Author Archive: Gareth

Toshiba Tablet is alive, called Thrive and ready to arrive!

That familiar electronics brand will be putting out their second attempt at an Android tablet this July. Toshiba has announced that the Thrive will go on sale in July with pre-orders starting June 13th. Pricing is also pretty impressive as well. It will come in three models: 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. The 8GB model will run $429, 16GB – $479, and the 32GB will cost a modest $579. Those are very competitive prices.

Looks like the Thrive will be hitting the American market first, however no details have been released about the other territories.

Other features that come with the Thrive:

• Android 3.1 Honeycomb
• Full sized HDMI, USB and SDCard slots
• Customizable back plate: You will be able to choose from 5 colors
• Removable battery
• 10.1" HD touchscreen running at 1280×800 resolution
• 2MP Front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera
• nVidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor

Posted by Gareth

Transphone taking on the Padfone

Dual devices seem to be all the rage. Pipping Asus’ Padfone to the headlines by a day was CMIT’s TransPhone. Both tablets include built-in docks with smartphones to match, but are otherwise unique in appearance and features. The TransPhone includes a bluetooth headset and a slide-in smartphone dock, while the Padfone’s handset is completely hidden by a flip-up rear door. The CMIT device reportedly packs a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor and SVGA display, along with USB and HDMI ports, though we’re still unclear on which OS will be running on the tablet. There’s also no word on pricing or availability, but the TransPhone is in good company there, so don’t get ready to ditch those standalone gadgets just yet.

Viewsonic doing a 7” Honeycomb tablet

ViewSonic have shown off at what they are calling the world’s first 7-Inch Honeycomb tablet, the ViewPad 7x. The tablet has some nice specs for a small device:

• 7-Inch Screen with 1024 x 600 resolution
• Google’s Android 3.0.1/Honeycomb OS
• HSPA+ connectivity
• A pair of cameras, one on the front and one on the back
• Tegra 2 dual-core processor
• An HDMI-out
• Super-light weight 380g design

There is no word yet on pricing, availability, or even storage options, but we should know more within the next couple of weeks. Below is a link to the full press release of ViewSonic products that debuted at Computex this year.

Press Release and full details belowk:

MSI WindPad 110W and 100A offer 10.1-inch Win 7 or Android

MSI introduced a range of slates at Computex 2011 this weekend. The WindPad 100A runs Android, hense the ‘A’. A 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 IPS slate weighing 740g, the WindPad 100A has an unspecified dual-core Cortex A9 processor along with 1GB of RAM, up to 32GB of storage and WiFi b/g/n. Bragging over 8hrs of runtime from a single charge. It weighs 720g and has a G-Sensor, ALS, an SD card reader and a USB port.

There’s also an HDMI port, g-sensor, ambient light sensor, an SD card slot, USB port and audio output; cameras front and back complete the deal. OS is “the latest Google Android operating system” which certainly suggests Honeycomb. No word on pricing yet or when it will hit the shelves.

The WindPad 110W, running Windows and cunningly titles with a ‘W’, has 2GB of memory, WiFi b/g/n, a G-Sensor, ALS light sensor, and an SSD hard drive offering up to 64GB. It weighs 850g and, MSI reckons, will last for over 6hrs of runtime. Both have twin cameras, front and back, and SRS PC Sound.

MSI has also added some touch-sensitive smart keys on the side of the Windows slate, along with face recognition for auto-login. No word on pricing or availability at this stage for either model.

Check out the Press Release below:

Asus Padfone Officially Introduced at Computex 2011

Introducing the Asus Padfone, a high concept tablet/phone combination that was announced at Computex 2011 this weekend. A package consisting of an 4-inch Android smartphone which can dock into a companion 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 tablet. The tablet’s separate battery can be used to recharge the phone, while the phone’s 3G connection can get the slate online when away from a WiFi hotspot.

ASUS is promising a “seamless” transition from the phone to the tablet UI, with whatever you’ve been looking at on the handset automatically expanding to suit the slate, along with the improved web browsing experience you’d expect from a bigger display. If a call comes in while the phone is docked, then it can either be removed or answered with a Bluetooth headset.

Phone and slate can access the same storage in the handset, and since there’s only one 3G radio then you don’t have to swap your SIM between two modems or sign up for a second data connection. The UI has been modified to suit both displays, either showing mobile sites on the phone or full sites on the tablet. The phone itself has two cameras, a front-facing webcam – just like the tablet – and a 5-megapixel camera on the back which can also be used through a hole in the PadFone dock.

ASUS is saying that finalized hardware specifications haven’t been decided on yet, and nor have pricing or availability, so don’t get your hopes up too much. Still, as concepts go, this is an intriguing one.

ZiiLab’s Jaguar tablet look good on paper

The Computex tradeshow is about to start in Taipei and Ziilabs has put together a couple of Android based tablets they’re calling Jaguars. This family of Honeycomb tablets is built specifically to showcase their new ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 StemCell processors and they’re hoping manufacturers will take notice.

The tablets will come in 2 flavours, a 7-inch (1024×600) and 10.1-inch (1280×800) displays with both featuring front and rear facing 5MP cameras. But the real bread and butter is in Ziilabs’ StemCell processors. Both are based off of  the ARM Cortex A-9 platform and come in a dual-core (ZMS-20) and quad-core (ZMS-40) flavors. Would be interesting to see these tablets running some high-end benchmarks.

Posted by Gareth

Secret Gingerbread hidden under Honeycomb

Here’s a bit of interesting news for you technophiles that like to monkey around with your tablets. Apparently, their is a "hidden feature" within Honeycomb that allows you to "activate" an experimental Gingerbread interface. This is done by simply changing the pixel density settings of your Honeycomb tablet from 160 dpi to 170 dpi, and voila, you can play with a Gingerbread look to your UI. Here’s a quote from Engadget explaining how the tweak works,

According to modder Graffix0214, all you need for making the jump is one simple tweak in a system file: assuming you already have root access, use your preferred method — Pocketables recommends the LCDDensity for Root app — to change the LCD density value to 170 or higher to emulate a smaller, denser display. After a reboot, you should then see some Gingerbread love as demoed by Graffix0214’s video after the break; and likewise, set the value to 160 or lower to roll back. It sure is nice to have an option, eh?

This seems pretty nifty. Be sure to share in the forums what you think of this if you "monkey around" with it. Here’s a video demo after the break: