Asus PQ321 monitor features a 3840 x 2160 pixel IGZO display

Laptops aren't the only devices getting crazy high-resolution displays this year. Asus has just unveiled a new desktop monitor with a 4K display.

The Asus PQ321 is a 31.5 inch monitor that has just as many pixels as 4 different 1080p screens out together.

In other words, if your computer's video card can handle it, you could theoretically plug in the Asus PQ321 and watch four 1920 x 1080 pixel movies at the same time.

The screen has a 3840 x 2160 pixel display IGZO display which makes it easier to pack a lot of pixels tightly together — although to be honest, there are plenty of phones, tablets and laptops with higher pixel density. The Asus PQ321 features just 140 pixels per inch — but since the monitor will likely be further away from your eyes than a smartphone or tablet screen, you'd probably be hard pressed to tell the difference in sharpness.

Asus says the LED-backlit display has 176-degree viewing angles, features built-in 2W stereo speakers, two HDMI inputs, and DisplayPort.

Unfortunately one thing Asus hasn't said is how much this display will cost. My guess is: a lot.

via SlashGear

Asus PQ321 monitor features a 3840 x 2160 pixel IGZO display is a post from: Liliputing

Early HTC One adopters may be able to switch to Nexus experience

On June 26th HTC will start offering a new "Nexus experience" version of the HTC One smartphone. It'll have the same screen, processor, and design as the original HTC One smartphone, but it'll run a stock version of Google Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean instead of a custom version featuring HTC Sense software.

That's good news for fans of Google's implementation of Android — but what about folks who already bought an HTC One?

According to The Verge, HTC is looking into ways to let early customers switch to the Nexus experience.

Effectively, that'd mean replacing the firmware on your device with the same software that'll be available for the new HTC One with Nexus user experience. Hopefully from that point on, users would get software updates directly from Google rather than from HTC.

I suspect there might be a few catches though. Right now you can pick up an HTC One smartphone for as little as $200 when you sign up for a wireless service plan with AT&T or another carrier. But the Nexus experience model will be sold directly through Google Play for $599.

That's the same price you'd pay to buy a SIM unlocked model with an unlockable bootloader directly from HTC. The company also offers a Developer Edition model for $649.

If you've bought one of those unsubsidized models and have an unlockable bootloader, I can't see any reason HTC wouldn't let you just install a ROM with Google's firmware.

But if you signed a service plan with a wireless carrier and paid less money up front, things might be a little more complicated and HTC might have to work out a deal with your wireless carrier before releasing official tools for switching from a Sense experience to a Google experience.

Of course, once HTC starts selling the new Nexus experience version of the HTC One, it probably won't take long for independent developers to figure out how to run it on other handsets unofficially.

While there are already custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod available for the HTC One, independent developers have been on their own when it comes to finding drivers that work with the phone's hardware. Things should get much easier once HTC releases a device running an AOSP-based build of Android with full support for every bit of hardware in the device (except for the IR blaster, which Android 4.2.2 doesn't yet support).

via Droid Life

Early HTC One adopters may be able to switch to Nexus experience is a post from: Liliputing

Microsoft provides an early peek at Windows 8.1

Windows 8 might represent the biggest change in Microsoft's flagship operating system since the jump from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. While the desktop view looks a lot like earlier versions of Windows, Microsoft added a full-screen, touch-friendly Start Screen and support for a whole new class of full-screen apps.

The idea was to treat touch as a first-class citizen, and every Windows 8 computer has elements that are designed for both touch and keyboard and mouse input… whether or not those devices actually have touchscreens.

Some folks have been happier about the changes than others… and Microsoft is taking user feedback into account with the next version of Windows. Today the company is providing an early look at Windows 8.1.

Desktop mode and the return of the Start Button

One of the first things laptop and desktop users will notice is that, as rumored, the Start Button is back. You don't have to scroll your mouse over the lower left corner of the screen to see a pop-up icon. Instead there's a button that's always there.

But clicking that button won't bring up an old fashioned Start Menu. Instead it'll take you to the same full-window Start Screen that you've always gotten with Windows 8.

Microsoft is allowing users to set the default Start Screen view to "all apps" if they'd rather skip the Live Tiles view.

The Start Button is hidden by default when you're running a full-screen Windows app, but hovering your mouse cursor over the left corner will bring it back into focus, letting you move back to the Start Screen without hitting a key on your keyboard or pulling up the Windows Charms menu.

While some folks find this distracting since it effectively minimizes any other apps you were looking at until you're done, I've never really had a problem with the new Start Screen. I treat it like a keyboard app launcher. Just hit the Windows icon on your keyboard, start typing the name of the app you want to launch, and hit enter once it appears to launch the app. Now you're back in desktop mode.

