iPad Pro's fatal flaw [fifth in a series]

I cannot presently recommend Apple's big-ass tablet as a laptop replacement—using the official-issue Smart Keyboard. The reason may surprise you. The foible isn't the utility of iOS, available apps, or overall hardware performance but the battery and charging system. Inadequate combination is an understatement.

Two weeks ago, I purchased iPad Pro through T-Mobile's Jump On Demand program. My 13th day using the tablet as my primary PC progresses with acceptance that an ongoing problem is a deal breaker. When I use iPad Pro like a laptop, even primarily working only with mail and two browsers (Chrome and Safari), battery burns down too rapidly and subsequent topping off takes too long. Oddly, battery-life is exceptionally good for tablet use.

With Smart Keyboard attached, I can deplete iPad Pro's battery in about four hours, while recharging takes six or more hours. More disturbing: When plugged into the Lightning cable and 12-watt brick, and in-use. the tablet typically reaches a steady-state where the battery charges little to not at all. Yesterday, I got the thing from 14 percent to 100 percent in under 5 hours by powering off and detaching the accessory.

The fundamental problem might be partly remedied. Apple's 12-watt charger is insufficient for the 10,307mAh battery. But the device is capable of 29 watts with right brick and Lightning cable, neither of which the company offers. A bigger brick wouldn't increase battery life, but it should substantially reduce recharge time and make more feasible using the tablet when plugged into electrical outlet.

Restated, there are three related problems with the current configuration:

Battery depletes too quickly with Smart Keyboard attached

Little to no recharging occurs when tablet is used with keyboard

Recharge time takes too long, particularly set against actual usage time

For nearly two weeks I've limped along using iPad Pro as much as possible as my primary PC, but shifting back to laptop when the battery depletes. I have tried working with the tablet plugged into power, but there's something disconcerting watching the charge percentage go down, which can't be good for the battery.

Tablet experience is quite different, however; the overall UX surpasses iPad Air 2. Battery blows past a full waking workday of use, and is easily replenished overnight. The 12.9-inch display delivers content consumption wallop. Now that I'm more accustomed to the size—305.7 x 220.6 x 6.9 mm (12 x 8.68 x .27 inches)—content consumption benefits are better appreciated. Finally, I can read magazines as full page, without pinching to zoom text, for example.

I will have much to say about content consumption and apps usage in a follow-up post. Teaser: Apple's News app is transformative on this tablet like no other or from any competing software-service.

If big is your thing, iPad Pro is a fabulous tablet. But the battery/charging system limits use as a laptop replacement, and that's ignoring other gotchas to be discussed later.

This post is the fifth in a series; Parts One, Two, Three, and Four.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

Source: iPad Pro's fatal flaw [fifth in a series]

'Media should take deworming tablet,' says Bihar health minister

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav's son and Bihar's Health Minister Tej Pratap told members of the media that they need to take deworming tablets. M I Khan/ Rediff.com reports from Patna.

Unhappy over repeated questioning by newspersons about the abysmal state of government hospitals and primary health centres in Bihar, state Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav on Monday said there is a need of deworming tablet for media persons.

"Media people should be given deworming tablet as there are dangerous bacteria in their stomach," Yadav said in his reply to questions about deteriorating health facilities in the state.

Yadav launched a deworming campaign in the state last week in which four crore school children have been targeted for deworming by being administered Albendazole.

According to health officials, Albendazole is drug recommended by the World Health Organization to combat parasitic worms, and has been safely used to treat hundreds of millions of children worldwide.

Yadav made his chide while attending the weekly 'janata ke darbar mein mukhyamantri' programme in Patna.

It is first time that Tej Pratap attended Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's janata darbar.

Yadav's younger brother and the present Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi was in attendance at the event as well.

During the janata darbar, Kumar heard the grievances of hundreds of people from across the state and tried to provide them justice and solve their problems.

Source: 'Media should take deworming tablet,' says Bihar health minister

BMC to finally deal with tablet initiative`s cons

The failure of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation`s (BMC) tablet initiative owing to a lack of storage spaces and charging points for these tabs has finally been recognised by the civic body. The BMC is now going to float a tender for having additional plug-points for charging these tablets across all the schools in the city that have been provided these tablets. Confirming this, additional municipal commissioner (city) Pallavi Darade said that the corporation will make it a point to finish the instalment of these points soon.

