iPad vs iPhone

There are many similarities between an iPad vs iPhone. Although many people think that the iPad is giant iPhone, this actually is a big mistake. The iPad is unique in its screen size and power that it sits nicely closer to a laptop than an iPhone.

The difference between the release of the iPad vs iPhone is three years. The iPad was released early in 2010 which is three years after the iPhone as an iDevice following the success of the iPhone and iPod Touch and the huge success of the App store.

iPad vs iPhone Screen Size:

The most noticeable difference between the iPad vs iPhone is its screen size. It has a 9.7" diagonal touch display similar to that of the iPhone. The iPad runs the same iOS that runs on the iPhone and iPod touch with some little extras to support its higher resolution of the bigger screen. Apple markets the iPad as a portable computer that sits between an iPhone and a laptop. With some powerful iPad applications, the iPad can completely replace a laptop.

The touch screen functions exactly the same as the iPhone, and it runs a version of the iOS that is designed for the higher 1024x768 pixel resolution and the bigger screen. The iPad does have an accelerometer like the iPhone, but it doesn't have a Camera currently. It comes in storage sizes starting from 16, 32, 64GB and more.

iPad vs iPhone Network:

The iPad comes in two flavors in terms of network or connectivity. The standard iPad comes with wifi that allows you to go online using any hot spot. The wifi version of the iPad is the cheaper version, and requires no monthly data plan or monthly payment.

The other flavor is an iPad 3G which requires a data plan from your phone carrier. The iPad 3G has a slot for a SIM card on the side and requires a data plan that allows you to go online anywhere there is 3G and EDGE coverage.

If you have an iPhone 3G or an iPhone 3GS, you can simply remove the iPhone SIM card from the iPhone 3G/3GS and place it in your iPad and be ready to go online. The iPhone 4 uses a smaller Micro SIM which you could still use on your iPad using a SIM adapter that converts the Micro Sim card to a full size SIM card.

Moreover, you can use the tethering feature of the iPhone 4 to connect your iPad to the internet by creating a local wifi hot spot on your iPhone. You can buy a tethering plan for iOS 4 from AT&T in the US or you can jailbreak your iPhone 4 and use MyWi which is an iPhone hack available in Cydia that allows you to tether your iPhone for free.

What can you use the iPad for?

There are several interesting and exiting ways and functions that you might want to consider an iPad vs iPhone. Regardless of any application that you can download from the App Store, the iPad's big screen is the first advantage to the iPhone. You can watch Youtube video on the nice big screen, stream video and TV the same way as you would do on the iPhone but now on a bigger screen.

You will be able to have full size musical keyboard on your iPad vs iPhone tiny keyboard which is great news for musicians and hobbyist.

The nice thing about the iPad is that there is no learning curve. Most people know how to use an iPhone, and therefore buying an iPad and using it will be very easy.

You will access the App Store and install iPhone applications in a similar fashion as the iPhone. Therefore, using an iPad vs iPhone in term of usability is identical and convenient as most people have already learned the iOS on the iPhone.

The iPad is very convenient when you want to check your email quickly or browse the internet while you are setting in your living room, laying in bed or setting on a couch. It is light and and easy to carry around. There is no starting up or booting required, and it has a powerful battery that lasts for hours.

You don't need to think about the orientation when you carry the iPad. Just press the power button, and the screen will automatically rotate to whatever position you are holding it. You can always lock this feature by pressing the lock button on the side of the iPad.

Checking your email is a breeze on the iPad. Once you set up your email account from Yahoo, Gmail or others, you can simply tap the mail application, and you will be reading your email. There is no log in required which makes checking emails very simple and fast.

Moreover, with some iPhone accessories that run on the iPad such as a full size bluetooth keyboard, you can turn your iPad into a full size note book.

iPad vs iPhone Games:

iPhone applications, specially games on the iPad vs iPhone look and play much better on an iPad due to the bigger screen. You have more room to control the game compared to the small iPhone screen.

The iPad is a great gaming device specially with board games where you can sit it on a table and play chess or checkers with another player. Some games even have 4 players, one sits on each side of the iPad.

Some of the iPad specific HD games that take full advantage of the higher resolution just look stunning. Those games make the iPad a perfect gaming device beside its other uses.

iPhone vs iPad Applications:

The iPad runs the same applications as the iPhone applications which means that once you buy an iPad you automatically have access to the App Store and over 200,000 applications.

There are of course applications that are iPad specific, but you can still run iPhone apps without a problem. Those higher resolution iPad specific application are usually labeled as HD indicating the higher resolution.

You will notice the differences in applications between an iPad vs iPhone clearly with the default apps such as mail, Safari, Photos and YouTube. Those apps take advantage of the bigger screen and higher resolution of the iPad.

Many of those applications use a left or right column and an area on the left or right for the application contents. Once you rotate the iPad, the app rotates and changes its orientation automatically. Of course many other applications use a different interface and use the full screen display to show menus.

Although iPhone applications run on the iPad, they display at half scale due to the smaller iPhone screen.

If you look at the right bottom corner of those type of applications, you will see a 2X button. When you tap this button, the iPhone application will expand to fill the iPad full screen.

You should always look to see if there is an HD version of the iPhone application you are looking for that would takes full advantage of the iPad screen and resolution.

The very good news is that any iPhone application you own or you download through iTunes to your iPhone can be synced to your iPad immediately without paying any additional fees. You have already paid for the application for the iPhone, and you can now download it for free to your iPad. This is great as you can buy the application once and use it on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. You can leverage your use of the applications with those iDevices.

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