Kindle Fire loses ground while Apple and Samsung gain, latest report suggests

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

I don't care about resolution. I care more about being able to push fonts up, and make lines tighter.

Wow. You mean a Mini can do all that? Apple likely patented it already so we won't be seeing it on Android anytime soon.

--Pat

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Mivo

Also, iOS 7 doesn't support iPad 1 or iPhone 1st, 2nd and 3rd generations, and only has limited support for the iPhone 4. Even the 4S doesn't get all features.

Actually the ipad 1 didn't even get ios 6 let alone 7.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by PatNY

Especially for those who like e-books and reading, I think high-res screens, Android, and Calibre Companion provide the optimal experience.

--Pat

I have an iPad 3 and a Tab 3 8", and my main complain in android are the reading apps. After Marvin, I don't like the others at all. And, with my library size, the plugin for calibre and Marvin is optimal, I don't need Calibre Companion. Everybody is different

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

I have an iPad 3 and a Tab 3 8", and my main complain in android are the reading apps. After Marvin, I don't like the others at all. And, with my library size, the plugin for calibre and Marvin is optimal, I don't need Calibre Companion. Everybody is different

But the iPad 3 is high-res, right? So you have at least 1/3 of what I think are requisite ingredients for an optimal e-reading experience.

As for Marvin, I'm not very familiar with it. What can it do that Moon+, FB, Cool Reader, Mantano, Aldiko or Calibre Companion can't do?

--Pat

[Jessica Lares]

Yeah, I use Marvin too. It has its own collections/tags which I like. The color schemes are pretty great too. You can set a preset for day, and another for night. I find it easy to customize the margins and spacing too.

I'm not saying that people who use Android are in the wrong, no, no, no, no. Again, what I was trying to point out to afv011 is that the iPad Mini is worth the $100 more if you're going to use the benefits it has over something like the Nexus 7.

If I had to go the Android route again, I would be looking at the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 which is at the same price point anyway.

I tried two Kindle Fires (both 7") and I had a Motorola Atrix 4G phone for 2 LONG years. Android just didn't do it for me. In my opinion it is too open to be secure or ensure good working apps. A lot of garbage in the Android app world. And as mentioned by others, Android reading apps are pretty bad. And the major issue I have with Android is Google. Google may act like your best friend but they will sell your info to the highest bidder. They were okay when they first focused on Google internet search, but now it is so commercialized that you cannot trust the searches. Many of the search results are there only because the link owner paid Google a lot of money to make sure it is displayed.

And don't get me started on all the Android apps which do nasty things that eat your battery and compromise your cyber security. This is where Apple's closed system is actually helpful as Apple will reject apps that try to do these nasty things. IMHO opinion Android should be spelled And Roids because it is a bloody mess as well as a PITA!

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I tried two Kindle Fires (both 7") and I had a Motorola Atrix 4G phone for 2 LONG years. Android just didn't do it for me. In my opinion it is too open to be secure or ensure good working apps. A lot of garbage in the Android app world. And as mentioned by others, Android reading apps are pretty bad. And the major issue I have with Android is Google. Google may act like your best friend but they will sell your info to the highest bidder. They were okay when they first focused on Google internet search, but now it is so commercialized that you cannot trust the searches. Many of the search results are there only because the link owner paid Google a lot of money to make sure it is displayed.

And don't get me started on all the Android apps which do nasty things that eat your battery and compromise your cyber security. This is where Apple's closed system is actually helpful as Apple will reject apps that try to do these nasty things. IMHO opinion Android should be spelled And Roids because it is a bloody mess as well as a PITA!

This too... not too mention things that ignore your specific instructions to just go and do their own thing...

[Jessica Lares]

See, none of my apps in Android do that. I have 50 of them and my battery usually lasts me over 24 hours without a charge, and that's when I'm actually using the phone all day.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by jswinden

And don't get me started on all the Android apps which do nasty things that eat your battery and compromise your cyber security. This is where Apple's closed system is actually helpful as Apple will reject apps that try to do these nasty things.

Really? I think your apple-tinted glasses are clouding your judgement.

