Asus quietly unveils 13 inch VivoBook S300 notebook

Asus offers notebooks with 11.6 inch and 14 inch displays as part of it's VivoBook line of mid-range laptops. Now the company is adding a 13.3 inch model to the mix.

The Asus VivoBook S300 is a 3.9 pound laptop that measures about 0.8 inches thick and has many of the hallmarks of an ultrabook, but which will probably be much cheaper than any ultrabook Asus sells.

That's because Asus sells ultrabooks under the premium "Zenbook" line, and tends to give those notebooks relatively high starting prices. While the Asus VivoBook S300 will be available with premium options including a Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor and Windows 8 Pro, Asus will also offer budget models with Celeron or Pentium chips.

These notebooks also ship with hard disks instead of solid state drives.

One thing you do get with a VivoBook that you don't get on most of the higher-priced Zenbooks from Asus (at least not yet) is a touchscreen display.

The Asus VivoBook S300 has a 44Whr battery, a VGA port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 port, HDMI and and audio jacks. It measures 13″ x 9.2″ x 0.83″ and will be available with processor options including:

• Intel Celeron 847 ULV
• Intel Pentium 987 ULV
• Intel Core i3-2365U
• Intel Core i3-3217U
• Intel Core i5-3317U
• Intel Core i7-3517U

All models will feature 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card reader, from 2GB to 4GB of graphics, and a 320GB or 500GB hard drive. The notebooks also feature 13.3 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel displays, unlike many of the company's Zenbook ultrabooks which feature 1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080 pixel screens.

Asus hasn't announced a price or release date yet, but you can pick up the 11.6 inch model in the US for $499, so I wouldn't expect the 13.3 inch model to sell for much more than that.

via MobileGeeks

Asus quietly unveils 13 inch VivoBook S300 notebook is a post from: Liliputing

Android-powered keyboard, remote and set-top-box turn a TV into a complicated Android media center

Android: It's not just for phones and tablets anymore. We're seeing Android in everything from refrigerators to washing machines these days, and sometimes even in devices where the OS makes sense.

A company called Remote Solution is showing off an Android TV box at CES this week, and it's designed to work with a nifty little touchscreen remote control and wireless keyboard setup.

The remote is basically a tiny tablet with direction buttons and dedicated hardware buttons for a few functions such as power and audio.

But most of the action takes place on the touchscreen, where you can launch apps on your TV, move an on-screen cursor by swiping your finger across a virtual touchpad, use an on-screen keyboard, or enter voice commands using the built-in mike.

The remote also fits into a slot on a full-sized wireless keyboard which you can use for faster text input.

The remote features a 720 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of storage, and software running on top of Android 4.0. It has a 3.5 inch, 480 x 320 pixel touchscreen display and support WiFi and Bluetooth and has an IR port so it can be used as a universal remote.

Remote Solution is based in South Korea, and isn't selling this setup at retail in the US yet, as far as I can tell. Instead, the company appears to be looking for partners to bring the system to market.

Android-powered keyboard, remote and set-top-box turn a TV into a complicated Android media center is a post from: Liliputing

Gigabyte introduces S1082 Windows 8 slate with SSD and hard disk

Gigabyte's latest Windows slate PC is aimed at business users, featuring something you don't often see on tablets these days: a large 500GB hard disk for storing all of your important files and data.

The Gigabyte S1082 also features a smaller solid state disk, which offers faster performance than an HDD alone.

The tablet is powered by an energy efficient Intel dual core processor and features a capacitive multitouch display. Windows 8 software, HDMI, Ethernet, and VGA ports.

There's also an optical finger navigation button on the side of the screen which you can use sort of like a mouse, which could make navigating desktop-style apps a little easier than it would be on a touchscreen-only device.

Gigabyte offers a built-in 3.5G modem and a USB keyboard and carrying case for the Gigabyte S1082.

Gigabyte introduces S1082 Windows 8 slate with SSD and hard disk is a post from: Liliputing

Coby Intros MID7065 Tablet for $150

The very first Google certified Android tablet of Coby has been introduced by it in the consumer market. This very device is named as the Coby MID7065. It is a 7-inch tablet with a dual-core processor, Android 4.0 software, and full access to the Google Play Store. If remembered, Coby tablets earlier released were instead shipped with the GetJar application store.

The Coby MID7065 is to be available by the first quarter of 2013 for about $150.

Coby MID7065 tablet is equipped with a 1.2 GHz Amlogic AM8726-MX dual core CPU and 1GB of RAM. It has 8GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot which can accommodate up to 32GB more. Also, a front-facing 0.3MP camera, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is featured by the tablet.

In addition to the Google Play Store, the Coby MID7065 also comes with other Google apps such as YouTube, Google Maps, and the Chrome web browser.