If you really never want to see the Start Screen, just pin your most used apps to the Windows taskbar or create desktop shortcuts for them.

Microsoft is also letting users bypass the Start Screen at boot. There's an option to boot straight to the desktop.

Personalization for the Start Screen, Lock Screen

Windows 8 lets you set a custom image as your Lock Screen background. Windows 8.1 will let you choose multiple pictures to create a slide show.

You can also snap a photo using your device's camera from the lock screen without even logging into your computer.

Microsoft is also offering more color and background options for the Start Screen. That includes backgrounds with motion, much like the Live Wallpapers available for Google Android.

Or you can use the same background for your desktop and Start Screen so that the jump from one view to another doesn't feel as jarring.

Users will also be able to resize, rearrange, or uninstall multiple apps simultaneously.

Windows 8.1 apps

While a key feature of Windows 8 is support for "Metro" style apps designed to run in full screen, Windows sets itself apart from Android, iOS and other touch-friendly operating systems by allowing you to "snap" two apps together so that you can see two different apps at the same time.

In Windows 8 that meant you could see one big app and one small app at the same time. Windows 8.1 lets you snap windows to any size you want. You can also now see up to 3 apps on the screen at once. If you have multiple displays you can have up to 3 apps per display.

That means you can divide your screen so that you have two apps using up half the viewing space each, or split the screen 70/30, 30/30/40, or any other way you'd like.

You can also have more than two windows of the same app snapped together — so you could view two web pages side-by-side using a single web browser.

Microsoft is also updating the core Windows 8 apps including Mail, SkyDrive, Photos, and Camera with new features. And the Windows Store will show more information about available apps.

Windows 8.1 will also ship with Internet Explorer 11 featuring improved touch controls and faster page loading.

Search

Microsoft is bringing global search to Windows 8.1. Now when yo

Vivaldi "Flying Squirrel" Linux tablet is making progress (still not ready to ship)

It's been more than a year since KDE developer Aaron Seigo announced plans to build a tablet designed to run open Mer Linux and the KDE Plasma Active environment. The Vivaldi tablet project's hit a few speed bumps since then, but this week the team has a mostly working prototype.

The latest model is based on the EOMA-68 computer module from Rhombus Tech. That means that if and when the tablet ships, you'll be able to remove a single card with the processor, memory and storage and swap in a new card to upgrade the tablet without replacing the screen, display, or other components.

Right now the Rhombus Tech team is working on a card featuring an Allwinner A10 ARM Cortex-A8 single core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of storage. But Aaeron Seigo says the goal is to use a more powerful dual-core version in the upcoming tablet, which is currently code-named "Flying Squirrel."

It'll probably be an ARM Cortex-A7 chip like the Allwinner A20.

While there's no official launch date or price for the tablet yet, the founder of the Rhombus Tech initiative has posted a video showing Debian 7.0 running on an EOMA-68 card with an Allwinner A10 chip. It's not a super-speedy device, but it's capable of driving basic desktop Linux software including the Midori web browser.

He also hinted that the Flying Squirrel currently sports a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel IPS display (the same screen used in the original Amazon Kindle Fire), although the specs could change by the time the tablet is ready to ship.

Other devices that could eventually feature Rhombus Tech's EOMA-68 cards including a handheld gaming console and modular notebook.

Vivaldi "Flying Squirrel" Linux tablet is making progress (still not ready to ship) is a post from: Liliputing

Apple adds a $229 iPod touch with Retina to its lineup, cuts a few corners

Apple's 5th-generation iPod touch is practically an iPhone 5 without the ability to make phone calls over a cellular network. So it's not surprising that at $299 and up, Apple gave its latest generation iPod touch a higher starting price than earlier models.

But since not everyone wants to spend that kind of money on a portable media device, so the company also kept around 2010′s 4th-gen iPod touch for a while, selling it for $199 and up. Now that model's been pulled from the Apple Store, and it's been replaced with a new $229 iPod touch that's a lot more like the other 5th-gen models… but not entirely.

Like other recent iPod touch models, the new $229 version has a 4 inch, 1136 x 640 pixel display and an Apple A5 dual-core processor. Apple says it offers up to 40 hours of battery life while playing music or 8 hours of video playback time.

What the new model doesn't have is a rear camera. There's a 720p front-facing camera for video chat, but Apple left out the 5MP camera with auto-focus and an LED flash.

The new model also only comes in one color: black. And it features 16GB of storage, while other recent iPod touch models have 32GB or more.

It's nice to have an option with a bigger screen and faster processor than the 4th gen iPod touch with a price tag that's not much higher. But at least the older iPod touch had a rear camera. It didn't have a flash or auto-focus capabilities, but at least it was there.

