Acer will launch a $99 Android tablet and lower-priced Windows 8 slates in 2013

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Acer will launch a $99 Android tablet in 2013. The sub-$100 slate will go head to head with the numerous low-cost Chinese tablets which are offered in developing countries under a plethora of different brands.

The budget-friendly Acer Iconia Tab B1 will sport a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU (likely a Mediatek unit), a 7″ display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, and 512MB of RAM. Built-in memory is reported at 8GB with a microSD card slot available as well. The OS on tap will be Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. The above press image of the upcoming tablet has been confirmed as the real deal by the WSJ sources.

Curiously, ASUS has told the WSJ that it will not be threading into the sub-$100 tablet category, which is in line with recent rumors. The manufacturer is apparently satisfied with the Nexus 7 success and doesn’t feel the need to enter significantly lower price points.

Acer will also introduce lower-priced Windows 8 tablets next year. The tech giant has conceded that its current Windows 8 tablet lineup is a tad pricey.

Samsung Galaxy Tabs 2 7.0, 2 10.1 and Note 10.1 in Garnet Red

Samsung seems to be preparing new colors for its latest slates – the Tabs 2 7.0 and 10.1 as well as for the Note 10.1.

The new colors is called Garnet Red – if it sounds familiar it’s because the Galaxy S III is already available in it.


The Garnet Red editions of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1 will arrive in time for Valentine’s Day next year. Unfortunately only the 3G+Wi-Fi slates will get the new paintjob.

Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but likely the red units will cost the same as their black and white siblings.

Dell abandons its smartphone business

In a rather unexpected move, Dell announced it is quitting the smartphone market altogether as of next year.

The news was delivered by Jeff Clarke, Dell’s head of consumer business at the Dell World Conference. The reason behind the decision is that “It needs a lot of investments to really be successful”.

So, what’s Dell’s mobile strategy from now on, then? The simple answer is – Windows tablets. The company’s XPS10, XPS 12 and Latitude 10 are now the headline runners for the consumer’s heart, all running Windows 8 or Windows 8 RT.

In an interview with Forbes, Clarke added.

"It’s a content play with Android. Amazon is selling books and Google is making it up with search. So far we couldn’t find a way to build a business on Android."

Acer C7 Chromebook is now available, for $300

In a rather unexpected move, Acer has outed a second version of its C7 Chromebook bringing a decent bump in specs.

Carrying the C710-2605 model name, the new Acer C7 Chromebook sports the same 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Celeron B835 processor as its predecessor, but now the RAM is doubled to 4GB and the storage is 500GB instead of 320GB.

The first iteration of the C7 Chromebook didn’t have the best battery life, and Acer has addressed the issue by doubling the battery’s capacity from 2,500mAh to 5,000mAh resulting in a total run time of 6 hours.

The new C7 Chromebook hasn’t yet hit the shelves, but we expect it to make its debut on time for late Christmas shoppers.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch with Windows 8

Lenovo has announced a touchscreen version of their ThinkPad X1 Carbon, called the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch. We reported in the past about it when it had briefly been spotted on Lenovo’s website but it wasn’t officially announced back then.

The 14-inch Ultrabook has been optimized for use with Windows 8 and supports all the basic gestures. The X1 Carbon Touch has a 14.4-inch, ‘HD+’ display, weighs 3.4 pounds and is 20.8mm thick. In fact, Lenovo calls it the world’s thinnest 14-inch touchscreen Ultrabook.

On the hardware side, the machine comes with the option of Intel’s Core i5 or i7 processors, although no other specifics have been mentioned. It also has Dolby Home Theater v4, MS Lync, HD face tracking camera and dual-array microphones. As with the X1 Carbon, the Carbon Touch is also made from carbon fiber.

The Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch prices start at $1,399 upwards and is on sale right now.

Android YouTube app updated

Google has released an update to the YouTube app for Android, bringing a refreshed user interface for the 10″ tablets.

The update comes soon after YouTube launched its newly redesigned website, and makes better use of the ample screen estate 10″ tablets provide. Apart from the redesign, the app also comes with several minor bugfixes on all devices.

So, if you have a 10-inch Android tablet, make sure to head over to the Play Store and update the YouTube app.
source

Samsung releases a teaser video for CES 2013, leaves us wondering what to expect

Samsung loves to release teaser videos before major announcement events, and CES 2013 is no different. The company has launched an 18-second trailer entitled “Get Ready”, which aims to get you excited about what’ll be in store for you.

The event will take place from January 8 through 13 in Las Vegas and will be a playground for all major companies to show their latest tech to the world.

Here’s the teaser in question, which sadly, isn’t as exciting as you’d hope for.



We can speculate all day what Sammy may be up to, from flexible OLED displays to a whole new line-up of Smart TVs. I guess we’ll have to just patiently wait and see. Naturally, we’ll be on site bringing you timely updates on whatever Samsung decides to throw our way.

Official hands-on videos for the Ativ S

The Windows Phone 8-running Ativ S is yet to be released, but Samsung is already starting to warm up for the launch.

The Ativ S should go on sale some time this month, but Samsung is yet to confirm the first countries to get its WP8 smartphone. That probably won’t take long as the company has already started its marketing campaign on the device. Two newly uploaded videos demonstrate pretty much everything the Ativ S can tempt you with.

Enjoy!