Acting like a software version of a Transformer robot, a malware test app sneaked through Apple’s review process disguised as a harmless app, and then re-assembled itself into an aggressive attacker even while running inside the iOS “sandbox” designed to isolate apps and data from each other.

Source

Most of the malware problems come from the user installing apps from dodgy sites. Just a bit of common sense goes a long way towards preventing "surprises".

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by afv011

Really? I think your apple-tinted glasses are clouding your judgement.



Source

Most of the malware problems come from the user installing apps from dodgy sites. Just a bit of common sense goes a long way towards preventing "surprises".

Nothing new in the article and a key point covered was that it was proof of concept and tested on the devisers' own kit... it wasn't in the wild... unlike the widely reported crap that gets through for Android and is why I have to have anti-malware apps installed to protect my smartphone and Nexus... Still I guess that your Android tinted glasses are OK to have because they aren't Apple...

There's a big difference between "It can be done" and "It's infected x thousand devices." See Google search on 'Android malware... and if you've got nothing better to do then wade through some of the 43.1 million hits... this isn't to say iOS devices are necessarily malware free but the odds are definitely not favouring Android...

[Mivo]

Well, living in a prison is pretty safe. I'm okay with taking the risks that freedom comes with.

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

The reason why the numbers are shrinking is because most people who buy an iPad, don't buy the next one. It's not like when the first Kindle Fire came out, that most immediately jumped to the HD when it came out. You can say the same for the Nexus 7.

There is no need to buy another iPad once you get one. I will have my Mini for probably five years until I buy another.

Are you new to the Apple ecosystem? Apple upgrades iOS and push users to upgrade... until the hardware can't support it. Even if you decide to stick with the current version of iOS, there is a great probability that the apps you use will require you to upgrade to a version of iOS that isn't supported (or poorly supported) by your device.

Historically, iPods and iPads work best with the version of iOS that ships with the device. They generally work acceptably well with the next version. But within 3 years or so you will not be able to upgrade your device... or if you are able, the performance will be unacceptable.

Apple doesn't make it easy to stay at a particular version of iOS or particular version of an app.

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

See, none of my apps in Android do that. I have 50 of them and my battery usually lasts me over 24 hours without a charge, and that's when I'm actually using the phone all day.

I was only able to manage that on my Android phones by manually enabling/disabling 3G. I regularly get 3 days of usage on my iPhone 4 without any settings gymnastics... battery life is the only reason I'm on an iPhone.

[Jessica Lares]

I kept my iPhone 2G until iPhone 4. If my iPhone 4 hadn't broke, I'd still have it.

The majority of my apps don't require the internet. So there's nothing there that's going to FORCE me to upgrade because there's no APIs to break.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Mivo

Well, living in a prison is pretty safe. I'm okay with taking the risks that freedom comes with.

Funny that... I use both ecosystems, both occasionally have their problems but neither seem like prisons in any way whatsoever...
I always feel it's an attitude that says more about the user than the items used... personally I'm only interested in my tablets, smartphones and computers letting me get on with the work and leisure that I require, they are tools to do things not the centre of my life and they all let me do what I want without feeling forced to do anything or leaving me locked in a restricted room... it's a shame you feel that way but that's equally your choice...

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I tried two Kindle Fires (both 7") and I had a Motorola Atrix 4G phone for 2 LONG years. Android just didn't do it for me. In my opinion it is too open to be secure or ensure good working apps. A lot of garbage in the Android app world. And as mentioned by others, Android reading apps are pretty bad.

It sounds like you were stuck on Froyo or another earlier version of Android. Those earlier versions were pretty rough around the edges compared to current flavors of Android. Android has had its growing pains in this respect, but now it’s a pretty mature, sleek, and smooth running OS.

So I’ll give credit to iOS in terms of its relative maturity right out of the box. But Android has caught up and surpassed it, IMO.

As for reading apps, they probably didn’t run all that smoothly on Froyo, so I’m not surprised you had a poor experience. But the current experience with Android is different, and it currently offers so much more in terms of quality choices in reading apps than Apple does. While Marvin appears to have filled a hole left by Amazon’s abandonment of Stanza, up to now it’s not been available for the iPhone or iPod Touch. That hole still exists for those users.

--Pat