Author Archive: Gareth

What we expect from Google I/O

Google’s developer conference, Google I/O, will begin tomorrow and there are some high hopes for this one. The conference has become just as much of a PR media announcement hub for Google as it is a tool for developers. Not only that, but it keeps getting bigger. This year, the conference will go on for three days instead of the two days of previous events. The stakes are high for Google’s Android, especially in the tablet arena. Smartphones using the OS have risen to dominate the world market, but Android tablets have struggled against Apple’s iPad. Still, Google I/O is more than just Android, and there are a host of other interesting things we expect to see from Google. In fact, we thought it might be interesting to share a list of the many things that could conceivably show up at the conference this year. We’ve done our best to cull as much info from the web as possible to highlight everything that we might see. Some of it could simply be wishful thinking, but some of it has already been rumoured for quite some time. Here’s a taste of what might potentially be at Google I/O this year.

The Nexus 7 Tablet leak

The next, highly anticipated, tablet on the radar is Google’s offering known as the Nexus 7 tablet. For sometime the rumour mill has been muttering that Google is planning to release a tablet that bears the Nexus branding and Asus is touted to be the manufacturer. An announcement is expected to come at Google I/O this week.

Gizmodo Australia claims to have obtained a training document for the Nexus 7 tablet. The document gives us a nice rundown of the specs in question. As the name suggests, the Nexus 7 will have a 7-inch IPS display with a 1280×800 resolution, 1.3 GHz Tegra 3 processor, GeForce 12-core GPU, 1.2 megapixel front camera, 1GB of RAM and NFC support. Sounds good? It all comes in at a rather tasty price starting at $199 for a 8GB storage model and $249 for a 16GB model. Nexus 7 will run the next version of Android called Jelly Bean, Android 4.1.

Those specs might be quite hard to stomach with that price tag attached and there is much scepticism that this cannot be correct, however bear in mind that Asus have been selling their Transformer devices at cost and gaining the profits from the added peripherals released alongside. This as proved to be an interesting and successful move especially when compared to Samsung’s premium mark-up on every tablet.

With a Google branded tablet out in the wild receiving updates as soon as Google is ready to push them out, lacking manufacturing and network tinkering, we might be seeing something of a hit right here and there will be little excuse for a household not to have one. In saying that, Asus will no doubt see a dip in sales of their own devices or could this be the main reason we have not seen the release of a 7″ tablet from Asus just yet?

Posted by: Gareth

The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TJ700 debuts

Asus has been pretty busy of late creating the long-rumoured Nexus 7 tablet (to debut at Google I/O next week), the ASUS Padfone, and the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700.

Each one of the devices is exciting in it own right. The Nexus 7 is obviously generating the biggest headlines at the moment as there is a lot of mystery and speculation regarding it’s release. ASUS and bloggers have given up a lot of info about the Padfone and there are plenty of videos and opinions of their phone/dumb terminal combination. The third device hasn’t really settled on a radar yet, until now. As yet the Infinity has no official information about an upcoming launch. However, a presentation video for the TF700 just surfaced, giving us hope that the launch of the sleek transformer is indeed just around the corner.

The unlisted video was leaked by a redditor, who calls it a “launch video”. Not exactly the most reliable source, but the video does fit nicely with the other information we got so far on the TF700.

The Galaxy Tabs to get ICS?

Great news for Samsung Galaxy Tab owners. sammobile.com has reported, allegedly, that the Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule for the Galaxy Tabs is due. It looks like most of the current versions if not all of them will start receiving the rollout of ICS next month! Here’s a quote directly from their site with all the details:

Good news, after long waiting Samsung will finally start with the Android 4.0 updates for the Galaxy Tab 7.7 – 8.9 – 10.1.
The updates will start in July but the most updates are planned for August.
According to our insider the update will improve your battery and speed.
Samsung Canada posted a schedule also when we will see the first galaxy Tab updates.
Even they say in July / August.
Another good thing is, when we have the first Android 4.0 for the Galaxy Tab 7.7 we will start making our review about the Galaxy Tab 7.7
If you want to see our first Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 WIFI review please stay tuned.
That review is planned to come online this month.
The next tablets will receive an Android 4.0 update.

• GT-P6210 Galaxy Tab Plus 7.0 WIFI
• GT-P6200 Galaxy Tab Plus 7.0 WIFI + 3G
• GT-P6810 Galaxy Tab 7.7 WIFI
• GT-P6800 Galaxy Tab 7.7 WIFI + 3G
• GT-P7310 Galaxy Tab 8.9 WIFI
• GT-P7300 Galaxy Tab 8.9 WIFI + 3G
• GT-P7510 Galaxy Tab 10.1 WIFI
• GT-P7500 Galaxy Tab 10.1 WIFI + 3G

Source: SamMobile

Posted by: Gareth

Microsoft Codex tablets could be on their way

On Monday the 19th Microsoft be will be holding a bit on an event and a number of sources believe they will be announcing their own brand of tablets.

