TAKE A TABLET

AND FINALLY

Tablets are in many ways the ideal sales aid. Brides can see engaging videos of gowns rather than having to use their imaginations. Accessories can be displayed, catalogues read and venues explored. And, at the end of the process, orders can be placed right on the device., says Chris Partridge

The arrival of the new OS versions will stimulate demand for large tablets still further.

But…the latest iPad Pro is horribly expensive. The base 12.9in screen model is an eye-watering £999 and the accessories are pricey too. The Apple Pencil is £119 and the oh-sostylish Magic Keyboard, which makes the tablet seem to float above the keys, is an extra £279. It adds up pretty quickly.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 is a more affordable £799. It has more ports for adding an extra monitor, and a handy kickstand. If you are an Office 365 subscriber already, it will give you instant access to all your stuff, and as it runs Windows, it will be compatible with lots of sales software. The Surface Pen costs £99.

Samsung’s highly regarded Galaxy Tab S7 Plus is officially priced at £869 but an S-pen is included, and prices online are considerably less, making the S7 Plus a very attractive

The great thing about a tablet is that it can be passed from hand to hand as simply as a phone but with a much bigger screen –so much more natural than a cumbersome laptop. And there is more – the sales consultant can use a tablet for note taking, possibly with a stylus, and to edit documents such as orders. Editing on the fly makes it much easier to get everything right first time.

Recently, tablets have become larger and more powerful, with 13in screens becoming the norm. All the tablet makers now offer stylish and ergonomic keyboards, mice and styluses that enable real work to be done on their tablets, and loads of third-party keyboards and other accessories are coming out too.

The choice of operating system has widened, with iPadOS, Android and Windows now all credible systems for mobile working, and the range of apps for sales has widened.

Major new releases of all three operating systems are due to arrive this Autumn, and all make the tablet experience better. The three focus on making tablets easier to use, with the ability to run several apps at the same time and swap seamlessly between them.

Apple’s iPadOS 15 will be automatically pushed to all suitable devices, and Microsoft’s Windows 11 will be offered as a free update to Surface users. Android 11, on the other hand, will be supplied at the whim of the tablet maker and many have not been very prompt on this front.

APPLE’S IPADOS 15

and cheaper alternative to the iPad. The picture is further complicated by a couple of interesting new models. One is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 Plus FE, an S7 Plus with a slightly lower quality screen and a slightly less powerful processor, but at £589 offering a useful saving. Interestingly, it also has 5G mobile data, something normally associated with high-end tablets, but this is because it features a new Qualcomm chip intended for use in mobile phones, where the trend is for the phone circuits to be builtin to the processor to save money overall. If your tablets never leave the shop this feature will be of no interest, of course.

Samsung is rumoured to be launching a monster tablet with a huge 14in screen some time this winter, but its extra weight and price may restrict its appeal.

The other interesting device is from a maker that seemed to have lost all interest in tablets - Lenovo. Lenovo has gone years without launching a new model, so the Yoga 13 is a bit of a surprise. The slab has a thickened lower edge which is handy for gripping and also provides lots of room for some really beefy loudspeakers. The Yoga 13 also features a neat folding stand that allows you to prop it up at an angle or even hang it on a wall, so it is a great device for demonstrations. It costs £699. For the sake of completeness I should mention the lovely Huawei MatePad Pro, which is a superb tablet but lacks access to Google’s Play Store, so apps you really need might well be unavailable. So it is impossible to recommend.

TECH ROUNDUP

Nokia’s new XR20 smartphone is designed to withstand all that life can throw at it, with a super strong aluminium alloy case, a Gorilla Glass Victus screen that can be used with wet hands and even gloves, is dust- and water-proof and has a special textured back to help stop it slipping out of your hand. It even carries a MIL-STD-810H certification as used by NATO, so you can probably use it for hand-to-hand combat if necessary. Should the worst come to the worst and you break the screen, replacement is free for the first year. The price starts at £400 depending on the memory you require.

Noise cancellation used to be available only in expensive and enormous headphones, but now the technology has reached reasonablypriced earphones. Soundcore’s Liberty Air 2 Pro earbuds use the dangling-stick design made famous by Apple, but at a much more reasonable £130. They come in a neat carry case that includes a battery so they recharge when not in use, giving an overall playing time of 26 hours. The sound is crisp and clear, and nearby noises from engines and suchlike is joyfully excluded.

Nokia again, but I can’t resist the new 6310. If that number rings a bell, you remember 2000’s when it was the iconic 3G phone. The new 6310 keeps the sweeping aluminium band round the screen and the central control joystick, but the screen is bigger and in colour. The operating system is Nokia’s own S30+, which is designed for ease of use but has the drawback that very few apps will run on it. Two plus points: Snake is included and it costs a very acceptable £50.