Tag Archives: google

Aug 07

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 jumps ahead to Jelly ...

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Jelly Bean is wobbling onto the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. the new tablet is set to update to the new Android software, according to an official listing on Samsung’s site.

Listing the features of the 10-inch iPad rival, the official product page announces that the Tab 2 10.1 is powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. I’ve asked Samsung for more detail on when those who’ve already bought the Tab can expect an update.

The 10-inch Tab 2 is the follow-up to the original Galaxy Tab, the first of Samsung’s range of Android tablets. the Tab 2 launched this summer with the previous version of Android under the bonnet. 

Jelly Bean is the latest version of Google’s Android software for phones and tablets, replacing the previous update Ice Cream Sandwich. Jelly Bean brings speeded-up software, souped-up notifications, improved voice options and clever Google now info. Click here for our full review of Jelly Bean, or see how it fits in with your phone in our useful guide to every version of Android ever.

The Tab 2 is well put together with a decent screen, but we feel it’s slightly overpriced. If it does become one of the first tablets to show off Jelly Bean, that’ll go a long way towards making it better value, however. 

Speaking of 10-inch Galaxy tablets, Samsung has also confirmed today that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 will be on sale this month. the oversized version of the original Galaxy Note comes with a high-tech stylus and a clever Multiscreen feature, which splits the screen in two so you can use two apps at the same time.

Which 10-inch tablet do you prefer — the Tab 2, with Jelly Bean, or the Note 10.1 with split-screen smarts? tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 jumps ahead to Jelly Bean

Aug 06

Archos 97 Carbon released in US and UK – ...

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The Nexus 7 may have made the 7″ tablet even more affordable but the latest tablet from Archos will go after those looking for affordability and a large screen. The 97 Carbon was first announced earlier this month and is now available in the US and UK delivering a tablet with a 9.7″ display for just $249.99, or if you’re in the UK £229.99. aside from the screen the rest of the specs don’t compare so well to the Nexus 7 but overall it looks like a good deal.

Beneath its 9.7″ display with a 1024×768 resolution the 97 Carbon offers a single-core ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage which is expandable with a microSD card up to 32GB. As well as this there’s a 2mp camera on the rear and a front-facing 0.3mp one for video calling. The battery is expected to last for up to 8 hours of battery time and it ships with Android 4.0 installed though any upgrade plans to Jelly Bean are a mystery at the moment.

Comparing it to the 16GB Nexus 7, which seems to have been the most popular version of Google’s tablet so far, the tablet is lacking in the processor department but offers the same amount of internal storage and does offer a larger screen, albeit at a lower resolution than it’s smaller rival. Other benefits include a HDMI-out port and a full-sized USB port in addition to expandable storage with its microSD card slot.

Archos97

The tablet is available right now, directly from Archos, in the UK and US for anyone who is interested. Clearly and not surprisingly the tablet hasn’t been as tempting as the Nexus and shows no signs of having sold out in either country.

Archos 97 Carbon released in US and UK – Rethink Wireless

Aug 05

Google Nexus 7 gets firmware update

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Google’s Nexus 7 tablet has got its first software update taking the device to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean.

Our review sample of the Nexus 7 notified us of the upgrade today which totals a mere 859kb. The over the air (OTA) update mainly improves performance and responsiveness system wide, according to the notification. See also: Google Nexus 7 tablet vs Apple iPad comparison review.

The budget tablet, made by Asus, is selling well in the US since it went on sale last Friday. PC Advisor’s colleagues at PC World are saying the Nexus 7 is hard to find with some retailers running out of stock.

In the UK the release date, according to Asus, is 20 July online and 27 July in-store. However, Currys says the device is expected today, three days earlier than the 19 July which was originally stated.

Ebuyer also had 19 July but after checking today the date has changed to 3 August. HMV still has 19 July as its release date.

The Google Play Store is the only place to purchase the 8GB model for £159. The store touts shipping in 1-2 weeks.

