Julia Ryan, USA TODAY 3:29 p.m. EDT November 1, 2013
Customers browse Apple's new iPad Air tablets at an Apple store in Tokyo.(Photo: Yoshikazu Tsuno, AFP/Getty Images)
[h=3]Story Highlights[/h]
This was a big week for new tablets, from Apple's iPad Air to Lenovo's Yoga tablet. Here's what you need to know about the week in Tech:
1) Thin iPad Air is most tempting tablet yet.
Apple's newest iPad isn't a game-changer, but it's still a pretty good buy if you're looking for a new tablet.
USA TODAY's Ed Baig took a look at the iPad Air earlier this week. Here's what he had to say:
• Design: "The thinner and lighter design on this latest iPad is the chief reason to cheer the new model."
• Battery life: Apple promises 10 hours of battery life, but Baig says he got less than 5½ hours on the device. "That's worse than the near seven hours I got recently on a similar test of Microsoft's Surface 2."
• Should you buy it? "Your existing iPad can pretty much do everything that the iPad Air can do. That said, if you're new to iPad or are in the market to buy a tablet anyway, I expect you'll be more than thrilled with an Air."
2) Lenovo unveils new Yoga Tablet.
Lenovo also rolled out a new device this week, the Yoga Tablet. Baig took the Yoga for a test run and said the tablet is lighter and easier to use than its counterpart, the Yoga Windows 8 hybrid computer.
Here are some of the best features of the Yoga Tablet:
• Multi-mode: The tablet comes with a kickstand on the back and three display modes: Hold, Stand and Tilt.
• Memory: The Yoga runs on the Jelly Bean version of Android and comes with 16GB or 32GB of memory.
• Price: The Yoga starts at $249 for the 8-inch model and $299 for the 10-inch model.
3) Ashton Kutcher joins Lenovo as product engineer.
Fresh off his turn as Apple CEO Steve Jobs in the movie Jobs, Ashton Kutcher is diving deeper into the tech scene with a new job at Lenovo as a product engineer.
The Two and a Half Men star will advise on design and software for Yoga tablets. He'll also meet with Lenovo engineers and executives all over the world and will act as a celebrity pitchman for the company.
The company knows it's a risk to hire Kutcher, but Lenovo Chief Marketing Officer David Roman said he's willing to take that on: "Ashton will help us break new ground by challenging assumptions, bringing new perspective and contributing his technical expertise to Yoga Tablet and other devices."
4) Windows XP users six times more likely to be hacked.
If you're one of the few and the proud who still uses Windows XP — an operating system that was first introduced by Microsoft in 2001 — you might seriously want to consider upgrading to the latest Windows system.
Microsoft representatives at the RSA Conference in Amsterdam mentioned that computers running Windows XP are six times more likely to be hacked than computers running Windows 7 or Windows 8.
The company also said it will end support for Windows XP on April 8. So you've got a few months to think about getting an upgrade.
5) The mystery of Google's floating barge.
What is Google up to now? The company has a four-story barge floating off the coast of San Francisco, near Treasure Island.
Local news outlets have been speculating about the contents of the boat. A local TV station thinks the barge will be a marketing center for Google Glass. CNET says Apple will use the barge as a backup data center in the event of a natural disaster. San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX reported Friday that the barge will host a party deck and have showrooms to market Google Glass.
However, Google declined to comment on the rumors, so the mystery continues.
Customers browse Apple's new iPad Air tablets at an Apple store in Tokyo.(Photo: Yoshikazu Tsuno, AFP/Getty Images)
[h=3]Story Highlights[/h]
- iPad Air is thinner, lighter
- Lenovo's new tablet has multi-mode display views
- Ashton Kutcher joins Lenovo as product engineer
This was a big week for new tablets, from Apple's iPad Air to Lenovo's Yoga tablet. Here's what you need to know about the week in Tech:
1) Thin iPad Air is most tempting tablet yet.
Apple's newest iPad isn't a game-changer, but it's still a pretty good buy if you're looking for a new tablet.
USA TODAY's Ed Baig took a look at the iPad Air earlier this week. Here's what he had to say:
• Design: "The thinner and lighter design on this latest iPad is the chief reason to cheer the new model."
• Battery life: Apple promises 10 hours of battery life, but Baig says he got less than 5½ hours on the device. "That's worse than the near seven hours I got recently on a similar test of Microsoft's Surface 2."
• Should you buy it? "Your existing iPad can pretty much do everything that the iPad Air can do. That said, if you're new to iPad or are in the market to buy a tablet anyway, I expect you'll be more than thrilled with an Air."
2) Lenovo unveils new Yoga Tablet.
Lenovo also rolled out a new device this week, the Yoga Tablet. Baig took the Yoga for a test run and said the tablet is lighter and easier to use than its counterpart, the Yoga Windows 8 hybrid computer.
Here are some of the best features of the Yoga Tablet:
• Multi-mode: The tablet comes with a kickstand on the back and three display modes: Hold, Stand and Tilt.
• Memory: The Yoga runs on the Jelly Bean version of Android and comes with 16GB or 32GB of memory.
• Price: The Yoga starts at $249 for the 8-inch model and $299 for the 10-inch model.
3) Ashton Kutcher joins Lenovo as product engineer.
Fresh off his turn as Apple CEO Steve Jobs in the movie Jobs, Ashton Kutcher is diving deeper into the tech scene with a new job at Lenovo as a product engineer.
The Two and a Half Men star will advise on design and software for Yoga tablets. He'll also meet with Lenovo engineers and executives all over the world and will act as a celebrity pitchman for the company.
The company knows it's a risk to hire Kutcher, but Lenovo Chief Marketing Officer David Roman said he's willing to take that on: "Ashton will help us break new ground by challenging assumptions, bringing new perspective and contributing his technical expertise to Yoga Tablet and other devices."
4) Windows XP users six times more likely to be hacked.
If you're one of the few and the proud who still uses Windows XP — an operating system that was first introduced by Microsoft in 2001 — you might seriously want to consider upgrading to the latest Windows system.
Microsoft representatives at the RSA Conference in Amsterdam mentioned that computers running Windows XP are six times more likely to be hacked than computers running Windows 7 or Windows 8.
The company also said it will end support for Windows XP on April 8. So you've got a few months to think about getting an upgrade.
5) The mystery of Google's floating barge.
What is Google up to now? The company has a four-story barge floating off the coast of San Francisco, near Treasure Island.
Local news outlets have been speculating about the contents of the boat. A local TV station thinks the barge will be a marketing center for Google Glass. CNET says Apple will use the barge as a backup data center in the event of a natural disaster. San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX reported Friday that the barge will host a party deck and have showrooms to market Google Glass.
However, Google declined to comment on the rumors, so the mystery continues.