YouTube gets a new coat of paint, makes it easier to discover new videos to watch

If you’ve visited YouTube today you might have noticed that it has a brand new design. But there’s another change that you might not notice right away – Google is trying to make it easier to follow the channels you’ve subscribed to and to find new content.



Let’s start with the new look. YouTube now looks a lot closer to Google Plus and has pushed the video player almost all the way to the top – only the search bar along with a few vital options sit above it, everything else (including video title, channel subscribe buttons and so on) have been pushed below the video.
The Guide is available to the left of the video and helps you manage your subscriptions as well as notify you when there’s a new video out by a channel you’ve subscribed to. It will also recommend channels based on what’s popular and what your friends are sharing.

The Guide is available on YouTube’s website, but also on all the apps available for the different platforms. This means you can watch videos on your computer, then on your phone, then on Google TV – YouTube will give you recommendations based on what you like, regardless of which platform you use at the moment.

Samsung Mobile Beam Projector is a pocketable pico projector for phones and laptops

Samsung has made a couple of attempts to integrate a pico projector into a phone, but if you those are not to your liking, the company has started making a separate projector accessory too. The Mobile Beam Projector is about the same size as a Galaxy S III and can be hooked up to a smartphone, laptop, media player – anything with MHL or HDMI out really.

The projector measures 116 x 60.4 x 12.2mm and weighs 108g, making it reasonably pocketable. It projects an image with nHD (640 x 360) resolution at up to 20 lumen brightness (15 lumen in normal operation). That’s comparable to what the Galaxy Beam has.
The Mobile beam Projector has a 0.5W speaker and a 1,650mAh battery built in, enough for two hours of operation.

It accepts both MHL and HDMI input and can act as an MHL dongle too, if you want to hook up an external monitor.
The projector is on sale now for 239,000 won ($237). Unfortunately, it’s available only in Korea.

Source (in Korean) | Via

V-Moda Crossfade M-80 headphones review

The first time I experienced a pair of V-Moda headphones was back in 2008 when I enjoyed my time with a pair of the company’s earbuds. At the time, V-Moda headphones were already well known for their blend of premium quality and sound despite the company’s young age.

This time around, I got a chance to spend some quality time with a pair of the V-Moda Crossfade M-80 on-ear headphones. Priced in the $200 range, V-Moda’s premium offering aims to sway potential users away from the well-established Beats Audio Solo, and therefore enough to get me curious.

V-Moda headphones have always aimed at the fashion conscious and the Crossfade M-80 is no exception. Sporting similar looks as the larger, over-ear Crossfade LP model, the M-80 headphones look great. They also come in plenty of colors to choose from, including the capability to add your personal touch. You can change the shield color on the headphones’ side by choosing from a number of colors, textures and designs, including the ability to create your own.

V-Moda Crossfade M-80 live photos


V-Moda Crossfade M-80 live photos


The retail package of the V-Moda Crossfade M-80 leaves nothing to be desired. Inside the box, which is a looker in its own right, you will find the headphones, a great-looking case, as well as two 3.5mm cables – one with three buttons for iOS devices and a single-button one for all others.

Ergonomics are superb. The Crossfade M-80 are relatively light at 200 grams, so even prolonged use will not cause any unwanted discomfort.

Build quality of the Crossfade M-80 is nothing short of impressive. V-Moda call the STEELFLEX headband of the headphones “virtually indestructible.” The headphones are tested beyond military-level MIL-STD-810G test standards. The cable/plug bend has been Kevlar reinforced, while the headphones can survive over 70 drops on concrete from 6 feet. To cap it all up, V-Moda sells the headphones with two-year warranty, which is rare to come across for such a product.

The headphones came well equipped in the sound department as well. The M-80 packs 40mm patented dual-diaphragm high-fidelity drivers with the hefty impedance of 28.5 Ohms. The frequency response range is between 5 and 30,000 Hz and the sound pressure level peaks at 105dB.

In real terms, the above numbers translate into a superbly balanced sound, regardless of the equalizer setting and the music style. I spent several weeks with the headphones as my daily driver and found nothing to frown at.

Overall, the V-Moda Crossfade M-80 are easy to recommend, despite their relatively high asking price of $230. Should you decide to shop around, you can snag a pair at Amazon for as low as $170 depending on the color of your choosing. This is a fair amount of cash to ask for superbly built, good looking premium headphones, which carry great sound.

SMS celebrates its 20 year anniversary today

SMS messages turn 20 years old today and while the cell network technologies have changed, the usefulness of those 160 character texts hasn’t diminished. If anything it has increased – there are 8 trillion (yes, with a t) texts being sent each year.

Twenty years ago on this date, the first SMS message was sent – the message read ‘Merry Christmas’, typed on a computer by Neil Papworth and sent over the Vodafone network to one of its employees, Richard Jarvis, who received it on an Orbitel 901 phone.

If you try to look for that model on our site, you won’t find it – it’s too old even for our database. It looks more like a regular office phone (it’s pictured above) except it’s not wired to the wall.

Anyway, Papworth was 22 years old when he sent the message and I commend him for not texting the way most current 22 year olds do (though then SMS talk wasn’t invented yet).

“We thought SMS was a clever way for a company’s staff to send simple messages to one another,” says Papworth, “even if at the time the achievement was nothing remarkable.” You can read more of what he said to The Guardian.

Today there are WhatsApp, Viber, iMessage, BBM and more competing with SMS but the simple service remains one of the most used on a mobile phone.