Nexus 10

The Nexus 10 uses a micro-USB port to charge it, and that is obviously not a very efficient way to charge a powerful, high-end tablet. Charging the Nexus 10 overnight will not be a problem, but if you're in a hurry, you're in trouble.

Why might the Nexus 10 be the next top Android tablet? Well, maybe because it has a beautiful screen, with a display sharper than most tablets, and is probably the most comfortable 10-inch tablet to hold in your hand. It's durable enough to survive a drop from a few feet away. It is also the very first Android tablet to run 4.2, which brings with it a ton of new features.

The Nexus 10 has an incrediblely sharp screen display, it is light, convenient, durable, and of course, has the fastest processor of any Android tablet so far. Google's new features are improving and much more diverse.

Though the Nexus 10 might not be better than the newest generations of the iPad, it is still one of the top tablets on the market. If you don't plan on owning an Apple product/device, then the Nexus 10 should be one of your first priorities.



Design

The Nexus 10 is an excellently designed 10-inch tablet, and only weighing in at 1.33 pounds. Due to its light weight and its rounded edges, the Nexus 10 doesn't dig into your palms when your holding it. The back feels grippy and comfortable to hold, and as a bonus, also acts like protection for the Nexus 10 itself.

On the left side of the device is the headphone jack and micro-USB charging port. And, on the left corner is is the power/lock button and volume buttons. Lastly, on the right edge, is the micro-HDMI port, with a Pogo Pin charger on the bottom edge.

Along the top of the tablet's back is a textured strip, which is also removable. Sitting in the center of the textured strip is a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera, next to an LED flash and a mic. And on the front, in the middle of the top bezel sits the 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera and a light sensor. Of course, smack in the middle back of the Nexus 10 is the Nexus logo.

Hardware

-1.7 GHz dual-core Exynos 5250 CPU

-Mali T-604 graphics processor

-2GB of RAM

-support for 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), MIMO Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and NFC

-Gyroscope, barometer, accelerometer, digtal compass

Screen

The Nexus 10's PLS display is the best by far on any Android tablet and its amazing to look at. Truthfully, it is difficult to see a difference between the Nexus 10's beautiful display and the new iPad's 2048x1536-pixel Retina Display. Images are sharp on both tablets, and it can be hard to distinguish which one is clearer dispite the fact that the Nexus 10's display is a 2560x1600-pixel resolution.



Performance

The Nexus 10 is the fastest Android tablet so far. Navigating menus and opening apps shouldn't be a problem for you, and keeping up the constant speed of its performance and its high-resolution display shows the power of its Exynos processor.

Screen responsiveness has been built to be incredibly accurate and sharp. Pages and slides scroll by as you swipe and taps are almost never accidentally misread. Typing is also much more accurate than other tablets, including the iPad. Because of its size, the Nexus 10 gives your fingers more freedom.

The tablet charges by using a micro-USB port, and though it charges fine, its very, very slow. The charger has a hard time keeping up charging enough battery for you to play certain graphic-intense games, like Riptide GP and/or N.O.V.A. 3.

Conclusion

The Nexus 10 is an incredible Android tablet, even though it does has some troublesome issues, such as using a micro-USB port for charging. You'll probably want an iPad instead, but if you're going for Android, this could be perfect for you. Though you might want to get an Asus Transformer Infinity instead, the Nexus 10 is still superior in design, comfort and performance.

Google Nexus 7

The Nexus 7 has a relatively low price, an incredible battery life for prolonged use, a sharp screen with an excellent display, and topped off with a complete and open Android 4.2 software, and overall, the Nexus 7 is probably the best tablet you can get, even for its low price.

     

Even after so many months ever since its release, the Nexus 7 is still one of the top-selling tablets. The 8GB version is no longer available, and it starts at $199 for a 16GB version, and $249 gets you the 32GB version of the Nexus 7, add $50 to that and you get a 32GB Nexus 7 with HSPA+.

Design

Other than the SIM card slot and a heavier weight, the HSPA+ version of the Nexus 7 is pretty much identical to its Wi-Fi-only version. The Nexus 7 has a nice and grippy back texture for it, and though it might not seem like much, it will probably be one of the most comfortable tablets to hold in your hand. Along the borders of the Nexus 7 is a thin bezel, but thicker on the top and bottom of the Nexus 7.

The Nexus 7 is also significantly lighter than the Kindle Fire HD and some other tablets. It  has approximately the same thickness as the Kindle Fire and just a tad bit thinner than the Nook. The 1.2 megapixel camera of the Nexus 7 sits on the front of the Nexus, on the right edge near the top is the power/lock button, and close to that is the volume button. And on the bottom of the Nexus 7, is a headphone jack and and of course, a micro-USB port in the middle. Above that on the back of the device is the speaker strip, and the HSPA+ version has a micro SIM card slot near the middle left of the device.