Follow Chris Martin and @PCAdvisor on Twitter.

Google Nexus 7 gets firmware update

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Aug 04

FujiFilm initiates patent tussle with Motorola ...

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Japanese photo and imaging company FujiFilm has filed a lawsuit in the United States against Motorola Mobility for alleged infringement of four patents on digital camera and photography technologies.

Tech news site IDG News reported on Saturday that the issue of patent violation began in April 2011, when FujiFilm first notified Motorola Mobility–now owned by Google–that the phonemaker was infringing on four patents.

FujiFilm claimed the two companies had a number of face-to-face meetings to work out a licensing deal, but the issue was not resolved to FujiFilm’s liking and this led to the lawsuit, it said. FujiFilm, Motorola Mobility, and Google could not be reached for comment, it added.

These patents relate to technologies which allow a phone to capture color pictures and convert them into monochrome; a telephone and data-transmission method; a facial detection system; and processing a high-resolution image into a lower-resolution one, the report revealed.

In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, FujiFilm said a number of Motorola Mobility devices, including the Droid X, Razr Maxx, Droid Bionic, and Xoom, infringed some or all of the patents. The Japanese company is seeking damages for the patent violations as well as for the phonemaker to cover its legal costs, IDG News noted.

FujiFilm initiates patent tussle with Motorola Mobility

Aug 04

! Archos 5 16GB Internet Tablet with Android ...

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! Archos 5 16GB Internet Tablet with Android (Black)

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Aug 04

Amazon prepping a smartphone and four tablets

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Amazon is keeping busy as the e-retailing company is reportedly prepping to release four new tablets and a smartphone.

Amazon is working with manufacturer Foxconn to create the smartphone, according to a Bloomberg.com report that cited two informed sources. last November, an analyst at Citigroup said that an Amazon smartphone was in the works.

If the reports are true, Amazon would compete against a flooded market that saw nearly 400 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012, according to IDC. the top selling phones in the period were Android-based smartphones from Samsung and Apple’s iPhone.

Four new Amazon Kindle fire tablets are also set to go into production in August or later this year, according to an NPD DisplaySearch analyst who cites unnamed components suppliers.

The tech rumor mill has suggested that Amazon will unveil a second-generation Kindle fire in July, and now the NPD analyst Richard Shim says three 7-in. Kindle fire 2 models and one 8.9-in. Kindle fire 2 model are going into production in August.

Currently, Amazon offers the original 7-in. Kindle fire for $199.

Shim didn’t any share pricing plans for the coming upgrades in his report. the sub-$200 price-point is considered ideal by many manufacturers, and Google’s first tablet, the Nexus 7, is set to go on sale in mid-July for $199. Meanwhile, Apple’s component suppliers are also reportedly set to start producing an iPad tablet that’s smaller than the $499, 9.7-in iPad that held a dominant 60% share of the global tablet market in September.

Shin told CNET that Amazon is planning to start production of three 7-in. Kindle fire 2 tablets with different features.

One would have a 1,024 x 600 display with no camera, a second would have a 1,280 x 800 display with a camera, and the third would have a 1280 x 800 display with a camera and a 4G radio atop Wi-Fi. the 8.9-in. model of the Kindle fire 2 would have a 1,920 x 1,200 display, Shim said.

Google’s Nexus 7 has a 1280 x 800 display resolution while the Retina display on the third-generation iPad has a 2048 x 1536 resolution.

The screen in the latest iPad has a resolution of 264 pixels per inch (PPI), which is ahead of the 216 PPI in the Nexus 7 and the planned next-generation Kindle Fires. the original Kindle Fire’s PPI was estimated at 170.

Amazon could not be reached to comment on the tablet and smartphone reports. it has declined to comment on such reports in the past.

NPD this week said it expects that that tablet shipments will outpace laptops in 2016. Laptop shipments will go from 208 million in 2012 to 393 million by 2017, while tablet shipments will grow from 80 million in 2012 to 254 million by 2017, the research firm said.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, send e-mail to mhamblen@computerworld.com or subscribe to Matt’s RSS feed .