Of course, while Apple isn't selling new 4th-gen iPod touch models anymore, you can still pick up refurbished models for as little as $129, or buy a new model from Amazon for $180 and up.

via 9to5Mac

Apple adds a $229 iPod touch with Retina to its lineup, cuts a few corners is a post from: Liliputing

Motorola Moto X flagship Android phone coming by October 2013

Motorola has confirmed that it's working on an "X Phone." The company's next flagship Android smartphone will be called the Moto X, and it's the first major phone Motorola started working after the company was acquired by Google.

In other words, every Motorola device we've seen since the company became a subsidiary of Google so far was already in development when that deal went through. The Moto X, on the other hand, is designed with input directly from the folks who make the Android operating system it'll run.

Speaking at All Things D today, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside we should expect the Moto X (along with a handful of other phones) by October.

While Woodside is saving many of the details for the actual product launch, he did say that the phone would have a series of sensors so that the phone would know, for instance, when it comes out of your pocket or when it's traveling at high speeds in a car.

Motorola plans to build the Moto X in a facility in Texas, although some of the parts including the processor and display will come from Asia.

Motorola Moto X flagship Android phone coming by October 2013 is a post from: Liliputing

Toshiba tacks a hefty $1499 price tag on the Portege Z10t detachable ultrabook

Toshiba's Portege Z10t is one of the more interesting ultrabook/tablet hybrids to launch so far this year. It's a two-piece computer, featuring a tablet with a 13W Intel Ivy Bridge processor and an 11.6 inch, 1080p display and a keyboard base which offers extra ports and longer battery life.

The Toshiba Portege Z10t officially launches this week, and unfortunately it won't come cheap. Prices start at $1499.

In other words, Toshiba's positioning the Portege Z10t as competition for expensive hybrids such as the Asus Transformer Book 13 or Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, not cheaper devices like the HP Envy X2.

To be fair, these high-end ultrabook/tablets have more powerful processors and higher-resolution displays than any hybrid you'll find in for under $1000. Toshiba also offers an optional Wacom digitizer which lets you use a pressure-sensitive pen for writing or drawing.

But I can't help but wonder how big the market is for this type of device at this price point. Over the past few years the average selling price of Windows computers has fallen pretty dramatically. Netbooks helped get that ball rolling, but so did the fact that advances in processing power largely outstripped many users' needs.

If the primary thing you use a computer for is surfing the web, you may be perfectly happy with a 5-year-old laptop running Windows XP. Or if you do need a new model, there's not much reason to pick up a $1000 laptop when a $300 model serves your needs just about as well.

So companies like Toshiba and Lenovo (not to mention Intel and Microsoft) are trying to create new types of computing experiences that will convince consumers to buy bleeding edge hardware again.

And if you want to do that, at the moment there are few options that don't cost more than $1000. But I wouldn't be surprised to see prices fall pretty quickly if devices like the Portege Z10t don't sell well. It wasn't that long ago that ultrabooks had starting prices around $999, and now you can regularly find models going for as little as half that much.

via AnandTech

Toshiba tacks a hefty $1499 price tag on the Portege Z10t detachable ultrabook is a post from: Liliputing

Tizen Linux demo on an ultrabook (video)

Tizen is a Linux-based operating system that's backed by Samsung and which is expected to ship on Samsung smartphones this year. But the OS isn't just for mobile devices like phones and tablets.

The folks at Tizen Experts got a chance to check out an early demo of Tizen running on an ultrabook, and it looks like a pretty it offers a pretty decent desktop Linux-style user experience. But like the smartphone version of Tizen, there's an emphasis on running web apps as well as native apps.

Tizen's notebook/desktop environment is based on GNOME Shell 3, and it comes with the ability to run native Linux apps such as LibreOffice and the Chrome web browser.

But Tizen is developing a custom version of the home screen and app launcher called Tizen Shell, and supports installing and running web apps so that you can run them as if they were native apps downloaded and installed to your computer.

Tizen can also handle the Steam gaming platform for Linux as long as you have a computer with decent 3D graphics capabilities.

Much of what makes Tizen exciting is the operating's system on mobile devices including phones and tablets — something that other GNU/Linux operating systems such as Ubuntu are just getting started on. But it's interesting to see that it'll also be available for traditional PCs.

The demo video shows the operating system running on an ultrabook with an Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor, but the OS can run on devices with slower processors.

The code for the notebook/desktop version of Tizen shown off in the video will eventually be released as part of Tizen 3.0. As of mid-May 2013, the latest stable version of the operating system is Tizen 2.1.

Tizen Linux demo on an ultrabook (video) is a post from: Liliputing

Asus VivoBook V551 ultrabook with Haswell CPU coming soon

PC makers are expected to launch plenty of new laptops, tablets, and hybrid devices featuring Intel Haswell processors at the Computex trade show in Taiwan in June. But some Haswell-powered devices are starting to show up a bit early.

