM processor version of Microsoft’s tablet from its competitors.

So is Apple justifiably nervous? It’s too early to say if this new lineup is a legitimate competitor to the iPad; questions still abound over multiple factors: the battery life isn’t even hinted at, there’s a legitimate concern over how much heat the devices will generate (tablets have favored low powered mobile processors for both battery life and lower heat generation), confusion over what to expect from the Win8 app library (as the two devices aren’t fully software compatible), and most importantly the PRICE. Prices were hinted at, but to be truly competitive the devices must at least meet their primary competitor. Both versions of the new tablet have their own hurdles; the ARM version may operate as other tablets but it won’t meet the needs of those that have been waiting for a tablet running Windows, and the x86 may be short on battery life and RAM (most full OS systems need four gigabytes of RAM, but tablets to date have had a maximum of one).

Still, the limited exposure pundits have been allowed has resulted in some positive buzz. Windows 8 is at home on tablets, and Microsoft has the benefit of building off of Apple and Google’s experience in the tablet market. Microsoft has been building toward this release for some time, and after their failure with the Zune and Courier tablet I’d imagine they have put a great deal more focus on releasing a competitive product. It’s foolish to label the Surface tablet (or any of its third party Windows 8 tablet brethren) as iPad killers; the iPad effectively created the device genre and has a huge user base that is still expanding. That being said, there are still a large number of users that simply don’t like the Apple lineup and would flock to a viable competitor, especially if that competitor offered greater compatibility with an already-established Windows user base.

Going into the hardware market has risks; there is bound to be discontent among Microsoft’s manufacturing partners. To date Microsoft has made their place in the market as a software company, leaving the hardware form factor to its resellers. Those retailers likely don’t appreciate the extra competition from Microsoft as most resellers have dealt with raz0r-thin profits in an increasingly competitive market. While Microsoft has ventured into (successful) hardware manufacture before with the XBox, the Surface tablets blaze new ground as they will be listed alongside other tablets running the same operating system. Microsoft controlling both the software and hardware of a product line threatens to shunt them into the same ‘closed system’ category of Apple’s iOS, with all aspects of the device controlled by a (hopefully) benevolent dictator. Window’s ‘openness’ is a byproduct of Microsoft’s business strategy of focusing solely on being a software vendor and leaving hardware configuration to its resellers; without those resellers Microsoft is free to pursue the advantages that Apple has created by controlling their entire product line- but at the expense of losing one of the primary factors that advocates have touted.

I’m hoping for good things from Microsoft’s release of Windows 8; it’s been stated ad nauseum competition breed innovation. Without the pressure to innovate the market would become stagnant, and Android has offered only token resistance to the tidal wave of iOS devices. While I have no desire to leave the warm, comforting embrace of the Apple-verse, I look forward to what Microsoft is going to bring to the table- and what this will spur Apple to do in answer.

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Quasar Gives You A Reason to Jailbreak Your iPad

I’ve never been tempted to jailbreak any of my iOS devices. The additional functionality afforded by Cydia apps just didn’t offer enough upside for me to abandon the warm embrace of official iOS-dom. 

CNET brings news today of the first app that’s given me the urge to delve into jail breaking- Quasar. Quasar is simply what multitasking should be on the iPad- making iOS essentially a touch-based desktop OS. Apps can be either full screen or windowed, fully positionable and resizable with controls for rendering a windowed app in portrait or landscape mode. The demonstration video sets my gadget lust tingling. Sadly, as mentioned earlier the app doesn’t have the blessings of Cupertino and isn’t available in the iTunes App Store- to purchase it you’ll have to jailbreak your iPad and nab it from the Cydia App Store.

I do hope that Apple is paying attention to the avalanche of press Quasar is generating; demand drives innovation, and I’d be overjoyed if Apple were to incorporate something like this into iOS officially. With the pending release of Windows 8 on multiple devices, iOS could use a paradigm-shifting addition to keep their category-dominating status.

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