While some people believe that games on personal Computers
and – top-notch microprocessors and high-end graphics cards – have lost
their charms, it seems like they not only haven’t, but they are
gaining. Moreover, they are gaining in a way that was unbelievable a
year from now.
“Most people would say that it has lost some of its charm I say that
our commitment and work with game developers to bring back some of PC gaming
stimulus. I’ll give you an example: My father is a PC gamer.But for a
few years, he has pursued other interests. When Tomb Raider came out, my
father saw the images TressFX hair simulation and wanted the game.
TressFX for us is just the beginning of a whole series of things that we
will do together with game developers have to make PC gaming more
exciting,” said corporate vice president of global channel sales, said
in an interview with Heise.de web-site.
Being an excellent PC game, the all-new Tomb Raider is a
good example of a revenue driver for a developer. EA’s Need for Speed:
Most Wanted has clearly earned loads of money thanks to three DLC packs
released for PCs in March, which brought the actual price of the game to
rather whopping €85/$85.
3D PC Game Tomb Raider
Keeping in mind that publishers want maximize the revenue from games
by setting higher price per title, whereas companies like AMD want to
sell hardware,
it is rather logical for the latter to finance development of titles
designed. However, AMD has never done so, albeit its financial support
was crucial for such major titles as FarCry 3.
Turn your iDevice into a spycam, and indulge in a sizeable dose of retro in this week’s pick of the best iOS apps.
The Other Brothers
The Other Brothers
1.99c App Store
Two brothers, moustaches, sewers, and a damsel in distress might sound
rather familiar, but this modern twist on a platformer follows the story
of the ‘other brothers’ Joe and Jim, racing through levels against the
clock and taking on boss fights to save a girl named Tavy who’s been
captured by the Mob. Calling itself the “new retro”, it features
excellent 16-bit graphics but with modern mechanics and a mixture of
linear and non-linear environments – though you still employ the
satisfyingly retro technique of jumping on the heads of the bad guys to
see them off.
Badland
Badland
$4.49 App Store
We’ve seen a number of excellent atmospheric side-scrollers recently,
and the award-winning Badland is the latest. Set in a forest that has
been filled with traps and obstacles, you take control of one of the
forest’s rather strange-but-cutesy inhabitants. Simple one-touch
controls see you dodging all manner of spinning saws, turning cogs and
shooting spikes in this gorgeous-looking game – there’s even a local
multiplayer mode that lets up to four people play on the same device.
Slayin
Slayin
99c App Store
Slayin is one of those games that seems quite simple in theory – but in
practice it's plenty challenging. Confined to the size of your device’s
screen, it’s an endless RPG that sees you simply pacing backwards and
forwards, hitting enemies with your sword and avoiding their strikes
when your back is turned. There are weapon upgrades and spells that you
can buy as you level up, and character upgrades to unlock as well – but
once you die in this game, it’s game over. Retro graphics, an old-school
on-screen control pad and an excellent chiptune soundtrack only add to
its simplistic charm.
Prescence by People Power
Presence by People Power
Free App Store
If you’ve got an iDevice sat at home when you’re not, this app can turn
it into an instant Wi-Fi video camera, offering real-time audio and
video streaming, motion detection and a two-way conversation mode. All
you need to do is ensure it is connected to the internet, plug it into
the power and leave it in the spot you’d like to monitor. Once you've
downloaded the app onto the iDevice you carry around in your pocket, you
can check in to it whenever you like, wherever you are – you can even
get an alert with a short video clip every time motion is detected –
handy if you’re using it as a security measure. Or if you want to see
what the dog gets up to when you're out.
Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment Ltd. in
cooperation with DreamWorks Animation has released The Croods, a free
game for iPhone and iPad based on the upcoming motion picture. Players must trap and tame 10 pre-historic creatures, including the Girelephant and the Molarbear, create inventions with Grug to open and explore new areas, and decorate their world with caveman accessories. The list of features also says, “Meet your favorite characters from the feature animation film from DreamWorks Animation!” How can you already have a favorite character from The Croods? The film isn’t even out yet. The game is free to play but it does come with some paid goods inside,
so be careful with that in-app purchases toggle when you give your iPad to the kids. Also, Rovio asks customers to note that the game requires a network
connection to work. It’s also chock-full of third-party ads. Yep, not
exactly an ideal gaming experience. But we’ve come to learn that about
Rovio in the past year. The good thing is that The Croods runs on pretty much all iDevice models. It only requires iOS 4.3. Download The Croods for iPhone and iPad (Free)
We’re just over a week away from the Galaxy S IV’s official
unveiling in New York City, and the pieces are starting to fall into
place. Sure, we still don’t know what the thing is going to look like, but persistent rumors have pegged the device as sporting the same sort of plastic body that Samsung has been (in?)famous for.
While she wouldn’t weigh in on the Galaxy S IV specifically, Y.H. Lee, executive VP of Samsung’s mobile unit that the love-it-or-hate-it plastic chassis endemic to the company’s gadgets aren’t going anywhere just yet.
