Author: Shivaank Rana

NASA Discovers New Neptune Moon

The Hubble space telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting Neptune, Nasa has confirmed. Designated S/2004 N 1, this is the 14th known moon to circle the giant planet.

The S/2004 N1 is so small and faint that it escaped detection by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew by Neptune in 1989. It was discovered by the SETI Institute’s Mark Showalter, who found it while studying photos of Neptune’s rings that had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope between 2004 and 2009. The moon went undiscovered for so long simply because it was so hard to see.

Just 12 miles across, the moon orbits outside the planet’s ring system, carving a rut into space about 65,400 miles away from the ice giant. But S/2004 N1 is a little speed demon: It completes its 372,000-mile orbital journey in just 23 hours.

“The moons and arcs orbit very quickly, so we had to devise a way to follow their motion in order to bring out the details of the system,” Showalter said in a press statement. “It’s the same reason a sports photographer tracks a running athlete — the athlete stays in focus, but the background blurs.”

The Hubble imagery has been publicly accessible for years. All it required was a sharp-eyed observer to spot the moon’s track over time. “Anyone could have discovered this,” a modest Showalter told Sky & Telescope. Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun.

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July 16, 2013
Rumour : 6″ Full-HD HTC One Max Set For September Launch

HTC is prepping a couple extensions to their popular One device. Leaked images of the HTC One Mini have arrived online a few times. The HTC One Mini should be launching within the next couple weeks and sports a 4.3-inch 720p LCD display, 1.4Ghz dual-core processor, 16GB Internal Memory, 1GB RAM, 4-megapixel “Ultrapixel” camera, run Android OS 4.2 Jelly Bean and many of the new features such as Beats Audio, Zoe Share, BoomSound.

In addition, HTC has long been rumoured to compete against rival manufacturers with a phablet. Mobile Geeks cited individuals who claim to have knowledge of the company’s plans.

HTC will reportedly debut a 6-inch version of its HTC One in September. Dubbed the HTC One Max, the Android handset could arrive at the same time as Samsung’s expected Galaxy Note 3 and several other near-tablet-sized phones from Sony and LG. In addition to the large displays, all of these are expected to use the same chip inside.

Rumoured specifications indicate that the HTC One Max will have a 6-inch 1080p Super LCD 3 display, 2 GB of memory, either 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage and a 3200 mAh battery. A 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 chip will power the Max.

No rumoured price points of the HTC One Max have surfaced, yet.

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July 16, 2013
Leaked : Complete Specs List And New Images Of Upcoming Blackberry A10

Remember when the specs of the BlackBerry ‘Aritso,’ currently pegged as being the BlackBerry A10, leaked online? This was a powerhouse that eager Berry enthusiasts were highly anticipating. The rumoured specs of the A10 indicated a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display (1080×1920 resolution), 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, 3,000mAh battery, and 2GB RAM, with a release expected for November.

Over the past several days the Blackberry A10 has appeared in both picture and video format and seems to be a larger 5-inch smartphone with design similarities to the Z10.

A new image has found its way online, this time it’s apparently from an internal presentation and reveals all the important specs:

– Processor: Dual Core 1.7GHz Qualcomm MSM8960 Pro, Quad Core GPU
– Radio: LTE/CDMA/HSPA+, LTE/HSPA+
– Display: 5″ OLED, HD/WXGA, 1280×720, 24-bit color, S-Stripe Pixel Arrangement, 295ppi
– Dimensions: 140.7 x 72 x 9.4mm
– OS: BlackBerry OS 10.2
– Camera: 8.0MP Rear Camera with flash, IS 5X / 2.0MP Front Camera IS 5X
– Memory: 16GB + 2GB(RAM) + 64GB uSB (hot-swap)
– Connectors: Micro USB, Micro HDMI out
– Sensors: Ambient Light, Proximity, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer, Altimeter
– WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n (4G Mobile Hotspot)
– Battery: 2800 mAh Integrated
– Other: NFC, DLNA, Micro SIM

These specs are not too different than what was previously leaked online. The last few days have provided eager Berry users with a plethora of information and insight into the potential next flagship device. The BlackBerry A10 – codename of Aristo – has surfaced in pictures and a video, now there’s one more image to add to the list.

