It’s been a while since Google had a major Android upgrade, one that merited a full version number increase. After a few years of 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4, modest updates all, there’s Android L 5.0, now confirmed to be Android Lollipop. This is said to be the most significant change in Android in quite a while, but what does it offer in the real world?

With iOS 7, Apple made a substantial change in the looks, a flat-style interface with a parallax view to convey dimensionality. Good or bad, it ended up on 91% of all iOS gear until replaced by iOS 8. In passing, adoption of iOS 8 is beginning to surpass iOS 7, though it’s happening at a slower rate than its predecessor. Maybe it just didn’t look different enough. All right, there are other reasons that I’ve covered previously. But let me continue.

Key among the new features in Lollipop is Google’s answer to Apple’s Handoff in the form of improved interaction among devices. So you’ll be able to pick up where you left off when syncing your content on different Android devices, but that sounds similar to what you can do today with iCloud. It’s not the same as starting an email or word processing document and being able to pick up when moving from iOS device to a Mac (at least a Mac with Bluetooth LE hardware) or the other way around. Let’s call Google’s answer a half-baked solution.

As Apple moves to a flatter look, Google’s response is Material Design, which adds shadows and lighting effects to make objects seem as if they are floating on the screen. This also seems similar to what Apple did with the original Aqua look on OS X. So Apple moves in one direction, and Google goes the other way. At least it’s different. As Android smartphones and tablets with Lollipop begin to appear, we’ll see how well it works. Note, though, that if it requires a lot more processor horsepower, as it likely will, lots of older Android gear will be left out of the loop, or perform poorly when upgraded to Lollipop.

Predictably, notification capabilities are enhanced, and the ability to respond to a notice appears similar to what you do with iOS 8.

Yet another feature may create a security problem. You will be able to use Android Smart Lock to open the device when pairing it with a “trusted device” such as a wearable or a car. So if someone steals your wearable, which I presume usually means smartwatch, or your car, they’ll be able to take control of your Android smartphone or tablet too, if my interpretation is correct. That’s appears to be a win-win for thieves, but I await more clarification on the new feature to be sure.

An improved Recent Apps feature supposedly lets you consult a menu to be able to quickly move to those apps, but some suggest it just adds to the screen clutter. App Indexing lets you jump from the Chrome browser to a custom app that supports a feature, such as OpenTable when you are seeking a restaurant. In passing, Safari for iOS already gives you the ability to open a site, such as Yelp, direct from a dedicated app.

A potentially positive development is the promise of improved performance, employing something called the Android Extension Pack that will allow developers of games, for example, to take advantage of improved graphics. At first blush, this comes across as something similar to the Metal feature on iOS, which harnesses the power of Apple’s new generation of 64-bit chips. Despite amazing graphics specs, Android gear hasn’t always been up to the challenge, so one hopes the new features will make games more playable.

There’s also the promise of improved battery life courtesy of something that bears the curious name of Project Volta. It’s supposed to engage a battery saver feature that will, when power runs down, turn down display brightness, reduce CPU load and perform other functions that reduce power drain. It’s just an automated power saver mode apparently.

The long and short of it is that, aside from the interface changes, it’s mostly about the promise of better performance and greater battery life. That certainly augers well for Android users, although the question remains as to just how many existing devices will be able to support the upgrade, or whether it will even be available.

Despite the early release bugs, however, iOS 8 has far more features and better integration, particularly with OS X. The ability to use third-party keyboards is something Android users have long had, but there’s no real match on Google’s platform for the likes of HealthKit and HomeKit. The big advantage to Apple’s platform, aside from reasonably seamless integration, is the relative ease of use.

Reviewers of Android gear may continue to tout more features, but many of those features barely work and, if they do work, are quite often so difficult to use that their actual usefulness in the real world is reduced. Unfortunately some of those reviewers tend to ignore or downplay the negatives. So The New York Times recently posted a rave review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, but never seemed to deal with its known shortcomings with graphics performance.

As usual, Android fans will claim that Apple can’t catch up to the new features, but the bill of materials shows there’s really not a whole lot of goodies in Lollipop beyond the new OS theme.

Let’s put all this in perspective. Before the iPad arrived, the typical tablet computer was basically a note-book with a touchscreen. The display might swivel, it might be removable, but it was all a variation on a theme. One thing is certain, though, and that is the fact that, after being touted for years by Microsoft as the next great thing, tablets never succeeded in the mass market.

