Ufone Donates for Scholarship Programme of Memorial Trust

Amir Pasha, Head of PR and CSR, Ufone, handing over the cheque to Munzar Ata, Member Board of Trustees Air Cdre Rizwanullah Shaheed Memorial Trust

Ufone has said that it strongly believes the education being the most important right of every child and it is education that will bring about a positive change in our society.

Inline with its vision, Ufone has announced a donation of Rs.500, 000 for the Rizwan Scholars program of Air Cdre Rizwanullah Khan Shaheed Memorial Trust to help the students accomplish academic goals and to support promoting education in the country at large.

Air Cdre Rizwanullah Khan Shaheed Memorial Trust was launched in April 2003 with the aim of providing scholarships to smart, underprivileged students.

A scholarship program under the name of Rizwan Scholars was initiated that has financially assisted many talented students to continue their studies.

Ufone has previously been funding other activities of the organization but this time it has stepped forward to help financially constraint children to pursue their education and career by providing them scholarships.

Telenor Reports Single Digit Growth in Revenues, Lower ARPU During Q3 2013

Telenor Pakistan has posted PKR 69.725 billion in revenues for first nine months of on-going fiscal year, up from PKR 66.645 billion during same duration last year.

Currency depreciation, however, resulted into 4 percent Y-o-Y fall in revenues in Norwegian Kroner that stood at NOK 4065 million — for three quarters combined — as compared to NOK 4,232 million during same period last year.

The Telenor Group reported its third quarter financial results during the weekend where it said that Telenor Pakistan, during the reported quarter, showed an operating profit of NOK 282 million, versus an operating loss of NOK 95 million in Q3 2012.

Financial services contributed 2.5 percentage to the total revenue growth.

The EBITDA margin improved by 2 percentage points following higher revenues, savings from energy initiatives and negative one-time effects last year. The impact of introduction of ICH contributed negatively with 3 percentage points.

EBITDA in local currency increased by 12%.

Capital expenditure decreased as the network modernisation was finalised during the quarter, also resulting in reduced accelerated depreciation and improved operating profit

Company said that its ARPU in local currency decreased by 10%, mainly because of fierce on-net competition putting pressure on national interconnect revenues.

ARPU for postpaid users was reported at PKR 686, compared to PKR 190 ARPU for prepaid users.

ARPUs were also impacted by the fact that revenues from incoming international traffic through International Clearing House (ICH) are now accounted under non-mobile revenues and are not added into ARPU levels.

Telenor said that its subscribers increased by 160,000 during the quarter including a downward adjustment of 542,000 subscriptions following data cleaning exercise.

Telenor’s Average traffic minutes per user per month stood at 225.

PTCL Upgrades 2MB DSL Speeds to 4MB for Limited Time

PTCL has announced that it is upgrading its 2 MB broadband DSL costumers to 4MB for free.

The promotion will allow 2 MB users to enjoy double speeds of 4MB speeds for same rates, i.e. at Rs. 1,549 per month till December 31st, 2013, after which customers will have to pay the regular 4MB charges which are Rs. 1,999 per month.

PTCL said that it is automatically upgrading all customers, however, those who would not want to keep 4MB speeds can opt out of promotion by calling 1236.

This is not the first time that PTCL has upgraded its existing customers. However, the practice of automatically upgrading the speeds has seen criticism in the past. Customers are usually of the opinion that company should not upgrade speeds if the promotion is for limited time.

Warid Achieves Its Highest Ever Sales in October 2013

Seen in the picture Warid commercial team during cake cutting ceremony held at Warid Head Office (Standing from left Ms. Asma Khan, Director International Business, Mr. Adnan Anjum Director Pricing and Segments, Ms. Sadaf Zarrar Director Marcom, Mr. Nauman Fakhar VP CS, Mr. Suhail Jan VP Sales and Distribution, Warid Telecom

Despite a possible acquisition, Warid Telecom is claiming to have performed exceptionally well since January 2013. In fact, as per Warid, company achieved the highest ever sales for postpaid segment in the month of October 2013.

It is interesting to note that Warid is performing in a situation when company’s future is uncertain and critical, especially for the employees.

As per officials, Warid sold over 30,000 postpaid connections during September and October 2013.

Not to forget, Warid owns the second highest Postpaid base in the country, following Mobilink.

