Apples to Androids: comparing and pairing devices for work.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY

Today's business is no longer attached to desktop computers and landline phones as every level of employee increasingly works on or corresponds through wireless devices. The market has responded to this change, offering a wide array of smartphones and tablets that can help with increasing productivity and communication. A quick review of a few recent versions of tablets and smartphones offers a comparison for savvy business people to step up their wireless productivity.

Many of the following devices have capabilities that won't be specifically listed. It is, by this point in time, industry standard that a smartphone or tablet have an address book, calendar, alarms/clock, one or, more likely, two cameras, voice recording, the ability to take videos and photos, support connecting with various email clients, note taking programs, various games, and other features. All of the devices in this article have these features.

Apple, iPad Air

The iPad Air is named for its extremely light weight: just one pound. The visible screen is 9.7 inches (all measurements for screen displays are diagonally from corner to corner), it has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating (simply meaning lacking an affinity for oils), and features what Apple calls "retina display," a display that has a high enough pixel density that the human eye is unable to notice pixelation at a typical viewing distance, Apple claims.

The iPad Air is charged through a "lightning connector," a feature because the end of the cable that connects to the device is symmetrical, so it cannot be inserted incorrectly.

The iPad Air currently has four storage capacities, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB, with the prices of the tablet rising respectively ($499-$799). There is a "plus cellular" option that allows users to connect to the Internet through fast cellular data networks if Wi-Fi isn't available. This is a month-to-month paid service which is set up through telecommunication service providers. This option is not free and changes the range of the price of the tablet itself ($629-$929).

The iPad Air comes with iOS 7 installed, which includes the Safari web browser and access to the Apple app store, iOS 7 also includes built in security, protecting against viruses, malware, and unauthorized access through use of a passcode. In iOS 7, use of a passcode automatically encrypts and protects email and third-party apps.

Apple products are notorious for having intuitive interfaces, quick load times, and interacting seamlessly with other Apple products; if one already has an Apple device, it's a quick, timely process to transfer calendar items or meeting dates, business contacts, or other stored data. Access to cloud storage data means that documents do not need to be downloaded, saved...