The 2010 introduction of the iPad changed a lot. Rather than derive from a note-book, the iPad came across, at first glance, as a larger iPod touch in physical form. The internal workings were the same or similar to the iPhone, minus the telephone and the larger display. Over time, apps took advantage of the larger screen real estate, and, with an accessory physical keyboard, you might actually have a thinner and lighter replacement for a note-book.

A rich collection of iPad-specific apps appeared, and, in the case of Microsoft Office for the iPad, were exclusive to the platform. A true touch version of Office for Windows is not yet here. Predictably sales soared for the first couple of years, and it did seem as if the sky was the limit. Would the iPad be the ultimate note-book replacement? What about using them in schools and businesses? The iPad also seemed to have the potential of a successful life as the front end of a point-of-sale or customer information system.

This was big news. Predictably, the competition built tablets in the iPad’s image. After a while, the iPad lost its majority status in the marketplace, although the numbers remained questionable. Industry analysts were giving lots of weight to white box or no-name tablets that sold for less than $100 and were mostly toys rather than serious consumption and productivity devices. Worse, the sales figures were difficult to verify.

Efforts to sell PC tablets stagnated. They were all variations of the convertible note-book theme, thinner and lighter venisons of the failed concepts that were tried over and over again since Microsoft first came up with a tablet concept. That’s true of the Surface 3, by the way.

Regardless, some wonder if the bottom hasn’t dropped out of the tablet business pioneered by Apple. Sales are flat or declining across the board, and even the venerable iPad has seen better days. Apple has given some excuses about supply chain inventory management and such, but it rings hollow. Lower sales are lower sales, so what’s wrong?

Is it possible the tablet market was more limited than Apple expected, that the iPad has reached its plateau and it’s all downhill from here? What about the simple fact that people aren’t as apt to replace a tablet as a smartphone?

With a smartphone, you can easily upgrade every couple of years at a subsidized price. The incentive to upgrade an iPad is less. As with a personal computer, it’s very possible you might keep one for three or four years, although you will probably have to replace the battery before then if you use it heavily.

Yes, that might be a reason.

The other is that smartphones may actually reduce the need for a tablet for many of you. This is particularly true with the so-called phablets. True, they are quite a bit smaller than an iPad mini, but as a combo device, it may be sufficient, although they are still a little awkward to use for phone calls.

So we have the iPhone 6 Plus, and demand is off the charts. So are customers considering them as all-in-one devices to serve as both smartphone and tablet? For some people, yes, and it may well be that sales of Apple’s biggest iPhone may well cannibalize the iPad mini. Regardless, a sale is a sale, and Apple has never been shy about cannibalizing their own products.

When it comes to the iPad, though, the question is whether it’s a case of inflated expectations, or a new product category still seeking the right audience. Surely Apple’s deal with IBM will make a difference in the enterprise, but what about regular consumers? How many find an iPad useful, if not an essential tool?

For me, it’s a non-starter. Really! My wife has had a third generation iPad since 2012, and I use it occasionally, but mostly to fix a problem for her. She has adopted the thing, and almost always has it with her. She has played with an iPhone and found it wanting in terms of the small display size. She can write email well enough on the iPad, but hasn’t quite gotten accustomed to the tiny touchscreen of a smartphone. Maybe an iPhone 6 Plus would help some, but that still wouldn’t be sufficient for her.

My son, Grayson, is thinking whether to sell off his black MacBook, circa 2008, and buy an iPad Air. But he also does a fair amount of writing, and might chafe at the more limited environment, even with an accessory keyboard.

So there you have a family of three, with only one confirmed iPad user. I cannot say that my experience mirrors that of others. To me, an iPad might some day become a note-book replacement, but I cannot see it replacing my Mac at any time in the near future. Maybe for others, and that’s the serious question Apple will want to answer as the next generation iPad is readied for the October 16th media event.

They talk about art imitating life, but more often than not, there’s only a slight resemblance of the former to the latter. Take a recent episode of a police detective procedural, the rebooted “Hawaii 5-0,” which had a plot device that might present concerns about the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on an iPhone. Before I go on, though, remember that TV dramas are obviously just fiction, even if they are loosely based on facts or ripped from the headlines. Besides, this particular show has no such pretense, but the public might still get the wrong idea.

