Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Review: OS X El Capitan is a modest Mac upgrade

NEW YORK — Apple's choice of "El Capitan" as the name of the successor to Mac OS X Yosemite bears a subtle underlying message: As operating system upgrades go, El Capitan is rather modest, certainly compared to last year's migration from OS X Mavericks to Yosemite, or Microsoft's more recent leap from Windows 8 to Windows 10.
After all, the natural resource that is El Capitan is a California rock formation inside Yosemite National Park. And El Capitan the free-to-download operating system update that will be made available Wednesday is about building on Yosemite inside your Mac.

Of course now that Apple refreshes OS X every year or so, there's less of a need to scale your Mac to new heights each time around.

That said, by all means go grab El Capitan from the Mac App Store. It may not bring a ton of new features and certainly none of the major variety. Much of what's included is aimed at developers, such as Apple Metal, which arrives on the Mac after debuting last year on iOS. Developers can use it to produce more realistic graphics-rich games on the Mac.

But you'll appreciate the fine-tuning that has been applied to your Mac and the new ways you can organize your work.

Some of you will notice a bump up in speed, as I did after installing El Capitan on my two-year old MacBook Air. OK, my now tired 5-year old iMac still was pokey even after the upgrade. In general, Apple claims apps launch up to 40% faster in El Capitan.

The new operating system is compatible on iMacs and MacBook Pro models dating as far back as mid-2007 and other Macs from a more recent time.

Much of what Apple did with El Capitan is refine the way you can manage windows. You can drag two windows side by side with each window claiming half the full screen, unless you manually readjust their width. If this split-view feature sounds like something you've already seen on Windows, you'd be right. Microsoft introduced a similar "snap" feature with the debut of Windows 7 in 2009. Still, for the Mac crowd it's better late than never: It's convenient, for example, to consult the calendar app in one window while you're in the Mail app trying to coordinate a meeting with a client.

Apple has cleaned up its birds-eye Mission Control feature, offering a single-layer view that makes finding what you're looking for easier. You can also drag windows up to the top of the screen to create new desktop spaces for freeing up room.

A small feature might prove more useful: If you can't find your cursor because it is buried on the desktop, you can rapidly shake your finger along the trackpad to make the wayward cursor momentarily grow larger and easier to spot.

The Spotlight feature that lets you search the contents of your Mac has generally gotten more useful, though I found inconsistencies. The Spotlight window itself is resizable and can be dragged around the screen.

You can get the weather forecast for a given city inside Spotlight, as well as sports scores and stock quotes by entering team names and ticker symbols, respectively. You can also search for web videos from YouTube, Vimeo and Vevo.

But Spotlight search wasn't always spot on. Not all the stock ticker symbols I entered were recognized. When I entered "Boston Red Sox" as a search term, Spotlight indeed gave me the score of that night's Bosox-New York Yankees game. But this did not work in reverse. Entering "NY Yankees" as the search term for some reason did not surface the score.

Moreover, at one point the very Spotlight window froze so that I could not enter a new search term until I rebooted the Air.

One thing I like in Spotlight is that you can search with a more natural query, along the lines of, "find the documents I worked on in April" or "show me the unread emails from Janie in August."

Several other built-in apps have been improved. Maps adds public transit directions for Baltimore, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington D.C., as well as several foreign cities, more than 300 in China. If you specify when you want to leave, the app will suggest the fastest route for your departure. At certain subway stations you can get detailed instructions on which exits to use. You can send directions from your Mac to your Apple Watch or iPhone.

The Notes app now lets you add photos, PDFs, videos, audio, map locations, spreadsheets and more. And its much easier to share content from other apps into Notes.

The improved Mail app behaves a lot like its iOS counterpart.

In Safari, you can pin favorite sites to the tab bar and mute audio playing in the background without you having to embark on an expedition trying to figure out where the darn sound is coming from.

Apple got a head start on the Photos app that's in El Capitan in the spring but there are a few new enhancements. There's support for the new Live Photos feature introduced with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. By mousing over such photos on your Mac, you'll see the snippet of video (and hear the sound) captured just before and after the image was shot.

Editing tools you fetch from developers in the Mac App Store can be employed inside the Photos app.

Alas, it is too bad that Apple still has no plans to bring Siri to the Mac, as Microsoft has done on Windows 10 PCs with its own voice assistant Cortana. Maybe we'll see Siri a year or so from now, when Apple gets around to upgrading OS X again.

Pro. New windows management tools. Improvements to Notes, Maps, Mail, and Safari. Generally faster.

Con. No Siri. Though Spotlight search was improved I found inconsistencies.

Digital videos usually exist in many formats and they use many different settings. When a certain video file is not able to meet et specifications, or if the type of file is not good for the use it is intended for, it has to be converted into a proper format. 

Here iFastime Video Converter Ultimate for Mac is a powerful video converter for Mac, including the latest OS X 10.11 El Capitan. With largest codec supports and preset profiles, you can easily convert video on Mac El Capitan from MKV, AVCHD, FLV, WMV, AVI, DivX, XviD, FLV, RMVB, etc, to Mac supported video format MP4, M4V.

Related products:

Wondershare Dr.Fone for iOS (Mac): Lets you recover photos, video, documents, music, archive files, and email messages from iOS devices on OS X El Capitan in no time at all. 

Wondershare TunesGo for Mac: Frees your music anywhere on OS X El Capitan, doing what iTunes can’t. 

Wondershare Dr.Fone for Android (Mac): A quick way to recover your lost or deleted messages, contacts, photos, video, music, documents, etc. from Android on OS X El Capitan. 

Wondershare MobileTrans for Mac: One-click phone transfer tool to let you transfer contacts, SMS, call logs, photos, video and more between Android, iOS, and Symbian devices on OS X El Capitan. 

Have more questions, please feel free to contact us>> or leave a message at Facebook. 

More Topics:


Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2015/09/29/review-el-capitan-modest-mac-upgrade/73023834/

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Google Pixel C confirmed: Pixel tablet UK release date, price and specification

A new Google Pixel C tablet will arrive later this year running Android rather than Chrome OS, Google has confirmed. Here we round up all the information on the Pixel C tablet UK release date, price and specification.


Google Pixel C tablet UK release date: When is the Pixel tablet coming out?

The Pixel C tablet ws announced on the same day as Google unveiled its new Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P phones, the final version of Android Marshmallow, a new Chromecast and Chromecast Audio.

For now we know only that the Google Pixel C will be available in time for Christmas. As soon as an exact release date is given we will update this article.

Google Pixel C tablet price: How much does the Pixel tablet cost?

The Pixel C tablet comes in two versions, 32GB and 64GB, priced at $499 and $599 respectively. The detachable keyboard costs $149. Stay tuned for UK pricing.



Google Pixel C tablet specifications: What to expect from the new Pixel tablet

Many of the rumours we heard this morning about the Pixel C turned out to be true.

With the new Google Pixel C tablet the company has reimagined the tablet, trying to come up with a design that works for both work and play.

As such, the keyboard is detachable and held on by strong magnets, and adjustable between 100- and 135 degrees, so there's no kickstand to get in the way.

The keyboard has a very decent 18.8mm pitch, making for a great touch-typing experience. This has been achieved by taking five less frequently used buttons from the keyboard and placing them on the screen.
The keyboard connects to the tablet over Bluetooth, and charges inductively when closed. All you need is a couple of minutes charge a day, but even when you don't the battery can last up to two months, according to the company.

When you don't need the keyboard it attaches to the rear of the tablet, close to hand but out of the way.

The forthcoming Pixel C tablet runs not Chrome OS but Google Android. It ship with the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box.

It has a 10.2in, 308ppi screen with a bright backlight capable of 500 nits. It is powered by an Nvidia X1 quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM and a Maxwell desktop-class GPU.

There are four mics, allowing for voice interaction from anywhere in the room, and it's easy to quickly check the battery life with a double-tap on the light bar.

Pixel laptops have metal designs and very decent screens. The Pixel tablet follows that design ideal.

The Pixel C will also benefit from software updates every six weeks, meaning it will only get better.

In common with the Chromebook Pixel and new Nexus phones the Pixel C tablet supports USB Type-C for data transfer and charging.

Additional Tip:

Want to transfer movies to Google Pixel C for playback? Watch Blu-ray/DVD movies with Google Pixel C anytime? Want to share your movies on internet or just simply enjoy them on Google Pixel C wherever you go? Or accidentally delete your files on Google Pixel C and just want to get them back?

Here are relevant products:

Wondershare TunesGo: Frees your music anywhere from iTunes to Google Pixel C. 

Wondershare Dr.Fone for Android: A quick way to recover your lost or deleted data from Google Pixel C

Wondershare MobileTrans: One-click phone transfer tool to let you transfer data between Google Pixel C  iOS, and Symbian devices. 

iFastime Video Converter Ultimate: Make all your Blu-ray, DVD collections and movie library compatible with Google Pixel C, you don’t have to sacrifice any video quality during the video conversion.

Have more questions, please feel free to contact us>> or leave a message at Facebook.

More Topics:


Source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/new-product/tablets/google-pixel-c-102in-tablet-uk-release-date-specification-rumours-stream-confirmed-3626354/

Top 5 Best iPhone 6S Data Recovery Software 2015

When do we need an iPhone Data Recovery program?

There are so many unexpected reasons will causing data losing, such as iPhone stolen, damaged or got lost, accidental deletion, factory reset, virus attack, jailbreak or even error operations. Data loss is a distressing and serious thing, especially when the lost or deleted data mean a lot for you. You may ask: Is there any effective way to recover lost vital infolike contacts, messages, precious photos, favorite songs and even some confidential business info in our iPhone from iPhone 6S/6S Plus/6/6 Plus/5S/5C/5/4S/4/3GS? The answer is "Yes". That's why you need the data recovery software to help you recover those deleted or lost data.

In this article, we list you top 5 iPhone data recovery software in 2015. Read the reviews and pick out the one you prefer.

2015 Top 5 Best iPhone Data Recovery Software

Top 1: Wondershare Dr.Fone for iOS

Wondershare Dr.Fone for iOS enables you to recover data deleted from your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch with Recover from iOS Device and Recover from iTunes Backup. It supports all old and latest iOS devices. As one of top data recovery software, it helps you get lots of deleted or lost files back, like photos, contacts, text messages, notes, reminders, calendar, Safari bookmarks, app data and so on. 

Main features:

1.Recover data from iOS devices, iCloud backup and iTunes backup file.

2.Available to recover messages, voicemail, contacts, notes, call history, calendars, Facebook Messenger, bookmarks, etc.

3.Recover App data like WhatsApp, Instagram, Flickr, iPhoto, iMovie, Kindle, etc.

4.Fully compatible with Windows 10, iTunes 12.2.1, iOS 9.

5.Supports iPhone 6s/6s plus/6/6 Plus/5s/5c/5/4s/4/3GS, iPad mini with Retina Display, all iPads and iPod touch.

Pros:

Intuitive user interface;
Fast data recovery speed;
Preview lost files before launching data recovery;
Desktop software has both Windows and Mac versions that support all iOS devices.

Cons:

Not all files can be previewed before recovery.
Can't recovery everything deleted
And the price is a bit high.

Software interface screenshot:



Download iPhone Data Recovery Software:

          


Top 2: EaseUS MobiSaver

EaseUS MobiSaver is the best iPhone data recovery software that is totally free of charge. It supports iPhone data restore on both Windows and Mac caused by device damage, jailbreak, loss and iOS upgrade. Compatible with iPhone 6s, iPad Pro and iOS 9 compatible, this free iPhone data recovery app helps you recover photo, contact, SMS, call log, etc data for iPhone if you have iTunes backup.

Main features:

1.Recover up to 12 Types of Data including contacts, SMS, reminders, call log, photos, camera roll, etc.

2.Rescue iTunes encrypted backup.

3.Recover iPhone/iPad/iPod touch Data from Various Data Loss Circumstances.

4.iPhone 6s, iPad Pro and iOS 9 compatible.

5.Three recovery modes for you to restore your data back.

Pros: 

Simple and easy to use for all
Totally Free Data Recovery Tool
This software has windows and Mac versions

Cons: 

No iCloud backup support
Not always able to retrieve lost data
Difficult to connect to iPhone
Take a while to scan your iOS device
sometimes stuck in the process of connecting to iPhone.

Software interface screenshot:



Top 3: Tenorshare iPhone Data Recovery

Tenorshare iPhone Data Recovery, being the best iOS devices data recovery software, supports iPhone data recovery directly from iPhone with or without iTunes/iCloud backups. If you lost data after upgrade to iOS 8 or due to iOS crash, download this best iPhone data recovery software and you are allowed to enjoy a time-limited free trial to do the iPhone data recovery. Fully support iPhone 6s Plus/6s/6+/6/5s/5c/5/4s/4 iTunes 12.2 and iOS 9.

Main features:

1.Recover up to 20 types of data directly from iPhone without backup

2.Three recovery modes for you to recover iPhone data

3.It supports to sync recovered contacts, messages and notes directly to iPhone

4.Extract, restore, backup data from iTunes backup files to computer

Pros:

Neat and intuitive interface
Fast data scan and recovery speed
Retrieves almost any file from damaged, crashed, broken or smashed iPhone
Totally free trial for a limited time

Cons: 

Too expensive ($ 139.95)
Found files are not sorted in "Folder"
You can only view them in "File Type"
It only supports iPhone

Software interface screenshot:


Top 4: iSkysoft iPhone Data Recovery

It is a one-stop data recovery solution to restore iPhone photos, contacts, messages and more in a few clicks. This iOS recovery software can extract and recover what you want from iCloud and iTunes backup, including photos, app photos, mesages, contacts, call history, voicemail, WhatsApp messages, Notes, Calendar, Reminder, Safari bookmarks, voice memo and app documents.