The Asus VivoBook V551 is an ultrabook with a 15.6 inch display and an Intel Core i7-4500U Haswell chip and an NVIDIA graphics card. It's expected to sell for around $1000, and several retailers are already taking orders.

Notebook Italia reports that in Europe the same laptop is expected to be called the VivoBook S551.

Detailed specs include NVIDA GeForce GT740M graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and 24GB solid state cache disk. The notebook measures just 0.83 inches thick, but it packs a DVD burner, as well as WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI, 3 USB ports (including 1 USB 3.0 port), and a 65 Whr battery.

It also features a touchscreen display. Unfortunately, it's a 1366 x 768 pixel screen, which seems kind of out-of-step with what's otherwise a pretty high-end laptop.

While the Asus VivoBook V551 is a reasonably thin laptop, it's not particularly light. It weighs about 5.3 pounds, which isn't surprising given the large screen, disc drive, and other components.

 

Asus VivoBook V551 ultrabook with Haswell CPU coming soon is a post from: Liliputing

Google Android 4.3 spotted in the wild, brings new camera app to Nexus 4

Google's annual developer conference came and went this month without the launch of a new version of the Android operating system. But web publishers (including this one) have noticed a growing number of visits from folks using mobile devices identified as running Android 4.3 in recent weeks… and now a member of the xda-developers forum has published a few pictures of a phone that appears to be running the next version of Google's mobile OS.

A Google Nexus 4 with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and the build number JWR45B was spotted at the Thailand Mobile Expo.

At this point there's not much to report in the way of new features. But the phone does appear to have a new version of the camera app, bringing the menu buttons a little closer to the shutter button, which should make it a little easier to adjust camera settings on your phone or tablet.

While Google hasn't officially launched the update yet, the company did recently roll out a major update to Google Play Services, as well as Google Play Games for synchronizing your data across devices and making gaming more social. Google also launched new versions of a number of core apps including Google Drive, Google Play Music, Google Play Books, Google Play Movies, and more. A Gmail app update is possibly on the way as well.

In other words, some of the biggest updates to the Android platform this year are being distributed without a major update to the operating system itself. And that's a smart way to deal with the "fragmentation" problem that's affected Android for the past few years.

Since Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, and other device makers push out OS updates to phones and tablets, it can sometimes take months or years before a new version of Android makes it to those devices… if it ever does. By pushing updates to individual apps and services instead, Google can offer many improvements without updating your device's firmware at all.

Still, a lot of folks are looking forward to the next version of Android, and it looks like Android 4.3 might be coming soon.

via Droid Life

Google Android 4.3 spotted in the wild, brings new camera app to Nexus 4 is a post from: Liliputing

Wandboard's Android, Linux-friendly mini PC now available in quad-core

The Wandboard is a tiny computer or developer board which looks a bit like a Raspberry Pi, but which has a starting price about three times as high and which packs significantly more power.

That's because while the Raspberry Pi has an ARM11 single-core processor, the Wandboard features a faster Freescale i.MX6 ARM Cortex-A9 processor. Up until now single and dual-core versions have been available, and now Wandboard is offering a new quad-core model.

Wandboard's new quad-core model has a Freescale i.MX6 Quad processor, 2GB of RAM, 2 microSD card slots, HDMI and USB ports, and Gigabit Ethernet. It also features built-in WiFi and Bluetooth.

The Wandboard Quad sells for $129, while the single and dual-core models sell for $79 and $99, respectively.

But not only does the Wandboard Quad have more processor cores than the cheaper models, it also has more memory, and it's the only model with a SATA connector for hooking up a hard drive or solid state disk.

The Freescale i.MX6 Quad is a 1 GHz processor with Vivante GC2000 graphics. It's not the fastest ARM Cortex-A9 chip around, but it offers decent overall performance. It's also a good choice for this type of developer board because not only does it support Google Android, but Freescale offers plenty of documentation for the chipset and developers are able to run Ubuntu and other Linux-based operating systems on devices with Freescale chips.

Wandboard expects to start shipping the new quad-core boards in June.

These little computers are aimed at developers, hackers, and DIY computing enthusiasts rather than the general public. They don't include a case, you'll need to install the operating system on a microSD card yourself, and it'd probably take a bit of elbow grease to turn a Wandboard device into a full-fledged desktop PC or media center.

But they provide a way to test apps on a low-cost ARM-based system and they could be an inexpensive solution for anyone looking for an inexpensive computer that doesn't need to have bleeding-edge performance.

Wandboard's Android, Linux-friendly mini PC now available in quad-core is a post from: Liliputing

Xiaomi Box Android TV box now available outside of China... sort of

The Xiaomi Box is an inexpensive device which you can plug into a TV to run Android apps and stream internet video on a TV. We've seen a lot of those in the past year or so. But this one is the first to come from Xiaomi, a Chinese hardware and software company known for offering high-quality products at low prices.

