iPad mini vs. Nexus 7: The debate

iPad Mini vs. Nexus 7

The iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7 aren’t the only 7-inch tablets on the market, but right now they’re the two that matter most: More buyers will be looking at those two models this holiday season than at any others, by a fair margin.

It’s hard—perhaps impossible—to compare them objectively; you can’t just compare the specs. You have to use them to truly appreciate their differences. That's why we asked Cool-Technology senior editor Chris Baron and Michael Patterson to have a little debate over the relative merits of Apple’s and Google’s little tablets. Both editors have used both of the tablets, and both experts have definite opinions about what’s good and not so good about them. Here’s how their conversation went.

The screen

Chris Baron: Reading is one of the primary reasons I use a tablet this size, and to me the iPad mini’s wider display area—4.75 inches versus the Nexus 7’s 3.75 inches—makes it a more pleasurable device for that. In both portrait and landscape orientations, pages feel more natural and readable. The Nexus 7’s display seems too narrow, as if I’m reading a tall and skinny page. For reading in landscape mode, pages feel too wide and squashed from top to bottom.

Michael Patterson: I appreciate the extra width of a larger screen too, but only for some specific uses—games with navigation controls overlaid on top of the action, for example. I actually don’t find it better for reading: It feels as if the page is too wide for books at an average font size. However, for large print, the iPad mini’s extra screen space comes in handy.
 
CB: Although I like the size of the iPad mini’s display, I have a hard time acclimating to its resolution, most likely because of my experience with the Retina display on the third-generation iPad. Pixels are evident in all text-based apps—small text in Web browsers is particularly annoying. My eyes get weary reading books on the thing because of the roughness of the text. Pixel-doubled apps look just awful. However, apps written for Retina displays and larger iPads—particularly games—can look pretty good. Photos and videos look quite nice on it, too. And here again, the wider screen makes that media feel less confined.

MP: In today’s market, I’d expect to find a relatively low-res screen like the iPad mini’s on a tablet that’s priced a lot lower—not on a major product from Apple. The market has evolved, and high pixel density—which Apple itself pioneered with the third-generation iPad—is now the norm. After using a display with higher pixel density on my phone for more than two years, I’m not willing to go backward and see all of those pixels on a tablet. The reason is simple: I spend a lot of time looking at my tablet’s display.
 
So there’s no getting around the fact that the iPad mini’s 163-pixels-per-inch resolution is not only paltry, it’s not even close to being competitive. The Nexus 7’s screen is 216 ppi; that’s not even the highest in this size class, but it is far superior to the iPad mini’s display.

Dimensions and weight

CB: The Nexus 7 is easier to hold than the iPad mini if you like to wrap your hand around your device. That’s because, again, it’s narrower than the iPad mini. If, however, you tend to hold the tablet by its edge, the iPad mini is (I find) a more comfortable device to hold, because it’s lighter. If I switch between the two, the Nexus 7 feels heavier—and, at 0.75 pound compared to the mini’s 0.68 pound, it is heavier.

MP: No question that the Nexus 7 is heavier; lighter tablets such as the iPad mini (and Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD) are friendlier to hold one-handed for long reading sessions. That said, I think the Nexus 7’s weight is still acceptable for such sessions.

Storage

CB: If you’re looking for the greatest possible capacity, the iPad mini has it at 64GB of storage; the Nexus 7 tops out at 32GB.

MP: The bigger question is whether you’ll want to spend $529 on an iPad mini to get that much storage.
 
It’s true that the Nexus 7 tops out at 32GB. And unlike most other Android tablets, the Nexus 7 has no MicroSD expansion slot, so you can’t add storage. But I will say that—like all Android tablets— the Nexus makes managing that storage space easy: Because your computer sees it as a mass storage device, you can just drag and drop content over to the tablet. (If you’re using a Mac, you’ll need to download the Android File Transfer application to access the Nexus’s storage, which doesn’t appear on the Mac’s desktop.) The iPad mini still relies primarily on iTunes to transfer content locally, as opposed to accessing it through the cloud, so I find the Nexus 7 easier to use.

Cameras

CB: The front-facing cameras on the two tablets are both 1.2 megapixels. The rear-facing camera on the Nexus 7 is…well, missing.

MP: Yup, the rear-facing camera is missing. And that is an annoying omission, although at the moment most 7-inch tablet competitors (Amazon, Barnes & Noble) lack that feature, too. The reality is that it should be present—for use with bar-code scanning, if nothing else.

Input

CB: I’m not sure either of these devices is something you’d want to type a novel on. The iPad mini gives you a bit more room. And I make more mistakes on the Nexus keyboard, although that could be because I’m more accustomed to the iPad’s keyboard. Both tablets support Bluetooth keyboards, so you can ditch the on-screen one altogether.

MP: For me, the Nexus 7 and Android get the nod here; I find the keyboard better designed and organized than the one on iOS. I agree that you’re not necessarily going to type a lot on a small tablet, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want the most functional keyboard you can get. And if you’d prefer another layout or keyboard design, there’s an app for that: You can buy a replacement keyboard, such as SwiftKey, for just a few bucks in the Google Play store.