The above rendering is from a support tutorial and gives another look at the 5-inch BB10 device, specifically showing that the back battery cover will be removable (previous reports indicated the battery would be a 2800mAh non-removable battery). In addition, the SIM card will be inserted at the side of the device. Other than those two attributes, the standard ports and buttons are all their familiar locations and BlackBerry is expected to launch the Blackberry A10 in November.

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July 16, 2013
Google Employee Awarded First Microsoft Bug Program Bounty

In June, Microsoft announced new “bounty programs” for people who could find exploits inside Windows 8.1 or vulnerabilities in the Internet Explorer 11 preview. This week, Microsoft announced that it has already informed one person that he has won money for finding an issue in IE11.

According to a post published by Katie Moussouris, senior security strategist at Microsoft, the company has already paid one security engineer for finding a glitch in Internet Explorer 11, but no specifics have been provided.

“The security community has responded enthusiastically to our new bounty programs, submitting over a dozen issues for us to investigate in just the first two weeks since the programs opened. I personally notified the very first bounty recipient via email today that his submission for the Internet Explorer 11 Preview Bug Bounty is confirmed and validated. (Translation: He’s getting paid.)” Moussouris wrote.

And still, Moussouris mentioned the name of the lucky winner in a short tweet the past week, revealing that he’s none other than Ivan Fratric, a Google information security engineer who also won $50,000 (€38,300) in 2012 in the software maker’s BlueHat contest.

While the Windows 8.1 bounty program is ongoing, the IE11 preview bounty program will end on July 26. Moussouris said a number of other researchers have also found exploits in IE11 and will be notified of that fact very soon. The reported vulnerabilities can qualify for bounties between $500 and $11,000, or even more in particular cases, depending on the gravity of the vulnerability and the quality of the report.

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July 15, 2013
Sony To Pay £250k Fine For 2011 UK Data Breach

Sony has admitted it won’t carry on its appeal against a £250,000 fine handed to the firm in Britain following serious breaches of its PlayStation networks in 2011.

ICO fined the firm back in January, after finding that the breach was “preventable” and that Sony, as a business, “should have known better” as the occurrence fell under the Data Protection Act.

A Sony spokesperson said. “After careful consideration we are withdrawing our appeal. This decision reflects our commitment to protect the confidentiality of our network security from disclosures in the course of the proceeding. We continue to disagree with the decision on the merits.”

The fine was handed to Sony by the Information Commissioner’s Office after its PlayStation Network was breached and data on 77 million users exposed. Further breaches of SCEE-related infrastructure led to data of millions more being compromised.

Despite it’s decision not to appeal the fine, Sony said it continues to “disagree with the decision on the merits.”

Unsurprisingly, ICO said that it was delighted with the change of heart. “We welcome Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited’s decision not to appeal our penalty notice following a serious breach of the Data Protection Act,” a representative said.

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July 15, 2013
ZTE U988S Is The World’s First Tegra 4 Powered Smartphone

A new device from ZTE, called the ZTE U988S is all set to become the world’s first smartphone to be powered by the Nvidia Tegra 4 Chipset.

The ZTE U988S will come with a 1.8GHz NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor and will also feature 2GB of RAM, it will be running Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean.

It has a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution LCD display at the front, with a 2MP front camera at the top. At the back, there is a 13MP camera. The phone also features a MicroSD slot for memory expansion.

There are no details as yet on when the ZTE U988S will be available, as soon as we get some more information we will let you guys know.

NVIDIA announced their chipset upgrade of the year at CES 2013, the Tegra 4 platform. Even though the chip retains the same 4-plus-1 arrangement of the Tegra 3 Platform, it adds capabilities of an impressive 72 GPU cores. That will improve the GPU capability almost 6 times.

Its also the first quad-core processor with Cortex A15 cores on-board, which offers compatibility with LTE networks. NVIDIA also claims this piece of silicon is the world’s fastest mobile processor. in a comparative chart putting the NVIDIA Tegra 4 ahead of the iPad 4 and then the Nexus 10.

The Tegra 4 also boasts of new Photography computational expertise, which will drastically improve the time between an image clicked, processed and saved.

