iPad Air 2 announced

[kojackJKU]

Here's a pretty good article from the NY Times that highlights why, and why not, to buy the iPad Air 2. The reviewer says the Air 2 is the fastest, thinnest, most powerful tablet ever made, iPad or Android. The question is, Do you need to spend $500 or more to meet your tablet needs? There are plenty of less expensive models, including last year's iPad Air for $100 less, that meet most people's requirements.

And do you really need a tablet at all? Between a smartphone with a large screen and a laptop computer, most people's needs are covered.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/t...i-3-review-one-thumb-up-and-another-down.html

In my particular circumstances, I prefer a tablet to phone and laptop for 90% of my computing. And my 2 year old iPad 3 is getting long in the tooth. So the iPad Air 2 is looking attractive. My wife has her iPhone with her constantly. If it were waterproof, I bet she would take it into the shower. She doesn't use a tablet except to play a game or two. So a new iPad is not on her Christmas list.

Buy her a lifeproof case, she can be covered in the shower too...

 

[Ranger Steve]

Apple has just revealed that the iPad Air 2 will be the only current Apple product that will support split screen multitasking, as permitted with the newly announced iOS 9. The feature is called Split View.
http://www.apple.com/ios/ios9-preview/

The iPad Air 2 is the only iPad or iPhone with 2 GB RAM and the faster three-core A8X processor, which provide enough resources for two apps to be running simultaneously side by side in Split View.

Split View can be seen as a direct response to Microsoft's Surface 3 Pro, which has a laptop-like ability to simultaneously run multiple apps in side by side or overlapping windows. (Certain Android tablets, such as Samsung Galaxy Tab and Note models, have had a split screen feature since 2013. However, only a handful of Samsung-modified apps support the multi-tasking feature.) IBM, Apple's partner for developing business-oriented applications, probably played a role in developing Split View.

Split View makes it more likely that Apple will announce an iPad with a larger screen. (Call it iPad Pro.) Since the Surface Pro 3 has a 12 inch, 2160x1440 pixel screen, I expect a larger iPad to have a similar screen. IPads currently use a 2048x1536 pixel screen. The larger iPad probably will use a next-generation Apple-designed processor. Apple usually announced new iPad models in September, so we won't have long to wait to learn what hardware Apple thinks is optimal for iOS 9.

Lesser iPads and iPhones will be able to use the Slide Over feature of iOS9, which I understand to suspend one app while you switch to a second app. You can do this with iOS 8 by clicking twice on the Home button and selecting the app you want to switch to. Slide Over makes this more convenient.

The Picture in Picture feature of iOS9 allows you to run FaceTime or a video in a small window that overlays another app. This feature should work in most iPads and iPhones sold in the last two years.

Should make the air 2 pretty awesome.