Unfortunately, there is no way of memory expansion, and no back camera. The exclusion of these features is probably a money-saving measure, which is also why the Nexus 7 is a lot more inexpensive than most other tablets who have those features.

Hardware 

The Nexus 7 has a 1.3 GHz Tegra 3 processor, and of course, 1GB of RAM. It also includes b/g/n Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth, accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, and support for Android Beam.



Performance

The Nexus 7 boasts a crispy-clear 1280x800-pixel resolution IPS display, but the Kindle Fire HD still has a sharper, more vibrant screen with dramatic colors. The Nook also has a higher resolution, but that doesn't make the Nexus 7's screen seem terrible. The Nexus 7's screen is also very responsive to touch and swipe around on, but sometimes the swipes are shorter. Unfortunately, the Tegra 3 processor is beginning to fall behind. On some graphic-intense games, the frame rates were usually from fair to poor.

New iMac 2012 Review

The new iMac is is beautifully designed, with a third-generation Intel Ivy Bridge processor, Nvidia's latest graphic cards, a larger hard drive, all from the 2012 PC trend line. The new iMac is fast, great to look at, and it comes with a ton of features for its price. Anyone could easily recommend the all-new 27-inch iMac for those who want a fast, all-around computer.


-Design-

Though the iMac may look very thin from the front, there is actually an enormouse bulge on its back. Even with the bulge, the iMac still has an excellent design, and the bulge won't be noticed unless viewed at an extreme angle. Apple has made the 27-inch screen of the new iMac a lot less reflective. It's not perfect, but reflections are made more subtle and harder to notice. The design of the new iMac is surprisingly sturdy.

-Performance-

The iMac Geforce GTX 680 MX is the best mobile graphic card, and the most powerful GPU (graphics processing unit) in any all-in-one computer, other than the HP Z1. The iMac's powerful graphics card can run almost virtually anything, including some of the most demanding games for the OS X, such as the Witcher 2, at max settings.
The iMac includes a Fusion Drive, which means it has 1TB (terrabyte, or 1024GB) mechanical hard-drive and a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD), together forming about 1.2TB. The files that are used most frequently are loaded from the solid-state drive. Fusion basically speeds up application loading times, transferring of files, and just about any drive-related activity. Launching just about anything on the iMac happens almost instantly.


-Conclusion-

The design is probably the most interesting feature about the iMac. A nice, thin bezel would be nice, but apparently that doesn't speed up processing power or overall utility. This all-new 2012 iMac is probably best for hardcore/serious, performance-driven users, those who need a high resolution display, incredible graphics, and disk performance.

Acer Aspire M5 481PT: Review

With all these different types of Windows 8 computers, laptops, convertibles, clamshell, touch-screen, which do you want to buy? The Acer Aspire M5 is probably the safest bet. At only $729, the Aspire M5 still has some features Ultrabooks don't have: a 500GB hard drive and a DVD drive. The M5 also has a touch-screen, and it works just like a normal laptop with an excellent battery life.


The Aspire M5 is covered in a dark aluminum with a brushed metal effect, a lot like the Windows 7 version of the Aspire S7. 0.81 inches may not be mind blowing  but just remember that it includes a DVD drive, as well. At 4.4 pounds, it is slightly heavier than the standard weight of Ultrabooks, but it's lighter and a bit thinner than a typical midsize laptop.

For a cheaper price, you get a similar processor, hard drive, and screen resolution, more battery life, and a couple GB more of RAM. In fact, it is indeed far more affordable than the thinner and lighter Acer Aspire S7. The M5 is an excellent all-around computer, even if it doesn't have a dedicated Nvidia graphics card.

The Aspire M5 includes a large multitouch clickpad and chiclet-style keyboard, surrounded by aluminum. The upper lid feels pretty dimunitive, because at first glance you wouldn't have known its screen was a touchscreen until you landed a finger on it. Multi-touch capacitive gestures work very well on the touchscreen, finger contact is slick and precise, as if you were using an iPad. The screen resolution isn't "terrible," it's just not IPS. The quality of the picture, color, and brightness significantly deteriorates at extreme viewing angles. The lid also bends back almost 180 degrees, which allows you to get a more comfortable into a lap-friendly orientation.

The backlit keyboard is also quite comfortable; the keys have good travel and well-spaced, no keys are awkwardly misplaced or shaped. Speakers underneath the Aspire M5 have a decent sound quality so that you can enjoy a movie or stream music in a room. The speakers are decent, but not great.

The Acer Aspire M5 has dual USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, and of course, an Ethernet jack. With that is an SD card slot and headphone jack. There is also a tray-loading DVD drive on the left.

