Gareth
Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.
Here’s something you don’t see everyday: one of the co-founders of one of the largest and most influential corporations on the planet out and about using a prototype of one of his companies "pet projects." Apparently, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google is one of the "beta-testers" of their coolest new project, "Project Glass", aka Google Goggles. Here’s a quote from the Engadget article with some of the details:
Quote:
It would appear company co-founder Sergey Brin already knows, as he was spotted by tech pundits Robert Scoble and Thomas Hawk rocking a prototype at a Dining in the Dark charity event for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Scoble has already posted a couple of pictures with Brin on Google+, mentioning more photos would be forthcoming from Hawk after the event concluded and that he’d heard other people, including Google exec Vic Gundotra, have the devices already. For now he mentions the glasses appeared to be "self contained" and that he could see a blueish light flashing on Brin’s eyes.
That’s pretty cool! If he can already start testing them in real-world situations, then they may not be too far off from an actual production model after-all. We will keep you apprised of this interesting and evolving tech.
Posted by: Gareth
Gareth and James discuss the unboxings of the new, flashy HTC One S and HTC One X. James also nearly experiences a BlackBerry brawl and offers the correct perspective on a recent announcement from RIM.
Archos have been confusing the market lately by releasing a new version for their current line almost every month. This original version for the Archos 101 G9 weighs in with a Dual Core 1ghz processor, 512mb of RAM and 8gb of storage, Essentially what we are looking at is the original, basic version of their flagship device however over the last six months there has been a number of revisions to the specifications for you to consider.
The Archos 101 comes in four flavours, with roughly three variants of each flavour.
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Archos 101 G9 – Dual Core OMAP4, 1ghz, 512mb RAM with the option of storage size. 8/16gb flash or 250gb HDD storage
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Archos 101 G9 Turbo – Dual Core, 1.2ghz, 512mb RAM, 8 / 16 / 250gb storage
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Archos 101 G9 Turbo 1.5 – Dual Core, 1.5ghz 512mb RAM, 8 / 16 / 250gb storage
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Archos 101 G9 Turbo 1.5 – Dual Core, 1.5ghz, 1gb RAM, 8 / 16 / 250gb storage
Quite a lot of choice. Each model weighs in at a different price point however it might be more difficult to find the first options and even then it might be old/unsold stock. There is no 3G/Wi-Fi option as with many other tablets on the market. Instead Archos have given the customer the option to upgrade to 3G later if they so choose buy purchasing a 3G modem USB stick that slips snugly into the USB host port on the back.
The Archos tablet puts video playback first, and always has. Armed with a host of licensed codec’s the Archos will playback any and all major video formats you throw at it. The Archos also has SMB and other network storage streaming features built into it’s native video player to make it just that little bit easier to handle media servers.
It is important to note the unboxing features Android Honeycomb, however the final review will feature Ice Cream Sandwich.
The ever popular free photo sharing application, Instagram, is inching closer to it’s release on Android. Be sure to head on over to Instagram and sign up to be one of the first to download this fantastic application.
That is all.
Posted by: Gareth
Gareth, James and Matt are back again to look at the new iPad finally. The HTC One X and HTC One S are hitting Three soon. Some Sony tablets are getting an Ice Cream Sandwich update and there is a slew of bargains, something for everyone.
Sony Japan recently confirmed that their Tablet S and Tablet P Android tablets will soon be receiving the Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich update. They didn’t make it clear if this was an international release or if it was only for the Japanese market. Besides the tasty goodness of ICS, this update brings some additional features as well. Here’s a list:
- Expanded photo capabilities – the photo app can be launched from the lock screen and enables panoramic pictures
- A new “Recopla” app will also be included in the update for viewing TV programs that have been recorded on Sony Blu-ray players
- A new “Small Apps” feature that lets users multitask more efficiently
As a side note, Sony also announced a Wi-Fi-only version of its Tablet P. It is scheduled to launch on April 21st. How many of you folks out there have either of these tablets? Sound off in the forums.
Posted by: Gareth
Acer just officially announced the availability via pre-order for their new Iconia A510 tablet. The tablet will be available in the U.S. and Canada for the decent price of $449.99. No mention of the UK yet however I would imagine that it wouldn’t be far behind or perhaps ahead of the US release. What makes this a good value is that it comes with a quad-core chip and Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. Here’s a spec breakdown:
- 10.1-inch screen with a 1280×800 resolution
- Quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 32GB of storage
- Five megapixel camera capable of “HD” video recording (probably 720p)
- One megapixel camera on the front for video calls
- 9,800mAh battery – good for up to 12 hours of video playback
- A microSD card slot for up to 32GB of storage to add
- Also includes a micro HDMI and microUSB
- Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
Posted by: Gareth
Gareth and James this week make the most of a pretty quiet week. James admits to being dragged kicking and screaming over to Florida in May for Blackberry World. Archos excites Gareth a little more. Apple post some big sales. And Matt is off doing valuable research!
A friend of a Samsung employee has posted a possible image of the proposed Samsung Galaxy SIII. They have also provided a few details about the phone. Believe it or not, this is still a few rumour.
It has a 4.7 inch screen that nearly takes up the whole phone, but some bezel space was needed for the camera, speakers, microphone and so cases would fit on it. He said it WILL be HD and have a ceramic “micro arc oxidation” back. The screen is Super Amoled Plus with HD. The camera is a 12 megapixel with flash, 2gb of ram and it is exactly 8 millimetres thick. No bump this time around, just “smooth”. 2250 mAh battery, but no wireless charging.
Looks too good to be true. If it is then there will be a few happy people out there.
Posted by: Gareth
Whilst I work away at my review of the new Archos 101 G9 it seems they have preparing a new line of tablets to succeed the G9 range already. The Archos G10 xs series. Showing off a concept demo featuring a keyboard dock, magnetic screen protector with a mouse pad it seems the device(s) will run on something like an OMAP4470 1.8Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 with SGX544 graphics or even the OMAP5430 which can also run upwards 1.8Ghz or more. Before all specs are announced Archos have already targeted this device at the £250(ish) pricing point.
In addition to their Arnova, budget, range Archos Elements brings Google Certified tablets at as low as £100. A reliable source believes Archos Elements will bring the Rockchip RK30 Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 performance and higher capacitive screen resolutions than Arnova at extremely competitive pricing.
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