You’ ve probably heard a lot about it, but what’s all the fuss about? Why should you buy an Android tablet instead of one from Apple? You’ll find the answer to this question, andmore, right here
You’ll probably be quite familiar with our friendly green man: the Google Android logo is liberally scattered across the windows of every major mobile phone emporium in the country. But what exactly is Android? And what makes it so different to Apple’s offering?
In essence, Google Android is an operating system just like Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. And as with any laptop or desktop PC, an Android tablet will come with a version of the Android OS preinstalled.
An operating system is like a fancy control panel: it deals with the complicated stuff, talking to the computer’s core hardware in a language it understands, while allowing you to push buttons and flick switches to get things done. Without an OS, you’d have to type complicated lines of code to get it to do even the simplest of things.
The difference between a standard computer OS and Android is that, where Windows and Mac OS were designed to be controlled via a keyboard and mouse, Android has been designed to be operated using a touchscreen. For instance, it uses finger-sized buttons and controls. It also supports “gestures”, such as flick to scroll and the famous pinch-to-zoom gesture first implemented by Apple in the original iPhone.
THE SPICE OF LIFE
As with Windows, Android comes preinstalled on all manner of devices, from a wide range of manufacturers. You’ll find Android on smartphones, compact tablets with 7in screens and larger tablets at 10in or above.
Some manufacturers have even attempted, with limited success, to put Android on laptops and PCs. And most of the big names in the consumer electronics industry have built entertainment devices on Android: Samsung, Motorola, Acer and Asus to name but a few.
This means there’s a huge variety of tablets with Android on board. Flick to Chapter 5 and you’ll find reviews of powerful 10in tablets like the Asus Memo Pad FHD 10, smaller compact tablets such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD 7 and Google’s very own Android device, the Nexus 7. There’s healthy competition among manufacturers of Android tablets, leading to greater choice for you.
THE ANDROID DIFFERENCE
As well as variety of choice, Android tablets hold other advantages over the Apple iPad and other manufacturers’ tablets, too. One of these is connectivity.
On an Apple device, there’s no way of expanding the memory, for instance, but on most Android tablets you can usually slot in a card to boost the amount of storage space. Rather than being stuck with whatever you can afford when you buy, with most Android tablets you can add storage by up to 32GB when the need arises.
Another advantage of Android tablets is you can drag and drop whatever files you like in and out of the tablet’s memory. If you want to use software to synchronise your music, video and photos, you’re not limited in your choice either as there are plenty of options.
Widgets, meanwhile, give you a window on all manner of your personal information directly from the tablet’s homescreen; Apple’s iPads can’t offer this sort of rich interaction. And with these widgets offering at-a-glance updates, they can save a lot of time, too.
The biggest advantage with Android, though, brings us back to that variety of choice. If you buy into the Android way of doing things, your future upgrade options aren’t dictated by the whims and mood of a single manufacturer. If you see a tablet in the shops made by a different manufacturer, you can simply make the switch and take all of your apps with you. And if you can’t afford to buy the top-end devices, there are plenty of budget Android tablets to choose from.
In short, Android is a much more flexible operating system than its main rival. It’s available on more devices at more price points, it doesn’t carry as many restrictions, and it leaves your future choices much more open.
THE APPLE ADVANTAGE
But we shouldn’t be blind to Apple’s advantages. It’s the most established tablet, and Apple exerts a lot more control over things than Google does. Apple checks each and every new app before it’s made available, which helps weed out substandard offerings of dubious value. The quality of its App Store is high, whereas Google Play can often seem like a bit of a Wild West.
By controlling the hardware as well, you can be confident of a slick interface and smooth performance with any iPad. The newer Android tablets made by big-brand companies all include fast processors and lots of memory, but there are dozens of Android tablets made by manufacturers that have poor build quality and weak specifications.
As such, be careful before you buy. If you’re still on the lookout for a new tablet, read our reviews.
Android a potted history
Android started out life in 2008 on a smartphone. At the time, the only rivalsto the Apple iPhone were complicated andfiddlyto use on a touchscreen (such asWindows Mobile), or were corporate devices targeted specifically at business people and didn’t support touch operation at all (such as the older BlackBerrys).
Google spotted a gap in themarket and, in partnershipwithTaiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC, produced the G1 smartphone. Itwas plaguedwith problems: battery lifewas poor, itwas very basic and there weren’tmany apps to startwitheither.
Google quickly improved Android, however,moving fromversion 1 to 1.5, then 1.6. Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength, moving through the gears with versions 2 to 2.3 before introducing Android 3, the first tablet-specific version. Since Android 4 arrived, there have been severalmajor updates, all leading towards the very latest version, 4.4, due to arrive on select devices in late 2013.
Google gives each version of Android a dessert-related codename; the upcoming version isknownas KitKat. Other notable codenames include Jelly Bean (version 4.1), Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4), Honeycomb (version 3), Gingerbread (version 2.3), and Cupcake (version 1.5)