Main features:

1.Recover up to 9 types of data directly from newest iOS devices

2.Recover up to 17 types of data from iTunes/iCloud backup file

3.Can fix the "recovery mode loop" problem for your iOS devices

4.Support 3 kinds of data recovery mode

5.Fast, easy and powerful iOS recovery software

Pros:
It provides a free version
Easy to use interface
The ability to recover data selectively is a real boon
Capable of finding and restoring a number of file types
Repair the operating system of your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Cons:
Takes a while to scan devices completely
Very expensive, it costs $69.95

Software interface screenshot:



Top 5: WinAVI iPhone Data Recovery

WinAVI iPhone Data Recovery is a data recovery tool only for Windows and iPhone users, supporting data rescue on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and the previous. This data recovery software can auto-scan, index and search data on your iPhone. Beside, you will be able to preview and select video/photo/contact data for recovery.

Main features:

1.Auto-scanning, indexing and searching.
2.Preview enabled before restoring.
3.Files sorted by size and Contacts from A-Z.
4.Easy-to-operate and user-friendly interface.
5.Recover and export your iPhone contacts to vCard(.vcf) file.
6.Recover and Export lost or deleted call history from iPhone.

Pros:

Recover and Export lost or deleted iPhone Message to .xml file function added.

Cons: 

Limited devices supported
Lack of continuous upgrade.
Very expensive, it costs $ 69.95
Supported OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8 & iPhone 4S/4/3GS/3G
Only output Photos (.JPG), Contacts (.CSV, VCF), Messages (.XML)

Software interface screenshot:



Buy iPhone Data Recovery Software for Win/Mac now:

          

When you're looking for data recovery software to help you recover deleted or lost data on your iOS device, what other extraordinarily elements or features you will refer to? Or what do you extremely want it to do for you? If you have any opinions or other wonderful data recovery software for iOS recommendations, welcome to share with us in the Comment Section below.

Additional Tips: 
What Can iPhone Data Recovery Software Do?

1. Restore iPhone Lost Data After Jailbreaking. 

Is there a way to restore the content of my iPhone after jailbreaking? If you synchronize your iPhone with iTunes before doing the jailbreak, this won’t be a problem. You can use an iPhone data recovery to recover all of the content.

2. Unlock Your iPhone Screen without Forgotten Passcode. 

If you unfortunately forget your iPhone screen lock password, the only way to solve the problem, besides from entering the code, is to restore it to its factory settings. After you restore your iPhone to factory settings, use an iPhone recovery software to help you recover your data.

3. Recover Data from iPhone After Restoring to Factory Settings. 

Factory Setting causes all data loss of iPhone. What can we do to get all of them back? Undoubtedly, you need an excellent data extractor for your iPhone.

4. Retrieve iPhone Deleted Data Due to Misoperation. 

If you delete your iPhone contacts or messages by mistake, the best way to recover these data is choose Cisdem iPhone Recovery to fully recover your deleted data.

5. Recover Data from Damaged/Crashed/Smashed iPhone. 

An iPhone recovery software is always here to retrieve iOS data lost due to iOS upgrade, jailbreak, accidental deletion, virus attack, restoring to factory settings, etc.

6. Restore iPhone Data from iTunes Backup. 

iPhone recovery tool can help you restore iPhone data from iTunes backup. It automatically categorize your files before you preview the contents. Check the information in detail and then selectively restore the desired files.

7. Retrieve iPhone Data Without iCloud Backup. 

iPhone data recovery is a program that you can recover data from iPhone 6, ,6 plus, 5S, 5C, 5, iPhone 4S, iPod touch 5 or iPad mini without iCloud backup file. These best iPhone data recovery software will help you recover your iPhone data with no hassles.

Related Software

Wondershare TunesGo: Frees your music anywhere from iPhone, doing what iTunes can’t.

Wondershare Dr.Fone for Android: A quick way to recover your lost or deleted data from Android .

Wondershare MobileTrans: One-click phone transfer tool to let you transfer data between Android, iOS, and Symbian devices. 

iFastime Video Converter Ultimate: Make all your Blu-ray, DVD collections and movie library compatible with iPhone.

Have more questions about this Top 5 Best iPhone Data Recovery Software review, please feel free to contact us>> or leave a message at Facebook.

More Topics:
Source: http://i-portable-devices.blogspot.com/2015/09/iphone-6s-plus-data-recovery-software.html

Monday, September 28, 2015

Watch Rugby World Cup 2015: Live, on-demand & outside the UK

The UK is hosting this year's Rugby World Cup. Here's how to live stream the 2015 Rugby World Cup from a PC, laptop, phone or tablet. 


How to watch Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Rugby World Cup dates to remember 

The Rugby Cup starts on Friday 18 September at 8pm BST, when England plays Fiji at Twickenham Stadium. Matches are then held on most days up until the Rugby World Cup Quarter Finals on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October, the Rugby World Cup Semi Finals on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th of October, the Rugby World Cup Bronze Final on Friday 30th October and the Rugby World Cup Final on Saturday 31 October. A full fixture list can be found at the bottom of this article. 

How to watch Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Rugby World Cup venues 

Rugby World Cup matches will be held at 13 venues across the UK, including: Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton; Elland Road, Leeds; Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester; Leicester City Stadium, Leicester; Manchester City Stadium, Manchester; Millennium Stadium, Cardiff; Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London; Sandy Park, Exeter; St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne; Stadium MK, Milton Keynes; Twickenham Stadium, London; Villa Park, Birmingham; and Wembley Stadium, London. 

How to Watch Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Rugby World Cup tickets 

Tickets can still be bought for the Rugby World Cup 2015 by visiting tickets.rugbyworldcup.com. Ticket prices start at £50 - even for babies! 

If you think that's a bit steep, in this article we will show you how to tune in for free on your PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet wherever you may be. 

How to watch Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Rugby World Cup previous winners 

Rugby World Cup 2011 winner: New Zealand (runner-up: France) 
Rugby World Cup 2007 winner: South Africa (runner-up: England) 
Rugby World Cup 2003 winner: England (runner-up: Australia) 
Rugby World Cup 1999 winner: Australia (runner-up: France) 
Rugby World Cup 1995 winner: South Africa (runner-up: New Zealand) 
Rugby World Cup 1991 winner: Australia (runner-up: England) 
Rugby World Cup 1987 winner: New Zealand (runner-up: France) 

How to watch Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Rugby World Cup TV coverage 

Every match will be streamed live by ITV. The majority of matches will be on the main ITV channel, with the odd few streamed on ITV4. See our fixtures list at the bottom of this article to see on which channel each match will be broadcast. 

ITV has lined up presenters John Inverdale, Mark Durden-Smith and Craig Doyle. Joining them in the commentary box will be Nick Mullins, Miles Harrison, Jon Champion, Martin Gillingham and Simon Ward, plus co-commentators Geordan Murphy, Scott Hastings, Shane Williams and Ben Kay. Reporters Jill Douglas, Fran Donovan, Gabriel Clarke and Martin Bayfield will also be bringing viewers Rugby World Cup news. 

