Tag Archives: tablet

News, Tablets

Samsung Gets Big with the Tab S3

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Samsung, defender of all that isn’t Apple in the tech world, has set their sights on the iPad Pro. As by far the most popular “professional” tablet, the Pro sets the standard: large screen, dedicated stylus, powerful performance. But Samsung is hoping their Tab S3 will put a dent in Apple’s dominance.

 

The Tab S3 boasts a huge 9.7-inch, Super AMOLED display capable of HDR video. Under the hood there’s a heady Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, and 4GB of RAM. There’s only a paltry 32GB of storage but a MicroSD card slot supports memory expansion up to 256GB. The tablet now has four speakers and is just 6mm thick. All this for $599 and is bundled with a new, larger S Pen, Samsung’s proprietary (and highly rated) stylus. It’s everything you like in a Samsung tablet, but bigger, faster, better.

 

$600 will seem pricey for an Android tablet, but it’s priced to meet the year-old iPad Pro of the same size and similar specs. It’s actually a better deal, since the Apple Pencil stylus will cost you another $99. Even the keyboard cases are similarly priced; Samsung’s for $129 versus Apple’s $149. With very little news as to a new iPad Pro model being released this year, Samsung is taking the opportunity to wedge themselves into this new sector of the market.

 

Hopefully, Samsung will support developers in making Android apps optimized for larger screens, something that’s plagued Android tablets since their inception. iOS applications and games have always transitioned very well to the iPad, even the gargantuan 12.6” model. The lack of similar quality has hurt the attempts by Samsung and other Android tablet manufacturers to pose anything resembling a serious threat to the iPad. Microsoft made an attempt, pretending that the Surface Pro 4 wasn’t just a high-powered touchscreen laptop without a keyboard, but consumers quickly saw through the ruse (the high price point didn’t help).

 

With a big screen comes the big possibility for damage, however. If you purchase a Tab S3 and end up with a crack or any other sort of damage, bring it to iFixYouri. It doesn’t matter how new a product is; if it has a screen, our team of technicians can replace it. Come to any iFixYouri walk-in location or send it in to our dedicated repair center with our international mail-in service.

Apps, Tablets

Microsoft Mobile Office Applications for iOS and Android

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The much-awaited iOS and Android version of Microsoft Office suite may be around the corner. Online reports speculate that the productivity suite may be available on the iOS and Android mobile platforms in the next year.

There may be some strings attached to this though, since it is generally presumed that the iOS and Android apps of the Office suite may not be fully functional, without having to subscribe to Microsoft’s own Office 365 cloud service.

Microsoft Mobile Office Applications

From a Verge report citing unnamed sources, the yet to be released Office apps may only provide their users with the option to view their Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents. Each user may have to subscribe to the Microsoft Office 365 service, in order to edit his or her documents on the go.

Though the Verge report did not state or include a price for the subscription, a Microsoft Office Home Premium product’s 365 subscription generally costs $99.99 per annum for five user licenses. The mobile version of the subscription may, however, not cost as much as this.

App Release Date

According to the Verge report, the iOS version of Microsoft Office may be released towards the end of February or in early March 2013, while the Android version may be released in the month of May 2013.

The first date correlates with some earlier online reports on the release of the mobile Office apps. This includes a Czech Republic Microsoft product manager revealing a release date of March 2013 for the apps, and a published photo by The Daily, supposedly claiming to be a photograph of the mobile Office application running on an iPad, both of which were refuted and/or denied by Microsoft.

Mobile Office Launch

There were some predictions, too, that Microsoft would launch a mobile Office product at its SharePoint conference in Las Vegas, based on the assumption that Microsoft may want to position its mobile Office app as an enterprise product.

Presently Android and iOS users may use Microsoft OneNote app for note-taking but will have to rely on other third party apps like QuickOffice and Documents To Go, to read and edit their Office documents.

As great as apps are for our day-today operations, having a smartphone or other device that is out of commission due to unforeseen accidents such as a cracked screen or water damage may render such a tool useless. If your device is in need of repair, seeking out a professional such as iFixYouri can be a solid recourse.

Tablets

Sony Halts Xperia Tablet S Sales Due To Defect

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Yikes! Sony is halting sales over their newest tablet, the Xperia Tablet S, after an issue with the water resistant device surfaced.

It turned out that the device had a manufacturing defect: a gap on the rear display panel where water can easily flow in and cause damage to its interior components.

A Sony spokeswoman once said in an email that Sony is committed to providing high quality products and strives to provide a high level of customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, their newest tablet that was released in September fails to meet their “splash proof” feature and, as as result, Sony has ordered all retail outlets to stop selling the Xperia Table S immediately. Sony will be replacing their devices in stock with products that meets their stringent standards.

In a press release, Sony stated that they will provide assistance in terms of repairs for free for all of those existing Xperia Tablet S owners.  However, any other repairs required for issues not related to water damage are going to require professional assistance, like iFixYouri’s tablet repair services.  Whatever happened to your tablet in terms of damage, the experts at iFixYouri have seen it and fixed it.

Is the Tablet Gone for Good?

Sony is expected to resume selling the tablet in mid November.

The Tablet S was revealed at the IFA trade show held in August and made its way to US stores on September 7, which was then followed by its global release in various countries in Asia and in Europe.

The Xperia Tablet S comes in a variety of storage capacities:

  • the 16GB model with a $399 price tag
  • the 32GB model for $499
  • the 64GB model with a $599 asking price.

The tablet runs the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS and sports the following specs: a 1.4GHZ quad core processor, the NVIDIA Tegra 3, a 9.4 inch 1,280 by 800 touch screen, 8 megapixel rear camera and a 1 megapixel front facing camera.

According to Reuters, Sony has shipped around 100,000 of the device and yet has purportedly stated that it will not create a significant impact on the company’s earnings.

The defect does not pose any safety concerns, however customers are warned to stay away from splash zones whenever using the device.