A third-generation Intel-core i5-3317U processor at 1.7 GHz packs quite a bit of power, helping you load and use Windows 8 applications zippy fast. The laptop has a 500GB hard drive, with a 20GB solid-state drive (SSD) cache for the application you use most frequently. And with 6GB of RAM (Random Access Memory), it's 2GB more than the typical-budget 4GB of RAM laptop.

Unfortunately, this laptop does not include Nvidia graphics, although the previous M5 model did. Adding the Nvidia graphics card would have completed the package completely, although the only type of person who would miss it would be a gamer.


The Acer Aspire M5 has an excellent battery life, lasting 6 hours and 2 minutes while playing back videos. Very few laptops in this category of laptops do better than the M5. Acer also includes a standard 1-year warranty.

Nokia Lumia 920 Review

The Nokia Lumia 920 probably isn't for the typical phone user. The Nokia Lumia 920 beautifully shows you all the features of the newly released Windows Phone 8 OS. It is big and bold, and it takes a dedicated smartphone user to fully appreciate the power of the Nokia Lumia 920. But if you are looking for the most powerful Windows Phone right now, this is the phone for you. Other than being currently the most powerful Windows 8 smartphone, it offers many features, such as wireless charging and many more make the Nokia Lumia 920 a step ahead of other Windows 8 phones, providing you with an incredible Windows 8 experience.

Just because the Nokia Lumia 920 is bigger, better, and more powerful, doesn't mean everyone will go for this phone, as some might even prefer an Android or another Windows Phone. The Lumia 920 boasts impressive specs and runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system silky smooth. And even though the Lumia 920 claims to have an impressive camera, you'll probably be a bit disappointed. The Nokia Lumia 920 is slightly larger, but significantly heavier than the previous version of the Nokia Lumia (the Lumia 900).

                      

The Lumia 920 has a "sculpted" body, which means it has a unibody design and the screen is a seamless part of the body. The Nokia Lumia 920 also has an impressive HD screen. Its screen has an impressive 1280 x 768-pixel resolution (WXGA) with an incredible amount of pixel density in other words, 332 pixels per inch. Nokia has improved its screen  technology to build the Lumia 920 with a modified 4.5-inch IPS LCD display. Nokia named it "PureMotion+ HD," because it can do some pretty cool stuff. For example, the sensitivity of the screen can be set to the max, so you can navigate it with your nail or in gloves. Most smartphones will not respond unless its a capacitive object.

Another feature included in the Lumia 920 is wireless charging. The wireless charging, in fact, does NOT have an internal battery, so you'll still have the trouble of wires, you have to plug something into it. The charging pad will only start a charge when you place the phone on the pad. The charging pad also does not have to be one made by Nokia, because anything with a "Qi" standard will work.  
Nokia also sports a high-resolution camera that uses Carl Zeiss optics at 8.7 megapixels, and most importantly, the PureView algorithms. Nokia defines the PureView software as its algorithm  however, the camera aperture is larger than on most smartphones, which gives it better performance in low light. The Lumia 920 takes amazing pictures.

Most of the time, the image quality was nice and fairly consistent -- pictures look crispier and have more contrast on other phones. Colors sometimes were not all the way you see it with your eyes; sometimes the camera has a pink or blue tint on the image. The Lumia's 1 MP front-facing camera does't take stellar shots (unfortunately), but it certainly is good for video-chatting. Videos taken on the Lumia 920 were great, colors were indeed  natural, and records 1080p video. The Nokia Lumia 920 is a great all-around smartphone, but because of its weight and size, this might not be the phone for everyone, though. Most of the features are near-perfect, and none of them are unfinished features to drive you away from buying this phone. 



Review by © 2012 Andy Chin

© 2012 Nokia Corporation

Acer Aspire S7 Review: An Exceptional Ultrabook

When Acer first announced the S7 series, a series of touch-screen laptops, it was the company's first touch-screen ultrabook, and was easily the best-made by Acer. The previous S3 and S5 series were a bit boring design wise, while the S7 is made of aluminum with either a metal or Gorilla Glass lid, depending on which model you choose (11 or 13-inch).

The Aspire S7 has a 1080p IPS display, which looked very nice. With in a choice of an Intel Core i5 or an i7 processor and a RAID 0 SSD configuration, and you can easily achieve the fast performance on the S7 series. Does the $1,400 Acer ultrabook get enough things right to justify the starting price?

Made out of smooth glass, sharp edges, and cool aluminum, you can forget Acer's reputation for putting out laptops made of cheap plastic; the S7 is as nice to the touch as it is to look at, and is easily the best designed and tactile laptop the company has ever made. On both 11 and 13-inch models, the keyboard deck is fashioned out of smooth aluminum, with a large trackpad and keys.
                           