On October 15, Mirror had reported about these tablets are lying in unused in the absence of enough plug points in classrooms. The BMC had spent around Rs 15.5 crore for providing 22,799 tablets to all class 8 students in all civic-run schools in the city.

However, due to poor planning and organisation, the initiative is still seen as a huge failure. Around five months after the tablets were distributed, school principals said that they are alrea dy experiencing problems accessing the content. "The e-learning software is not opening after the initial few weeks.

Two months ago, we put in requests to ward officials to attend to this problem. But, no action has been taken," said the principal of a school in Chembur, on the condition of anonymity. Principals also complained that BMC and tab developers had claimed that the students would not be able to install any third party software or games in the tabs.

However, these claims were baseless. "Children play on these tablets all day long and we...

News Source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/civic/BMC-to-finally-deal-with-tablet-initiatives-cons/articleshow/50951115.cms

Source: BMC to finally deal with tablet initiative`s cons

St John’s Wort tablets recalled - THREE YEARS after toxin contamination

GETTY

St John's Warts: Some tablets have been recalled

Officials have issued an urgent recall of the tablets after six batches, sold at some of Britain's biggest retailers, were found to be spoiled with the toxin, increasing the risk of liver problems.

The tablets have been in circulation since 2013 and the affected batches are due to expire between May and August 2016.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is asking people to check their medical cabinets, batch numbers and not to take the potentially harmful tablets.

GETTY

St John's Wort (hypericum perforatum)Related articles

The six batches include 14279 (Asda St John's Wort), 14255 (HRI Good Mood), 14662 (HRI Good Mood), 14498 (HRI Good Mood), 14660 (HRI Good Mood) and 14523 (Superdrug St John's Wort).

The recalled batches were said to be mixed with poisonous weeds when the plants were harvested. 

The tablets have levels of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) above the recommended levels.

GETTY

The recalled batches were said to be mixed with poisonous weeds when the plants were harvested

PAs are known to cause liver problems in humans.

Gerald Heddell, director of inspection, enforcement and standards division at MHRA, said: "Symptoms of liver disorders include yellowing of the whites of the eyes and/or skin, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, abdominal pain and unusual tiredness. 

"If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you should tell your doctor straight away."

GETTY

The herbal remedy is said to improve mood in those with mild depression

The MHRA say the recall is precautionary and it hadn't received any reports of people suffering poisoning. 

St John's Wort (hypericum perforatum) is a herbal remedy used to treat mild depression, anxiety and sleep problems.

People should return any of the affected packs to The Herbal Research Company Ltd c/o QP-Services UK Ltd, 46 High Street, Yatton, BS49 4HJ, UK. Call 01934 838820 or e-mail recall@QP-Services.com to receive a pre-paid stamped addressed envelope.

Related articles
Source: St John's Wort tablets recalled - THREE YEARS after toxin contamination

Monster's Tablets Have Shoddy USB Ports, Suit Says

By Kat Greene

Law360, Los Angeles (February 11, 2016, 6:28 PM ET) -- Monster Inc.'s M7 tablet computers break down quickly and fail to charge, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court Thursday that claims the company failed to make good on its warranties.

Antoinette Grays claims Monster's tablets came rife with promises of high-quality performance, but the first she bought failed within a month of light use, and the second survived only six months, according to her complaint. A key problem with the devices is a "notorious" defect in which the device doesn't properly...

Source: Monster's Tablets Have Shoddy USB Ports, Suit Says

St John’s Wort tablets recalled - THREE YEARS after toxin contamination

GETTY

St John's Warts: Some tablets have been recalled

Officials have issued an urgent recall of the tablets after six batches, sold at some of Britain's biggest retailers, were found to be spoiled with the toxin, increasing the risk of liver problems.

The tablets have been in circulation since 2013 and the affected batches are due to expire between May and August 2016.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is asking people to check their medical cabinets, batch numbers and not to take the potentially harmful tablets.

