Showing posts with label Featured. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Featured. Show all posts

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Toshiba Libretto W100 Review




Toshiba Libretto W100's screens are centerpiece of the device since there's literally nothing else, and they do the job well. In standard clamshell laptop mode the bottom screen can appear a little dark compared to the top screen, but fortunately, screen brightness can be set independently, so it's possible to make the bottom screen brighter than the top and thus even out the brightness.

Both work on either screen, even simultaneously, and they provide haptic feedback on both screens as well.
I find typing on this keyboard MUCH better than any other touch screen keyboard I've tried, and even with pretty big hands (I wear extra-large men's gloves) I can get 40+ WPM out of it. The virtual track pad, while virtual, is very much like any physical track pad found in netbooks and laptops many are just smooth surfaces these days anyway. The old argument that Windows doesn't work well on small screen devices is largely mitigated by the track pad.

The W100's strengths are geared towards productivity, but it's not just all work, it serves well as a media player imbued with all the power of Windows.



For the avid reader, Windows supports all of the major eBook sources, including Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook apps, which both have basic touch support in Windows 7 and will sync up and share content with other reading devices such as standalone Kindles and Nooks. None of the readers I've tried work well in portrait mode as they are not dual screen aware, but they do work well in landscape mode using both screens. Any type of document that breaks naturally like a web page should work fine spanning both screens.

On the Libretto, it's all here: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop any application that will run well on an entry level laptop with Intel integrated graphics.

If you find working on a netbook (a very fast netbook) a productive experience, then the W100 should work as well as long as the virtual input devices agree with you. Of course, there are always Bluetooth keyboard and mice.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

BlackBerry Playbook A New Competitor For iPad




BlackBerry PlayBook with Wi-Fi come in three models, featuring 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage at $499, $599 and $699 respectively, this tablet release for the US and Canada on April 19 and go on sale in Best Buy stores and Best Buy Mobile stores in the US, as well as Best Buy and Future Shop stores in Canada.

Would-be customers in the US and Canada can place orders from today. "Previews of the BlackBerry PlayBook have generated tremendous excitement and we know that customers are eager to get their hands on one," said RIM's regional managing director for North America, Craig McLennan.

An influx of Android apps made for phones is thus unlikely to be a killer selling point for the PlayBook, which is why RIM is also continuing its efforts to persuade developers to make native apps for its tablet too.





BlackBerry Playbook Features :

• 7" 1024x600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
• 0.9 lbs (425g) and 5.1" x 7.6" x 0.4" (130mm x 194mm x 10mm)
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• MP3, AAC and WMA audio playback
• Support for high resolution video playback (H.264, MPEG4, WMV)
• 1080p HDMI output
• Dual 1080p HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture (3MP front and 5MP rear)
• 1 GB RAM memory
• Up to 64 GB internal storage (16, 32 and 64 GB models)
• GPS, Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), 6-Axis Motion Sensor (Gyroscope), Digital Compass (Magnetometer)
• Stereo speakers and stereo microphones
• Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) connectivity
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR support

Many features from BlackBerry Playbook give it parity with the iPad 2,but in in some cases put it slightly ahead. The main difference is in the screen size, which at 7" gives it slightly less than half the total area of the 9.7" iPad.

iPad is heavier at 601g (1.33 pounds) and of course larger (9.5" x 7.31") though it is apparently thinner at 0.34in.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

iPad 2 Newest Model Review



Apple iPad 2 make competitors like the HP TouchPad and other pc tablets are lining up to compete with Apple in the tablet market, but the iPad 2 has been built to defend the market position grabbed by the original iPad.

You've probably heard about the Apple A5 chip already, and Steve Jobs just made it official. Powered by the Apple A5 chip, the iPad 2 is the first dual core tablet to ship in volume.

The Apple A4 chip used in the original iPad incorporates a 1GHz CPU, PowerVR SGX535 GPU and 128MB video RAM.