Controls and ports

CB: I often pick up the Nexus and can’t tell which way is up. Partly that’s because feeling for the on/off and volume buttons is difficult. The lack of a Home button on the bottom throws me. A Home button makes sense, but the Back button’s behavior seems inconsistent. I expect a Back button to be restricted to the app I’m currently working with; in this case, I tap Back and suddenly find myself in an app I was using a couple of hours ago.

MP: The Nexus 7 may lack a Home button, but it does have a Micro-USB port at the bottom, so I think it’s pretty clear which side is up. I’ve never had an issue with the power and volume buttons’ locations: They are clearly located along the upper-right edge, and have a solid, distinctive design (unlike the flat, annoying buttons on the Amazon Kindle Fire HD).
 
CB: Hmmmm...I think that’s a stretch. That tiny port isn’t obvious to the touch, at least not as clearly obvious as an iOS device’s Home button. On the other hand, I think the universal nature of the Nexus 7’s USB port is a good thing. It means that you don’t have to purchase expensive connectors and cables if the one included in the box won’t do. However, Apple’s new Lightning connector is more flexible. With the Nexus 7 you can’t do wired video-out (with or without an adapter), for example, and there’s no HDMI-out, either.

MP: I echo that. Micro-USB is heaven-sent. Having Micro-USB means that you don’t have to give up universality—just grab a cable and go. I’m surprised that the iPad mini has no native HDMI-out; even the inexpensive Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 has that (though you can add HDMI-output capability to an iPad mini with Apple's $49 adapter).

The software environment

CB: Here’s where the iPad totally rules the roost. Google is trying with Google Play, but a lot of Android apps I’ve looked at are pretty subpar. I’ve yet to find an Android Twitter client that gets anywhere near Tweetbot. The built-in ebook reader is okay, but you can’t sideload ePub files from your Mac and read them on the Nexus; you have to download those files from within the app. I found the ePub-compatible ebook readers for Android that I’ve tried (Moon Reader and Aldiko) to be clumsy.

Apple’s head start in the app arena continues to show. Additionally, some of Apple’s apps—GarageBand and iPhoto in particular—are remarkable. (The iWork apps are pretty good, too.) Google has done really well with information-specific apps that use Google’s services, but in terms of “creation” versus “consumption,” the iPad wins.

The Nexus’s interface seems goofy to me. For example, I’m working on what I believe should be my home screen. I shut down the device and restart it. Now I’m on a different home screen, one that’s cluttered with huge images. When I swipe to the left, Google is pushing recommendations at me. Leave me alone. Let me see a predictable home screen.

And moving files around seems clumsier than with iOS. Apple was on to something when it hid the file system from users. File management is clumsy enough with a mouse, but nested folders on a touch device seems like a step backward. Mostly it doesn’t seem to be through-composed—that there’s no single thought about how users will interact with the thing but rather gimmicks piled on top of a hierarchical file structure. Again, it may be because I’m used to the iTunes/iOS device ecosystem, but the Nexus and Android don’t seem to be as thoroughly cemented.

MP: It’s true to say that Apple’s tablet ecosystem has a wider app selection—and in many cases, better apps, though both sides have a fair amount of garbage in their respective app stores. The trick is finding apps on Android that aren’t just blown up from the phone to the tablet. Find those, however, and you’ll discover many apps that provide a high-quality, satisfying experience.
 
Google’s own moviemaking app is a work in progress, but it’s a step in the right direction. And in my experience Google’s own Gallery app—with built-in editing, the ability to move files around, and a view of your image’s metadata—is infinitely better and more functional than the Photos app in iOS. Google at least has a straightforward file system, something Apple lacks, and that makes using and manipulating files far easier.

Pricing and value

CB: At $249 for the 32GB Wi-Fi model and $299 for the same model with cellular connectivity (compared with the iPad mini, at $429 and $559 respectively for the 32GB models), the Nexus 7 wins on price. But you make some sacrifices: no rear-facing camera, no LTE, no video-out, a smaller display than on the iPad mini.

MP: I agree, I think the Nexus 7 is the far better value. The difference is still quite clearly in favor of the Nexus 7 when you consider the 16GB models: $199 for the Nexus 7, versus $329 for the iPad mini.

The bottom line

CB: I have both a Nexus 7 and an iPad mini. I pick up the Nexus more often than the mini when I want to read, despite the more confining screen, because I find its display easier on my eyes. For everything else, it’s the iPad mini, largely because it just makes sense, from hardware to software. If the mini had a Retina display, the Nexus would be relegated to the sock drawer.

MP: I find it impossible to recommend the iPad mini, except for two sets of shoppers: people who want an iPad because of the brand’s cachet or those who want one because they’re already committed to the Apple ecosystem, and in both cases want the least-expensive model they can buy.
Otherwise, to me the Nexus 7 is superior to the iPad mini. Its display is better, I can find most of the apps I want or need on Android, and I prefer the open flexibility of the Android ecosystem.

 

Google Play comes to Google TV

Google will make its Google Play apps, TV shows, movies and music available to Google TV devices later this summer.