As per latest news and update on said device, it was rumored that the Coby may also have new 8 and 10-inch tablets and is on its ways for the public to enjoy. However, the company has not made any confirmation about those models. Maybe we'll see them at CES next week.

via

Coby Intros MID7065 Tablet for $150 is a post from: Eee PC

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Polaroid's new $150 Android 4.0 tablet is designed for kids

Polaroid is now selling a new kid-friendly tablet with a 7 inch display and a large rubber case designed to protect the tablet from spills and falls. If the tablet looks familiar, that's probably because it seems to be a rebranded Gajah tablet.

You can pick up the new 7 inch tablet from Polaroid for $150.

The tablet features a 1 GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a 2MP camera. It runs Android 4.0 and includes educational apps and interactive books. The NOOK eBook store comes preloaded.

What helps set this model apart from other budget tablets are the sturdy rubber case and the app store which only includes apps that have been deemed appropriate for children. But the tablet has at least one thing the Google Nexus 7 lacks: an SD card slot.

On the other hand, it has a low resolution 800 x 480 pixel display.

via Android Community and Business Wire

Polaroid's new $150 Android 4.0 tablet is designed for kids is a post from: Liliputing

Deals of the Day (1-2-2013)

There's been a lot of talk over the last few days about the death of the netbook. Anyone who's been keeping an eye on the space probably noticed a while ago that Lenovo, Sony, Dell, and Samsung quietly stopped making new netbooks, and it looks like Acer and Asus have no new models planned.

Instead most companies are focusing on devices with higher profit margins such as ultrabooks and tablets… at least until prices on those devices start to dip to netbook-like prices.

In the meantime if you're looking for a low-cost, low-power portable notebook you're in luck. The "death" of the netbook means that you can find some pretty great deals on last year's models. Geeks.com is selling a few refurbished Windows 7 models for just $200 each.

Here are some of the day's best deals on mobile devices and accessories.

• Refurb Asus Eee PC 1025C 10″ netbook w/Atom N2600 for $200 - Geeks.com
• Refurb Gateway LT4009u 10″ netbook w/Atom N2600 for $200 – Geeks.com
• Refurb Philips GoGear Connect 3.2″ Android media player for $60 – BigDeals (via eBay)
• Refurb Apple iPod touch (4th gen) w/8GB for $130 – Geeks.com
• Aluratek Libre Pro 5″ eReader for $30 – Geeks.com
• Buy 22 popular movies for less than $5 each – Amazon Instant Video
• Acer 22″ 1080p monitor for $110 – TigerDirect
• Kingston 16GB Class 10 SDHC card for $12 – Buy.com

You can find more bargains in our daily deals section.

Deals of the Day (1-2-2013) is a post from: Liliputing

Liliputing in 2012: Top stories, search terms, trends

It's been a strange year in the little computer space. When Liliputing launched in 2008, the big stories in mobile computing were all about netbooks. Over the past few years we've seen smartbooks, tablets, ultrabooks, and other portable devices enter the space.

In 2012 pretty much every major netbook maker stopped producing new models, spurred by low profit margins, Intel's shift its focus to tablets and smartphones, and the launch of Windows 8, which requires higher-resolution displays than those found on most netbooks for many functions.

Meanwhile, the prices of Android tablets have fallen significantly, thanks largely to the Amazon Kindle Fire line of products, the Google Nexus 7, and a wave of cheap Chinese tablets.

While some of the devices have limited functionality, hackers have spent a lot of time figuring out how to open up locked-down tablets from companies such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. That's no surprise — the Liliputing article that got more traffic than any other this year is one from January which explains how to install Android 4.0 or Android 4.1 on the HP TouchPad, a tablet that became popular last summer only after HP discontinued it and slashed prices.

People like making cheap things into useful things.

Speaking of cheap things, 2012 also saw the rise of a new class of device: Android TV sticks and mini PCs… some of which can also run Ubuntu and other desktop Linux operating systems. With prices well under $100, these devices are proving popular with folks looking for ways to turn a standard television into a "smart TV" that can stream videos from YouTube or Netflix, handle Android games, and run other apps.

They're also pretty nifty toys for the DIY set looking to build their own cheap Linux laptops or other devices.

Those are just a few of the trends we've been following in the last year… and based on our traffic, it looks like I'm not the only person interested in these trends.

Here are some of the top stories from 2012, as determined by our Google Analytics traffic. Bear in mind, a lot of our traffic comes from people typing things into Google — so these aren't necessarily the best or most informative posts of 2012.

Many are just the ones Google decided to send people to… but it's a lot easier to put together a top 10 list from Google Analytics than to look back over nearly 2000 posts and cherry pick our favorites.