Xiaomi has been offering the box in China for a few months, although demand seems to generally be greater than supply. But now it looks like you can buy a Xiaomi Box even if you're not in China.

Several stores at AliExpress are selling the Xiaomi Box, with prices starting at around $76.

There's just one catch: as far as I can tell, the user interface is entirely in Chinese, and as far as I'm aware there's no easy way to change it to English or another language.

While it's pretty simple to change the default language on a stock Android device, the Xiaomi Box isn't running stock Android software. Instead it has Xiaomi's custom version of Android which is pretty, easy to navigate, and in this case only available in Chinese.

If that's not a problem for you, the Xiaomi Box features an 800 MHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 1GB of RAM, Ethernet, WiFi, and HDMI. It also comes with a wireless remote control.

via AndroidPC.es

 

Xiaomi Box Android TV box now available outside of China… sort of is a post from: Liliputing

Deals of the Day (5-27-2013)

Amazon's second-generation Kindle has a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display and looks a lot like the first-generation model Amazon first released in 2011. But the Kindle Fire 2 has a faster 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and runs newer software, based on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

While Amazon normally charges $159 and up for the Kindle Fire 2, today you can pick up a refurbished model from All4Cellular for just $100. The retailer is offering an even lower price for first-generation Kindle Fire tablets.

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

• Refurb Amazon Kindle Fire 2 7″ tablet for $100 – All4Cellular
• Refurb 1st-gen Amazon Kindle Fire for $90 - All4Cellular (coupon: A4C10)
• Refurb Google Nexus 7 w/32GB for $193 - BuyDig (via eBay)
• Refurb Asus Transformer Pad TF300T tablet for $230 after rebate – TigerDirect
• Silicon Power 64GB waterproof USB 2.0 flash drive for $30 – Amazon

You can find more bargains in our daily deals section.

Deals of the Day (5-27-2013) is a post from: Liliputing

Huawei MediPad 7 Vogue tablet hits the FCC, on its way to store shelves?

Chinese device maker Huawei's next 7 inch tablet is expected to be called the Huawei MediaPad 7 Vogue. The company hasn't officially announced the tablet yet, but the tablet earned DLNA certification a few months ago.

Now the MediaPad 7 Vogue is continuing its tour of regulatory and certification agencies. This weekend it showed up at the FCC website.

The Huawei MediaPad 7 Vogue has the makings of a low-cost Android tablet, but one with optional 3G and 4G capabilities.

The tablet expected to have a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 quad-core processor, 1GB Of RAM, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean software.

It supports WiFi and Bluetooth, and features HDMI and DLNA. There's also a microSD card slot.

A few years ago, those would have been amazing specs for an Android tablet, no matter what price tag it carriers. But these days you can get some pretty nice 7 inch tablets for well under $199, and word on the street is that the next Google Nexus 7 could have a higher-resolution 1920 x 1200 pixel display.

So if Huawei tries to sell the WiFi-only version of this tablet for more than $149, it could have a tough time finding buyers.

via TabletGuide.nl

Huawei MediPad 7 Vogue tablet hits the FCC, on its way to store shelves? is a post from: Liliputing

Deals of the Day (5-24-2013)

As expected, Walmart is now selling two new low-cost Android tablets from Hisense. And while they're selling for the list prices of $99 and $149, respectively, they're still among the best tablets you can get for those prices, so I figured I'd highlight them one more time.

The $99 tablet is notable mostly for its low price. But the $149 Hisense Sero 7 Pro looks like it'd be a pretty good tablet even if it cost substantially more. It has a 1280 x 800 pixel display, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, front and rear cameras, Android 4.2, an HDMI port and microSD card slot, as well as WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC.

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

• Hisense Sero 7 Pro 7″ tablet w/quad-core CPU for $149 - Walmart
• Hisense Sero 7 " tablet w/dual-core CPU for $99 – Walmart
• Refurb iPad mini for $249 - Walmart
• Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 10″ Android tablet + keyboard for $329 - Lenovo (coupon: USPSE5523)
• Acer Aspire S7 11.6″ ultrabook w/Core i5 + Office for $799 – Microsoft Store (student price)
• Asus Zenbook UX32VD 13″ ultrabook w/Core i5+ NVDIA for $725 – Best Buy
• B&N NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight for $80 – Best Buy

You can find more bargains in our daily deals section.

Deals of the Day (5-24-2013) is a post from: Liliputing

VOYO A15 tablet packs an 11.6 inch screen, Exynos 5250 processor

Chinese device maker VOYO plans to launch an Android tablet with a 2 GHz Samsung Exynos 5250 dual-core processor. It joins the growing ranks of tablets featuring the speedy ARM Cortex-A15 processor. But it's one of the first to sport a large 11.6 inch display.