It appears that telcos are putting postpaid segment on a special focus. For instance, Ufone has reportedly sold 66,000 postpaid connections during last three months only. Ufone said that it sold 22K connections each month during July, August and September 2013.

Warid, however, enjoys the advantage of being acknowledged as the finest network. Despite limited coverage, company is widely considered to be the best in terms of quality of network.

Warid said that It offers product portfolio of over 80 value added services on IVR, SMS, MMS and GPRS platforms; some of which were first time introduced in Pakistan.

The company also worked to improve its distribution channels and enhance customer services network in the country, allowing it to offer wide accessibility and exceptional customer services across Pakistan.

BlackBerry Gets a new CEO and $1 Billion Instead of Getting Privatized

Not long ago, we told you about BlackBerry’s plans to go private in a $4.7 billion deal with Fairfax Financial. As it turns out, that process has fallen apart as the buyer couldn’t convince the banks that the deal was logical enough. Still, a lot has changed inside the company.

The CEO who turned BB10 into a reality and scraped BB7 OS, Thorsten Heins is gone. His void is filled by John S. Chen who will act as the company’s interim chief, while also serving as its chairman board of directors.

The company has also finalized a $1 billion deal with Fairfax Financial and a group of investors, as it seeks a way out of is recent troubles. Of course, in return of this generosity, the investors will decide what is best for the company and what needs to be scraped in order to move forward.

The first step as a part of that process is already taken, in the form of a newly-appointed CEO. Mr. John S. Chen, the new CEO, has a history and reputation of rescuing failing corporations so that’s not too bad at all.

More will follow in the future. However, quite contrary to what many people might be thinking right now, the handset division of the company won’t get axed at all.

“I know we have enough ingredients to build a long-term sustainable business,” the newly-appointed CEO said in an interview to Reuters, his first interview since the announcement. “I have done this before and seen the same movie before.”

Google Nails it on the Head with Nexus 5

This is it. The smartphone which is known for providing top-of-the-line experience at a lower price has finally gone official. After dozens of leaks and rumours (including once when its entire spec-sheet was revealed), Google has finally pulled the covers off the Nexus 5 – developed by LG — and it runs on Android 4.4 KitKat.

As is usual with these phones, the Nexus 5 packs quite a punch. It has a 4.95″  True HD IPS Plus panel on the front with Full HD resolution and 445 ppi pixel density. It is Gorilla Glass 3-protected.

The phone is made of plastic, but since it’s so cheap, we can live with that. The back does come with a soft-finish though. It weighs in at 130g, respectable for a phone of this size, and is 8.59mm thick. And quite unlike those metallic side-buttons on its competitors, the ones here are made of ceramic. Interesting.

On the inside, the phone houses a 2.3Ghz Qualcomm SnapDragon 800 processor with 2 GB worth RAM, Adreno 330 GPU and 16/32 GB flash storage. That last bit is a huge relief as as the meager 8 GB storage option is gone for good now.

Towards the back is the 8 megapixel camera with OIS, HDR+ and a 1/3.2″ sensor with f2.4 aperture. It is also capable of doing 1080p Full HD video recording and also comes with an LED Flash for use in low-lighting.

Considering that the last year’s Nexus came with an abysmal camera, we really hope things have changed this time. A 1.3mp camera is also found at the front.

The Nexus 5 is the first phone of the series with LTE, which is pointless for us (Pakistanis) but is a good thing to have (in case, times change in the future). It also has Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, A-GPS and microUSB.

For powering itself up, the phone comes with a 2300 mAh battery which does feel small for a 2013 smartphone but it seems as if Google has optimized the OS rather than increase the battery capacity here. Music playback, for example, is 60 hours long, thanks to a dedicated audio processor and software customizations. Wireless Charging is also supported.

Here are the specs of the Nexus 5:

• Android 4.4 KitKat
• 5″ LCD display with Full HD resolution (445 ppi)
• Gorilla Glass 3 protection
• 130 grams heavy
• 8.59mm thick
• 2.3Ghz quad-core SnapDragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 Graphics
• 16/32 GB non-expandable storage
• 8 megapixel camera with HDR+, Full HD video and LED Flash
• 1.3 mp front-camera
• 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, A-GPS, microUSB
• 2300 mAh battery
• Available in Black or White

The accessories for the Nexus 5 includes bumpers which cost $35 a piece, while QuickCovers which cover the front & the back and are compatible with wireless charging cost $55 each. 

