Features

• Is Android in the business world to stay?

  It's official, and it's been official for a while -- Android is far and away the most popular smartphone OS in America. Ever since January 2011, when the platform surpassed RIM to take the top spot for the first time in comScore's monthly market share rankings, Google's operating system has continued to grow its user base, which accounts for 52% of the market as of this January.

• Back up, wipe and restore your iPad

  If you're planning to sell or give away your iPad, then it is essential that your personal information and data be erased from it. If it's running sluggish after a few years, sometimes backing up your data, erasing it from the tablet and restoring it might improve performance.

• The lazy geek's guide to building a home media center

  Anything less than a DIY digital home entertainment project means making the most of Apple TV

• 2012: The year Android truly challenged iOS

  Android 'Jelly Bean,' Samsung's Notes, and Google's Nexuses finally delivered compelling capabilities as Apple stalled

• Tablet smackdown: iPad vs Surface RT in the enterprise

  IPads are already making their way into businesses via bring-your-own-device efforts with Microsoft Surface RT tablets hoping to follow suit as employees lobby for their favorite devices. But which one makes more sense from an IT perspective?

• Surprise -- the iPad Mini doubles as business tablet

  The iPad Mini's small size doesn't hinder many apps, whereas the fourth-generation iPad adds little value

• Tablet deathmatch: iPad Mini vs. Nexus 7 vs. Kindle Fire HD

  A new generation of small tablets has reinvented entertainment on the go, but which is best? Find out now and gear up for holiday gift-buying

• A first look at the iPad mini

  Apple's iPad mini went on sale across Australia this morning. Here's out first thoughts.

• iPad vs iPad 2

  With the success of the iPad, Apple faced difficulties in making improvements to its successor, the iPad 2.

• How the iPad will change IT forever

  When evaluating the adoption of mobile enterprise applications, it's important to understand the overall trends driving the adoption of the iPad within the enterprise. As I worked on the book, iPad in the Enterprise: Developing and Deploying Business Applications, I spoke to, interviewed, and received feedback from dozens of technology authors, industry analysts, enterprise software executives, Fortune 1000 CIOs, and other visionaries of enterprise IT. I felt that the best way to explore this concept was to hear from those industry leaders directly.

• Apple iOS: Why it's the most secure OS, period

  In June 2007, Apple released the iPhone, and the device quickly took off to become a major brand in the smartphone market. Yet when the iPhone shipped, security on the mobile operating system was nearly nonexistent. Missing from the initial iOS (then called iPhone OS) were many of the security features that modern-day desktop software has as a matter of course, such as data-execution protection (DEP) and address-space layout randomization (ASLR). Apple's cachet lured security researchers to test the platform, and in less than a month, a trio had released details on the first vulnerability: an exploitable flaw in the mobile Safari browser.

• Why Apple's iPad 2 will be another hit

  Apple's iPad 2, unveiled by CEO Steve Jobs in a surprise appearance Wednesday at an invitation-only media event, is thinner, lighter, faster and more full-featured, and incorporates enough changes and updates to maintain Apple's strong sales in the tablet market.

• Motorola Xoom: To buy or not to buy?

  To buy or not to buy? That's the question right now as the Motorola Xoom, Google's first Android Honeycomb tablet, gets ready to make its grand debut.

• iPad 2 and iPhone 5: What's coming?

  Kyle Wiens and his team at iFixit, a Web site that provides free repair manuals and advice forums, are some of the smartest Apple geeks around. They've taken apart countless iPhones, Macs and iPads to see what makes them tick-and, of course, to find out how to repair them.

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  iPads garner favour in Australian education

  Schools and universities right around Australia had jumped headfirst into trials of Apple's hyped iPad tablet as they rush to discover exactly what the device's use will be in the educational field — sometimes with the support of their overarching education departments, and sometimes without.