Though it looks like the screen of the S7 has a bezel, it's actually an edge-to-edge full glass display, with a border to match the white lid. The model with the white lid is the 13-inch model, and though its white surface can easily pick up fingerprints, it doesn't scratch.

At 2.86 pounds, the 13-inch version of the Aspire S7 weighs even less than the S5, which was also indeed very light for an ultrabook. The 13-inch model is thinner too-- (0.47-inch vs. 0.59-inch), which is an achievement, given that the S5 was once deemed the world's thinnest ultrabook. The Aspire S7 really does feel a lot slimmer and lighter than other competitive 13-inch ultrabooks.On the bottom of the S7, it is sealed in such a way that you cannot easily remove the cover to access the battery and its RAM. (This is normal for ultrabooks). At the bottom is where you will find the speaker strip, which is somewhat unusual, as most laptop speakers are located in the keyboard area or around the edges/sides.

As for ports, the Acer Aspire S7 offers almost everything that you would expect from a typical ultrabook -- 2 USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and an SD reader. You can also get USB-to-Ethernet and micro-HDMI-to-VGA adapters.


Keyboard and Trackpad-
In any case, whatever considerations Acer had when designing its keyboard has finally paid off -- you could easily start typing at a rather brisk speed with very few typos, and when you happened to make a mistake, the largely sized Backspace key was easy to hit. The trackpad does a fine job at handling native Windows 8 gestures, but still isn't as good at single-finger navigation.

Display-
The S7's 1920x1080 HD IPS display is among the most lovely and aesthetic laptop displays, putting some other laptop's display to shame. You would probably think that 1366x768 is sufficient enough for a 13-inch screen, but once you use the S7, its kind of hard to turn back. Everything on the screen looks nice and crisp. Color reproduction is also very nice, blacks are deep, white are bright and colors aren't overly saturated.

The IPS technology displays incredible viewing angles. Unfortunately, you might encounter screen glare, because the S7 has a very glossy screen. The IPS display is also viewable almost edge-on, with the colors still looking potent on off-angles. The screen of the Aspire S7 can be pushed all the way back, so it is laid out completely flat.

Performance and Battery Life-
The Acer Aspire S7 runs on both Intel Core i5 or i7 processor which is plenty fast. The cooling fan, however, makes an annoying and loud fan noise. Like the S5, the S7 has two SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration, which gives it extreme read/write speeds. Acer claims the 4,680 mAh battery can last up to 6 hours, but in battery tests, it only lasted about 4 hours and 20 min.

Software-
Acer is not the only PC maker to do this, but it has definitely filled the S7 with a ton of bloatware. You'll find bloatware like 7digital, eBay, Skitch and Evernote, Acer Explorer, Encyclopedia Britannica, iCookBook, ChaCha, TuneIn, Amazon.com, Amazon Kindle, Netflix, StumbleUpon, newsXpresso, and a trial of McAfee Internet Security Suite. Wow. 
Like most other ultrabooks, the Acer Aspire S7 comes with a 1-year warranty.

Conclusion-
The Aspire S7, it's the best ultrabook Acer has ever released, with a stunning 1080p IPS display and incredible speed. Only one problem, though: Acer needs to improve the battery life. The S7 has a relatively short battery life compared to other touchscreen ultrabooks. If you don't mind carrying a charger wherever you bring the S7, this is one premium laptop. 


Review by © 2012 Andy Chin & Grant Han

© 2012 Acer Inc.  

Intel Launches 8-Core Itanium 9500

Intel's Itanium processor launches are few and far between. It's new Itanium 9500 certainly is a beast of a processor. The chip is an up-to-date 32 nanometer Poulson architecture that basically doubles the cores to eight cores, increases the interconnecting speed and supports as much as 2TB, that's right, 2TB of RAM for extreme multitasking. With the help of an error-resistant buffer, Intel sees the new Itanium 9500 2.4 times faster than the Tukwila-era design its replacing. The new 8-core Itanium 9500 has a brisk clock speed of 1.73 GHz to 2.53 GHz. The new server processor starts at $1,350 per chip in bulk, and climbs to an eye-watering $4,650 for the fastest chip.


Post by © 2012 Andy Chin

© 2012 Intel Corporation
    

Nexus 4 by LG Review

The Nexus 4 boasts the looks, and the specs. The Nexus 4 is a smooth, elegant device that with a large, 4.7 inch screen, HD display, a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor chip, and plenty more. For a starting price of $299 unlocked, it's sure to attract a whole new demographic that until recently never heard of a Nexus. Is the Nexus 4 worth buying, or is the fourth-generation offering just another target of developers' envy?