GETTY

St John's Wort (hypericum perforatum)Related articles

The six batches include 14279 (Asda St John's Wort), 14255 (HRI Good Mood), 14662 (HRI Good Mood), 14498 (HRI Good Mood), 14660 (HRI Good Mood) and 14523 (Superdrug St John's Wort).

The recalled batches were said to be mixed with poisonous weeds when the plants were harvested. 

The tablets have levels of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) above the recommended levels.

GETTY

The recalled batches were said to be mixed with poisonous weeds when the plants were harvested

PAs are known to cause liver problems in humans.

Gerald Heddell, director of inspection, enforcement and standards division at MHRA, said: "Symptoms of liver disorders include yellowing of the whites of the eyes and/or skin, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, abdominal pain and unusual tiredness. 

"If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you should tell your doctor straight away."

GETTY

The herbal remedy is said to improve mood in those with mild depression

The MHRA say the recall is precautionary and it hadn't received any reports of people suffering poisoning. 

St John's Wort (hypericum perforatum) is a herbal remedy used to treat mild depression, anxiety and sleep problems.

People should return any of the affected packs to The Herbal Research Company Ltd c/o QP-Services UK Ltd, 46 High Street, Yatton, BS49 4HJ, UK. Call 01934 838820 or e-mail recall@QP-Services.com to receive a pre-paid stamped addressed envelope.

Related articles
Source: St John's Wort tablets recalled - THREE YEARS after toxin contamination

Microsoft's Surface is the lone bright spot in a poor tablet market

Microsoft didn't get off to a great start with the Surface tablet, coming late and confusing the market with the RT and x86 versions. But its legendary patience is once again paying off, in that Windows 10 tablets are the one bright spot in tablet sales.

The latest statistics from market research firm Strategy Analytics showed the overall tablet market dropped by 11% in the last quarter when compared to the same period in 2014, with iPad sales in particular falling 25% and Android tablets down 7%.

Windows tablets, however, grew by a very impressive 59%. At least part of that is likely due to the fact that Surface had so much room to grow, while the iPad market was more mature. But even with that caveat, that's still good news for Microsoft.

Peter King, research director for Strategy Analytics' tablet and touchscreen strategies service, said in a statement, "Apple suffered big setbacks this year as a lack of innovation during the last several years caught up to iPad sales. Instead, Apple has focused on its MacBooks, iPhone 6/6+, and Apple Watch releases. The launch of the iPad Pro failed to meet expectations during the quarter."

He's not wrong there. The iPad has been somewhat forgotten. It hasn't been relegated to Apple TV status, but updates seem to be based on making it thinner and putting a new Ax chip in it. Other than that, the iPad has not changed much since it was introduced, and right now it's really missing Steve Jobs, who was its greatest advocate.

The Surface tablet, on the other hand, sold very well throughout the year, and various other Windows 10-powered slates also experienced success.

Eric Smith, Strategy Analytics senior analyst for tablet and touchscreen strategies service, said the Q4 launch of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book was met with many "Surface clones by Microsoft's OEM partners at lower price points. This variety of devices will bolster momentum of Windows Tablets going forward."

Another interesting stat was that 2-in-1 tablet shipments grew at an astounding 379%, although Strategy Analytics says this is coming on top of a small base and "cannot make a major directional difference for the wider tablet market yet."

Surface is enjoying a higher profile. It got some bad publicity when there were reports of Surface malfunctioning during the New England Patriots/Denver Broncos playoff game, but Microsoft would later attribute the problem to the network, not the tablets. It had a better showing at the Super Bowl and post-game.

Surface tablets are also prominently featured in the new Fox series "Lucifer," thanks to "promotional consideration provided by Microsoft," according to the end credits. The other term for that is product placement. The police officers in the show all use Surface tablets, and the camera shows the product name clearly, plus there are Surface advertisements during commercial breaks. Just keep in mind that this is a TV show where the main character is the Devil. Make your own jokes.

The Surface tablet has the advantage of the huge Windows library of applications, plus a company really behind it. I get the feeling the iPad and Android tablets are secondary products in the eyes of their vendors and not part of a real strategic push, while Microsoft is investing much more into the Surface tablet. Which is really strange because they are letting their phone die on the vine.

Source: Microsoft's Surface is the lone bright spot in a poor tablet market