Google Android

The Information technology next generation Apple iPad is available for pre-order now and lands on store shelves March 16. If you bought an iPad 2, which was released about this time last year, the question is, are the upgrades to the new iPad worth shelling out another $ 500 plus to buy one? If you don’t have a Apple tablet yet or have the original Apple iPad, the financial picture looks a bit better although you’ll want to compare the new iPad to the competition from Google Android based tablets. And is it better to save $100 and buy one of the now discounted iPad 2s, starting at $419? Here are some of the features on the new Apple iPad so you can compare for yourself: The new iPad has a much improved screen and touche. Called high-resolution Retina display it has 2084-by-1536-pixel resolution, or 3.1 million pixels, 4 - times that of the Apple iPad 2. The new iPad has more processing power, with an A5X chip with quad-core graphics compared to the A5 dual-core processor of the iPad 2, making it a gain for games and other apps that require more power than simply catching up on email or Facebook. The new Apple iPad is also LTE-enabled, LTE being the new higher speed networks rolled in Canada already by the three major carriers, Telus, Bell and Rogers. Like the earlier generation iPads, the new one comes in a Wi-Fi-only version, that starts at $519, and Wi-Fi and 4G (LTE) models that start at $649. The battery life stays the same at nine hours on a cellular data network and ten hours if you’re on Wi-Fi. It also has an improved camera. In the 4G/LTE version you can set up a Wi-Fi hot spot on it, meaning you can use your Apple iPad to link other wireless devices to the data network — a useful function particularly if you’re travelling and you don’t want to pay for a data plan for both your smart phone and your tablet. Check http://www.apple.com/ca.

TV Apple

It’s Apple week, with Apple also releasing an updated version of its set-top box Apple Company TV. For many people this is a relatively inexpensive way of turning an older television into one that is Internet-connected and can link to Netflix, iTunes movies and Apple TV shows, YouTube and other online content. It also syncs with your other Apple devices and Apple’s online storage system, the iCloud. The new Apple TV has high-definition 1080p video and unlike its predecessor, this one will be able to wirelessly access movies from iCloud that you’ve purchased on your Apple iPad or Apple iPhone. It also has Air Play, already a feature of the earlier Apple TV, which lets you stream wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad, or iTouch to your television. So, for example, if you have a bunch of vacation snapshots on your iPhone or iPad, you can easily show them off on your big TV screen. www.apple.com/ca/appletv.If you’re debating whether or not to go Apple or Android with a new tablet computer, there are a number of new tablets based on the Google Android operating system, including the Iconia tab A200 that’s just arriving in Canada. At 10.1-inches (25 cm), it’s just a bit bigger than the iPad although at 12.7 mm in depth, it’s a bit heftier. It’s Wi-Fi only; the screen is 1280 by 800 resolution and it has a NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core mobile processor. You can use Flash-based applications on the A200 although with Adobe’s shift to HTML - 5 over its Flash Player for mobile web, that’s becoming less of an issue. Battery life is eight hours; it has a USB 2.0 port so you can hook up other devices as well as a MicroSD slot and a micro Universal-serial-bus (usb) port. The front-facing two-megapixel camera is good for Online video chats and takes still photos. www.acer.ca.