A team of pundits with personal experience in competing for the Webb Ellis Cup also drawn on by ITV include Jonny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Robinson, Sir Clive Woodward, Brian O’Driscoll, Gareth Thomas, Sir Ian McGeechan, Francois Pienaar, Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Lynagh, George Gregan, Maggie Alphonsi and David Flatman. 

How to watch the Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Watch the Rugby World Cup live online 

You can watch all matches live online through ITV Player. If you're using a PC or laptop, open your browser and visit itv.com/itvplayer/itv for the ITV matches and itv.com/itvplayer/itv4 for the ITV4 matches. Click the Watch Live tab above the video preview window, then click the Play icon to begin playback. 

If you are using a smartphone or tablet you'll need to download the ITV Player app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Having downloaded and installed ITV Player, launch the app and select either the ITV or ITV4 tab at the top of the screen. Now simply tap the large Watch Live button on the preview window at the top of the screen. 

If you are not on an unlimited mobile data contract on your phone or tablet you should ensure that you are connected to Wi-Fi. To stream live Rugby World Cup matches on a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone you also need to have a valid TV Licence. 

How to watch the Rugby World Cup 2015 outside the UK 

ITV Player is geo-restricted outside the UK, but that doesn't mean you can't watch it when you're overseas. All you need do is download a VPN that will mask your IP address and make it appear to ITV Player that you are in fact in the UK. You can then browse to ITV Player in your web browser and watch whatever you like. 

Often recommended services include Hola and UnoTelly; we've reviewed a load more in our article Best free VPN services 2015. 

How to watch the Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Catch up on-demand with the Rugby World Cup online 

Because ITV Player is also a catch-up on-demand app, you can use it to re-watch Rugby World Cup matches that have already finished. You can view a list of recent programmes under each channel tab, or use the search function to find the exact match you're looking for. 

As before, if you are not on an unlimited mobile data contract on your phone or tablet you should ensure that you are connected to Wi-Fi. However, you do not need a TV Licence to watch already-broadcast Rugby World Cup matches on a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. 

How to watch Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Rugby World Cup further information 

For more information on the Rugby World Cup you can visit the official Rugby World Cup website, Rugby World Cup TV and ITV's own Rugby World Cup portal. ITV also has a Rugby World Cup 2015 mobile app that's free to download for iOS and Android. 

How to watch Rugby World Cup 2015 online: Rugby World Cup 2015 fixture list 

Friday 18 September 2015 

  • England vs Fiji (Pool A; Twickenham; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Saturday 19 September 2015 

  • Tonga vs Georgia (Pool C; Gloucester; 12:00 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Ireland vs Canada (Pool D; Cardiff; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • South Africa vs Japan (Pool B; Brighton; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • France vs Italy (Pool D; Twickenham; 20:00 kick-off, ITV4) 
Sunday 20 September 2015 

  • Samoa vs USA (Pool B; Brighton; 12:00 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Wales vs Uruguay (Pool A; Cardiff; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • New Zealand vs Argentina (Pool C; Wembley; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
Wednesday 23 September 2015 
  • Scotland vs Japan (Pool B; Gloucester; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Australia vs Fiji (Pool A; Cardiff; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • France vs Romania (Pool D; QE Olympic Park; 20:00 kick-off; ITV4) 
Thursday 24 September 2015 
  • New Zealand vs Zambia (Pool C; QE Olympic Park; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 
Friday 25 September 2015 
  • Argentina vs Georgia (Pool C; Gloucester; 16:45 kick-off; ITV4) 
Saturday 26 September 2015 
  • Italy vs Canada (Pool D; Leeds; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • South Africa vs Samoa (Pool B; Birmingham, 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • England vs Wales (Pool A; Twickenham; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 
Sunday 27 September 2015 
  • Australia vs Uruguay (Pool A; Birmingham; 12:00 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Scotland vs USA (Pool B; Leeds; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Ireland vs Romania (Pool D; Wembley; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
Tuesday 29 September 2015 
  • Tonga vs Namibia (Pool C; Exeter; 16:45 kick-off; ITV4) 
Thursday 1 October 2015 
  • Wales vs Fiji (Pool A; Cardiff; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • France vs Canada (Pool D; Milton Keynes; 20:00 kick-off; ITV4) 
Friday 2 October 2015 

  • New Zealand vs Georgia (Pool C; Cardiff; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Saturday 3 October 2015 

  • Samoa vs Japan (Pool B; Milton Keynes; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • South Africa vs Scotland (Pool B; Newcastle upon Tyne; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • England vs Australia (Pool A; Twickenham; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Sunday 4 October 2015 

  • Argentina vs Tonga (Pool C; Leicester; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Ireland vs Italy (Pool D; QE Olympic Park; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 

Tuesday 6 October 2015 

  • Canada vs Romania (Pool D; Leicester; 16:45 kick-off; ITV4) 
  • Fiji vs Uruguay (Pool A; Milton Keynes; 20:00 kick-off; ITV4) 

Wednesday 7 October 2015 

  • South Africa vs USA (Pool B; QE Olympic Park; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Namibia vs Georgia (Pool C; Exter; 20:00 kick-off; ITV4) 

Friday 9 October 2015 

  • New Zealand vs Tonga (Pool C; Newcastle upon Tyne; 20:00 kick-off; ITV4) 

Saturday 10 October 2015 

  • Samoa vs Scotland (Pool B; Newcastle upon Tyne; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Australia vs Wales (Pool A; Twickenham; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • England vs Uruguay (Pool A; Manchester; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Sunday 11 October 2015 

  • Argentina vs Namibia (Pool C; Leicester; 12:00 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Italy vs Romania (Pool D; Exeter; 14:30 kick-off; ITV) 
  • France vs Ireland (Pool D; Cardiff; 16:45 kick-off; ITV) 
  • USA vs Japan (Pool B; Gloucester; 20:00 kick-off; ITV4) 

Rugby World Cup 2015 Quarter Finals 

Saturday 17 October 2015 

  • Quarter Final 1 - Pool B winner vs Pool A runner-up (Twickenham; 16:00 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Quarter Final 2 - Pool C winner vs Pool D runner-up (Cardiff; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Sunday 18 October 2015 

  • Quarter Final 3 - Pool D winner vs Pool C runner-up (Cardiff; 13:00 kick-off; ITV) 
  • Quarter Final 4 - Pool A winner vs Pool B runner-up (Twickenham; 16:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Rugby World Cup 2015 Semi Finals 

Saturday 24 October 2015 

  • Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2 (Twickenham; 16:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Sunday 25 October 2015 

  • Winner QF3 vs Winner QF4 (Twickenham; 16:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Rugby World Cup 2015 Bronze Final 

Friday 30 October 2015 

  • Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2 (QE Olympic Park; 20:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Rugby World Cup 2015 Final 

Saturday 31 October 2015 

  • Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (Twickenham; 16:00 kick-off; ITV) 

Additional Tips:

Watching online Rugby World Cup 2015 movies on computer, iPad, iPhone may be stutter. But good news is that you can have a fluent viewing if you download SD/HD/4K movies and play them on devices offline. A powerful video converter titled iFastime Video Converter Ultimate can help compress large movie size to fit for iPad, iPhone with minimum quality loss. Only several mouse clicks are required: load downloaded movies -> select output profile -> hit "Start conversion" to begin compressing -> once finished, simply transfer the compressed/converted movies to computer, iPad, iPhone for watching.