Google's online app market for Android apps, movies, music and books is coming to Google TV, the company announced Thursday in a blog post from the Google I/O developer conference here.

Google TV

Later this summer, Google said it will make video content that can be purchased or rented through Google Play available to Google TV. On Wednesday the company announced it would be adding TV content to the line-up of content it now offers via Google Play.

People will be able to purchase episodes of TV shows or buy the entire season and play it on a variety of Android devices, including smartphones and tablets. And now people with devices that sport Google TV will able to access Google Play content on their big screen TVs too.

Google said it's partnering with several TV studios, including NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Disney, Bravo, Paramount, Virgil Films, and Sundance.

Google Play also allows people to store their own music in Google's cloud-based service and then access it via streaming on any Android device. Now people will also be able to access this music on Google TV devices.

As part of this announcement, Google said it will also soon enable in-app payments for apps offered in the Google Play store. And it has said that it plans to offer new APIs for developers that will focus on "second screen"

Google TV 2.0 is all bling and no kerching

Google TV

Sill picking up pieces from hype bubble burst

By Faultline • Get more from this author

Posted in Hardware, 5th November 2011 10:03 GMT

Free whitepaper – Schlumberger uses IBM System Networking RackSwitch for HPC

It is easy to be rude about Google TV, but at the back of the mind is the feeling that one day, after successful tinkering, Google may get it right. Yet after initial hype and excitement around the launch, Google has struggled to recover from the dead weight of unfulfilled expectations that followed, and it will take something more than the recent revamping including an improved user interface to regain any sort of momentum.
It is little surprise that Google's actual announcement was overshadowed by the vapourware of speculation around Apple's impending TV launch expected sometime next year. That has been pitched as Steve Jobs' final legacy since he is said to have claimed to have solved the riddle of the connected TV shortly before he died. This is exactly what Google has also been trying and, so far, has failed to do.

Indeed part of the re-launch dubbed Google TV 2.0 is a plan, as yet undated, to launch around 100 new video channels on YouTube designed more for the big screen. These will be fed with supposedly original content from media outlets, and celebrities such as Madonna and Jay-Z.

But while YouTube can provide in effect a ring-fenced section containing content of high technical quality, the announced plans highlight the continuing dilemma for Google TV. That is how to attract truly premium content, and to persuade all the players of the ecosystem – notably smart TV makers – that it is worth participating in the venture.

So far Sony makes Google TVs, while Logitech makes set-top boxes that enable existing TVs to connect to the service. Neither have been selling like hot buns, but it could be that ironically Intel has done Google a favour by pulling out of the smart TV market. Intel had been one of the key Google TV partners, alongside Sony and Logitech, and pulled out at least partly because the service had failed to generate sales of chips. Now Google is no longer shackled to the Intel chipset and may be better placed to replicate on TVs the success Android has already enjoyed on smartphones with implementations on a variety of chipsets.
Indeed Google started pulling smartphones towards its TV service under Android in June 2011 by acquiring Sage TV, a Californian maker of a DVR with Slingbox-style placeshifting. The plan was to integrate this into Google TV so that broadcast content could be accessed remotely on Android devices. In this way Google hopes even to stump up some deals with a TV bundled in. Some mobile operators are already giving away smart TVs with contracts.

There are hints of this in Google TV 2.0, which alongside simplified navigation includes a customised home screen via an Android app. There is also a new TV & Movies app allowing users to browse a library of around 80,000 movies and TV shows from Amazon as well as of course YouTube itself.

Google also announced that the market for TV apps will be opened up to developers via the Android Market, so that existing mobile apps will start being ported across to the TV.

While none of these announcements will lift Google TV's immediate fortunes, they do signify that Google still has its eye on the box.

Copyright © 2011, Faultline

Faultline is published by Rethink Research, a London-based publishing and consulting firm. This weekly newsletter is an assessment of the impact of the week's events in the world of digital media. Faultline is where media meets technology. Subscription details here.

Chrome Remote Desktop Extension makes screen sharing free and easy

Chrome Remote Desktop Extension

When word gets out that you’re tech-savvy, you tend to get asked for help a lot. Helping people out can mean a lot of time spent on the phone, or driving over to someone’s house. That’s why having software that allows you to remotely control someone’s computer is a life saver. And now it seems you can do it from right within your web browser.

Google recently released the Chrome Remote Desktop Extension, which, as you can imagine, allows you to remotely control someone else’s computer. All you need to have them do is install the extension (assuming you already had them install Chrome), and have them click a button to generate an access code. They can then give you the access code over the phone, or in an instant message. After that, you’re all set. While this might not be the most robust screen sharing software out there, it does have one feature that you’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. It is completely free to use, both privately and commercially.

Google Maps Offers Single Language Labels [Finally]

Google Maps Single Language Labels

Google Maps is useful and everything, but have you tried using it in a country where English is not the local language? All those labels on the page can make for an unholy mess. Apparently, Google is now allowing people to pick which language they would like to display – at present, the languages are limited to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and English… the update just doesn’t seem to have made its way to Japan yet.
On a side note, as someone who has spent more than 10 years in Japan and who is yet to get around to learning kanji, I definitely see a good point to the double labels: they help with the street signs.