Hardware-
Once it's available, Google's newest Android smartphone will be one of the most exquisite devices you can buy. It features the sleek curves of its predecessor along the edges, along with a unibody back cover and very scratch resistant glass. At 4.9 ounches and 0.36 inches, it's a tad bit  lighter and thicker than the LG Optimus G. Both the Optimus G and the Nexus 4 use a 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 chip, 2GB RAM, and sport the same 4.7 inch True HD IPS PLUS with 1280 x 768 resolution. Continuing on, there is a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front-facing camera on the top right and sensors on the top left.


On the left side of the Nexus 4 lives a volume rocker, while a secondary headphone and mic jack sit on top of the phone. Onto the right, is the power button, just barely above where your index finger rests. Moving onto the back, is the already mentioned scratch-resistant glass. It is, unfortunately, not a removable cover, so if you want to take out the battery, you're going to have to start unscrewing screws. On the top left, is an 8 megapixel camera and LED flash aligned vertically, with the famous Nexus logo sitting in the middle.

The Nexus 4 is a penta-band HSPA+ device, but this one goes up a step by offering you 42Mbps speeds. It's also quad-band GSM/EDGE, which basically means this phone will work with virtually any GSM/EDGE carrier in the world. The only true missing feature in the Nexus 4 is LTE compatibility.

Display-
The Nexus 4 has a 4.7 inch, 1280 x 768 True HD IPS PLUS display, with a sheet of Gorilla Glass 2 covering the front. Additionally, its WXGA resolution translate into a pixel density of 320 ppi, but its RGB subpixel arrangement means it actually packs more of a punch than the PenTile Super AMOLED HD screen on last year's Nexus.

Camera-
LG made sure to stick to an 8 megapixel camera on the Nexus 4. It's not the best on the market, but remember, megapixels don't tell the whole story. HDR is now natively supported and you can also adjust the white balance, select one of four scene modes and change the resolution and flash settings. Panorama mode makes a return as well. The LED on the Nexus 4 is bright, perhaps maybe even too bright. This shouldn't be too big a problem for most, but with the flash on end up some of the color of the photo was washed away.

The camcorder is capable of taking 1080p movies in MPEG-4 format, and records footage at an average of 22 fps (frames per second) with a 9 Mbps bit rate

Performance/Battery Life-
The phone has a beast of a chipset running things backstage: it's the same 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor we saw in the Optimus G, paired with an Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB RAM. You will be satisfied with the Nexus 4's overall zippy performance. It was responsive and fast, smooth multitasking and almost no lag at all.


Conclusion-
The idea that a quad-core smartphone hitting the market with a starting on dollar away from $300 can be stunning to some. And also because it is available without any contracts or carrier locks, which means you can pretty much virtually use it anywhere in the world. This is a smartphone you'd probably expect to be more expensive unlocked, but Google sets a precedent by lowering the cost of the Galaxy Nexus, keeping the Nexus 7 at $200 and is now continuing the trend on the Nexus 4.

Sure, the Nexus 4 is not without its flaws, but none of its predecessors have been perfect, either. And given the boost in real-world performance, the better camera and various other new features, its even more tempting than all those other devices.





Review © 2012 Andy Chin


© 2012 LG Electronics
  

Apple iPad Mini: Review

The iPad Mini has been rumored for as long as since the original iPad was released. Well, the long rumored iPad Mini is this: technically a smaller, updated version of an iPad 2. 

Apple wanted to it to be clear that it was not simply just a shrunken-down version of the iPad 2. The differences include a different case design: the iPad Mini's has a anodized aluminum design and the new Lightning connector. 

The WiFi-only Mini weighs 0.68 pounds, or 308 grams, which is less than half the weight of the fourth-generation iPad. It's also much thinner too, at 7.2 mm, compared to 9.4 mm. On the front is a 7.9 inch, 1024 x 768 IPS LCD.

With the iPad Mini, holding the slate in the same way you would a another tablet, it can be a bit of a reach. You will probably need rather large hands to be able to easily grip the iPad Mini. But overall, the tablet is very comfortable to hold in your hand.

The layout of the buttons is familiar, but different. The volume and orientation lock switches are on the top right side of the device, but here up and down there are buttons. The power button is on top, looking and feeling like very much of the other iPads. There is a small slit for a microphone up there as well, and on the other side, the 3.5 mm headjack. On the left side of the device is nothing. The only other button is on the front, and that's the extemely familar home button. Ironically, the home button is smaller than the home button of the new iPhone 5.

Display-
No, the iPad Mini doesn't have the retina display, but maintaining the same resolution while shrunk down increases pixel density. Naturally, this means the text isn't as sharp as on the new iPads, but it still has a very nice display.

In fact, the brightness and color reproduction was better over the iPad 2, comparable to the latest Retina displays. Colors are  pleasing to the eye and viewing angles do not disappoint. 