Padhz reports the VOYO A15 has an 11.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS display, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage.

The tablet runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, features HDMI and USB 3.0, and has front and rear cameras. The company says the 11,000 mAh battery should offer up to 8.5 hours of run time.

The Exynos 5250 processor is the same chip that powers the Google Nexus 10 tablet. While it's no longer the fastest ARM-based chip on the market (Samsung has an octa-core version, and Qualcomm and NVIDIA's latest chips are also pretty zippy), it's still faster than pretty much any ARM chip released prior to late 2012.

Personally, I prefer tablets with smaller screens, but the VOYO A15′s large display should make it a pretty great device for watching videos or pairing with a Bluetooth or USB keyboard for getting some work done.

There's no word on if or when we'll see this tablet outside of China, but it's available in that country for 1399 yuan, or about $228 US.

VOYO A15 tablet packs an 11.6 inch screen, Exynos 5250 processor is a post from: Liliputing

Intel promises laptops with 50 percent more battery life (Haswell)

Intel's 4th generation Core processors are designed to use less electricity while providing better performance than their predecessors. In fact, Computer World reports Intel is now saying that laptops with the upcoming "Haswell" chips could offer up to 50 percent more battery life than models with 3rd-gen "Ivy Bridge" processors.

That's a bold claim, since the processor is only one of the power-hungry components in a laptops. The display, memory, storage, and other components all use electricity as well.

But by improving the efficiency of its chips, both while working at full load and while idle or in standby, Intel says laptops with Haswell processors will be able to run for much longer without recharging the battery.

Of course, the improvements won't necessarily apply to every laptop with a Haswell chip. While the lowest-power Haswell processors will have have TDPs of 10 watts (or what Intel calls a 7W SDP, or "scenario power design"), most will actually use more energy than that.

But the point is that if you took an ultrabook today that gets around 6 hours of battery life and swapped out the Ivy Bridge CPU for a Haswell part, you should be able to squeeze a few hours of extra battery life — especially when you're performing light-duty tasks where the computer has time to idle. Ultrabooks with the new chips could use as little as 100mW of power while idle.

We'll also likely see some of these Haswell chips in upcoming tablets and notebook/tablet hybrids.

Device makers are expected to introduce a number of Haswell-based products at the Computex trade show in June.

via Engadget

Intel promises laptops with 50 percent more battery life (Haswell) is a post from: Liliputing

Qualcomm introduces 5 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel Mirasol display

Qualcomm's Mirasol displays use less power than traditional LCD screens, and as an added bonus they're visible in direct sunlight. Unfortunately the color reproduction on Mirasol screens has never been particularly good.

But that hasn't stopped Qualcomm from continuing to develop the technology. This week Engadget spotted a new high resolution 5.1 inch Mirasol panel at SID Display Week.

The smartphone-sized screen packs a 2560 x 1440 pixel display. That's 577 pixels per inch, which puts most recent smartphone displays to shame… at least in terms of pixel count.

But according to Engadget, the whole screen has a bit of a silver tint to it and the colors look rather dull. That's been a problem with Mirasol screens for a while, and it doesn't appear to have gotten any better.

That said, the screen can use up to 6 times less power than a typical screen, which could lead to mobile devices with longer battery life.

Update: It turns out that the demo Qualcomm is showing off at the moment is more of a non-working mockup than an actual product. But the company says the screen's under development. Whether anyone will actually use the display in an actual device remains to be seen.

Qualcomm introduces 5 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel Mirasol display is a post from: Liliputing

AMD is launching three new families of processors, which the company thinks fill a gap in the market. The new Temash, Kabini, and Richland chips are largely aimed at tablets, hybrids, and ultrathin notebooks and performance notebooks respectively.

It's not like market leader Intel doesn't already have those areas covered, but AMD thinks its new processors will offer better performance at a lower price than Intel chips.

Like Intel, AMD has been working to reduce power consumption while improving performance and stepping up graphics performance in all of its latest processors. The lowest power Temash chips have a TDP of just 3.9 watts and AMD says it could power tablets that get up to 10 or 11 hours of battery life.

AMD says we should see dozens of tablets and notebooks with its latest chips in the coming months, including models from most major PC makers.

Temash

We've already seen Temash chips start to hit the market in devices like the Acer Aspire V5-122 notebook. But AMD actually has 3 different Temash chips designed for tablets and small-screen notebooks with touchscreen displays.

The company is positioning these chips as low-cost competitors to Intel's Celeron or Pentium chips which fill the space between Intel Atom and Intel Core i3.

The AMD A4-1200 is a 1 GHz dual-core processor with AMD Radeon HD 8180 graphics clocked at 225 MHz.