According to Lee, it’s just as much about practicality as it is about
style: In order to churn out (and sell) as many devices as Samsung
does, the company has to pay plenty of attention to how efficiently they
can be made. Naturally, Samsung can’t just pump out loads of shoddy
devices and call it a day, so durability weighs heavily on the company’s
mind when it comes time to picking out materials for a final design.
Meanwhile, would-be rivals like HTC have embraced metal with open
arms in its latest flagship device designs. The benefits are as
plentiful as they are subjective — the adjective that seems to be
bandied about most often is “premium,” since these metal-clad devices
tend to feel more weighty and substantial when compared to the sorts of
flimsy plastic bodies that many Android-friendly OEMs still cling to.
I’ll be the first to admit that I prefer handsets that feel
like they could withstand some abuse, though in fairness I’ve found that
devices like the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II can handle their
fair share of turmoil despite having light, plastic bodies.
Granted, I can see how the choice of materials could prove to be
occasionally problematic for the companies involved here. Crafting a
device like the HTC One or an iPhone 5 out of aluminum can be more
exacting (and therefore more time-consuming), not to mention more
expensive than sticking with a less ornate body.
But here’s the thing — Samsung doesn’t need to play by those same
rules. It’s an undeniable juggernaut in the smartphone space, and has
proven ably over the past months and years that yes, people will often
buy their smartphones even when faced with alternatives that arguably
feel more premium. That’s not to say that Samsung will never rethink its
position on the materials it uses. Lee concedes that the company
“listen[s] to the market” and tries to accommodate it, so that sentiment
could soon change if the masses demand it.
Facebook has scheduled to hold a media event on Tuesday, reawakening rumors that the social netowork will launch its own phone.
The event, set to be held at Facebook's headquarters on January 15, is
prompting - for one more time - speculations that a Facebook smartphone is on the works.
Last November reports surfaced that HTC had been working with Facebook to develop a phone, code-named the Opera UL. However, the phone never materialized Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg had denied the rumors.
TechCrunch is now claiming that the launch of a phone is imminent,
indicating that "multiple sources have told us that they expect some
sort of Facebook Phone to be on display on Tuesday."
Sony's first attempt at a laptop-tablet convertible
Product Sony Vaio Duo 11 WebsiteSony Europe Specifications Intel Core I5
or I7 CPU, up to 8GB RAM, 1920x1080 11.6in capacitive touchscreen,
integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, 128GB or 256GB SSD storage,
802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.0 with USB
charge, VGA out, HDMI out, Memory Stick Duo and SD memory card combined slot, one front-facing and one rear-facing webcam, Windows 8 Professional, 320x199x18mm, 1.3kg Price £849
THE VAIO DUO 11 is Sony's first attempt at luring
those in the market for both a laptop and a tablet to save money and buy
a device that is both.
Unveiled at the IFA electronics expo in Berlin back in August, the
Vaio Duo 11 runs Windows 8 and transforms from a tablet to a laptop via
an HD display that slides up in what Sony calls a "Slide Surfer" style
to reveal a full size QWERTY keyboard hidden underneath.
Sony Vaio Duo 11
Transformation The Sony Vaio Duo 11's most
obvious selling point is that it is a hybrid device that has two
different modes: laptop and tablet. When in tablet mode,
this transformation is achieved by supporting the back of the lid with
one hand while pushing the front of it backwards so that it pops up via a
hinge, exposing a keyboard and mouse track button underneath.
Sony Vaio Duo 11
Going from one to the other isn't the easiest transition we've
experienced on a hybrid device, nor is it the smoothest. Your first try
with the Duo 11 certainly won't be the last attempt before the display
lifts up. Unless you're completely used to and have developed the knack
for opening it correctly, it's going to take a few attempts before
getting it right first time. We think Sony should have spent more time
developing a less fiddly sliding mechanism that is easier to operate,
such as a slide button for instance, so that you don't have to use both
hands to open it up. However, this might just take some getting used to.
The mechanism used on the sliding action also doesn't feel as sturdy
as we would like when moving from tablet to laptop mode, and this
worries us a little.
Design and build Aside
from the weak feeling slide mechanism, the Vaio Duo 11 is nicely
finished and projects a premium but minimalist style. Its all-black
chassis has a high gloss shine to it, with sharp edges that make it look
stylish and worth the £850 it costs.
Sony Vaio Duo 11 laptop tablet
Weighing 1.3kg, it's heavy enough to feel expensive while not feeling
too heavy to carry around in a bag. Measuring 320x199x18mm, it does
feel a little chunky when in tablet mode, which is a shame, and if it was just a few millimetres thinner it would feel better to use.
KeyboardThe
keyboard is perhaps our least favourite aspect of the Vaio Duo 11. This
is because there is no track pad. When typing we found our fingers
naturally wanted to move to a track pad due to the location of the mouse
buttons. The mouse button is irritating to use and doesn't provide an
enjoyable experience.
Sony Vaio Duo 11 laptop tablet
Seated and using the Vaio Duo 11 at a desk, it can also feel a little
restrictive, as the small keyboard doesn't offer space for your hands
to do the usual swift movements on a larger sized keyboard. However,
those looking to use it for long periods of time at a desk can always
invest in a full size portable USB keyboard and mouse to accompany it.