Performance/Battery Life-
The iPad Mini runs on a 2-year old dual-core Apple A5 processor with 512 MB of RAM, same as the iPad 2. In battery-run tests, which entails a looping a video with WiFi enabled and a fixed display brightness, the iPad Mini, surprisingly, lasted 12 hours and 43 minutes. 

Cameras-
The iPad 2 never saw HDR nor the Panorama mode found on the iPhone 5, and neither does the Mini. It does, however have a better camera than the iPad 2 at 5 megapixels. Unfortunately, they don't quite pop out as much as the 8 megapixel camera shots of the iPhone 5. It also takes reasonably good video, shooting at 1080p like the most tablets. 

Conclusion-
This is an iPad made for people who cant swallow the $500 starting price tag on the original iPad. This is, in many ways, Apple's smaller version of its best-selling tablet that offers a thin and light design and good battery life. No, the performance does not even match the $199 Nexus 7 and is lacking in resolution. At $329, this tablet has a lot to offer over Apple's more expensive tablets.

 Its cost is a little high for a tablet that doesn't have the latest hardware, but it has an excellent design, and gives access to the best selection of tablet optimized apps. Even though this is a completely usable tablet, you'll find your hard-earned money better spent on competing Android tablets, such as the Nexus 7 which offers a higher resolution IPS HD display and a quad-core 1.3 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. 


© Review by 2012 Andy Chin, revised by Grant Han

© 2012 Apple, Inc. 

Samsung ATIV S, Samsung's First Windows 8 Phone: First Look

It's taken its time showing itself, but we finally get a first look at Samsung's first Windows 8 Phone: the ATIV S. At Microsoft's launch event, for its new mobile OS (Windows Phone 8), the ATIV S's 4.8 inch display really poped , with a higher resolution. It does offer plenty of power with a 2,300 mAh battery. It also has a micro SD slot, a combination that looking pretty rare among Windows 8 phone devices.

Along the base, the central physical button is emblazoned with Microsoft's new logo with the back and search capacitive buttons taking up the rest of the bezel below the screen. Flipping the device around, there is a brushed metal-style battery cover with a grill seperating it from the chin. At the top you will see a very familiar looking 8 megapixel camera, flash and loudspeaker.

The ATIV S gives you exactly what you want from Microsoft's new UI, Windows 8. The 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor fares well  performance wise. We're still waiting for the company to confirm a release date. If you liked the Galaxy S3 but want the Windows Phone 8 OS, the Samsung ATIV S just might be for you.

Post by © 2012 Andy Chin

© Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd  

The World's Most Powerful Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 690

The GeFore GTX 690 has two of Nvidia's most powerful and dedicated graphic cards based on the codename Kepler graphics architecture. The card has a sleek, exotic look with an outer frame made from trivalent chromium-plated aluminum. It has a fan housing made of magnesium alloy, and it delivers a monstrous performance with lower power using a heavy-duty but efficient power supply.

Amazingly, the GTX 690 has 3,072 CUDA cores, which means it can handle both graphical and non-graphics processing tasks. The GeForce GTX 690 delivers approximately double the frames of the GeForce GTX 680, which has a single Kepler-based chip.

The new GeForce GTX 690 graphics card itself will be worth approximately $999 USD, almost twice as much as your typical laptop.




Post by © 2012 Andy Chin

© 2012 Nvidia Corporation

   

Best Intel / AMD Processors For Your PC

Picking out the best CPU (central processing unit) can sometimes be a very difficult task, especially if you do not know what to choose. There are many, many choices are there, but  there are only two major companies as of right now that develops processors. There is AMD and Intel, but which one should you choose?

AMD vs. Intel 

Intel and AMD have been developing processors for years now. For many years, Intel has always been preferred over AMD, for specific reasons you'll see down below.

Top AMD Processor:

AMD FX8150 8-Core

This bad boy is the best of what AMD has to offer. The FX8150 is the first native 8-core desktop processor, and it works incredibly well when it comes to multitasking. One simply cannot deny the speed of the AMD FX8150, but unfortunately, it falls behind an Intel Core i5, which basically means it won't even be a match for the Core i7. The price is what makes this powerful processor stand out. 


Clock Speed: 3.6 GHz

Cores: 8

Price: $189.99 (Amazon)



Top Intel Processor:

Intel® Core™ i7-3940XM Extreme Edition

This monster of a processor here is the fastest Intel Ivy Bridge processor as of right now. Those who require incredibly raw power for their new systems, should definitely get this processor.

Clock Speed: 3.0 GHz, up to 3.9 GHz

Cores: 4

Price: $1096.00 



Post by © 2012 Andy Chin 

© 2012 Intel Corporation
© 2012 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 

iPad Mini Announced!