As for the Nexus 5 itself, it will start at $349 for the 16 GB version, or $399 for the 32 GB version. Colour options include either Black or White.

We know that’s quite a lot of money to ask for a phone which will be outdated after a year, yes, but the thing is that every bit of technology has and will. You may argue that point but there’s certainly one thing which no one will argue and that’s the simple fact that Google has nailed it. Again.

Jelly Bean Crosses 50% Android Market-share for the First Time

Remember the time when Gingerbread got out and Android phones suddenly started to sell like hot cakes? That was the time when Gigantic Apple and Nokia had finally got a serious competitor but the side-effect was that the large number of dumb phones during that time, which couldn’t get updated to newer Android versions and hence, the Gingerbread marketshare soared.

That has finally changed now. In October, for the first time ever, Jelly Bean crossed 50% marketshare of all Android devices out there. The 52.1% marketshare it holds is almost twice the share which Gingerbread is currently holding.

The good news is that it has finally started to drop at a substantial pace, quite unlike its stubborn nature.

Ice Cream Sandwich also dropped to just 19.8% now.

Start of another problem?

With KitKat, Google has finally decided that fragmentation needs to go away and that is why the latest version can run on phones with as low as 512 MB RAM but it won’t be going anywhere suddenly.

Mind you, that Jelly Bean is itself outdated now and if Google’s partners still carry on with their habits of not updating the operating system of their devices, it might turn out to be an even bigger issue than Gingerbread, given the massive spread of the phones running it.

Google Brings Features and Visual Upgrades in Android 4.4 KitKat Update

Every Android version announcement comes with new features, a few visual tweaks and lots and lots of hype. This time, though, things are a bit different as Google has made sure that everyone gets a taste of “KitKat”, rather than just the top 20%.

As a result, you have an OS which runs just as well on 512 MB RAM, as it does on 3 GB. This is not all however.

A Great Feat Visually

Android 4.4 KitKat tries to make the OS even more easier to swallow. It makes several visual improvements, including the departure of the black border at the bottom of the screen in favor of a translucent one. The launcher is also redesigned.

The three buttons also remain hidden in apps, until you swipe them upwards. And performance? The OS is also more intelligent in that it registers touches faster and more accurately which means less errors.

Chromium, the web engine behind Chrome now takes care of the web apps meaning that these apps should perform better than ever. Talking of Chrome, it now uses 16% less memory than before, just like other Google apps which are all optimized.

Software Changes

But it doesn’t only perform and look good. No. It also comes with a lot of software changes, most important of them being the new Hangouts app. The new substitute for the conventional messaging app combines all of the conversation you’ve ever had with your acquaintances in one place, either it be SMS, MMS or Hangouts video-calls/chatting.

The Call app is also tweaked. It automatically highlights those people with whom you’re in touch most. It will also search for businesses in the area around you now, meaning that if you’ll type the name of a restaurant in your area, the app will automatically search the map for its phone number.

The same thing happens when you get a call from an unknown number, as it will try to display a name if the number is from any of the publicly available business in Maps.

The lockscreen features an option to let you fly straight to the camera. It also displays a cover art or any other media highlight when your phone is playing something while being on the lockscreen. Also redesigned is the Downloads app which features even more sorting and viewing options now.

And it isn’t limited to the lockscreen only. If you do a lot of homescreen modifications, you can save and switch between all of them in settings now, without having to sacrifice one in the favor of other.

Search and Google Now

According to Google, it is 25% more accurate than before. You can go straightaway to search from the lockscreen now, just by saying ‘OK Google’ just like in the Moto X.

Now also asks you questions back if your search query isn’t clear to it. One good thing which is added is the ability to search inside the phone or tablet’s built-in app. For instance, if you have a food or recipe app installed on your phone and you want to search the recipe for, like say, Pasta, Now won’t only display web results but also results from your app will be displayed. That would be really helpful.

It also keeps care of your searching history and will redirect you to any of your favourite websites when you’ll call its name. It will also show even more cards of interest to you and can be used to do other tasks, such as playing music, using directions, etc.

Misc

Android 4.4 KitKat comes with a screen recording feature which lets you record a video of the stuff being displayed on your phone, as you use it.

