Our Precious Ecosystems

     Many people think that the recently revealed Surface and the just released Nexus 7 are nothing more than Halo generating products that are aimed for pushing OEM's to make better products not necessarily market share is a farce. The Nexus 7 and the Surface are poised to take two different markets. They both feature the luxury of full compatibly with their respective app markets and a high quality build and a relatively low price for their markets. Recently revealed is that the Android army consists of 400 million Android devices + compared to 350 million IOS devices and a small number of Blackberry devices and  Symbian and relatively few Windows Phones. I foresee the Blackberry market losing business share to Windows Phone/Windows 8 and the IOS kingdom under attack from the Android advance. Even if Windows 8 fails sadly Linux will not rise to the top even though Android is Linux at her core. Today at the Google I/O conference they announced 600 million apps in the Google Play store and a new magazine and movie store with movie rentals and tv series which will defiantly rival that of the 550 million app packing Itunes store which also features newsstand for magazines, and sells movies like the Google Play market. Microsoft will integrate the Zune software into Windows 8 and currently features movies, music, podcasts, but no book store (possible B&N integration but that is speculative) and no magazine store. The biggest seller to the general public is an ecosystem which Google looks like it has it all wrapped up. The Nexus 7 which will be up for pre-order soon and features a kindle fire like look with a 1280x800 IPS display and a tegra 3 core and most important Android 4.1 jelly bean. This device will be the one to beat in the current 7 inch market recently dominated by the Kindle fire in price and the Galaxy tab 7.7 tab in quality and I think the Surface will knock the Ipad off of its pedestal where whenever you have a review people will say it is better than the Ipad, but I think in quality and design will compare their devices to the Surface even though it is a tough act to follow. The IOS ecosystem is expanding at a quick rate and the Google Play ecosystem is at an even faster rate and the Blackberry system is dwindling and the Microsoft system is emerging into a viable contender.

The battle of Two's

                                    Skypad Alpha 2 vs. Ipad2
      I finally decided to review the Skypad Alpha 2 vs. the Ipad2. I waited to make this battle because the original Skypad Alpha was too low on specs to think about competing with the Ipad 2. Now with an upgraded app market, faster processor, capacitive screen, and hdmi cable we can think this beautiful sleek device can compete with the bigger more well known Ipad 2. Also another thing to look forward to is an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwhich. This device will be a definite hit and a smash in the budget market.

 1. Multimedia

     The Ipad2 is locked and loaded with the IOS app market holding 500,000 apps. Even though it has all that only a mere 140,000 are made for the Ipad. With a 9.7 inch capacitive screen with 3 points of touch this is great for slicing fruit and the pinch to zoom is very fluid. A much more known contemporary and very ferocious, but is extremely limited. Powered by a mere 1 GHZ dual core chip and 512 MB of RAM come on people get this in your head! Let my not forget the lack of SD and hdmi ports! On the side of the Skypad Alpha 2 we see a foreign app market called 1Mobile. Do not be afraid for it sports over 200,000 applications all free! With a 7 inch 5 finger multi touch screen you can bet your bottom dollar this is a death match. Packing a 1.2 GHZ ARM Cortex 8 processor and the same GPU in the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and 512 MB of Ram this is made for gaming. Also it has the ability to stream through its hdmi port 3D stereoscopic files. Something many devices wish they could do. With this battle I reluctantly say the Alpha 2 wins the day!

2. The Long Haul

     Don't we all love a device that can last that long road trip? With the Ipad you get 10 hours of goody goodness. With the Skypad Alpha 2 you get between 4-6 hours of playtime. Also with a car charger accessory you will be able to charge back up fully in one hour!
                                                                      3. Camera
     The camera situation is defiantly better on the Ipad. With a 2mp front and 3mp rear 720p it is a lot better. What you should consider is the Skypad Alpha 2 has a new .3mp camera which is a heck lot better than the old 1.3 in low light conditions. I leave that decision to y'all.
                                                                      Final decision
     My final decision is the Alpha2 is an excellent choice for teens, tweens, and people on a budget. It is only beaten by the camera and size situation. Also with Android 4.0 update you will not miss IOS. So if you want   an excellent e-reader with 5 points of touch great processor and stellar graphics go with the Alpha2. If you want a big device for who knows what go with the Ipad 2.