Apple has the goods, Microsoft the vision

iPad Air: it appears to deliver what Apple promised.

(Credit: Apple)

The iPad Air isn't visionary, but it's a strong update. That's good enough for me.

I've been using the Air for the last 24 hours and it does pretty much everything Apple promised: it's faster than the iPad 4 (which I traded in at Verizon), thinner, lighter, better looking, and appears to have equal or better battery life.

That's a tall order considering the challenges of packing a power-hungry 9.7-inch Retina (2,048x1,536) display into a one-pound, 7.5mm-thick package. (And one of the reasons that theiPad Mini Retina is delayed, as the Mini is much smaller but with the same, demanding high-resolution Retina screen.)

And anyone doubting its battery life, should check out Anandtech's claim that the Air delivers 24 hours of battery life as an LTE hotspot on a single charge.

The one quibble I have is that Apple is still offering the same vision of the tablet that it did back in 2010 with the original iPad.

That's where Microsoft and Surface/Nokia Lumia 2520 come in. In an interview I had this week with Raj Talluri, a senior VP at Qualcomm, he swore that the Lumia 2520, which runs Windows 8.1 RT, is the only computer he needs. (In the spirit of full disclosure, the 2520 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and Talluri has an early version of the device, which is not yet available to the public. )

"It's the only computer I have with me. It's got a keyboard, it's got Outlook, does Powerpoint...It's pretty much got everything I need," he said, speaking from Asia, where he was traveling.

It's an enticing vision, as Microsoft tried to elaborate on last week.

But one I don't buy into (yet). As I said before, I had a Surface Pro for two months but ultimately sold it because it didn't deliver on the vision: it was a decent laptop but a lousy tablet.

The Lumia looks like it has potential as a hybrid device that may obviate the need (for some people) to carry around two devices -- if you can live with Windows RT, that is. (Note that Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Nokia's mobile device business).

It's certainly a vision worth pursuing. But for now, I'll stick the with the two-device (one-laptop, one-tablet) paradigm.

Nokia Lumia 2520: the only device you'd need?

(Credit: Nokia)

Apple faces backlash over iOS7 downloading disaster

Many iPhone owners who attempted to download the new operating system had to wait hours for it to download- with many people failing to acquire it at all.

After its release at 6pm yesterday in the UK, millions rushed to download it.

However, many people had to go through several attempts to download the new software, with the error message "Software Update Failed: An error occurred whilst downloading iOS 7.0" being a common occurrence.

For others, long download times were the problem, with some systems taking up to 30 hours to install.

Memory space was also an issue, with some Twitter users complaining of having to delete all their apps and photos to acquire enough storage.

iPhone users took to social media in anger that their alarm clocks had failed to go off

This morning, iPhone users took to social media in anger that their alarm clocks had failed to go off due to downloading the software overnight.

Despite this, the reviews of iOS7 have been favourable. It offers a cleaner, more streamlined look that has been crafted to make the iPhone screen look bigger.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook called the system "the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone".

Apple are due to launch their new phones, the iPhone 5s and 5c, tomorrow. Despite pre-orders for the 5c being the lowest of any iPhone launch, fans are already queuing outside the Apple store on Regent Street in anticipation of the event.

Apple fans are eagerly awaiting the iPhone launch tomorrow morning [WENN]