More Topics: 

Source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/internet/how-watch-rugby-world-cup-2015-live-on-demand-outside-uk-3625598/

Friday, September 25, 2015

Top 5 virtual reality games using Oculus Touch

Los Angeles: Oculus is getting touchy.

The virtual reality creator invited attendees at its second annual Oculus Connect conference to go hands on with games for the consumer rendition of its Oculus Rift headset using Oculus Touch hand-held controllers.


"The biggest challenge for us to solve was adding support for dual controllers," said Nick Donaldson, senior designer at Epic Games. "We never had the concept that the player would have more than one controller in their hands. Now, we can't really imagine it any other way."

Several of the demos on display at the three-day event this week are intended to launch early next year alongside the VR system, although Facebook-owned Oculus has yet to announce the system's price or release date.

A look at five games utilising Touch:

1. Bullet Train

The most polished of the demos on hand at Oculus Connect came from developer Epic Games, best known for the "Gears of War" series.

"Bullet Train" is essentially an interactive version of "The Matrix," where users can teleport across a train station, shoot baddies, bend time and catch bullets.

The demo flawlessly showcased the Touch controllers' ability to mirror hand movement, whether that meant gripping a shotgun or punching a soldier.

2. Surgeon Simulator

Bossa Studios' surgery simulator series ventured into outer space at Oculus Connect with an "Alien Autopsy"-inspired level.

In the wacky demo, players are space surgeons who must use various medical implements to remove an explosive organ from a big-eyed extraterrestrial.

The combination of an instinctual control scheme and some gravity-defying physics provided an extremely silly sense of presence for wannabe quacks.

3. Dead and Buried

This wild Western-themed shooting gallery put players above a canyon where everything is a target — from mine carts to lanterns.

The player is virtually armed with a pair of surprisingly intuitive six-shooters, which must be reloaded by actually flicking the Touch controllers.

"Dead and Buried" is ultimately gimmicky, but the demo's shooting controls offered a glimpse at how precise a first-person shooter could feel inside Oculus.

4. Pulsar Arena

"Tron" meets "PaRappa the Rapper" in this overwhelming rhythm game where the goal is to blast floating balls along to a pulsating beat.

It's basically a hyper take on tug-of-war set inside an hourglass-shaped stadium where players compete against a computer-controlled opponent.

With its flashy futuristic aesthetic, "Pulsar Arena" proved to be an immersive experience. However, the minimalistic gameplay won't leave any lasting VR legacy.

5. I Expect You to Die

Schell Games' quirky spy simulator strands players in a deathtrap-filled car parked inside a gas-filled cargo plane. The mission? Escape!

The controllers are mimicked in the virtual driver's seat as hands which can push buttons, grab bombs, turn keys and open the glove compartment.

"I Expect You to Die" is a maddeningly fun, tactile interactive experience, and it's proof that problem solving in VR will shake and stir Oculus users.

Also read A New Samsung Gear VR Might Be In The Works For 2016

Tips: 

Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset not only for playing games, but also a headset on which you can play your own movies using the Oculus Cinema with brilliant immersive viewing experience. Then how can we watch 3D movies on this cutting-edge development kit?

Here are related tips: 
Source: http://www.ibnlive.com/news/tech/top-5-virtual-reality-games-using-oculus-touch-1116154.html

Thursday, September 24, 2015

How to prepare your Mac for OS X 10.11 El Capitan

Apple is set to release OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Is your current Mac compatible with El Capitan and, if so, how do you go about downloading and installing the new Mac OS? Read on for answers and other El Capitan preparation tips.



1. When and where can I download El Capitan?

Starting Wednesday, September 30, Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan will be available for download from the Mac App Store.

2. How much will it cost?

Not a cent. Like OS X 10.10 Yosemite before it, El Capitan will be free.

3. Will my old Mac be able to run El Capitan?

The minimum hardware requirements for OS X 10.11 El Capitan remain the same as they were for Yosemite. Here are the Macs that will run El Capitan:
  • iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
  • MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
  • MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
  • Mac Mini (Early 2009 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
  • Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
  • Xserve (Early 2009)
Also, if you haven't updated your Mac's operating system in a number of years, then you need to check to see if you are running at least OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, which was released way back in 2009. Its 10.6.6 update introduced the Mac App Store, which you'll need in order to download El Capitan. You need be running one of the following:
  • OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.8)
  • OS X Lion (10.7)
  • OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)
  • OS X Mavericks (10.9)
  • OS X Yosemite (10.10)
If you have an ancient Mac with an OS predating Snow Leopard, you will need to install Snow Leopard before then moving to Yosemite. You can buy Snow Leopard for $19.99 here.

Learn how to deal with unreadable movies on the new OS X 10.11 El Capitan.

4. How do I find out what vintage Mac I have and what version of OS X it's running?

Click the Apple button in the upper-left corner of your Mac and choose About This Mac. If you are running Yosemite, both the era of Mac (in my case, Early 2011) and flavor of OS will be displayed. For older versions of OS X, you will see the OS information and will then need to click the More Info button to view your Mac's year.

5. How much space will I need?

Apple has not stated how big a download El Capitan will be, but if OS X 10.10 Yosemite is any indication, you will need roughly 8GB of hard-drive space. Yosemite also required at least 2GB of memory, a threshold your Mac likely meets.

You can find out how much memory and hard-drive space your Mac has by clicking About This Mac from the Apple menu.

6. Should I back up my Mac before installing El Capitan?

Of course! You should always perform a system backup to protect your data before installing a new OS. Should the installation go awry, you don't want to lose important documents along with your photo and music libraries. Thankfully, Macs include a tool that make backups easy: Time Machine. Otherwise you need a Data Recovery Software. Learn how to extract iTunes Backup.

More Topics:
Source: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-prepare-your-mac-for-os-x-10-11-el-capitan/

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

A New Samsung Gear VR Might Be In The Works For 2016

Last month when Samsung took the wraps off its highly anticipated new phones the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ many expected a new Gear VR to debut as well. We would soon find out that was not the case. In fact, it was nearly a month later when Samsung’s mobile chief JK Shin told the tech world a new model was coming “Soon” in an interview, he gave to CNET in August this year.


Now we are finding out new information from Samsung out of its home country of Korea. Per the new information, it’s  looking like we will see a new 3rd edition Gear VR  probably in 2016.