Apple had a little more to share today at San Jose, California during its media event. The Cupertino tech giant finally announced the long-rumored iPad Mini. The company has also unveiled the upgraded iPad 4, a mere six months before the third generation iPad came out.

As for the iPad Mini, the device boasts a 7.9-inch 1024x768 IPS display and measures 7.2 mm in thickness. The wi-fi only version goes on sale November 2nd for 16 GB at $330, a 32GB model at $330, and a 64GB version selling at $530.

The 4G LTE model will hit the shelves on November 16th starting at $460. Those looking for larger storage capacity can take a look at the 32GB and the 64GB models.

The iPad Mini contains a 1GHz dual-core A5 processor, a front-facing HD camera for FaceTime, and a 5-megapixel camera on its backside. Apple claims the iPad Mini will have a battery life of 10 hours. Preorders begin Friday, October 26.

The new iPad Mini will be available beginning November 2nd at $500 for a 16GB WiFi model and a 4G LTE version at $630. Supported carriers include AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

For comparison, the Nexus 7 running Android 4.1 sells for $199 at its lowest point. It has better hardware like a 1.3 GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, and a higher resolution 1280x800 HD IPS display.

Review by © 2012 Andy Chin

© 2012 Apple Inc. 

Microsoft Touch Mouse With Windows 8 Support

 Microsoft promised that its touch mouse would get Windows 8 support in time for the release of the big software release day. Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.0 saves time for those not graced with a touchscreen by introducing multi-touch swipes that bring up Windows 8's Charm Bar, switch between active apps and invoke Semantic Zoom. This mouse is easier on your wallet than most other mice.

Post by  © 2012 Andy Chin

© 2012 Microsoft Corporation  

New 13-Inch MacBook Pro With Retina Display?

        
Apple's little surprise next week should not be a complete surprise, hopefully. If this is what we get along side the rumored release date of the iPad Mini, then we'll probably take it. The possible leak shows a 2500 x 1600 LCD (Four times higher in resolution than the current 13 inch MacBook Pro), and importantly, no sacrifices in expansion versus the 15-inch model. Vital details like specifications and the price are left out.

 
Post by © 2012 Andy Chin

© 2012 Apple, Inc.

Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 Review

                           

The Lenovo IdeaTab can be best described as uncomplicated. This device looks as if it were heavy - but surprisingly, it is only 0.34 inches thick, and weighs a surprising 1.28 pounds. That should be good news for any consumer who intends to make this tablet an integral part of their life.

The S2110 has an  1280x800 HD IPS display that is accompanied with excellent viewing angles.

Want to know what the new Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 filled to the brim with? That's right. "Crapware", otherwise referred to as bloatware. One third of this bloatware are games, such as Solitaire and Hearts Online. The rest is a mix composed of Zinio, AccuWeather, SugarSync, Shazam and News Republic just to name a few of the bloatware. Unfortunately, these apps cannot be uninstalled - the only thing you can do is to disable it and to hide it from sight.

It's not hard for you to expect the worse out of a 10-inch keyboard when the screen is only 11 inches. It is very sturdy, and somewhat workman-like. Adding to the array of network options on the S2110 itself, are two 2.0 USB ports, one for micro-USB, as well as a full-sized SD card slot up front of the Lenovo.

Since the IdeaPad closes like a notebook laptop, logic tells us it should open like one, too. But it doesn't, ironically. The depression beneath the trackpad does not leave enough space for fingers of any size whatsoever to easily slide in and resulting in a clumsy two-handed maneuver to actually pry both halves apart. And that should be your only problem when it comes to the dock.

The keys are nice and quite solid, and bounce back with a softness we've become accustomed to on laptops. The trackpad also works well, but the surface does not allow us to glide our finger across as smoothly as we expected.

SYSTEM SPECS:

CPU (Processor): Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core (1.5 GHz)

Operating System (OS): Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Memory (RAM): 1 GB

Dimensions: 259.8 x 178 x 8.69mm (10.2 x 7.0 x 0.34")

Camera: 1.3MP webcam (Front), 5MP, LED flash, autofocus (Back)

Weight: 580g (1.28 pounds)

Audio: 2 Speakers, SRS TruMedia software

Storage: 16GB, 32GB (eMMC)

Wireless Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, APGS (3G models only), WCDMA/EVDO

Battery Life: 9-10 Hours, 18-20 Hours With Docking Station


Review by © 2012 Andy Chin


© 2012 Lenovo Group Limited

Introducing the New Samsung Chromebook at $249

The new Samsung 11.6-inch Chromebook costs only $249, has up to 6.5 hours of battery life, and supports Full HD 1080p video. Google just launched the latest iteration of its Chrome OS based laptop right here in San Francisco. It has a ARM A15-based Samsung Exynos 5 Dual processor, is 0.8 inches thick, and weighs only 2.43 pounds with 6.5+ hours of battery. It boots in under ten seconds and supports 1080p video playback. Pre-orders for the new Samsung Chromebook starts today on Amazon and PC World. It will be available for sale on the Play Store and is features prominently in stores like Best Buy.