It has a TDP of 3.9 watts, and in that space, you shouldn't expect any miracles from an x86 processor. This chip is primarily aimed at what Intel calls "performance tablets," and probably won't offer a stellar experience with more demanding Windows apps.

The A4-1200 is basically AMD's answer to an Intel Atom chip, and while it should offer significantly better graphics than a Clover Trail processor, it's too early to say how it will stack up against Intel's Bay Trail chips due out later this year in terms of CPU and graphics performance.

AMD also offers the A4-1250, which is an 8W version with Radeon HD 8210 graphics at 300 MHz. This chip is aimed at notebooks with screens smaller than 13 inches, which qualify for low-cost Windows 8 licenses.

In other words, the low-cost mini-notebooks that AMD and Microsoft don't want to call netbooks, but which basically fill the same niche.

The AMD A6-1450 should offer a bit more performance. It's the chip used in the Acer Aspire V5-122, and it's a 1 GHz quad-core processor with an 8W TDP, support for burst speeds up to 1.4 GHz, and 300 MHz Radeon HD 8250 graphics which can overclock to 400 MHz.

AMD's Temash chips feature new "Jaguar" cores which the company says offer up to twice the computing performance of the "Bobcat" cores used in the last-generation chips, code-named "Hondo" and "Brazos."

At the same time, AMD says the new chips offer a 20 to 25 percent improvement in battery life. That's partially because the Southbridge Controller has been integrated into the chip, making Temash processors true SoC (System on a Chip) components.

While AMD is promising better graphics performance than you'll see in comparable Ivy Bridge or Haswell chips from Intel, AMD is also banking on price. The company thinks that we'll tablets with Temash chips for well under $500, and notebooks that are a bit less expensive than their Intel-powered counterparts.

AMD Temash

But I think that might be a bit optimistic: You can already pick up an ASUS VivoBook X202E notebook with an 11.6 inch touchscreen display and an Intel Core i3 for less than the price of an Acer Aspire V5-122 with a Temash chip.

Kabini

If Temash chips are designed to compete with Intel's budget processors, Kabini is designed to go head-to-head with Intel's mid-range chips all the way up to Core i3.

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

• Acer Iconia W510 10″ Windows 8 tablet w/Clover Trail for $300 – Rakuten
• Refurb Google Nexus 7 w/16GB for $170 – Rakuten
• Refurb Asus Q200e 11.6″ touchscreen notebook w/Core i3 for $340 – GeekDeal (via eBay)
• Samsung Series 9 13″ ultrabook w/Sandy Bridge, Win7 for $830 – TigerDirect
• Sony Vaio Tap20 all-in-one desktop/tablet for $800 – Rakuten
• Acer Aspire One AOD270 10″ netbook w/Atom N2600 for $230 – Rakuten
• ZyXEL WRE2205 802.11n WiFi range extender/repeater for $30 – DailySteals
• Centon 64GB USB 2.0 flash drive for $30 – TigerDirect
• $50 off select orders of $100 or more – ThinkGeek (coupon: CONGRADS)

You can find more bargains in our daily deals section.

Deals of the Day (5-22-2013) is a post from: Liliputing

Remote control an RK3188 Android stick with your phone, tablet

Chinese chip maker Rockchip has released a new tool that lets you remote control an Android 4.2 device with a Rockchip RK3188 using pretty much any Android phone or tablet.

In other words, you can plug an Android TV stick like the Tronsmart MK908 into your television to run Android apps on a big screen and fire up a mobile app to use your phone as a remote control or gamepad.

Rockchip has had a similar tool available for RK3066 devices for a while, but now the RKRemoteControl app is available for devices with Rockchip's latest processors.

You can download the Android app and user manual from Geekbuying.

Most Android TV sticks with RK3188 processors and Android 4.2 or later come with an app called eHomeMediaCenter pre-loaded. You can launch this app and set the name of your device from the settings menu.

Then you fire up the mobile app and search for the device name you just entered.

Once you've done that you should be able to use your phone or tablet as a remote control for handling media playback, a keyboard for entering text, or a virtual gamepad for playing video games.

 

You can customize the layout of on-screen buttons to work with various games, although to be honest, the user interface looks pretty complicated, and I suspect it'd be tough to hit the right buttons without constantly looking down at your hands (and away from the TV). You might be better off just getting a USB or Bluetooth gamepad.

Remote control an RK3188 Android stick with your phone, tablet is a post from: Liliputing

Lilbits (5-21-2013): Xbox One takes on the living room

Microsoft unveiled its next-generation video game console today. But the Xbox One isn't just a gaming device. It's basically the company's take on what a living room computer should be.

It supports TV, video calls over Skype, multi-tasking with support for running two windows side-by-side, voice input, and a user interface that bears a more than passing resemblance to Windows 8.