Unlike the Gear VR, which operates with an attached phone, the new headset would be more like an Oculus Rift. By removing the connection to a smartphone, the Samsung headset would be more powerful, but it would also require a desktop connection. Samsung has already patented a VR headset design that includes a built-in display and projector.


It was also said that the new Gear VR would be a dedicated VR device and that the reason for the delay was because of Samsung’s efforts to get content exclusively for this new VR device. So with other tech companies starting to join the VR party, Samsung has a few more months to work on its latest VR headset. All while hoping it will stay the industry leader in this emerging new market.

Samsung has been known for making a lot of products and software. Their phones up until recently with the Galaxy S6 line and the Galaxy Note 5 line have been stocked full of features and software. They have also made a lot of phones for all those features. They have everything from high-end devices like their new Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ to low-end flip phones such as the Samsung Rugby 4. That being said not many in the tech community saw the Samsung Gear VR coming last September. Made to work with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the Samsung Gear VR partnered with Oculus VR a virtual reality company based out of Irvine, California.  The Samsung Gear VR  used the Note 4 screen to give the viewer a 3D interactive world at their fingertips. JK Shin, President and CEO of IT ; Mobile Communications Samsung had this to say when the Samsung Gear VR was announced last year. “The Samsung Gear VR goes far beyond expectations of how mobile technology can be used to consume content, and is a powerful representation of the progressive innovation of the Gear series,” We are pleased to have partnered with Oculus VR to bring this incredibly immersive mobile content experience to consumers.

The first Gear VR was called the First Innovator Edition, and it was released to work with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in December 2014. After the Samsung Galaxy S6 had been unveiled this spring, Samsung released a second edition Gear VR called the Second Innovator Edition. This model pretty much was identical to the old model with a few tweaks here and there. It was designed to use the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge as a screen just like the original model had with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Related Gear VR Solutions:


Source: http://news.list-online.com/a-new-samsung-gear-vr-might-be-in-the-works-for-2016-android-headlines-android-news/

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Create a System Image Backup in Windows 10

Both Windows 8 and Windows 10 offer a type of backup known as a System Image Backup and it is a legacy tool left over from Windows 7. Often referred to as “system image” or just “image”, this type of backup is basically a complete copy of your hard drive compressed into a single file.

The advantage of this type of backup is that it backs up everything including your installed applications – it is the only built-in backup mechanism that does so. The other mechanisms I covered in this series (Part 1: Save to OneDrive and Part 2: File History) are more focused on protecting your data with the idea that Windows and applications can be easily reinstalled later. While this sounds like an awesome way to keep your system protected, there are a couple of downsides. First, the backups take quite a while and are normally done manually (in contrast, using OneDrive or File History is automatic). Also, the backups are large and each backup is a separate (large) file. You will need a good-sized USB hard drive or network share in order to keep your system image. Finally, they are an “all or nothing” backup.

That means that in order to restore a single file, you need to restore (and overwrite) your entire Surface. As you can image, overwriting all of the files/apps you’ve updated or installed from the date the backup was created (perhaps months ago) might be worse than losing a single file.

For that reason, you should consider a system image a “Disaster Recovery Backup” – i.e. you use it when a disaster has happened like your Surface has been completely wiped or you have such a bad malware infection that you can’t recover it.

Create a System Image Backup in Windows 10

You will have the option to backup to a USB hard drive, multiple DVDs, or a network share. In all of these cases, ensure there is enough space (or blank DVDs) to hold the contents of your hard drive plus about 20% as a cushion for overhead (i.e. if your Surface has 200GB of data on it; you will need at least 240GB of free space to be safe). If you want to backup to multiple DVDs, you will need a USB DVD burner that works with your Surface. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend the DVD option unless you have no other choice.

  • Log in with an administrator account and ensure your Surface is plugged into power.
  • If you want to back up to a USB hard drive or USB DVD burner, plug it into your Surface. If you plan on using a network share as your backup location, make sure you can connect to it.
  • Search for “Backup and Restore” and select the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) option from the search results.
  • Choose Create a System Image from the left side of the window.

  • You will be prompted to pick a location to share the system image backup. You can pick any of the 3 options. For this example, I’m going to use a USB hard drive. Tap or click Next.
You will see a screen outlining what will be backed up. Tap or click Start Backup to proceed with the backup.

If you have BitLocker turned on, you will get a warning like the one below. If you do, tap or click OK then Start Backup to proceed.


The backup will take some time to complete. I would plan on it taking, at least, a half-hour. You should make sure your Surface stays connected to power the entire time.


If you need to, for some reason, you can stop the backup operation by tapping or clicking Stop Backup. Doing so will not damage your Surface but it will render the backup unusable.

Restore a System Image Backup in Windows 10

Of course, creating the system image is only half the process. In order to be useful, you need to be able to restore the image. Since system images are best used as disaster recovery backups, let’s assume your Surface is only bootable from a Recovery Drive (which, conveniently, was covered in Part 3 of this series).

Restore a System Image from a Recovery Drive:
  • Make sure you know where the system image (you want to restore from) is located and that it’s available (i.e. you have your backup USB hard drive with you).
  • Connect your Surface to power.
  • If you can, copy off files that might have changed between now and the date of the system image.
  • Boot from your recovery drive and select Troubleshoot from the available options.

  • From the troubleshooting options, select Advanced Options then System Image Recovery and follow the on-screen directions. You will be asked to provide the system image to restore from at some point.


Be aware the restore may take quite some time, so keep your Surface connected to power for the duration. After you complete the recovery, your Surface will be restored to the state it was in when you performed the system image backup.

If needs be, you can do the restore from within Windows at the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) screen from the restore section highlighted below:


If you choose to do the restore from here, the same basic process applies (keep connected to power, know where your system image is located, follow the on-screen instructions).

How Often Should I Make a System Image Backup?

If you want, you can make one nightly but, if you’ve followed the advice from the earlier parts of this series, and you’re using OneDrive and File History backups, I would recommend you perform a System image backup no more than monthly. Personally, I do mine just prior to applying patches.


I would also recommend that you keep, at least, the system images from the previous 2 months and delete older ones to save space on your backup drive. That way, you have a fallback in the event your latest image gets corrupted.

Wanna a one-step solution for your multimedia problem on Windows 10? iFastime Video Converter Ultimate is a professional program in ripping Blu-ray/DVD/HD video for playback, storage or editing. It can rip the latest 3D/2D Blu-ray and DVD and convert any kinds of video files to various video formats for some popular smartphones and tablets as well as editing software. And you can add srt/ass/ssa subtitles to the output videos to make it unique and perfect. Especially it can convert 3D video files to 3D MKV/MP4/MOV/WMV/AVI format now. Simple interface and CUDA acceleration will bring you an easy but effective conversion. Mac version is also available.