Read more about mobile and wireless in Computerworld’s Mobile and Wireless Topic Center.

Amazon prepping a smartphone and four tablets

Aug 04

Tablet wars heat up

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in the ever-increasing tablet market, it can be difficult to find the tablet that fits one’s needs and wallet.

but with the launch of Amazon’s Kindle fire and Barnes and Nobles’ Nook Tablet in 2011, $199 tablets are quickly gaining ground on heavy hitters like the $499 Apple iPad and Asus’ Transformer line.

now, there’s another contender in the small tablet category: Google’s Nexus 7. Announced at an annual I/O event in June, the tablet has a 7-inch screen and is $199, just like the Kindle fire and Nook Tablet.

A break down of the stats reveal which tablet may surpass the competition.

It’s understood that tablets, for the most part, look pretty similar. That holds true for the Kindle fire and Nexus 7, both of which are solid black with matte finishes on the reverse side. They are nearly identical in terms of dimensions, though the Nexus 7 is lighter.

Lauren Smith, wildlife ecology junior, received a Kindle fire last month and said she loves its size.

“It’s really easy to use and not too big,” Smith said.

The Nook Tablet looks strikingly different than most other tablets, besides the Nook Color. The screen is surrounded by a grey bezel that flows onto the rear of the device, which is also grey. The most interesting design choice for the Nook Tablet is the location of the microSD slot — the hollowed-out right corner, which can be moved to access the slot.

With the Kindle fire and Nook Tablet being several months older than the Nexus 7, there’s no question which tablet has more horsepower.

both the Kindle fire and Nook Tablet have dual-core 1GHz processors, which can handle most tasks with relative ease.

but the Nexus 7 has the quad-core Tegra 3 processor running inside, which blows most other processors in terms of raw power away. That’s coupled with a 1 GB of RAM, making the Nexus 7 a multitasking machine.

plus, it’s the only tablet with a built-in camera and near-field communications capabilities, which allows information to be shared between devices over short distances.

all three tablets run the Android operating system, but to different degrees.

The Kindle fire runs Gingerbread (Android 2.3) utilizes Amazon’s App Store, which is the closest alternative to the Google Play Store. most of the apps found on regular Android devices are available, and if they aren’t, some mild hacking can get them on there.

Smith said she didn’t mind the more limited selection of apps for the Kindle fire.

“You can [still] play all the common games that the tablets have like Angry Birds,” she said. “And it’s nice that when I get tired of reading I can take a break and check Facebook or Tumblr.”

Barnes and Noble’s app selection is a lot more limited than Amazon’s, but the most popular apps can still be found on the store.

The Nexus 7 is the first device to run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is the only tablet of this group to run pure, unaltered Android. this means it has full access to the Google Play Store and all 500,000 of its apps.

It also utilizes Project Butter, part of Jelly Bean that makes operating Android more fluid.

in terms of specs and app selection, the Galaxy Nexus 7 is better equipped than the others. Quad-core processing coupled with a pure Android experience make it more advanced than not only the Kindle fire and Nook Tablet, but also a serious competitor to the hold Apple has on the tablet market.

Contact Taylor Balkom at tbalkom@lsureveille.com.

Tablet wars heat up

Aug 01

BlackBerry PlayBook Experience: The Written Word

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Having attended the Chelsea Market event, all I can say is WOW.Note the location, Chelsea Market is across the street from the GOOGLE NYC HQ, and near several hundred internet related start-up companies. This was not a usual Playbook marketing event. few ‘ordinary folk’ off the street were there when I attended. Shortly after the Google staff left work, at five pm, many made a B-Line to the Experience’s open bar and food cooked by a local renown chef.

