Even Bill Gates says "frustrated" iPad users can't type or create documents

Bill Gates says "frustrated" iPad users can't type or create documents

Just when we thought that the 'iPad can't do productive stuff' debate was over, Microsoft co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates, has fired fresh salvos at the world's best selling tablet.

During an interview with CNBC, speaking on the declining PC market, Gates said that people using iPad-like devices were frustrated because "they can't type, create documents, and don't have Office." He said that tablets were becoming more popular and that the line between PCs and tablets was becoming thinner.

He also praised the Surface, Microsoft's own tablet, for integrating the "portability of the tablet with the richness of the PC."

Microsoft launched Windows RT in October 2012, along with the Surface tablet (Review). The software runs on a few tablets from other manufacturers as well. Windows RT is designed to run on phone-style chips, of the kind used in the iPad, rather than PC-style chips, which tend to use more energy and require bigger batteries. Using Windows RT means the tablets can be thinner and lighter, but it also means regular Windows programs won't run on Windows RT. That's caused some confusion and limited the appeal of Windows RT, analysts say.

However, the market response to Microsoft's Windows RT powered tablets has been anything but good. Researchers at IDC said manufacturers shipped 200,000 tablets running Windows RT, the special version of Windows for iPad-style tablets, in the January to March period, down from about 900,000 shipped in the fourth quarter.

It's worth pointing out that Apple still remains the top tablet seller although Android tablets are showing increased presence thanks to low cost devices from Asian sellers. Tablet shipments reached 49.2 million units in the January-to-March period, according to IDC. Apple's iPads accounted for 19.5 million units out of these. Android tablets accounted for 56.5 percent of shipments in the March quarter, compared to 39.6 percent for iPads. Tablets running Microsoft's new Windows and Windows RT platforms accounted for 3.7 percent of total shipments.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 first impressions in online

Samsung Galaxy S4 first impressions

 

          Samsung has launched its flagship phone, the Galaxy S4, in the Indian market. We were able to experience the phone for a brief period on the sidelines of the Samsung India launch event.

          The phone is available in two colours - Black Mist and White Frost. The first thing that you notice when you pick up the phone is that it doesn't feel bulky. For a device that has a 5-inch screen, the Galaxy S4 feels more like a phone and less like a phablet since its dimensions similar are to the Galaxy S III. It's pretty lightweight.

           You see a power button on the right side of the phone, volume rocker on the left, a 3.5mm headset jack and Infrared receiver on the top and Micro-USB at the bottom. The SIM card, microSD card slot, and battery are accessible when you remove the back cover.

          The front of the phone still features a physical Home button and two capacitive touch buttons for Menu and Back controls. The different sensors, front camera, notification light and earpiece grill sit above the screen.

               The back features the 13-megapixel camera, with the LED flash right below it. The back (of the Black coloured model) still has that pseudo matte finish on the glossy plastic surface that attracts fingerprints. The White coloured model doesn't have the pseudo matte finish and instead sports a different dotted pattern which we found a little better. The Indian version doesn't feature the Galaxy S4 branding at the back. There's a small speaker outlet towards the bottom. Overall, the phone looks better than the Galaxy S III as it features a narrow body and thin bezel but doesn't feel alluring when compared to the like of the iPhone 5 and HTC One due to the use of polycarbonate (read plastic) materials.


            The Galaxy S4's display is gorgeous with the HD screen rendering sharp images and text, although the colours are still a little saturated and look far from natural. Navigating through  phone's menus and home screens is a smooth experience thanks to all the power under the hood.

          We also got to experience some of Samsung's motion control and hand gestures. The Smart Pause gesture works well while watching videos and pauses them when you're looking away. We also tried the Air View gesture that lets you explore content on the screen without actually touching it. We found that this worked partially- we were able to hover over a video playback timeline and preview upcoming content through it but the mode didn't work for previewing images in the gallery. The other Air Gesture that lets you browse content when you wave your hand over the screen also works partially. We were able to browse through photos in the gallery in landscape mode with the gesture but it doesn't work as well in the portrait mode. Smart scroll also works intermittently letting you scroll through webpages when you tilt the screen. To be honest, the average user will end up spending more time trying to get these features to work than actually getting the task done.

            The WatchOn TV remote software did not have India under the list of supported countries but one can manually configure individual devices to use the phone as a remote control. Samsung also offers content through its Music and Video hubs. The usual TouchWiz bells and whistles including the multi-window and pop up play are also present in the Galaxy S4. At times you really get overwhelmed with the number of settings, menus and controls that are present in this phone which might be a bad thing for new smartphone users. Samsung offers the option to hide advanced settings for newbies though.

            Overall, the smart features are gimmicky and a lot of users will perhaps forget about them after the initial honeymoon period with the phone. They're mainly for salesmen to demonstrate in order to pull potential customers. Having said that, it's still one of the most feature rich Android smartphones available today. We'll have more with our review of the Samsung Galaxy S4 very soon.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 India launch and hands on

Samsung Galaxy Core smartphone with dual-SIM option officially announced

          Samsung has officially taken wraps of its new mid-range Android smartphone, Galaxy Core. The phone, which was leaked online, last week, sports a 4.3-inch screen with a 480x800 pixels resolution. Powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, the smartphone has 1GB of RAM and runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and feature Samsung's TouchWiz interface layer on top.

          The phone sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front facing camera. It offers 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded through a microSD card. It also offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS connectivity options. The phone comes with an 1800 mAh battery.

          Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Core will be available in two different versions - a single-SIM version which would be available from July and a dual-SIM version that would start selling from May, depending on the market. There's no specific information about availability and pricing in India.

          The phone will offer some new smart features borrowed from some of its high-end sibling including Smart Stay that recognizes when a user is looking at the phone, and saves battery life when a user looks away by dimming the screen and powering down using advanced facial recognition, Smart Alert that alerts the user to missed calls and messages when the device is picked up, Motion UI that activates common functions such as refresh or mute with simple motion commands and S Voice, Samsung's own voice assistant.

          Unlike Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4, the phone will come with FM Radio functionality.