More Topics:

Monday, September 21, 2015

iOS 9 vs. iOS 8 – Important Changes You Should Know About

Apple had one year to perfect its iOS 9, and in the past months, we have been teased with snatches of information about what to expect from the upcoming operating system. iOS 9 has been announced in June, at the developer conference, then, the company released the first developer preview beta and the official release date came on September 16. So, what did the iOS 9 bring in addition?


Split Screen

The Slide Over feature will increase the multitasking capabilities of your iDevice, allowing you to do more things simultaneously. To access slide-over, when you’re running an application, you will slide your finger from the right side of the screen, then a panel will slide out and you’ll see a column of app icon. If you’ve already opened an application, you will slide your finger down from the top of the slide-over panel to reach the list of apps.

Improved Searching Capabilities

Apple improved the search function to obtain better results. This feature can be accessed by swiping left from the main home screen and they will get a lust of the most searched applications, contacts and other information stored on their devices.

Zoom On Video Clips

Until now, the users were able to zoom only on photos.

Hide Photos

There are curious friends who like to explore your private data, to look at your embarrassing photos and to make fun of you. To hide the photos that you don’t want to be visible, go to the Share menu and select the Hide option.

Ad Block

When you were browsing on Safari, you were seeing all kinds of annoying ads. Apple introduced an option which blocks these ads, but to enable it, you will need to go to Safari section of Settings and select the Content Blockers option.

Notes App Has Been Revamped

This application has been changed a little bit, so you can now add drawings, web links, photos or checklists, and they will be synced with iCloud.

Email Events

iOS 9 will select an event from your emails and automatically add it to the Calendar, then remind you about it, to not miss it out.

More News Content

To be up to date with everything that’s happening in the world, iOS 9 will offer you a new section which will give you the most important news and the reading will be very enjoyable.

Have issues after upgrading to iOS 9? Here are solutions:
Source: http://neurogadget.com/2015/09/21/ios-9-vs-ios-8-the-important-changes-you-should-know-about/15911

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Google To Challenge Apple TV With Chromecast 2


Some time ago Apple introduced the 4th generation Apple TV focused on gaming followed soon by Amazon stepping in the ring with three new TV-focused devices including the new fire TV box, an improved Fire TV stick, and a new fire gaming TV box. With Television based devices being the hottest thing this season, it was only a matter of time before Google entered the race with an announcement about the Second-generation Chromecast.



9To5Google claims to have obtained documents highlighting the massive changes in the second-generation Chromecast. Apparently the major objective for the new Chromecast was to make it as different to its predecessor as possible. The dongle like shape of the original has been replaced with something, that is for now, entirely unintelligible. The new shape appears to be a singular earmuff although it is not possible to say with certainty, at this time, if what we see will end up taking the shape of the final product.

Offered in three colors: yellow, black and red the device is expected to have an extravaganza of functional upgrades from its previous version.  Similar to the Amazon Fire TV set-box, the second-generation will feature better Wi-Fi to aid High-Quality streaming with no buffer issues. Although the full technical specifications for the new device are still unknown it is speculated to offer the new 802.11ac band where the original Chromecast only supported the 802.11b/g/n.

The new Chromecast is also reported to be able to support content feeds on the home screen. Although the nature of these feeds is currently unknown it probably means you will be able to look at social media feeds while the screensaver is on. The screensaver or “backdrop mode” itself, is fully customizable with the ability to add preset wallpapers/ weather info or your own personal photos. Another new feature called the “Fast play” is presumed to utilize the improved Wi-Fi to stream content from a supported device with as little delay as possible. As soon as the user presses the “cast” button after choosing a device to stream from, the Chromecast will begin streaming.

After Apple’s and Amazon’s respective TV oriented products earlier this month it would only be logical to see how Google attempts to trump the competition with its new Chromecast. It is advisable to wait until September 29th, when the Chromecast is said to be officially introduced, before making any investments in the aforementioned products. The device is said to be priced relatively similar to the original Chromecast and will launch in exactly 10 countries to start off with. Compared to this the Apple TV is clearly more superior. Additionally its amazing remote along with a virtual assistant we feel that it will blow Google’s offering right out of the water. The Apple device also allows its users to play a game which is a big plus for most tech savvy people.

Tips for Enjoying Movies on Chromecast 2

If you have collected lots of Videos (H.265, MKV, AVI, Tivo, FLV, etc.) and Songs (such as FLAC, AAC, AC3, M4A, WMA, etc.), and want to stream these files to Chromecast 2 for enjoying freely, here recommend iFastime Video Converter Ultimate. With it, you can batch convert various videos and audio files to Chromecast 2 readable MP4 video with AAC audio, most importantly, without any quality loss. It’s freely to adjust the video, audio parameters to get a decent output video that you want. It perfectly supports Windows 10! Mac version is here.

           

More Topics:

Source: http://cupertinotimes.com/google-to-challenge-apple-tv-with-chromecast-2/

Friday, September 18, 2015

iPad Mini 4 Vs iPad Mini 3 Vs iPad Mini 2: What's The Difference?

"I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding between the iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 2. Which one should I buy and waht I should take into consideration when buying it?"

iPad Mini 4 is replacing the Mini 3/Mini 2 entirely. Should you upgrade? It’s a tough question with each new smartphone release, but even tougher when it comes to tablets as they tend to have much longer lifespans. Do you really need their latest features?

Well, for the first time in a few years, when it comes to considering the latest iPad Mini the answer may well be ‘Yes’…

Unlike its predecessor, the iPad Mini 4 makes a whole host of exciting changes. This is hugely welcome after the iPad Mini 3 turned out to be nothing more than an iPad Mini 2 with added Touch ID and makes it easy to compare all three models. So let’s get going.

Note: Strangely Apple has discontinued the iPad Mini 3, but will continue to sell the Mini 2 at a discounted price for the next year.

 

Design – All Change

If you can’t spot the difference between the iPad Mini 2 and 3, there’s good reason: the two use identical designs and (Touch ID aside) internal components. The iPad Mini 4 also looks similar, but only until you pick it up:
  • iPad Mini 3 and iPad Mini 2: 200 x 134.7 x 7.5 mm (7.87 x 5.3 x 0.29 inches) and 341/331g (0.75/0.73lbs) for cellular/non-cellular
  • iPad Mini 4: 203.2 x 134.8 x 6.1 mm (8 x 5.3 x 0.24 inches) and 298.8 / 304g (0.65 / 0.67lbs) for cellular/non-cellular
As you can see, the iPad Mini 4 has undergone a significant diet and is now over 22% thinner and 10% lighter. This makes a genuine difference in hand and Apple has also updated the styling to tie in closely with the iPad Air 2 and new iPad Pro. Instead of looking like an also-ran, the iPad Mini 4 brings Apple’s smallest tablet back inline with the rest of the iPad range.



Displays – Lamination Brings Benefits, But No 3D Touch
  • iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 2: 7.9‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit Multi‑Touch display, 2048‑by‑1536 resolution at 326 pixels per inch (ppi), oleophobic coating
  • iPad mini 4: 7.9‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit Multi‑Touch display, 2048‑by‑1536 resolution at 326 pixels per inch (ppi), oleophobic coating, fully laminated display
Where Apple hasn’t made obvious changes, however, is the iPad Mini 4’s display. It matches the size and native resolution of its predecessors and Apple hasn’t gone on record noting any improvements to its black levels, colour accuracy or brightness.