Under the hood, it's powered by an 8-core CPU, 8GB of RAM (Maybe it should have been called the Xbox 8) and a 500GB hard drive, among other features.

Here's a roundup of tech news stories from around the web.

• Microsoft reveals the Xbox One
  Microsoft's 3rd video game console is called the Xbox One. Go figure. But it seems like a pretty impressive platform for bringing games, apps, video, and more to the living room. The Xbox One will be available around the globe later this year — but Microsoft hasn't said exactly when that will be, or how much the game console will cost. [Xbox]
• AMD slips to 4th place in chip sales as Samsung, Qualcomm rise up the ranks
  For the past two decades AMD has been the number two chip maker, behind Intel. Sure, it was a distant second place, but it's better than being number 4… which is what AMD is now that ARM-based chips are starting to sell like hotcakes. [IC Insights]
• Asus PadFone Infinity… it comes in pink too
  The Asus PadFone Infinity is a powerful smartphone that you can turn into a tablet by adding an optional dock. Now it comes in pink. [Asus]
• Google releases Chrome 27 Stable
  Web pages should load 5 percent faster, and Google is promising better spell correction, predictions, and more. [Chrome Releases]
• Pandora now streams some albums before they officially launch
  Internet radio service Pandora is launching a new channel called Pandora Premieres which lets you stream pre-release albums from both established and emerging artists. [Lifehacker]

You can keep up on the latest news by following Liliputing on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

Lilbits (5-21-2013): Xbox One takes on the living room is a post from: Liliputing

Opera launches its new Chromium-based browser for Android

There's a new version of the Opera mobile web browser for Android, and as expected it's the first version to drop Opera's Presto rendering engine and use Google's Chromium foundation. In other words, you should have no problems opening web pages and web apps designed for Chrome or most Webkit browsers.

Opera's Webkit-based browser for Android has been available as a public beta for a few months, but now it's graduated from beta status and it's ready for everyone.

But Opera isn't just a Chrome clone. The mobile browser has its own user interface, an article discovery service, and optional data compression to save bandwidth.

Right now both Opera and Chrome use the Webkit rendering engine, but both are expected to move to Blink soon.

If you've been using Opera's mobile browser for a while, you might not even notice the move from Presto to Chromium at first. The user interface is largely the same, with support for "speed dial" shortcuts on your home screen, the same location bar and app switcher at the top of the screen, and other features.

But in addition to the under-the-hood changes, Opera says the latest version of its Android app adds the ability to wrap text when you zoom, view active tabs in full screen, and search with a responsive address bar, among other things.

The Opera browser is available for Android 2.3 and later.

via Opera

 

Opera launches its new Chromium-based browser for Android is a post from: Liliputing

Deals of the Day (5-21-2013)

The Acer aspire S3 was one of the first ultrabooks to launch, and Acer has moved on to new models. But it's still a pretty thin and light laptop, and you can regularly find older models selling for $600 or less.

Today Acer is selling one of the best refurbished models I've seen in that price range, thanks to a powerful Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor.

Here are some of the day's best deals (note that the Craig netbook is only a good deal because it's so cheap. It's still probably a pretty lousy device).

• Refurb Acer Aspire S3 13″ ultrabook w/Core i7 Ivy Bridge for $600 – Acer (via eBay)
• Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 convertible Windows RT tablet for $470 – Adorama (via eBay)
• Asus Transformer Pad TF300T + keyboard dock for $350 – TigerDirect (via eBay)
• Refurb Craig 7″ Android 2.2 netbook for $30 after rebate – Newegg
• TP-Link Powerline adapter kit for $30 – Newegg (coupon: EMCXRVW65)
• 100 MP3 music albums for $5 each – Amazon

You can find more bargains in our daily deals section.

Deals of the Day (5-21-2013) is a post from: Liliputing

Report: Dell XPS tablet with 10.8 inch full HD screen on the way

Dell appears to be working on a successor to the XPS 10 tablet which launched this year. According to Tech2.hu, the new model will feature a 10.8 inch, full HD display. It's not clear if it will run Windows RT like the current model, or Windows 8.

The news comes from a leaked product roadmap, much like the news we saw last week about Dell's upcoming Latitude ultrabook plans.

Unfortunately, aside from the screen size and resolution, the only thing we know about the new tablet is that it's expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The Dell XPS 10 features a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, a 10.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, and 32GB to 64GB of storage. It launched last year for $500 and up, but now you can pick one up for as little as $299.

Perhaps Dell is hoping to drive up the price customers are willing to pay a bit with a new model sporting a better display (and hopefully other improvements).

 

 

 

Report: Dell XPS tablet with 10.8 inch full HD screen on the way is a post from: Liliputing