Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.
The rumour-mill is amping up already this year. The latest "intel" suggests that LG will again build the next Nexus smartphone, the Nexus 5. Supposedly, this new Nexus device will come with some greatly improved specs. Here’s a breakdown:
Just in case you haven’t heard about it, Sony’s new Xperia Z products will not just encompass a smartphone. Apparently, there will also be an Xperia Z Android tablet, the specs for which have just been recently leaked. Here’s the skinny:
Xperia Tablet Z:
The specs look pretty darn good. If they can offer it at a competitive price, we might just have a worthy tablet from Sony to fight in the Android arena.
Posted by: Gareth
Sony have announced a free PlayStation Mobile game every week, The first one Being Samurai Beatdown.
Great for Vita owners or any of following: PlayStation Vita, Sony Tablet S, Sony Tablet P, Xperia Tablet S, Sony Xperia PLAY, Sony Xperia S, Sony Xperia acro S, Sony Xperia T, Sony Xperia V, HTC One series smartphones.
Oh, Happy New Year!
Posted by: Gareth
Qualcomm officially unveiled their new Snapdragon lineup. They are moving away from the "S" series naming convention. Their new chips will be called the Snapdragon 200, 400, 600 & 800. The 200 series will be their budget-friendly chips, and the 400 will be for the moderate crowd. The 600 and 800 are left for the high-end flagship devices. Of course, we are most excited by the upper echelon chips, so here’s a breakdown of specs for Qualcomm’s newest beastly tech:
We teased the Iconia B1 last week, and had a strong suspicion it would be launched at CES this week. It turns out we were right, and some folks from Phandroid were able to video the tablet in action at the tech show. The tablet will only debut in Europe and Latin America, which is sad news for folks in the US. It will retail for $119 Euros (about $160 US Dollars). Here’s a spec breakdown:
This seems like a pretty competitive price point, and could do really well in the markets it is destined for. Check out the hands on over at Phandroid.
Posted by: Gareth
There will be quite a lot going on over at the ASUS booth during this year’s CES. That’s because the company will have a whole bunch of gadgets to show off, including its fresh lineup of Windows 8 tablets and Ultrabooks. However, while most of these are devices we’re already familiar with, one of them is a brand new arrival.
Remember that mysterious Google TV gizmo that appeared at the FCC in November? No? That’s okay, there was. We now officially have the ASUS Qube. What we have on our hands is a set-top box that allows you to enjoy content from the Google Play store, Netflix, and the Amazon Instant Video service right on your HDTV. Access to the web via the Chrome browser also comes standard, in addition to the built-in YouTube client. In addition, an advanced remote control with motion sensing is included in the set, but alternatively, users can control their ASUS Qube from an Android app designed for the purpose. Each Qube comes with 50GB of cloud storage, courtesy of ASUS.
At CES yesterday, a Japanese company called Ubitus just announced that their cloud gaming solution will be joining forces with Google and coming to the Google TV. They plan to bring what they call their "industry leading cloud gaming solution" to the Google TV, and promise a "console and MMO gaming" experience for the device. Just a few of the games on their service are pretty big names, like Resident Evil 5, Lost Planet 2, and Super Street Fighter IV. They didn’t specify what international markets the service will be available for, but it is possible it will launch across all possible Google TV areas. We will keep you apprised when we find out more.
It probably would have been a surprise if Vizio, the well-known budget-friendly HDTV manufacturer, had only announced a high-end 10-inch Android tablet at CES. After-all, they’ve done a remarkable job dominating that segment with TVs, so it wouldn’t make sense to completely abandon that strategy with their Android tablet products. It runs out they haven’t. Vizio also announced this morning they will be launching a new 7-inch Tegra 3 powered Android Tablet sometime early this year. Here’s what we know about the tab:
It’s not clear how Vizio will be able to distinguish themselves with a tablet that seems very similar to the Nexus 7, but based upon their past history, it is likely to be priced very aggressively. We will keep you informed when more details emerge.
Posted by: Gareth
Alcatel just announced new 5-inch Android phablets yesterday, but they apparently are not done there. They also announced their new One Touch Evo 7 HD Android tablet, and a new Evo 7 tablet with optional 3G modem. Here’s a quote with the details,
Quote:
At $179 the Evo 7 HD has a 7-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, a dual-core 1.6GHz processor backed by 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. There is also a microSD card slot, a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera, VGA front-facing camera, and it runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The competitively priced basic model also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, but intriguingly you can opt to pay out $249 for a model with a removable 3G module, or $349 for a 4G module.
The plain Evo 7 is the same size, but it only has a 1024×600 pixel resolution touchscreen, a single-core 1GHz processor with 1GB of RAM, and it runs Android 4 (ICS). It also lacks the rear-facing camera of its big brother, but otherwise looks much the same. The optional module for it is 3G only.
In addition to being able to take the 3G module out you can try a range of colorful frames. We’re not entirely clear on why you would want to remove the cellular data module. In any case the Evo 7 HD is due to hit the U.S. in May, but we don’t know when the Europe-bound Evo 7 will be landing or what it will cost.
It’s interesting to see how many companies are trying to stake a claim for themselves in the Android tablet landscape. Only time will tell which ones rise to the top.
Posted by: Gareth
NVIDIA shared their new Tegra 4 mobile powerhouse chip at CES, and although this is a very exciting new development, it was not unexpected. In fact, we new (and shared) that it was coming out at CES several weeks ago. However, NVIDIA wasn’t done sharing new tech. In fact, the second bit of news they shared turned out to be a huge bombshell.
Apparently, NVIDIA has been developing a new product called Project Shield that is a new Android-based handheld portable gaming console. This new portable gaming device includes a console-style controller with built-in speakers, a 5-inch flipping display powered by the new Tegra 4 processor, and can actually stream games to your HDTV wirelessly.
Additionally, it will come stock with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and supposedly provide up to 38 hours of gaming before needing to recharge the batteries. Lastly, the device goes a step further than that, and can actually be used to stream your PC games (provided they match certain specs) wirelessly to your HDTV, and this is all done through your PC’s Steam account.
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