Tulsa World, Okla., Bits & Bytes column

Source: Tulsa World, Okla.迷你倉Oct. 27--After announcements of new Kindle Fire HD, Galaxy Note and Surface tablets, Apple, the godfather of the tablet movement, stepped up with its own new models.The iPad Air and the new iPad Mini will arrive Nov. 1 and "later in November," respectively, and will likely be big sellers. But has Apple done enough to stay ahead of the pack?Let's start with the iPad Air. On paper, little has changed. It's received the expected processor bump to use the same 64-bit A7 processor now found in the newest iPhone, as well as that mysterious motion-processing M7 chip that holds promise for increasingly accurate movement measuring but yet no concrete examples.That's about it. The camera is the same. There's no fingerprint sensor and no other type of new hardware. It seems like last year's model with a speed boost.That is, until you get to the physical dimensions. Not only has it become thinner, it's managed to drop from 1.4 pounds to a single pound. That's significant.Because of how often a tablet is held in the hands, weight can make or break it. The reduction of nearly half a pound almost eliminates the possibility of one-handed wrist-strain for everyone.The new iPad Mini, however, has gone in the other direction. It's 0.3 millimeters thicker and fattened from 0.68 to 0.73 pounds. It's not much, but it's there.The Mini is also more expensive. The base model now starts at $399 instead of the $329 of the original Mini.These seem like steps in the wrong direction until you notice the Mini has the same A7 chip as its big brother. Last year's Mini traded off some performance for its smaller size.Now you'll get the same power at a smaller size and a cheaper price tag.Both tablets also have the nice bonus of an array of free productivity software, including iWork -- basically Apple's version of Microsoft Office -- Garage Band, iPhoto and iMovie.A co-worker noticed Apple and Microsoft seem to be in a race to see who can make their software free the fastest, and he's right. Free Microsoft Office was a great carrot for people to buy the company's Surface tablets, but Apple's move nullifies that advantage.The only real misstep Apple made ismini storagewith its cheaper offerings. The original iPad Mini got only a $30 price drop, and the third-generation iPad was axed completely. That leaves the iPad 2 -- two generations behind -- at $399.With that much of a gap between it and the iPad Air, there's no reason to buy it considering the same price will get you a full-powered Mini.Other than that, Apple has done a fine job of keeping its tablets competitive. The iPad will likely remain the top-seller for at least another year.APP OF THE WEEK: Carrot To-Do (iOS)There are plenty of to-do list apps out there, but Carrot is the quirkiest one I've seen.If you don't get the items you put in your list done in a reasonable amount of time, Carrot will get upset at you. Accomplish things, and she'll get happy. Beyond the semi-abusive AI, Carrot makes getting things done a game, with the ability to level up, challenges to overcome and rewards such as new functions within the app and mini-games. And a kitten.It's a little too easy to game the app by saying you've completed fake accomplishments, but the weird things she says and does will keep you motivated.Grailr, $1.99?? Suggest an app for App of the Week at robert.evatt@tulsaworld.comNetflix's dark days thing of the pastRemember Quikster?Two years ago, Netflix introduced this plan to break up its streaming and DVD services, ticking off most of its customers. The gaffe was big enough to cause a dip in subscribers, and people wondered if the company could recover.It has. Very much so.During its latest quarterly report, Netflix not only beat expectations at 52 cents per share, there are now 31.1 million subscribers, which pushes it past its rival HBO.This is likely due to the company producing its own critically acclaimed TV shows, notably "Orange is the New Black."I'd love to see Netflix keep growing to make the various studios realize streaming is here to stay and they should stop fighting it.Follow us on TwitterFollow @RobertEvatt to get the latest tech news and insight from World technology writer Robert Evatt.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