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July 15, 2013
5″ Blackberry A10 Makes An Appearance In Leaked Video

BlackBerry is on tap to launch a new smartphone in the coming months. The Blackberry A10 will is rumoured to be the 4th BlackBerry 10 powered device and a picture of the so-called powerhouse leaked online earlier this week. Today, a video of the Blackberry A10 in use appeared online.

This is actually the first time this alleged device has been caught on video. It is too soon to say right now whether it is merely a working prototype or if the device we seen in this video is actually what the A10 is going to be.

Specs are different than what original rumours pointed towards, but the report indicated that the Blackberry A10 will come with a 5-inch Super AMOLED display (resolution of 1280 x 720) and a dual-core processor, quad-core GPU to enhance the gaming experience, 720p video recording and an 8-megapixel camera.

The 29-second video, which presumably has been obtained through manufacturing sources in the country, suggests the device will take its design cues from its predecessor, the BlackBerry Z10.

Beyond the larger screen, the only apparent design change is the presence of dual coloured body. The Z10 shipped in black and white, while this one boasts both colours, as evidenced by pics leaked last week.

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July 15, 2013
Apple On Hiring Spree To Help Speed Up iWatch Development

Apple has already filed for a trademark for the name, “iWatch” in Japan and a new report from the Financial Times suggests that Apple’s also working to ramp up the number of employees working on the iWatch.

In what would be Apple’s first new product launch since the death of Steve Jobs, CEO Tim Cook seems acutely aware of the need for perfection – perfection the company can ill afford to miss.

The Financial Times report that the recruit stems from the “hard engineering problems that they’ve not been able to solve”, which could be seen as a blow to investors.

According to the sources of Financial Times, Apple chief executive Tim Cook may consider delaying the launch of the product if these engineering problems are not resolved in time.

The report says : As Apple moves from iPods, iPhones and iPads into an entirely new category of product, it is looking beyond its existing staff in Cupertino for the talent required to build it – an indication that the endeavour involves “hard engineering problems that they’ve not been able to solve”, according to one source.

Given these developments, it seems very likely that we won’t be seeing the iWatch for at least another year. A survey a couple of months ago suggested that 19% of consumers have interest in purchasing an iWatch, or at least something like it, and there’s no doubt that Apple understands the potential here.

While some might consider it unfortunate that the wait for the iWatch has effectively been extended, what results should be very interesting.

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July 15, 2013
Report : Apple Will Not Launch iPad Mini With Retina Display This Year

The iPad mini Retina display may be taking longer than expected and a new report suggests we won’t see it until 2014.

The claim was published on Friday by China’s Economic Daily News, which said that though Apple originally planned to launch a Retina iPad mini this fall, it may be delayed until the first quarter of 2014. As such, the rumor suggests that a second-generation iPad mini will not launch this year.

That doesn’t mean we won’t get a new iPad Mini before the end of the year, though. The report notes that Apple may release a refreshed model before the end of year without Retina Display, though it’s unclear how prices and specs may differ across the two tablets.

The news lines up with an earlier report from NPD Display Research analyst Richard Shim, suggesting Apple will roll out a refreshed tablet with a thinner design, A6 processor and iOS 7 out of the box.

It’s been nearly a year since the iPad Mini was introduced. It features a 7.9 inch display with a screen resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels, advanced Wi-Fi connections, built-in applications including Siri and FaceTime, impressive A5 chip, 10-hour battery life, iSight camera, HD video for full 1080p, 5 megapixel camera and AirPlay. It’s a small tablet with the premium experience. It also comes with a somewhat hefty price tag.

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July 13, 2013
MoDaCo.SWITCH ROM For HTC One Lets You Switch Between Sense And Stock Android With One Touch

Have an HTC One with Sense 5.0 but want the goodness of stock Android as well? The best of both worlds? Well, MoDaCo has a solution for you.

MoDaCo.SWITCH is a ROM that allows the user to easily switch from Sense and Stock Android with the tap of a button. Not only that, the data is maintained between the two UI experiences, so there’s no extra work on your part to keep data up to date with both.

As you’d probably guess–you’ll need to be rooted and all that good stuff to be able to install MoDaCo.SWITCH, but it installs just like any other ROM via a custom recovery.

