Apple has said that the third-generation iPad should equal the iPad 2 in battery life. However, Apple’s claims don’t hold up: The new iPad lasted just 5 hours, 41 minutes, nearly 2 hours less than the iPad 2, which logged 7 hours, 37 minutes when we compared the iPads.

To say Apple is no ordinary company is a gross understatement. With a market capitalization (the total value of its stock) hovering around $573 billion, it’s now the world’s most valuable company. But even before it acquired that rare distinction, it was special in many ways, especially the way it introduces products and the way the public and the media react to those products.

If you want to sync your Apple iPad 2 so you can put some music or videos from your PC, you are at right place. Read carefully and follow the instructions how to sync your iPad 2 and PC.

To get on the web, your iPad must first connect to a network that offers Internet access. To make this easy and seamless, your iPad comes with internal hardware that enables it to detect and connect to available networks.

iPad 2 comes in two versions:

- iPad with WI-FI: This type of iPad can connect only to Wi-Fi wireless networks

- iPad with WI-FI + 3G: This type of iPad can connect to Wi-Fi wireless networks and cellular networks.

Understanding Wi-Fi networks

Wireless devices such as Apple iPad 2 transmit data and communicate with other devices using radio frequency (RF) signals that are beamed from one device to another. Although these radio signals are similar to those used in commercial radio broadcasts, they operate on a different frequency. The most common wireless networking technology is Wi-Fi. There are four main types – 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n (we will not explain these types in details, it is enough for you to know what types exist). Apple iPad 2 supports all types of wireless types which means it can take advantage of the fastest wireless networks out there, particularly those based on Apple’s AirPort Extreme wireless acces point.

Understanding cellular networks

If your iPad is a Wi-Fi + 3G model, it means not only can your iPad connect to Wi-Fi networks and hot spots, but it also can make use of a cellular network if no Wi-Fi is within range. There are two specific types of cellular networks: 3G and EDGE (again, we will not explain in details). Unfortunately, although you can often ride the Wi-Fi train for free, there’s no such luck when it comes to cellular networks. Your iPad’s 3G chip won’t work unless you plug a micro-SIM into the iPad’s micro-SIM slot (located on the left edge of the device when you hold it in portrait mode).

Apple products were some of the most searched tech-related terms of 2011, according to Google. The search engine just released a list of the top searched terms for 2011, with tech-related terms occupying half of the top ten searches for the year.

Amazon will enter tablet market for the first time this fall. Their tablet will apparently have a 9-inch screen (comparable to the iPad’s 9.7-inch one) and will run an un-specified version of Android. It apparently won’t have a camera. And it won’t be designed by Amazon.

Instead, they’ll outsource both the design and manufacturing. In other words, it’s probably going to be cheap — at least in build quality, if not in price. Amazon built its business by losing money – it didn’t make a penny in profit for years and years – and we’ll be amazed if the entry level Kindle isn’t priced aggressively. That should in turn mean the current Kindle’s heading for another price drop.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s Windows sales slumped last quarter as the iPad crimped demand for consumer laptops, marking the first time in 20 years that the software maker reported a smaller quarterly profit than Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Revenue in Microsoft’s Windows division fell 4.4 percent to $4.45 billion, the Redmond, Washington-based company said yesterday in a statement. That missed the $4.6 billion average prediction. Net income was $5.23 billion, eclipsed by the $5.99 billion reported by Apple last quarter.