Tablet Wars: The iPad Drifts Toward Mediocrity

A number of interesting tablets have been launched in the last month, but the primary driver in this market - Apple has not launched one of them. Part of its problem was that it had accidentally leaked the tablet's specs before the announcement, leaving plenty of room for excitement.

Leaves aside, many of the others' products seem more exciting this quarter. I explain, and then close with my product of the week: the new Sonos Boost.

Remember when the first and second iPads came out? They were magical, wonderful devices. According to studies, fifty percent of the installed base is still generation 1 and 2 iPads. This suggests that Steve Jobs did an exciting job in the market, but it reflects the fact that Tim Cook cannot get people to give him to buy new ones.

Tablet sales have dropped 55 percent compared to last year, with an 11 percent increase this year, and the market is nowhere near saturated. Apple does not dominate the market any more. Apple's share this year is also down; It sold just 13 million units in 2014 against a total market of 48 million units.

The reason for this is that the volume of most products is now in the 8-inch bracket, which is around US $ 200 on average, and Apple sells its identical iPad mini at about twice that price, due to which it doesn't sell well. is . These numbers were reported in The Wall Street Journal, a longtime Apple supporter that he received from IDC.

New products are not that exciting. They are slightly thinner and lighter; They have a fingerprint reader for security, such as iPhones, and slightly higher performance.

They are better integrated with other Apple products, so Apple users should like them - others, not so much. The big problem is, I still don't see a very big reason to get someone if your existing iPad or other tablet is working fine.

Apple did something strange instead. Its larger iPad Air gets a ripped camera, which works when filming high-speed objects, but taking a picture with a large tablet makes you look like a dork. The iPad Mini, which is a better size to use as a camera, doesn't get this feature, even though it's twice the price of most competitors.

It's also strange that even though the iPad Mini is twice the price of competitors, it has a down-level processor - as if Apple just wanted to make it cheaper. This entire line feels like Apple missed a meeting.

Some of the recently launched products are against the latest iPads.

Asus PadFone X Mini

PadFone X Mini, launched jointly by Intel and Asus last week, is far more interesting. This is a $ 200 product in the iPad mini class - yes, half the price people pay for an iPad mini 3 - both tablet and smartphone. Yes, for half the price of the iPad Mini or a third of the price of most iPhones, you can have a contract-free device that will make both phone calls and tablet accessories.

You see, the phone nests behind the tablet, so the device is like a 4.5-inch smartphone that can grow up to 7 inches when the tablet experience is more.

To remind you that the 4.5-inch form factor was what Steve Jobs himself said is ideal for phones, and with a quick snap to an accessory, you can turn the padphone into a 7-inch tablet, That's bigger than the largest iPhone. You can have all this under one data plan and for a fraction of the price of an iPad or iPhone.

It is based on a concept created by IBM in the 1990s, called a "modular computer", and holds the smartphone as the main module. While it runs Android, it may be an ideal platform for the upcoming Windows 10 product set, given that the core technology is from Intel. Low prices, great prices, and a relatively unique factor.

Google Nexus 9

With a performance score consistent with the Mac Pro - yes, not the iPad but the Mac Pro - Nexus 9 is a display you should be able to get at the iPad Mini price.

This performance is thanks to the new Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, which has a 192-core Kepler GPU at its heart. In fact, the Nexus 9 is, in fact, in the size class of the iPad Air, faster, with a price consistent with the iPad Mini, and with better speakers of the two.

If you want a more traditionally sized tablet this is too much. The price and performance differ well - and in fact are slightly lighter than the iPad Air - it is a lot of value for money. So, for the same price as the iPad Mini 3, you get a product that is arguably better than the iPad Air 2.

Dell Venue 8 7000

The Dell Venue 8 7000 is an impressively thin product - and like the PadFone X Mini, it has an Intel processor. What it does stand out is that not only is it just 6 mm thick, it is the first device with an Intel RealSense snapshot depth camera.

This camera is unique in that it allows you to edit depth of field after taking a photo.

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