Basically, the apps and information you have stored in one ROM are available on the other. This is possible because the underlying systems between these two ROMs are so similar. The HTC One GPe ROM features a lot of the Sense frameworks, so despite the visual and feature difference these ROMs are pretty similar.

An app on the handset labeled as “Switch” will bring up the option to choose between the Stock (HTC Sense) ROM and the Google Play edition (AOSP) ROM. Basically tapping either ROM will reboot the phone and allow you to quickly switch.

MoDaCo.Switch can be installed via Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) or ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM), two of the most popular recoveries in the usual way.

Further details coming with this video include how the ROM will be based on the 2.24 European HTC One (Android 4.2.2) and the Google Play edition ROMs. Perhaps key here, it was said that MoDaCo.SWITCH is “coming soon.”

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July 13, 2013
Amar G. Bose, Founder Of Bose Passes Away Aged 83

Dr. Amar Bose, the man who “revolutionized” the way people listen to their music through headphones, and other acoustic designs, passed away at the age of 83, according to the Bose Corporation. No cause of death was immediately given.

Amar, who was a professor of electrical engineering at MIT, where he had also previously earned his doctorate, focused relentlessly on acoustic engineering innovation and his speakers earned a reputation for bringing concert-hall-quality audio into the home.

The late engineer pursued risky long-term research, such as noise-canceling headphones and an innovative suspension system for cars, without the pressures of quarterly earnings announcements.

In a statement posted to the company’s website, Bob Maresca, President of the Bose Corporation, praised Bose for his hard work and dedication. “It is impossible to put into words what Dr. Bose meant to each of us, and to Bose. [He] was more than our Chairman. He was our teacher—always encouraging us, always believing that we could do great things, and that anything was possible. He was an incredible mentor and inspiration to Bose employees around the world. Today, and everyday going forward, our hearts are with him, and our work will honor him,” he said.

Maresca said the company will remain privately held. In 2011, Bose gave MIT the majority of Bose Corp stock in the form of non-voting shares whose dividends are used to support education and research. MIT does not participate in management or governance of the company.

Bose, who was born and raised in Philadelphia to parents who were natives of India, received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate from MIT, all in electrical engineering.

Bose was asked to join the faculty in 1956, and he accepted with the intention of teaching for no more than two years, the university said. He continued as a member of the MIT faculty until 2001.

A true inspiration for many across the globe.

July 13, 2013
Multiple Shots Of Upcoming Moto X Come Out Thanks To Eric Schmidt

Motorola’s new flagship device has been heavily leaked over the past number of weeks. This will reportedly have a half-billion dollar marketing budget behind it and bring customers various levels of customization – everything from the colour to engraving features.

Being Google’s executive chairman means being able to play with all the newest toys. Eric Schmidt, Google’s own Chairman, is in on the fun and went out in public using the Motorola Moto X.

Photographers at this year’s Allen and Co. conference snapped a few photos of the phone, which the Google chairman didn’t seem particularly shy about using.

The Moto X was teased last month by Dennis Woodside, and now it looks like Schmidt is following suit by being the first person to pull out the phone.

What we know of the Moto X so far is mostly rumors, with a couple of leaked images of black phones with the Motorola M on them. Schmidt’s Moto X is the first white version of the phone we have seen, though it looks like the phone is only white on the back. We’ve seen this with previous Motorola phones, so it’s not a huge shock to see it here.

We didn’t get any confirmation of the previously leaked specs though. As you might recall the Motorola X is said to sport a 720p display and a 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset along with 2 GB of RAM, 10 megapixel rear camera and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

Also a Google+ post by Robert Scoble shows the Moto X at the event, noting that “Tonight I was at a certain technology company (you might recognize it, except we weren’t supposed to share anything about what we were doing there) and someone handed +Daria Musk a really out-of-tune low-cost guitar. So I started shooting with Glass and this is what happened.”

You can watch that video here.

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July 13, 2013
Microsoft Posts Complete Details Of Windows Phone 8 Amber Update
Microsoft has detailed the upcoming ‘Amber’ update for Windows Phone 8, also known as GDR2. While the update is not as significant as some Windows Phone users are hoping for, it adds a bunch of much-needed functionality to the operating system, and should quench the public’s thirst for a few more months.