Sony Vaio Duo 11 laptop tablet
Though it looks and feels well built, it's fair to say the keys are a
little too far apart and also quite small, meaning you can miss certain
letters occasionally while typing. We can't help but think that Sony
could have made the Vaio Duo 11 keys bigger and thus closer together to
improve typing accuracy.
Display One of our favourite features of the Vaio
Duo 11 is its touchscreen display. This is due to its Opticontrast
panel, which means it has a special resin layer that Sony says helps to
absorb any diffused light delivered from the backlight for high contrast
and natural colours. The 11in display panel also reduces glare from light sources, with little light reflected when in use.
Sony Vaio Duo 11 laptop tablet
The Vaio Duo 11's screen resolution is set at 1920x1080 and though it
provides brilliant viewing for movies, for general use it feels a
little too high for its 11in screen. Text appears tiny so if your eyes
aren't great, it's probably worth changing it to 1600x900. However, it
is worth noting that the screen doesn't seem as crisp overall at this
setting.
The
Vaio Duo 11's built-in accelerometer, which ensures that the screen
display rotates to whatever viewing angle you are holding the device, is
not as responsive as in other tablet/hybrid devices we've seen, such as
the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13.
It takes a while to turn around from one position to the other and you
sometimes have to go out of your way and lean it forward for it to come
back to a horizontal view.
Sony Vaio Duo 11 laptop tablet
One other downside to the screen is that it attracts smudge prints a
little too easily. Though this is expected with all touchscreen devices,
in our tests we felt it showed them up a little more than other screens
on the market, which made it look rather greasy. This isn't really an
issue when the screen brightness is turned up, however.
Performance and OS Running the Windows 8 operating system, the Vaio Duo 11 is powered by a choice of Intel Core I5 or Core I7 processors
and up to 8GB of RAM. It costs £849 for the most basic Core I5, 2GB
model, with prices jumping up by £320 for a Core I7 processor, and
another £30 for 4GB of RAM, or £100 extra for 8GB. Windows 8
Professional is also available for an extra £40.
Our review model was an 8GB Core I7 processor model and scored a
Windows Performance Index score of 5.6. The score is determined by the
lowest sub-score, in this case desktop graphics performance, and not an
average result of the performance of components.
sony vaio duo 11
Though the score was pulled down by the Vaio Duo 11's Integrated Intel HD
4000 graphics power, all other results scored much better, with
processor calculations per second scoring 7.1 out of 9.9, disk data
transfer gaining a 8.1 score and RAM operations per second earning a
score of 7.9.
Unless you're using the Vaio Duo 11 for gaming on high graphic
settings - which the device hasn't been built for anyway - you're not
going to notice much lag, as in our tests both touchscreen and
non-touchscreen operations seemed fluid, with the Vaio Duo 11 responding
very quickly to commands. As an ultrabook
convertible device, we found it will perform all your daily needs
effortlessly. However, we tested a more powerful configuration of the
Vaio Duo 11, so cheaper options might not perform as well as our test
model did.
Overall, the Vaio Duo 11 handled the Windows 8 OS very well, with
very little lag when swiping between pages, and programs popping up
almost as soon as we selected them. However, after installing a good
number of applications and storing a sufficient amount of data, we can
imagine it will slow a bit.
Connectivity, storage and battery life In
terms of battery life, we thought the Vaio Duo 11 performed pretty
well. When starting on full charge at 11am, it ran out of power at
5:30pm, and that was while in continual use performing general tasks.
This included watching movies and web browsing without letting the
screen turn off or go into sleep mode.
Sony Vaio Duo 11 laptop tablet
There's also a variety of connectivity options available on the Vaio
Duo 11, which is unusual for such a portable device. There's your
standard 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 alongside one USB 3.0 slot
and one USB 3.0 slot with USB charge so that devices can be charged even
when the device is turned off. There's also a VGA out, HDMI
out, and a Memory Stick Duo and SD card combined port. There's even a
dedicated Ethernet port for those who rely on a wired internet
connection.
The Vaio Duo 11 comes with either a 128GB or 256GB SSD drive to store
all your data. Prices reflect these accordingly, with the larger of the
two storage options costing an extra £180 on top of the £849 starting
price.
In Short The Vaio Duo 11 looks better on paper than when you test it for yourself and use it in real life situations. In tablet mode
it will probably be a little too bulky for most people, and the hinge
doesn't feel as strong as it should when sliding it into laptop mode.
As a notebook, however, it does perform really well, and the HD
screen is high quality, and very clear and enjoyable to use with Windows
8. The small keyboard is a big factor here though, but if you can live
without a trackpad, you will most probably just get used to its more
compact design. But for £849 for the least powerful configuration, we
think it is a little too expensive for what you get. The Good Vibrant display, portable, well built. The Bad No track pad, a little chunky, not great as a tablet. The Ugly Weak feeling sliding mechanism makes it difficult to operate. Bartender's Score 6/10
The iPad mini and the GoogleNexus 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.
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.
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.