A new feature called AirPrint will allow you to print stuff wirelessly now. This only works with printers with dedicated apps on the Play Store so only HP models will work as of today.

If your phone comes with a dedicated audio processor, here’s the good news: your phone will use it now. What that does is that it boosts playback time, like for example, the Nexus 5 comes with one and it features 60 hours worth music playback, that too on a 2300 mAh battery! Now that, is something.

The Gallery app now supports integration with cloud storage. Developers can now write apps for the IR Blaster while NFC payments are now supported for carriers worldwide. 

Availability

The update will begin rolling out in the coming few weeks. The new Nexus 5 will come with it pre-installed while the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 (2014), Nexus 10 and the Google Play editions of Galaxy S4 and HTC One are on the waiting list. We’ll be adding screenshots of it as soon as it comes out.

This update, with all its features and bells-and-whistles, marks the peak for Android. For us, however, it’s not the feature set which makes it so good, but rather its tight integration of everything which it does. That alone makes it worth an upgrade.

Intel Gives up its own Smartphone Processors, will make ARM Chips Now

In the industry of smartphone processors, ARM sits atop them all in terms of market-share while others aren’t even close. ARM’s innovative and diverse processor designs have enabled the company to attain a huge market-share, around 95% of the smartphone industry, crushing everyone else.

Intel has been trying to resist this for quite a time but so far hasn’t been successful. While Intel’s Atom processor has been used in several phones over the years, it has done nothing to stop the growth of its biggest rival. But now, Intel has finally decided to give up and in the future will be making its own 64-bit smartphone chips based on ARM’s designs.

And so as the old proverb goes, “If you can’t best them, join them”, the company’s years of resistance in joining hands with ARM Architecture finally evaporates, leaving nothing but bad memories and multiple failed attempts.

Still, it will be interesting to see what benefits their architecture will offer. Given Intel’s own incredible history and experience, you can’t reject their products as dumb. And of course, the new processors with Intel’s manufacturing intelligence.

But there is little doubt that the customers will remain indifferent. One name which immediately comes to mind is Apple’s. While they’ve already had an extensive and popular partnership with Intel for their computers, their smartphone processors are still made by their nemesis, Samsung.

But whatever the case, the fight between Intel and its rivals in a territory owned by the latter will certainly be worth watching. Also it will bring greater good for all the companies buying these chips and in turn, for the customers.

For those who don’t know, ARM architectures — developed by British company ARM — require significantly fewer transistors, reduced costs, heat and power usage compared to more complex chip designs.

Huawei announces its second Windows Phone, the Ascend W2

Huawei is a rather unknown Windows Phone partner of Microsoft. It announced its first phone of the line-up way back in January and that was it. But now, they think its about time for a new phone to be announced and they’ve done exactly so with the Ascend W2.

The phone comes with a larger 4.3″ inch display with 800 x 480 resolution. It’s also Gorilla Glass-protected and comes with a Super Sensitive display. Design-wise, it is quite chubby, weighing in at 160 grams. Bezels are quite massive too.

Under the bonnet, it comes with a 1.4Ghz dual-core processor with 512 GB RAM, Adreno 305 and 8 GB non-expandable storage. Towards the back is a 5 mp camera with 720p HD video recording. There’s no secondary camera on the front.

Connectivity options include Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB 2.0, Wi-Fi and 3G. Battery capacity is set at 1700 mAh.

Pricing is not known right now but we will know that when it will be released in the coming few weeks. Color options include Blue, Red, Yellow and Black. If the Ascend W2 is placed in the range of the Lumia 620, it has the potential to become a bestseller.

Ufone's M. Shabbir Iqbal Wins PM Golf Open 2013

Salman Wassay, Chief Commercial Officer, Ufone, handing over a congratulatory cheque to Pakistan No. 1, M. Shabbir Iqbal for winnering the Prime Minister Golf Open 2013

Golfers from all over Pakistan flocked to Rawalpindi for the much anticipated Prime Minister Golf Open, each looking to win laurels and respect of their fellow golfers. Professionals were seen two days prior to the tournament practicing and taking in the feel of the course in their practice rounds. The tournament kicked off on the 22^nd of Oct and the fervor of each golfer participating was clearly evident. Day 1 ended with Pakistan No.1 M. Shabbir Iqbal leading the elite golfers closely followed by Pakistan No.2 & a member of the Ufone team Matloob Ahmed.

