The iPad has reigned supreme for several years now in the tablet market. Many models have tried, and failed, to threaten the iPads dominance and carve themselves a nice niche in the market. There have been many reasons, or excuses, given for this, but the simple fact is that the iPad was the first of its kind; an innovative product with the huge marketing clout of Apple, the singularly best known brand in the world of technology. The story is similar with regard to the iPhone, despite a number of challengers, iPhone 4 deals continue to tempt the majority of people away from other smartphones in the market.

There are now murmurs, however, that only does the iPad have one worthy challenger to its title as king of the tablet, but three. Quite what Apple’s reaction is to having three challengers in the same year is anybody’s guess but thinking logically, it was really only a matter of time before an Android device, or three, was constructed with enough firepower to give the iPad a real run for its money.

So who are these new contenders and what do they have to offer that so many before them have been missing? First up we have the new Amazon Kindle Fire 2. Pencilled in for release at around the same time as the iPad 3, the sleek and stylish Kindle Fire 2 has certainly caused quite a buzz amongst those in the know, and as the price is rumoured to be much less than the new iPad, it will certainly win the price battle.

Acer’s Iconia tablet A200 is another Android device that must be giving some executives at Apple sleepless nights. Using the latest Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, this tablet certainly looks the part. It is thicker than some of its contemporaries due to the inclusion of a very useful USB 2.0 port and although it is missing some of the iPads features, this is reflected in the price and it is set to cause quite a stir.

The third contender is the Motorola Xoom 2. While its predecessor didn’t have the impact on the market that Motorola had hoped for, they have taken the criticism on board and come back with a very impressive Android tablet. Roughly the same size and weight as the iPad it is a good all rounder and makes you wonder if you actually need all the gadgetry packed into the iPad that greatly increases its price.

It looks like being a very interesting year in the tablet market, and it will be interesting to see if these latest devices will help Android finally overcome the Apple’s stronghold and take its place at the top of the tree.

ACD  features, or Automatic Call Distribution, is an every day part of the business world and does what it says on the tin by automatically distributing the incoming calls amongst the advisors in the contact or call centres who are sitting waiting for the calls and help or advise customers. Most of these systems are network based and there are various features that come with the ACD systems.

These are controlled by the call recipients to allow them to take calls, make themselves busy, take time out for breaks or give them the chance to update notes on accounts or make amendments that they have agreed with the customers. Having these features at their fingertips is essential to phone advisors to allow them to do these tasks which are expected of them without calls backing up in a queue waiting to get through to them.

Once an advisor logs into the network based ACD system, which can vary greatly in name and composition between customers but all serve the same basic purpose, they will click on a part of their screen that makes them available to take calls. Another feature is being able to put the caller on hold if they don’t have any necessary information to hand and have to make a secondary call without disconnecting the original caller.

Call transfers are another feature; they may have a direct line to another department whereas they will introduce the caller to the new receiver and pass them another. Another way is blind transferring, where they pop the caller into the call queue for the other department and they can wait their turn while listening to music.

A ‘busy’ feature stops calls trying to get through to that advisor and they are diverted elsewhere, this is a well used feature for catching up with notes or nipping to the toilet. Clicking on it again on their return makes them available to take calls once again.

There are a lot of people that think that the iPhone 4S is the best phone out there on the market, but of course that is true of just about every phone that comes out from Apple so what most people are wondering is just what is so special about this one. The truth it seems is in the software because while the appearance is not much different save a bit of width and weight, the software is still up ahead of its competitors including Android.

It’s also a very subtle phone as it is the first iPhone that offers software from post-PC companies such as iCloud and Siri. The phone looks just about the same, but it’s hard to reinvent a new smartphone design when everyone is getting used to the high technology look of top smartphones. However, it’s not the design that is so appealing; it’s what is hidden underneath the design that is appealing.

For instance, the camera finally received an overhaul that places it on par with its counterparts on the market with 30 frames per second HD video and 1080p. This time around the colours are a lot sharper and accurate and the phone does better in the dark.

The real astounding feature however is the speed featuring a dual core A5 chip that is undoubtedly faster than any of the other iPhone which should be good news for those who play a lot of games or use the multi-tasking features of the phone on a regular basis.

Facebook changed its format once again, and like other previous changes, with millions of active users there are plenty of people that are not happy about the changes. This time however the changes that many users are comparing to Google+ features have really angered its users as a blog survey conducted by Mashable found that three quarters of Facebook users ‘hate’ the new design of the social network. On another website a similar poll was conducted where 86% of users stated that they hated the new design.

One thing is for certain, with so many new scrolling features and enough privacy features to boggle your brain Facebook is certainly not the simple or easy to use social network that it was before, and new users may struggle to get the hang of the layout given the fact they do not have the advantage of slowly adapting to the new tools and features in the same way.

Among the new features that Facebook has added is a timeline that sits on the Profile page and scrolls across corner of the screen featuring events and phases of lives so that you can add or remove events as you like. Top stories is another feature in which Facebook picks out what it thinks you will like out of the last few days and then compiles them so if you have not logged on for a few days  you can just breeze through any news of status that the network thinks you will like based on your browsing history.

Although it is highly likely that there will always be a time and place for laptops, as some people simply prefer larger screens and higher RAM, right now tablets are the new favoured gadget for those who only need a computer for social or research, and for good reason. Now that you can store music, books, and other media files over the cloud in various locations for free and can chat with your friends or check your networks every second of the day there is no reason to carry around a heavy laptop when you could be carrying a tablet.