The iPad 2 is 8.8mm thick, making it 33% thinner than the original iPad's 13.4mm (the iPhone 4 is 9.3mm thick in comparison). The new iOS tablet weighs in at 1.3 pounds (the original iPad weighs 1.5 pounds).

In order to protect the iPad 2 screen, Apple has created something the company calls Smart Covers. Apple has also added HSUPA support for enhanced 3G upload speeds on the iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G for AT&T, as well as HDMI Video Mirroring that lets users mirror their iPad screen on an HDTV using an optional adaptor.

For the time being there are no third-party apps in Apple's App Store to take full advantage of the iPad 2's CPU and GPU power, but 65,000 apps have been modified or created from scratch to take advantage of the iPad's resolution. Apple has also added HSUPA support for enhanced 3G upload speeds on the iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G for AT&T, as well as HDMI Video Mirroring that lets users mirror their iPad screen on an HDTV using an optional adaptor.
At the time being google has been busy ramping up Android's out-of-the-box Web browsing experience for the release of Android 3.0 Honeycomb and the Motorola XOOM. While the iPad 2 in theory would be capable of pulling of a few tricks too, it remains to be seen exactly how far Apple is willing to take the Web browsing experience on iOS.

Of course, now that Apple is stepping up with the Apple A5 chip, which we assume will also be found in the upcoming iPhone 5, 2011 could rapidly become the year of fragmentation for Apple. e 5, 2011 could rapidly become the year of fragmentation for Apple. 

 




Features :

  • 1 GHz dual-core Apple A5 custom-designed processor.
  • Forward facing and rear facing cameras.
  • Apple's iOS 4 and access to Apple's app store.
  • Processor, Memory, and Motherboard
  • Hardware Platform: PC
  • Processor 1 GHz Unknown
  • Number of Processors  2
  • RAM  16 GB
  • 720p HD Rear Facing Camera  VGA Front camera
  • Hard Drive 16 GB
  • Type  Solid State
  • Size (LWH)  7.31 inches, 9.5 inches, 0.34 inches
  • Battery Type Lithium ion

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Viewsonic G-Tablet Review




Viewsonic G Tablet fitting both your on-the-go lifestyle and comfortably in your hand, the Android-powered Viewsonic G Tablet offer a slim go-anywhere design and intuitive touch navigation via its bright 10.1-inch display. With the Android 2.2 OS (dubbed "Froyo"), the G Tablet offers full support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for accessing Flash-enabled websites, watching video and playing games. 

The crisp and vibrant 10.1-inch capacitive touch screen display offers plenty of real estate for even the most demanding tablet users. With integrated Google technology, the G Tablet brings one-touch access to the popular Google mobile services millions use every day, including Google Search by voice, Google Maps with Street View, Gtalk, YouTube, Picasa, and contacts/calendar synchronization. Gain access to thousands of leading Android apps via an Apps Store icon located on the home screen.

It's outfitted with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.





Features :

·         Experience the power of NVIDIA's latest processor. 512MB DDR2 memory
·         HD Video encode and decode
·         1080p video playback processor
·         32-bit LP-DDR2, DDR2
·         The G Tablet runs Google's latest and greatest OS 2.2. USB and Wi-Fi Internet Tethering
·         Compass support for Google Maps
·         Switch between apps and tasks instantly
·         Listen to music while checking email
·         Multi-touch capabilities: pinch to zoom, two-finger rotating, scrolling, etc.
·         Download apps while updating your calendar
·         Play music files or watch movies with ease. 1080p playback (HD)
·         3.5 mm headphone jack
·         Mini USB port
·         USB port
·         Use email, video chatting or tweet them on Twitter even update your status on Facebook. It all plays on this tablet. Wi-Fi b/g/n support
·         Video conferencing via 1.3MP camera
·         8-10 hours battery life
·         Bluetooth support
·         Multi-touch capabilities: pinch to zoom, two-finger rotating, scrolling, etc.
·         Download apps while updating your calendar
·         USB port
·         Wi-Fi b/g/n support
·         Video conferencing via 1.3MP camera
·         8-10 hours battery life