The two fought it out over the three day tournament with Shabbir continuing to increase the gap between the 1^st and 2^nd position alas he ended the tournament 15 under par (-15) and Matloob who secured 2^nd position was 5 under par (-5).

Speaking about his win Shabbir said “ I am fortunate to have held the No.1 position for a number of years and till date I feel the pressure from other professionals in each tournament we participate in. Winning the Prime Minister Open is indeed a moment of pride for me but at the same time I am extremely excited that Ufone too decided to give me Rs.100,000/- for this memorable win. Ufone has played an active part in golf over the last year and has encouraged each member of Team Ufone to bring out our best on the course”.

“Before the tournament, Ufone announced to us that they would be giving away a cash prize to each of those who secure the top 3 positions in the tournament which encouraged me to focus harder on my win, hence Matloob too will be given a cash prize for his great performance.”

“Ufone  is the only organization in Pakistan to take such a big leap in the sport of Golf, in July this year Ufone organized a children’s golf clinic at the Karachi Golf Club which I participated in as a coach and was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the children. We as golfers look forward to the development of the sport and an honored to be a part of such a positive initiative.”

Warid Brings Intro Me Service

Yes, you are no more an “Unknown Caller”, as Warid brings this service for its customers that will allow you to introduce yourself to those receiving your call for the first time.

Normally people hesitate to answers calls from unknown numbers as they find attending these calls as waste of time. With this new service by Warid, caller will be able to send a quick introduction the receiver by making an introduction message and make a call to all people who do not have their number and the Intro message will appear on the screen so that the receiver can know who’s calling.

This service is available for Warid’s both Prepaid & Postpaid customers.

To initiate the call, the subscriber will dial the desired number with prefix 77 e.g. 7703212345678. Warid customer will send SUB in SMS to 7272 or can dial *272# to subscribe the service and can send UNSUB in SMS to 7272 to unsubscribe.

Commenting on this new offer, Warid Telecom’s Chief Commercial Office, Mr. Younas Iqbal Sheikh stated, “Warid’s always aim to facilitate its customers by introducing innovative and unique services. It has introduced many products, which are first in the industry. This service will be a great tool, especially for those people who are working as sales in Insurance, property or banking sector.”

Telenor Pakistan Announces Two Representatives for Youth Summit 2013

Telenor Pakistan has announced Saad Hamid (right) and Awais Imran (left) as representatives from Pakistan at the Telenor Youth Summit 2013 in Oslo, Norway, which is being organized in collaboration with the Nobel Peace Center.

Telenor Pakistan has announced Saad Hamid and Awais Imran as representatives from Pakistan at the Telenor Youth Summit 2013 in Oslo, Norway, which is being organized in collaboration with the Nobel Peace Center.

The two winners of the qualifying competition will also get a chance to attend the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony and Concert.

The competition attracted over 260 entries towards bringing positive social change through the use of mobile communication and internet. As per the judging format, more than 100 shortlisted ideas were displayed on the djuice website for public voting, the entries received a total of 6,670 votes. 11 top voted ideas were presented by the candidates to a jury comprising Badar Khushnood, Pakistan Country Consultant for Google Inc., Jehan Ara, President Pakistan Software Houses Association and Usman Javaid, Director Marketing, Telenor Pakistan.

The two winners – Saad Hamid and Awais Imran were triumphant for their ideas titled ’60 second education project’ and ‘Learning a new language using Mobile ICT’ respectively.

Atifa Asghar, Director Corporate Communications and Responsibility, Telenor Pakistan lauded the enthusiasm of all the contestants and said; “We at Telenor believe that mobile internet will continue to serve as a catalyst for growth and create opportunities for all. The competition, in line with our ‘Internet for All’ campaign, helped us find young future leaders and presented their dynamic ideas to deal with pressing societal issues. The global summit will provide these two winners with an opportunity to be heard at a global level.”

The Telenor Youth Summit, which will be held from December 9 to 11, is a new global initiative of Telenor Group.

It is conceived as a place for exchanging opinions on ways in which mobile communication technologies stimulate growth and change the society. The host of the Summit will be Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO of Telenor Group.