OEMs will release ‘Amber’, which adds FM radio support to handsets that support it, improves Xbox Music and stabilizes Skype, which has heretofore upset the balance of the People hub.

Users will also be able to set a favourite Lens app to open as the default camera, and use Data Sense to keep track of data usage overall, or on a per-app basis.

Here’s what’s new in Windows Phone versions 8.0.10327.77 and 8.0.10328.78:
- Xbox Music. It’s now easier to select, download, and pin music. Plus, music fans will see more accurate metadata (such as song and album information) and many other performance improvements.
- FM radio. Listen to FM radio right from the Music+Videos hub. (Not available for all phones.)
- Data Sense. Stay on top of your phone’s data usage with Data Sense. You can set a limit based on your data plan, or just keep track of which apps use the most data. (Not all mobile operators offer Data Sense.)
- Skype. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) apps like Lync and Skype now feature improved stability and performance.
- Internet Explorer. Your web browsing experience is now better than ever with improved HTML 5 compatibility.
- Camera. Set your favorite Lens so it opens automatically when you press the camera button. (Not available for all phones.) Other improvements. Includes many other improvements to WindowsPhone.
While a huge overhaul of Microsoft’s mobile OS isn’t expected until early 2014, this update will hopefully keep Windows Phone 8 users happy until then. Look for the update to be rolling out to devices soon.

The newly launched Nokia Lumia 1020 is the second device to come pre-loaded with Windows Phone 8 Amber, with the Lumia 925 being the first.

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July 13, 2013
Human-Powered Helicopter Awarded $250,000 Sikorsky Prize

A Kickstarter-backed project has succeeded in flying a human-powered helicopter for a full minute, setting records and taking home the $250,000 Sikorsky prize.

When Todd Reichert settles into the pilot seat of the helicopter he helped build, there are no fancy electronic switches to flip, there’s no fuel tank to fill and certainly no computer to configure before take off.

What allows the 31-year-old to defy gravity is sheer human power, delivered to the craft’s four rotors through the bicycle pedals he steadily pumps throughout his flight.

It’s that fragile machine, built by Reichert’s Canadian team, which has now won a long-coveted international prize that lay unclaimed for years.

Since 1980, a challenge to engineers — to build a human-powered helicopter, capable of sustaining three metres of altitude for 60 seconds — had remained unaccomplished.

Teams from Japan to the U.S. came close to winning the Sikorsky Prize, but not close enough. Only Reichert’s team has fulfilled the seemingly impossible feat, earning it a $250,000 prize. The award-winning flight took place in June.

To win the Sikorsky prize, the helicopter must remain airborne for 60 seconds, with an altitude of 3 meters (a little less than 10 feet) to be reached at some point during those 60 seconds. It must also remain within a horizontal area no larger than 10×10 meters.

Robertson and Reichert had hired a stadium for five days of test flights. The successful flight didn’t occur until the very last day. Reichert, piloting the Atlas, remained airborne for 64.11 seconds and reached a top height of 3.33 meters within a 9.8-meter square.

AeroVelo, the project, was officially announced as the winner of the long-sought-after award, which comes with US$250,000 in prize money.

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July 12, 2013
Top 5 Alternatives To The Apple iPad

With more than 65 percent of the market and an even greater degree of mindshare, there is no doubt the Apple iPad dominates the tablet market. And for good reason: Aside from the brief, ridiculous distraction that was the Joo Joo, the iPad was the first real consumer tablet to catch on. Plus, Apple has done a brilliant job of leveraging the iTunes ecosystems and the App Store to deliver a seamless and enjoyable tablet experience. For more than 2 years, no tablet could touch the iPad, but that’s changed.

The iPad is a great tablet, but it is not for everyone. Be it price, preference or special software requirements, many people choose alternatives to the iPad. Android tablets tend to provide a greater amount of control than the iPad, with the ability to customize the tablet and plug in USB devices without a special adapter. The newest alternative are Windows-based tablets, which come in two flavors: Windows 8, which is compatible with all Windows software, and Windows RT, which is a scaled down version of Windows that can only run a small subset of Windows software.

Here we present to you 5 alternatives to the Apple iPad, both from the Android and Windows stables.