Specs-

Processor: Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (ARM-A15 based)
Memory:  2GB RAM, 16GB of built-in flash storage
Wireless:  WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0
Display: 1366x768 HD LCD
Other: USB 2.0/3.0, combo headphone/mic jack, SD card slot

Post by © 2012 Andy Chin

Photo Credit: BGR

© 2012 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd




 

Xbox 360 Getting Internet Explorer With Windows 8's Release

It is official, users will soon have to ability to surf the internet on their Xbox once Windows 8 is released to the public. Microsoft announced today that the Internet Explorer browser will be included with a new update to the Xbox 360 dashboard. The update will come with the release of Windows 8 on October 26th.

Along with being able to search the entire internet straight from the Xbox, users will be able to use Xbox Smart Glass on web features like text input, scrolling, pinch and zoom.

Microsoft also announced that with the release of Windows 8 it was adding 30 million music tracks to its Xbox Music Service. The service will let users stream music for free, create custom playlists, as long as they are willing to hear an occasional advertisement here and there.

Review by © 2012 Andy Chin

Photo Credit: The Verge

© 2012 Microsoft Corporation

LG Optimus G Preview

The LG Optimus G is the first smartphone to utilize the quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, which is to offer state-of-the-art performance. From what we see, it is incredibly fast indeed.

It looks like the new LG Optimus G is going to be a great competitor to the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S3. The elegant phone sports a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro Processor paired with 2GB RAM, a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display, a 13 or 8 megapixel camera depending on regions, and 32GB of internal storage.

With a 2-year contract the Sprint LG Optimus G will retail for only $199.99, which is in line with the most high-end smartphone launches, except for a few exceptions.

Although performance looks great on paper, exactly how good is it?

Technical highlights

	Optimus G/ Korea/Sprint	Optimus G/ AT&T	iPhone 5	Galaxy S3
Display	IPS Plus 1280 x 768	IPS Plus 1280 x 768	IPS (1136x640)	HD S-AMOLED (1280×720)
Display size	4.7"	4.7″	4.5″	4.8″
Display PPI	320	320	326	306
Processor	Snapdragon S4 Pro	Snapdragon S4 Pro	Apple A6	Snapdragon S4/ Exynos 4 Quad
Storage	32GB built-in	16GB+32GB microSD	32GB	32GB + 64 GB microSD
microSD	no	yes (up to 64GB)	no	yes (up to 64GB)
Battery	2100mAh	2100mAh	1430mAh	2100mAh
Width	2.71” / 68.9 mm	2.51″ / 132.95 mm	2.31″	2.51″
Rear Camera	13 MP	8 MP	8 MP	8 MP
Front Camera	1.3 MP	1.3 MP	1.2 MP	1.9 MP
Network	Sprint CDMA – EVDO Rev. A, LTE	SM Quad Band/UTMS Tri Band/LTE Dual Band	LTE	LTE
Height	0.33″ / 8.45 mm	0.34″ / 8.6 mm	0.3″	0.34″
Length	5.19″/131.9 mm	5.17″ / 131.3 mm	4.87″	5.47″
Weight	5.11oz / 145 g	5.19oz	3.95oz	4.69oz

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The industrial design is respectable. LG did a good product design, a hair thinner than the Galaxy S3. The slim body features a great build with a textured backside, covered with a smooth glass-based finish.

Display

First of all, the LG Optimus G is slimmer than both predecessors: 8.45 mm, versus 8.9 mm, for the Optimus 4X HD and the Optimus LTE 2. Although the Optimus G display is a tad bit smaller, it has a high resolution, therefore, the pixel density has improved. LG also introduced its new ZeroGap technology to make the device thinner and reduce glare, or the screen reflectivity.

Processor

The LG Optimus G is the first phone to be able to boast the Quad-Core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC with an Adreno 320 CPU.

Camera

The camera has been improved (compared to the LTE 2 and the LG Optimus Vu) on both the resolution side and on the quality side. The autofocus and shutter speed are much faster than on the LTE 2, for example. The management of dark and light zones are also improved.

Design

The LG Optimus G design is pretty good, and although it has a texture, it is better done than the LTE 2. The texture with the diamond pattern is only for visual purposes, at it is covered by a layer of glass. 

Review by © 2012 Andy Chin, revised by Grant Han
 
Photo Credit: Engadget

© 2012 LG Electronics