1. How to install Android 4.0 or 4.1 on the HP TouchPad with CyanogenMod
2. How to root a Kindle Fire with Software Version 6.3.1
3. How to install Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on the Kindle Fire
4. How to install Adobe Flash on the Nexus 7 (or other Jelly Bean devices)
5. How to root the Google Nexus 7, unlock the bootloader, install custom recovery
6. $74 MK802 Android 4.0 Mini PC: First impressions (video)
7. Linux distributions that can run on an MK802 Mini PC
8. How to dual-boot CyanogenMod 7, Nook Tablet OS with a microSD card
9. Mele A100 is a $70 hackable, Linux-friendly ARM-based PC
10. Apple's 5th-gen iPod touch: It's a stripped down, $299 iPhone 5 without the phone

Hmm… mental note: Make sure to start absolutely every story in 2013 with "How to." Those seem to do well.

As I mentioned, a lot of folks who come to Liliputing are directed our way by Google and other search engines. If you're wondering what they're looking for, here are a few of the top keywords that bring people to the site:

1. HP TouchPad Android
2. MK802
3. Root Kindle Fire
4. Install Windows XP from USB
5. Polaroid Tablet
6. PlayBook Android
7. How to root Kindle Fire
8. Root Nexus 7
9. iPod touch 5th generation
10. NOOK Tablet

If you're curious, here are the top sources of traffic for Liliputing for the year (not counting direct traffic, or people who typed "Liliputing.com" into a browser:

1. Google
2. Feedburner
3. Bing
4. YouTube
5. Yahoo
6. Facebook
7. Reddit
8. Twitter
9. CyanogenMod forum
10. SuperUser.com
11. TomsHardware.com
12. SlickDeals.net
13. Engadget
14. Ars Technica
15. xda-developers forum

Overall it's been a great year for Liliputing. We had a record 2 million page views in November alone, and over the course of the year we've received over 19 million page views, more than 7 million unique visits, and thousands of insightful comments from readers around the globe.

Tizen

 

A group of companies including Samsung and Intel have been backing an open source project called Tizen which is designed to run on phones, tablets, netbooks, and other devices.

Tizen rose out of the ashes of the MeeGo Linux operating system, with the primary backers of that project moving on to a new OS that places a heavy emphasis on HTML5 and other web technologies, which means developers can write apps for the platform using the same tools they'd use for creating web apps.

Samsung is the world's top phone maker at the moment, largely due to success of the company's Android devices. But that means Samsung relies pretty heavily on Google right now — and the company has been working for years to develop a smartphone OS that it has more control over.

Samsung's Bada OS actually has more market share than you'd expect… in some regions. But investing in the Tizen platform makes a lot of sense, since it has the potential to become a bit more of a standard — and its emphasis on web technologies could make it an attractive target for app developers.

Earlier this year Samsung started providing Tizen developer phones to potential developers. Now the company is reportedly working with NTT DoCoMo on a phone which could launch in Japan in 2013.

… more coverage of Tizen

Sailfish

If Tizen is the operating system that came after MeeGo, Sailfish is the OS that aims to keep MeeGo alive.

Intel's biggest partner in the MeeGo was Nokia, but the Finnish phone maker pretty much pulled the plug on the project when Nokia instead partnered with Microsoft to release new phones running Windows Phone software.

Some former Nokia folks weren't happy to see MeeGo die though, and they formed Jolla, a company that's picking up where Intel and Nokia left off and developing a MeeGo-based smartphone operating system called Sailfish.

The new operating system has a custom user interface which seems to take some of the best elements of Android (such as widgets and multi-tasking, but which adds an entirely new gesture-based navigation,  and many customization options.

Engadget recently got a chance to check out a pre-release version of Sailfish, which you can check out in this video:

We should see the first full version of Sailfish in early 2013.

One thing that could help Sailfish gain traction is that it will support some Google Android apps… which should make up for a problem many new operating systems face at launch: limited availability of software that actually runs on the platform.

… more coverage of Sailfish

Firefox OS

Mozilla has been offering a mobile version of its Firefox web browser for Android phones and tablets for a while. But the developers are also working on a smartphone operating system based on Firefox.

It's called Firefox OS, and the first handsets running the software are expected to launch in Brazil, and possibly other countries as well in early 2013.

Like Tizen, Firefox OS places an emphasis on web technologies. In fact, pretty much every app designed for the operating system will be a web app — even the dialer and other basic features are pretty much just web pages.

You can even test-drive a pre-release version of Firefox OS simply by installing a browser extension in the Firefox web browser on your desktop or notebook computer.

Under the hood, Firefox OS is based on Android, but unlike Sailfish, you won't be able to run Android apps on Firefox phones. Instead, you'll be able to install web apps from the Firefox Marketplace.

…more coverage of Firefox OS

Smartphones in 2013: Tizen, Firefox OS, Sailfish to compete with Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone is a post from: Liliputing