It has been a while since Microsoft have played ball in the hardware sector with anything that doesn’t have Xbox written on it. However, if Microsoft tackle it correctly they could be onto a winner.

It seems more likely Microsoft will bring in a company to do their hardware for them, as with partnering up with Nokia for Windows Phone. Aside from Xbox the biggest contribution to hardware Microsoft have made in the last few years is the Kin One and Kin Two. Recent rumours surrounding comments about HTC’s lack of experience to handle some form of Tablet also help reinforce the idea they will be partnering with a company to bring the Windows experience to tablets.

The budget end of the tablet market is really booming, Amazon have proved this Stateside with their Kindle Fire and Google look to be putting their stamp on it with the fabled Nexus Tablet. If Microsoft if hoping to play in this market they will have their work cut out for them as manufactures have always had to pay heavy licensing fees alongside high level specifications to push out a decent Windows tablet in the past.

Thankfully, there is no long wait to find out what is going to happen as we will know by tomorrow.

Posted by: Gareth

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 172: Clash of the Titans!

Gareth and James are joined by Vince for a full comparison between the two biggest phones on the market, the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy SIII. James also gives us a neat preview of what to expect from Blackberry 10 having had an extensive play with their latest operating system. Apple manage to squeeze out a few updates to their iPhone and Macbook range as the guys attempt to muster up a little excitement about the announcement.

Acer high end tablet about to arrive

Acer just announced their newest Android tablet offering, and this one is designed to take aim directly at the Apple iPad. This new Acer tablet is called the Iconia A700, and will come with an impressive array of specs to truly give all tablets a run for their money. Here’s a breakdown:

• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 1.3-GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 32GB of internal storage
• Measures 10.2 by 6.9 by 0.43 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.47 pounds
• 10.1-inch full HD 1,920-by-1,200-pixel display, with 224 pixels per inch, an 800:1 contrast ratio and a 178-degree viewing angle
• Wi-Fi only with 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR connectivity
• A micro USB and micro HDMI port
• A microSD card slot
• 9800mAh battery good for 10.5 hours of video playback
• 5-megapixel, rear-facing camera
• 1-megapixel, front-facing camera for HD video chats

Pre-sales for this new Acer flagship device will begin June 13. The tablets are expected to ship later this month.

Poster by: Gareth

Lamborghini getting in on the Android game

It would seem that some wealthy folks have more money than sense, because this next story is a real head-scratcher. When thinking of Lamborghini, most people envision a powerful, aggressive and masculine looking exotic sports car careening down winding European roads. That isn’t all they do because of course they are going to "cash in" on the celebrity of their brand name. Lamborghini has decided to jump into the Android smartphone and tablet industry as well. However, you would think that a high-end automobile manufacturer that competes with the likes of Ferrari and Porsche would actually go to the trouble of creating a high-end device, wouldn’t you? You would be mistaken in this instance.

Asus, rumours and the Nexus Tablet

Supposedly, a representative from Asus at Computex told Android Authority that the Nexus tablet we have heard so many rumours about will be coming "by the end of June." Just as a recap here are the previous rumours about the device: It will come with the Tegra 3 chip. It will have a price range between $150-$250 (probably $200). It will achieve this pricing by using the Kai platform. It will be announced at the Google I/O Conference in San Francisco at the end of June.
It looks like this supposed confirmation actually at least one of these above rumours. We will have to wait and see if it turns out to be true because "the proof is in the pudding", but luckily we won’t have to wait long. On a separate note, this same Asus representative was able to confirm a couple of other separate Asus-related tidbits. Here’s a quote with some details,

Quote:

ASUS is in talks with US carriers to bring the Padfone stateside. The bad news is carriers hate it (somehow expected, those tethering fees are basically free money) and, so far, only AT&T is willing to give it a try. Things are going slow on this front, said the ASUS rep.
Moving on, the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700) is coming by the end of June in both a WiFi only and an LTE version, which will be picked up by AT&T. We suspected for a while that the Pad Infinity would come on AT&T, based on an appearance that the slate made on FCC. Now we know for sure. We’ve been told that Asus encountered production issues with upstream suppliers, but they are now solved and all the pieces are falling into place for the TF700 launch. The pad will go for $499 but we are not sure if that’s the price of the WiFi-only version or of the LTE version.

Source Android Authority

Posted by: Gareth