Here’s how the story played out. It seems that three bikini-clad women staged a robbery on a touring bus, stealing, among other goods, a smartphone from a man who is shot and killed during that scene. Shortly thereafter, someone pretending to be the guy’s wife visits the medical examiner’s office and manages to grab his thumbprint. The staff doctor isn’t smart enough to realize something is amiss. But it’s strongly implied that the thumbprint will be used to gain access to smartphone.

This is the episode’s fatal flaw, or at least one of them.

You see, you can’t just make a scan of someone’s fingerprint and use it to grant access via Touch ID, let alone other fingerprint recognition systems. These systems generally require the presence of a living thumb or other finger. By the same token, the grisly image of cutting off someone’s thumb to accomplish the deed is equally false. Remember that the removed digit is not alive. But logic and facts don’t matter on a TV show; it’s about grabbing an audience and hoping you’ll pay attention to one of the commercials.

In the world of TV, a crime has to be solved in 43 minutes or, if there’s a cliffhanger continuing the story in another episode, it’s 86 minutes. But I wonder how the pitch meeting went for that episode, and whether they had a consultant on board to look at how smartphone fingerprint sensors really worked, and if there were legitimate ways to beat the system within the constraints of a TV show. But perhaps I’m asking too much.

But when it comes to fear mongering about the value of a fingerprint sensor, this harkens back to 2013, days after Apple released the iPhone 5s with Touch ID. Someone made a cast of a fingerprint and allegedly planned to use it to break into one of these iPhones. That won’t work either. Some might suggest using some sort of plastic surgery to transfer someone’s fingerprints, but I don’t have the medical knowledge to assume it’s possible or even practical. It would be easier to just kidnap the victim and force him or her to comply.

In the real world, Touch ID, when it works, can’t be defeated directly. But you can still work around the need for a fingerprint by guessing one’s passcode. Either works, and you must fall back to the passcode when you restart your iPhone with Touch ID.

In the early days, Apple’s fingerprint sensor didn’t always work so well. In some cases, recognition accuracy would diminish over time. I suppose if you had an injury that made your fingerprints less visible, that might also eliminate the feature’s usefulness. But ongoing improvements in iOS 7 and in iOS 8 have made it pretty reliable otherwise. Since iOS 8 came out, it hasn’t missed a beat for me.

Contrast that to the fingerprint sensor on the Samsung Galaxy S5, which isn’t mentioned very much nowadays. Instead of just placing your finger on the sensor, you have to slide it in a weird fashion that is difficult to repeat reliably. Some reviewers remarked that the feature barely worked. Even Consumer Reports, which tends to give Samsung gear a pass, remarked on the two tentpole features of the S5, “…some of the new features, including the fingerprint scanner and heart-rate monitor, are a little rough around the edges. I found it often took multiple attempts to get either to do its promised job.”

Little rough? Talk about understatement. How about barely useable, particularly the fingerprint scanner? Now if Touch ID were that bad out of the starting gate, you’d bet that Apple would be working full-time for a solution, and would be issuing one of those rare public apologies. Consider how Tim Cook responded to the original release of the seriously flawed Maps for iOS 6, and how he even recommended competing map apps until things were sorted out.

Today, we don’t hear much about Maps, except when some tech pundits remember the original problems and imagine they were never fixed. But those are often the same writers who strangely overlooked the beta warnings on Google Maps, and seldom draw attention to that service’s failures. These navigation apps are definitely not perfect by any means. But I still wonder why there still hasn’t been a thorough two-years-on comparison, at least that I know of, between Google and Apple. Let’s see how they fare now.

When Apple schedules a media event, there’s a teaser, a phrase or two to convey possible hints and drive speculation as to what’s to come. But what does Apple mean by, “It’s been way too long”? Too long for what?

Predictably, especially tech writers who cover Apple, are wondering about the products that haven’t been updated in a while, assuming they will be, in part, among the bill of particulars. But you also have to wonder just how many product lines can fit into a single session. After all, this event is scaled down compared to the September extravaganza that included the new iPhones, Apple Watch, and a guest appearance by U2.

So perhaps Apple doesn’t have anything near as critical to the company’s bottom line, but still there are products that sorely need a refresh. Yet the most common speculation is about the iPad, which had its last refresh roughly a year ago. So that’s pretty much par for the course, though I suppose their might be more changes afoot this time to help boost flagging sales. Or it may be a predictable upgrade with the usual faster processors, maybe better cameras, and surely Touch ID.

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