The idea for this particular event, was to me obvious. RIM is targeting Google and other internet workers, showing RIM has powerful OS2 and PB opportunities: for RIM future hiring, and app development. many of Google’s computer scientists work on independent programs, not necessarily related to their regular assignment

(The events in other parts of the NY city are retail related. targeting a different market other then the Chelsea Market event. Realistically, the PB is difficult to find for retail purchase in NYC. Best Buy and Staples do not carry it, or rarely. Small in the area, Radio Shack is about the only major retailer who has it.)

 

BlackBerry PlayBook Experience: The Written Word

Aug 01

Google Nexus 7 Tablet Shipping Now and Arrives on ...

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HMV told us that it believes online orders will be delivered from 23 July, although this “is not set in stone” and is merely a “best estimation” by the retailer. The store did confirm, however, that pre-orders start on 13 July.

However, when trying to buy online on 13 July, HMV and PC World, along with eBuyer, offered us a delivery date of 16 July.

To try to make sense of this confusion, here is a breakdown of what we have found so far from a range of major retailers.

eBuyer

Nexus 7 can be ordered now and the earliest delivery date stated to us is 16 July. However, some customers have reported that their deliveries arrived on 13 July.

HMV

As with eBuyer, the Nexus 7 can be ordered now with an estimated delivery date of 16 July, but HMV has told us that this “is not set in stone” and may be delayed until July 23.

Google Play Store

“Ships in 1-2 weeks” is stated, but short of actually buying one we were unable to find a more specific delivery date.

Tesco Direct

“Sorry, this product is currently unavailable.” Pre-orders cannot be placed, instead Tesco offers a 'Register for stock alerts' button.

PC World / Currys

Nexus 7 can be ordered now online, with an expected delivery date of 16 July, but in-store reservation is not yet possible.

Amazon and Play.com

No mention of the Nexus 7 yet, but a range of accessories can be bought now.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: To contact the editor, e-mail:

Google Nexus 7 Tablet Shipping Now and Arrives on UK High Street on 27 July

Aug 01

Low price, social media boom drive tablet PC use ...

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Posted at 3:49 pm August 01, 2012

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MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA – Amid growth in smartphones, tablet PCs have also started to gain foothold in the Philippines, driven by gradually declining price tags and the increasing use of social media.

Companies like Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Acer, Archos, and Asus have been introducing newer tablet PC models with more powerful processors and larger memory capacity. these also feature the latest operating systems, iprimarily Google’s Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” version.

Most models feature wireless connectivity such as WiFi and 3G as well as Bluetooth. others have also integrated features that centralize hardware and software features such as home theater control and wireless access to office network.

Not surprisingly, entry-level brands have also entered the Philippines with watered down features allowing them to further lower their prices and target the much larger, budget-conscious demographic.

Companies such as Coby, Huawei, ZTE, among others, have introduced tablets that cost less than P10,000 although running on older operating systems (like Android 2.3 codename “Gingerbread”).

Tablet PCs, or sometimes called slates, are devices with relatively larger touch screens of about 7 inches up. in comparison, smartphones tend to have smaller touch screens that are up to 5 inches.

Tablet PCs also tend to be used as alternatives to laptops though accessories allow such devices to run similar to laptops.

Coco Domingo, Samsung Philippines product marketing head for mobile phones, noted  that tablet PC demand in the Philippines is also pushed by demand for social networks. As more people get connected online, the more they widen their contacts and allow themselves to express freely.

“People with wide social networks want to try improving their communication lines so they purchase tablets that provide them with the best user experience,” Domingo said, during the launch of the company’s new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 models.

Domingo added that this would start with smartphones where people become aware of the benefits of always on connectivity. “Eventually, they move up in the value chain and purchase tablet PCs that have better functions and offer better user experience.”

Samsung’s latest Galaxy Tab 2.0 models are priced starting at P12,990 making them among the cheapest in their class.

Related stories:Can the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 become the ultimate iPad ‘killer’?Taguig school pioneers iPad use for students, teachersSmartphones, tablet PCs to dominate mobile market

Low price, social media boom drive tablet PC use among Pinoys

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