Apple iPad 2

   Today Apple has announced the new version of the iPad which is thinner, lighter and faster than the old one. It appears that with the new features of this product Apple will maintain its lead in the tablets market. What I always liked at the Apple products is the design - simple, easy to handle and elegant. And the new iPad makes no difference even with the new features as you will see in the below specifications:

-- DISPLAY:  LED-backlit IPS, multi-touch screen, 1024 x 768 pixels, 9.7  inches, fingerprint & scratch resistant surface.

-- CPU: Apple A5 1GHz dual-core processor.

-- GPU:  no details so far.

-- MEMORY:  no details so far.

-- STORAGE:  16/32/64 GB for internal, micro SD up to 32 GB.

-- CAMERA:  Primary - HD video recording (720p),

Secondary - VGA, video calls.

-- CONNECTIVITY: 3G and/or Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, micro-USB, A-GPS, 3.5 mm headphone jack.

-- SENSORS:  Gyroscope (three-axis), Accelerometer, Ambient light, Compass.

-- BATTERY:  10 hours.

-- MULTIMEDIA: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound system.

-- OS:  iOS 4.3 .

-- APPLICATIONS:  iBooks, Google Maps, FaceTime, AirPlay, AirPrint, PhotoBooth.

   With the new version of iOS the iPad can work as personal hotspot device. Movies. music and photos can be shared  on a HDTV with the AirPlay application through Wi-Fi and with AirPrint you can print wireless documents. The front camera, which is so elegant integrated, is a FaceTime video calling capable. The sound is great also and the same with all features. Although there are no technical details regarding the GPU Apple mentioned that is nine times faster.

   What I always did not like about Apple products was the price (even if sometimes is justified) or at least the prices from Romania. Now the price of the new iPad seems a fair one -starts from 499 USD - given the fact that Motorola XOOM starts from 799 USD - but these are the US figures. Many were expecting for the new version to have a better display resolution, just like the iPhone has, but it appears Apple has preferred not to change it.

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ZTE Skate

   ZTE is known as a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions but also as a low-cost mobile phone maker, just as Huawei - their main competitor. The same as Huawei and Mobiwire (Sagem if you remember), ZTE is making phone mainly for operators and under their brands (Orange, Vodafone etc.) Now ZTE has announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the Skate, a smartphone which raises the company (in the phones market). This looks like a premium smartphone with large screen and reasonable specifications as you will see below:

-- DISPLAY: 4.3 inch capacitive touch WVGA 480 x 800 pixels screen, 16M colors.

-- CPU:  800 MHz processor.

-- GPU:  Adreno 200

-- MEMORY:  no detail so far.

-- STORAGE:  no details so far for ROM, microSD card slot up to 32GB.

-- CAMERA:  Primary - 5MP camera, LED flash.

-- CONNECTIVITY:  3G HSPA+, HSUPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro-USB port v 2.0, 3.5 mm headphone jack, A-GPS.

-- SENSORS:  Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass.

-- BATTERY:  no details so far.

-- MULTIMEDIA:  Touch sensitive controls.

-- OS:  Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Adobe Flash 10.1 support.

-- APPLICATIONS:  Google Apps, social networking.

   So the hardware is not the highest but as I mentioned at the beginning this is a low-cost phone maker so I say is decent. I believe the price will make it very attractive and the design is great too.

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