1. Google Nexus 7

The most popular and widely appreciated Android tablet at the moment, the Google Nexus 7 sports a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and is powered by the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM.

With such raw power under the hood, the Google Nexus 7 is still one of the best tablets available in the market today. The version of Nexus 7 available on the Play Store is the base version, which comes with 16GB of internal storage and Wi-Fi connectivity. There’s also a 1.2 megapixel camera on the front and the tablet runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out-of-the box, but can be upgraded to Android 4.2.2 as soon as you take it out of the box.

It might not have the Retina Display of the iPad, but again, it doesn’t cost a bomb like the iPad either.

Cost : Rs. 15,999

2. Google Nexus 10

With the Nexus 10, Google comes in direct competition with the king of the tablet word, the iPad. The Nexus 7’s big brother, the Nexus 10 has is more suited to match the specifications of the iPad.

The Nexus 10 hits the iPad directly where it hurts the most and that is, the display. Google Nexus 10 boasts of a 10.1 display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, which amounts to a whooping 299 pixels per inch (ppi) and puts even the iPad’s Retina display to shame, which loses to the Nexus 10 at 264 ppi. Thus, the Nexus 10 has the best display on a tablet at present in the market. the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and thus, you won’t have to worry about any sort of scratches on the device.

Under the hood, the Google nexus 10 is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and thus, you can expect it to keep pace with anything and everything you throw at it. Running on stock Android 4.2, you’ll get a pire Google experience on this tablet and won’t even have to worry about software updates as you would get the updates as soon as Google releases them.

Even with all these top of line specifications, the Nexus 10 manages to keep a lower price tag as compared to it’s rivals and currently retails in the US for $399 (16GB) and $499 (32GB). In India, it is available at various online retailers for a price tag of about Rs. 34,500.

Cost : Rs. 34,000 to Rs. 36,000.

3. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Though it didn’t quite reach the sales figures Samsung expected, the Galaxy Note 10.1 still is a really capable alternative to the iPad.

A tablet with a big screen, a quad core processor and the might of the S Pen… known as a stylus to me and you.

Well, not just a stylus – with many levels of pressure sensitivity and the ability easily sketch and annotate on a wide range of items, the Galaxy Note 10.1 offers so much more than your average tablet.

In terms of Hardware the Tablets is packed to the top with top line hardware. Exynos quad chipset with Mali400mp GPU 2 GB RAM and 16GB +64GB expandability.

The Tablet has a high colour density 1280 x 800 px 10.1 inch display that allows you to really enjoy wathcing movies or playing games on this tablet.

The drawback? Pricing seems to be on the higher side. You can read our review of the tablet here.

Cost : Rs. 38,500

4. Sony Xperia Tablet Z

Weighing in at only 1.1 pounds and only 0.27 inches thick, the 10.1-inch Sony Xperia Tablet Z packs 2GB of RAM, an 8-MP rear-facing camera, 2-MP front-facing camera and 16GB of internal storage into a beautiful, sleek exterior.

On top of that, it boasts superior battery performance (three hours longer than average on our Laptop Battery Test) and NFC capability for seamless touch transfer between NFC-supported devices. The Android-powered Z also comes with a Remote Control app and an infrared transmitter that lets you use it to control your home entertainment system.

The Xperia tablet Z is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM.

Oh and it is a waterproof and dustproof tablet.

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Cost : Rs. 44,000

5. Microsoft Surface Pro

While it’s not really available in India, it still is a really nice tablet if you could overlook its absurd pricing (which, if rumours are to be believed, will be coming down pretty soon).

With a higher resolution screen than the Surface RT, and running the full blown version of Windows 8 the Surface Pro is kinder on the eyes and more powerful under hand, making for a potent, portable offering.

Making your mind up about the Surface Pro is less about what it is and what it does and more about what you want out of a tablet. As a hybrid PC it’s an undeniable compromise – but that’s no bad thing.

It’s a bulky device with significant weight, but at the end of the day you’re pretty much getting a portable PC, and all that power means there’s a wealth of options available on the Surface Pro which you just can’t get on the more standard of tablets.

Honourable Mentions

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, Galaxy Note 8.0, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

What do you think? What tablet would you choose over the Apple iPad? Let us know below!

July 12, 2013