During the Summit, young people from 13 countries of Telenor operations together with Telenor Functional Experts and already established Change Makers will further develop the ideas to be presented at the Nobel Peace Centre, as well as at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2014.

u-blox, an LTE Equipment Manufacturer, Opens Office in Lahore

u‑blox, a large scale manufacturer of cellular, positioning modules and integrated circuits announced the opening of its new LTE software design centre in Pakistan.

The center will be the company’s R&D facility focusing primarily on protocol stack development for embedded 4G cellular communications, said a statement issued by the company.

The inauguration of the new R&D facility, which is located at the Arfa Karim Software Technology Park in Lahore, was attended by professionals from the technology sector and senior management team from u-blox.

Commenting on the occasion Mr. Andreas Thiel, Head of Wireless Products Development at u‑blox, said: “Our LTE software team in Lahore is a key part of our overall embedded 4G strategy; Expanding the center bolsters our goal of end-to-end ownership of key intellectual property for LTE, a technology that has now become the fastest growing standard in the history of telecommunications.”

Company statement said that new office is already staffed and operational. The facility has enabled u-blox to expand its headcount to over 100 people.

With the opening of the new facility, u-blox plans to double its LTE R&D capacity in the location.

The centre complements u-blox’ 4G LTE baseband chip design international facilities located in Switzerland, United Kingdom and Belgium. The expansion of u-blox in Lahore, Pakistan will accelerate the company’s growth in the global wireless industry, the statement said.

Via PR

iPad Air Spec Comparison With Other Tabs in the Market

Tim Cook with the new iPad Air during the launch event of iPad Air during last week.

Apple’s much-anticipated iPad Air comes with several new performance and design boosts, plus a new name but is it the best tablet on the market? We check that out via a spec sheet.

To make things interesting, we even threw a Surface Pro 2 which, many will argue, is a full-fledged PC and that’s true too.

	iPad Air	Nokia Lumia 2520	Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014)	Sony Xperia Tablet Z	Surface Pro 2
OS	iOS 7.0.2	Windows RT 8.1	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean	Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean	Windows 8.1
Dimensions	240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm	267 x 168 x 8.9 mm	243.1 x 171.4 x 7.9 mm	266 x 172 x 6.9 mm	275 x 173 x 13.5 mm
Weight	469g	615g	540g	495g	907g
Design	Aluminum Unibody	Polycarbonate Plastic	Plastic and leather-like finish	Matte Plastic	VaporMg
Display	9.7 inches	10.1 inches	10.1 inches	10.1 inches	10.6 inches
Resolution	1536 x 2048 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels	2560 x 1600 pixels	1200 x 1920 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels
Processor	64-bit 1.3Ghz Apple A7	2.2Ghz Qualcomm SnapDragon 800	2.3Ghz Qualcomm SnapDragon 800	1.5Ghz Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 Pro	1.6Ghz Intel Core i5-4200U Haswell
RAM/Storage	1 GB; 16/32/64/128 GB	2 GB; 32 GB expandable	3 GB; 16/32/64 GB expandable	2 GB; 16/32 GB expandable	4/8 GB RAM; 64/128/256/512 GB expandable
Rear-Camera	5 mp; 1080p video at 30 fps	6.7 mp; 1080p video at 30 fps	8 mp; 1080p video at 60fps	8.1 mp; 1080p video at 30 fps	1.2 mp HD
Front-Camera	1.2 mp HD	2 mp HD	2 mp Full HD	2 mp Full HD	1.2 mp HD
Connectivity	MIMO Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, Lightning Port	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0, NFC	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0,microUSB 2.0, IR Blaster, USB-OTG	Wi-FI, NFC, microUSB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0, IR Blaster	MIMO Wi-Fi, USB 3.0, microSDXC, MiniDisplay Port,Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0
Water-proof	No	No	No	IP57-certified	No
Battery	32.4 Whr	8000 mAh	8220 mAh	6000 mAh	48 Wh
Price	Starts at $499	Starts at $499	Starts at $549	Starts at $499	Starts at $899

The iPad Air, at least on paper, is lagging behind the competition in several aspects but again, Apple has never tried to compete in a numbers race and that is the best part. As usual, the iPad Air is perfect in doing the basic things, plus, it is unmatched when it comes to ecosystem.

It may not be the most productive but the free suite of iWork apps has drastically improved that too. With a competitive price and a strong backing from the App Store, it remains the tablet to beat (at least when it comes to sales).

Again, its better to look for only the things which are important to you before making a decision regarding buying anyone of these.