In fact, PC sales are continuing to fall at a steady rate as more and more consumers prefer the sleek appearance of a tablet that can be tucked into a bag or briefcase over a bulky laptop that takes up more room in transport and while in use. Tablets are also more practical for on the go use, and as the new pace of life both in the business and personal sense is now extremely fast, a machine that can be used easily while on the go is in high demand.

Share dealing has been much simplified in recent years thank to the likes of the specialist online share dealing apps. You could go as far as to say they have revolutionised share dealing as we know it. Whereas at one time, the only way you could deal in shares was to physically take yourself to the stock exchange or to give your broker instructions over the phone, it can now be done absolutely anywhere.

The boom in smartphones in recent times with their plethora of downloadable apps means that you can even trade in shares while you are on the bus, the train, or sitting having a meal. It’s worth bearing in mind however, that even though the process has been made a whole lot easier, the risks still exist and you should always speak to an advisor before you start dealing in shares.

In fact, what with the online instruments you can access from your PC or laptop, and the apps you can get on your smartphone or tablet, there is hardly anywhere now that you can’t trade from. The online share dealing apps also give you access to your dealing when you are on holiday, so you are never more than a couple of clicks, or touches of the screen, away from your dealing or your portfolio.

Finding the best app to suit you is easy online, if you already use an online trading platform, it may have an app that you can download to your smartphone. If it hasn’t a quick search will bring up a list of the best share dealing apps so you can make an informed decision as to wish you want to use while share dealing on the move. Please always bear in mind that you can lose as well as gain, so take care when share dealing.

AT&T has finally released a new Android smartphone that is worth something, which makes it the first real rival to the iPhone on the long iPhone-centric broadband provider. Even more, it finally proves that AT&T has not been shutting out Android in favour of Apple which is what many people have been stating for quite some time now.

Even better, the Captivate is really nothing more than an amped up version of the Samsung Galaxy S which means that it is a mobile that is truly worth a second look. Among the top features of the Samsung Captivate is the fact that it comes with the much touted Hummingbird processor that weighs in at 1Ghz and makes using the phone a breeze, and a special delight for those who are used to their Apple phones freezing and hanging all of the time.

Also standing out is the fact that it sports a four inch AMOLED touchscreen allowing you plenty of room to navigate the phone with and make full use of the user friendly Touchwiz 3.0 interface.

Also astounding is the fact that you get all of these features and still have a mobile that only weighs in at 4.5 ounces which makes it lighter than both the Motorola Droid and the iPhone 4. In addition, it is only .39 inches thick; which is light enough that you may even forget you have the thing in your pocket, which is not really such a bad thing while on the go!

Foursquare has teamed up with SongKick to create a database of music that can be easily tapped into with mobile apps that allow you to check-in from sound stages. The Songkick music gig database will be added into its list of potential check-ins so that you can let friends know over your mobile app and social networks when you arrive at a concert. Other Foursquare event partners include MovieTickets.com and ESPN.

Chief executive for Songkick Ian Hogarth, stated that the deals will offer a great deal of context for activities and events that people record using Foursquare as it will allow them to see what bands are playing and where. In the past those who used Foursquare could only check into the event venues, not the actual events themselves, so friends could see they were at a House of Blues but not that they were there to see the Black Crowes.

The reason that this may be important is because it allows Foursquare to compile information about where its users are allowing the company to report back what matches, movies, and gigs that people are really interested in which can be helpful to artists and promotion teams down the line.

When the HP Touchpad was first released many people thought that the tablet may have just what it takes to finally take the iPad down a few notches. On paper, the hardware and the software including internet security looked as if it could hold a candle to the iPad, and possibly compete as the more user friendly open source alternative to the iPad and its many Apple only applications. However, a few months down the line and it looks as if the iPad is going to remain its place at the top for no other reason than the fact that HP tossed in the race early.

With the news that HP was pulling out of the tablet and computer business came a great price reduction on many of their products, including the HP Touchpad. While this most certainly led to massive amounts of people purchasing the reduced rate product in a frenzy, it also means that there will not be a legacy for the Touchpad to build on which means the iPad is going to remain the reigning tablet.

Logical people also will realise that with HP changing their focus, apps, games, and other fun features are not going to be available for the Touchpad, and in an app friendly world most people are going to be willing to pay a bit more for a device that offers more extras. It’s too bad, because it would have been fun to see the superiorly built HP attempt to take on the leading brand for a bit.

Singer Imogen Heap showed off a pair of musical gloves that let those who are wearing them to alter music simply by moving their hands around at the TEDGlobe tech conference. The performance was the first thing on the line-up at the Edinburgh festival, a conference where cutting edge technology is the norm. The gloves were made with Heap in mind so that she can control her music much better with the aim of the gloves eventually to get to the point where the gloves can control all of the music that is being produced.

Professor Tom Mitchell, a music technology specialist, created the gloves with his team at the University of West England using fibre optics that has been used for chip boards and gaming. The specific pair of gloves on display were made specifically for use by Heap and designed with her movements in mind. For example, if she wants to increase the sound of an instrument she can separate her arms farther apart while to quiet down the tone of a sound she simply crosses them together.  Heap stated that the gloves were being programmed up to the minute of the performance.