Apple is refreshing its tablet line this year via the new iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2, possibly with Retina, and two industries that the iOS 7 slates will likely dominate in the periods ahead are mobile gaming and commercial aviation.

Users normally depend on the device for internet browsing, e-book reading, media playbacks and casual gaming but its increasing usability allows more room for its roles to expand, encroaching on areas imagined and unimagined by the original iPad designers.

Expected to flash new interesting functions and features, the 2013 iPad upgrades are seen by experts to ramp up their presence on two turfs where the gadgets' use should grow exponentially in the years to come.

Apple's iPad is one of the best gaming alternatives

When the iOS 7 was presented to the public earlier this month, Apple also issued guidelines to developers and third-party accessory makers that would give them steer them into coming up with applications and products that suit well with future iPhone and iPad versions.

The statement is clear, Apple is entering the gaming market, which according to experts could possibly save the slumping industry from extinction. The signs that Apple is gradually becoming a gaming industry player have become apparent.

First, as reported by Apple Insider, a companion prototype controller from Logitech was leaked out then a new study emerged, suggesting that majority of iPad users prefer the tablet in landscape mode, which is the same orientation that is optimal for mobile gaming.

Next to come is the most crucial support - engrossing gaming titles that would convince gamers to pick up an iPad instead of the Xbox One, PS4 or Wii U. According to Apple Insider, Apple can count on Microsoft to supply most of its popular titles to the iOS environment, which a move that will be replicated on Google's Android.

Essentially, Apple is rebooting a key iPad functions to expand its already overriding reach.

Apple's slates are being prepped to become plane cockpit mainstays

The transition to iPads from paper as cockpit manual has been underway following the tablet's introduction in 2010. Now, American Airlines in the United States is fully iPad-compatible, setting the stage for other carriers around the world (Qantas of Australia, including) to follow suit soon.

This week, some 8000 iPads are dispatched for use by American Airlines crews, said Apple Insider on its reports, transforming "Apple's touchscreen tablet as an electronic flight bag in the cockpit of its entire fleet of airplanes."

The switch to iPad, according to the U.S. carrier, is a sound decision, environmentally and economically. It will ease out the use of 24 million of paper pages and cut down jet fuel use by 400,000 gallons. The total saving to be realised is around $US1.2 million each year, the same report said.

With these glowing numbers, it is hardly surprising that the iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 will soon establish a stronger presence in an industry looking to shave overheads and expenditures to achieve more revenues.