That said, users should notice improvements as the iPad Mini 4 is the first Mini to use a ‘fully laminated display’. This means the three separate screen layers – the cover glass, touch sensor and LCD – are combined with optical bonding to eliminate gaps. This results in no internal reflectance so black levels, colour accuracy and brightness all improve.

The big disappointment, however, is Apple has not brought its exciting 3D Touch technology (seen in the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus) to any of its new iPads. This is frustrating as 3D Touch would appear to deliver most benefit on a big screen and it is something which is likely to date this year’s iPads most quickly.

Performance – Better, But Could Be Better

Apple drew (justifiable) criticism last year for not improving the speed of the iPad Mini 3, but it’s a different story this year with the iPad Mini 4:
  • iPad Mini 3 and iPad Mini 2: A7 chip with 64-bit architecture, A7 motion coprocessor, 1GB RAM
  • iPad Mini 4: A8 chip with 64-bit architecture, M8 motion coprocessor, 2GB RAM


The key changes in real world terms here are Apple boasts the Mini 4 has a 1.3x faster CPU and 1.6x faster GPU than the Mini 3 and Mini 2. In fact Apple has borrowed the chipset from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

The good news is this should make the iPad Mini 4 fast enough for anything the App Store can throw at it. On the other hand it is a shame that Apple has not given it the latest generation A9 chipset seen in the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus or even the A8X chipset seen in last year’s iPad Air 2.

Cost is obviously a factor here, but I wonder if Apple also realised its tablets have been a little too well future proofed up to now?



Cameras – Upgraded But Still Ageing

Apple famously gives its iPad range the optics of older iPhone generations and again that is true with the iPad Mini 4:
  • iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 2: iSight rear camera: 5MP photos, 1080p video, ƒ/2.4 aperture – Facetime front camera: 1.2MP photos, 720p video
  • iPad mini 4: iSight rear camera: 8MP photos, 1080p video, ƒ/2.4 aperture, HDR photos – Facetime front camera: 1.2MP photos, 720p video
The good news is the iPad Mini 4 takes a major step up from the iPhone 4-originated iPad Mini 2 and 3 optics to the far superior iPhone 5S and this brings with it burst mode shooting and slow motion video for the first time.



The bad news is we are still looking at camera technology which is far behind what Apple can deliver with the iPhone 6 and new iPhone 6S – particularly with regard to the latter’s 5MP front facing Facetime camera. But perhaps Apple is doing us a favour in trying to tell people to stop taking photos with iPads!

Features – Touch ID Still A Differentiator

The only new feature the iPad Mini 3 delivered over the iPad Mini 2 was Touch ID and strangely Apple’s decision to retire the Mini 3 instead of the Mini 2 means this remains a differentiator for the iPad Mini 4. Given Apple’s focus on Touch ID for security and Apple Pay, the decision to keep the Mini 2 baffles me.



Then again there are further reasons to pick the iPad Mini 4 over the Mini 2: upgraded WiFi (802.11ac vs 802.11n), IoT friendly Bluetooth 4.2 instead of Bluetooth 4.0, support for the Apple sim and also an integrated barometer.

Aside from hardware, the iPad Mini 4 is also the only iPad Mini which can handle the new split screen and picture-in-picture modes in iOS 9. For many that will be a reason to upgrade in itself.


Battery Life – Apple Stands Still

Unlike its iPhones, there hasn’t been a great outcry for Apple to improve battery life on its tablets and as such it is no great surprise to see the iPad Mini 4 offer exactly the same longevity as the iPad Mini 3 and iPad Mini 2:
  • Up to 10 hours surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video, or listening to music
  • Up to 9 hours surfing the web using a cellular data network
Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is Apple has maintained these figures while drastically reducing the capacity of the iPad Mini 4 battery. It has been cut from 6,471 mAh in the Mini 2 and Mini 3 to just 5,124 mAh.

Undoubtedly this reduction played a key part in allowing the iPad Mini 4 to become so much thinner and lighter, but I suspect many would have preferred a little more bulk and battery gains not stagnation.

Battery life remains the one area where phone and tablet makers still refuse to bend to users’ wishes.



Cost And Availability

When the iPad Mini 3 launched with only Touch ID to differentiate it, that made the cut price iPad Mini 2 look a great deal. Given it is the iPad Mini 3 has now been retired, that deal now looks considerably worse compared to the fully upgraded iPad Mini 4:

In effect what Apple has created now with the iPad Mini 2 is a genuine budget tablet that should still be good for a few years, while the Mini 4 is a premium pick that offers a real size alternative to the still-on-sale iPad Air (and far better value at mid tier storage levels).

Interestingly the iPad Air 2 has not been upgraded in 2015, so again this brings the iPad Mini 4 up as a genuine competitor (though it also means where the Mini 4 does fall short isn’t so obvious compared to the 2014 technology inside the Air 2). Meanwhile the iPad Pro stands out in the range as being overpriced – especially as it also lacks 3D Touch.

Early Verdict

With the iPad Mini 4, Apple has finally given the range an upgrade to be excited about. It makes improvements in almost every area compared to the underwhelming iPad Mini 3 and gives the company an excellent, portable tablet.

That said I do feel Apple has again played a little too safe: most notably in the lack of 3D Touch. As developers jump on this new input technology, I think it will prove ideally suited to the tablet form factor and when Touch ID inevitably hits the iPad range in 2016 today’s buyers may feel shortchanged.

The iPad Mini 4 is a positive step forward for the Mini line, but perhaps not quite big enough for those who can afford to wait another year…

Extending Reading: Enjoy Movies on iPad Mini 4 Vs iPad Mini 3 Vs iPad Mini 2

No matter which tablet you have bought, the one that can satisfy all your needs and at the same time is affordable to you is the best one. Once you have bought the tablet, it is inevitable for you to play and enjoy videos on it. Meanwhile, errors to play MTS, MKV, AVI, Tivo, etc., on iPad will emerge since formats are incompatible with iPad Mini 4/3/2 supported videos like M4V, MP4, MOV. 

If you would like to play videos and movies copied from DVDs/Blu-ary, downloaded from online movie torrent websites or recorded by camcorders with iPad Mini 4/3/2 on the move, it is necessary to get help from a professional video converter for iPad.

Here iFastime Video Converter Ultimate comes at right time. With it, you can convert any videos to almost all iPad devices (iPad Pro, iPad Mini, iPad Air, etc.) at a very high speed and delivers possible highest quality. The editing tools can help you crop, trim, merge videos and add subtitles for videos. Also, you can customize audio/video parameters, bit rate, frame rate, resolution etc. The mac version is here.


If you are also interested in iPhone, take a look at this poll from iFastime: