Tag: Corning

Pandora’s Updated Android App: The popular music streaming service Pandora has released a new and improved app for Android tablets. The new app has upgraded options which include options to easily find out more information about an artist or song title that listeners like and the ability to tweak the song list played on a listener’s customized station. So if you have an Android tablet you might want to check out the new app or update your old Pandora app.

Here’s a link to a CNET article titled “New Pandora app woos Android tablets as Apple radio grows” that offers more information on the updated Pandora app for Android devices:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57609908-93/new-pandora-app-woos-android-tablets-as-apple-radio-grows/

All Things D’s Walt Mossberg Recommends The iPad Air: The Wall Street Journal’s All Things D senior personal tech guru Walt Mossberg has tried out the new iPad Air, which goes on sale on Friday, November 1^st. And Mr. Mossberg, who has certainly seen a great many tablets in his career, said in his review that he not only likes the new iPad Air very much but to quote him that the iPad Air “is the best tablet I have ever reviewed!”

And of course, anyone who has read this blog for any length of time or who has encountered me in the library will know that I am a huge Apple fan.

Having said that for my two cents worth the best overall tablet experience includes the following general points:

• How well a tablet operates

• How many advanced features a tablet has

• How often the tablet operating system is updated

• The quality of the apps available for that tablet

And in my opinion, the best overall tablet experience today can be found by using an Apple iPad. I’ve owned an iPad since the day the first generation model was released in 2010. And I’ve now upgraded three times and have been equally pleased, with each upgraded model, with the performance of the iPad, the user friendly software that runs the iPad, the great variety and quality of apps available for the iPad and the ability to stream video content from the iPad to the HDTV in my living room.

And the new iPad Air is undoubtedly going to be even better than previous generations of the iPad not because Apple has added tons of new features but because they’ve simply made what was great about the iPad even better. The iPad Air has an upgraded the chip which makes it faster and more powerful, improved battery life; and it is much lighter than previous iPad models. In fact, the iPad Air is called the “iPad Air” because it is so light! The iPad Air weighs only a pound.  Previous generations of the iPad were all heavier and the 4^th generation iPad weighed 1.44 lbs. so this new iPad is quite a bit lighter, has battery life that according to Walt Mossberg lasts 12 hours, runs faster and is more powerful than the last generation iPad because of the new chip it uses.  So if you’re interested in buying a tablet in the near future check out Walt Mossberg’s review and stop by the library and try out one of our iPads!

And without further ado here’s the link to Walt Mossberg’s video review of the new iPad Air:

http://allthingsd.com/20131029/speed-and-power-packed-into-a-thin-ipad-air/

Pandora For Chromecast: The Chromecast, which if you’re not familiar with it is a  cheap ($35), small flash drive sized device you plug into an HDMI input on your HDTV; and which once plugged in to your TV sends the video you bring  up on your tablet, laptop or smartphone to your TV with Wi-Fi, has just added the Pandora music channel to its list of supported video services you can stream video content from; the other video services are Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV and Google Play Music.

And just to clarify, you can access any of the video apps previously mentioned through the Chromecast but you can also stream any video content you bring up using the Google Chrome web browser on your Internet connecting devices to your TV via Chromecast.

And here’s a link to a Tech Land article titled “Pandora Gives Chromecast Some Much Needed Tunes” that offers more information on the new Pandora music app for Chromecast:

http://techland.time.com/2013/10/31/pandora-gives-chromecast-some-much-needed-tunes/

The F.A.A. To Allow Passengers To Use Wi-Fi Devices All Flight Long: The F.A.A. has just announced that air plane passengers will shortly be allowed to use their Wi-Fi connecting devices in “all phases of flight.” However, cell phone use to talk or text will still be prohibited. The new F.A.A. policy is expected to be implemented for all U.S. airlines by the end of the year.

Here’s a link to a New York Times article on the subject titled “F.A.A. Allows Use of Electronic Devices Throughout Flights” that offers more information on the subject:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/business/passengers-to-be-free-to-use-electronics-on-flights-faa-says.html?_r=0

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

McCracken, Harry. (2013, October 29). iPad Air Review: Apple’s Full-Sized Tablet, No Longer So Full-Sized: A whole new class of iPad — but instantly familiar and useful, too. Online. Accessed October 31, 2013, http://techland.time.com/2013/10/29/ipad-air-review/

Mossberg, Walt, (2013, October 29). Speed and Power Packed Into a Thin iPad Air. All Things D. Online. Accessed October 30, 2013, http://allthingsd.com/20131029/speed-and-power-packed-into-a-thin-ipad-air/

Solsman, Joan. (2013, October 30). New Pandora app woos Android tablets as Apple radio grows: The top online radio company rolls out a new version of its Android app designed specifically for tablets, tweaking it for bigger screens with more functions. CNET. Online. Accessed, October 30, 2013, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57609908-93/new-pandora-app-woos-android-tablets-as-apple-radio-grows/

Wald, Matthew. (2013, October 31). F.A.A. Allows Use of Electronic Devices Throughout Flights. New York Times. Online. Accessed October 31, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/business/passengers-to-be-free-to-use-electronics-on-flights-faa-says.html?_r=0