Acer and Asus potential market shakers

     Acer and Asus are great on the lines of innovation and low price quality tablets, ultrabooks, and netbooks. At this years Computex Acer and Asus have featured some potentially ground breaking devices. Acer has a history of cheap netbooks and great top line Android tablets with their new Olympic Iconia 500. Acer has made a good name in the mobile market most notably for their netbooks and tablets. Asus had a similar fate except they featured the Eee PC line of convertible netbooks which are some of the only of their kind up unto this point. Asus has the most top of the line Android tablet which outweighs the Motorola Xoom and Xyboard and Samsung Galaxy tab series by a mile. The Transformer Prime TF3001 is the latest model to date until the Transformer Pad Infinity comes out in a bit which really proves Android's superior hardware capabilities. These companies are both offering new Windows 8/ RT capable devices with 1366 x 768 minimum screen resolutions (some are higher) and both offer beautiful and in some ways revolutionary designs that really are going to shake up the current market. First the Acer lineup courtesy of Engadget who has the best comprehensive coverage on the ground floor. 

The Acer Aspire series is what I call the worlds "biggest tablet and thinnest all in one" device which truly blows away the I Mac competition. At 27 inches and can be held in your hands it is to me a new concept barring Steve Ballmer's 80 inch in his office.   

It has a capacitive 64 finger touch screen that can swivel any way you wish. so far Acer has been very mum on the details and will come in a 27 inch and 23 inch flavors.  

The Acer W510 and W710 are similar to the Asus Transformer prime with a docking station that can boost battery especially on the W510 (18 hours worth) and up to 8 hours on the W710 which is better than the new Ipad. The W510 is an ARM based tablet  Medfield based x86 tablet at 10.1 inches and a 1366 x 768 Super IPS screen, docking keyboard, SIM card slot, hdmi port, USB port all that kind of stuff with a proposed price tag of $599 - $799 and Windows 8 thankfully since Acer has stated that they want a chip that provides more speed than the current ARM chips like the Snapdragon or Tegra 3. I think this is an excellent deal and would really consider buying this over a traditional laptop. The Acer W710 is the "desktop replacement" and features a dock (no keyboard) that has 3 USB ports and no battery but is great if you want to plug in a keyboard use a wireless mouse, a larger 11.6 inch screen with a 1920 x 1080 capacitive 10 finger full HD screen, aluminum body chassis is a nice touch even if it might affect wifi a bit, a rear 5mp auto focus camera is a great touch and is about equal to the "isight" camera on the Ipad, and Dolby Digital Home Theater is real nice especially since Windows has a Virtual Surround Sound option if you dig deep enough in your sound card settings. The W710 is my favorite by far and is probably the better buy unless you are looking for 3G coverage via SIM slot and need a docking keyboard. Check out the videos done by the Verge 

 

      This is the Asus AIO (all in one) which is 18.4 inches and features a nice touchscreen and at first thought was being able to dual boot into Android and Windows but actually Asus called on Bluestacks and has a rooted form of ICS 4.0.3 with a toggle to go back and forth from Windows and "Android." Not much else except you can detach the screen much similar to the Acer model and use it as a 18 inch tablet which is only slightly more practical. Imagine going to work with that under your arm!!  

     Next up is the Asus 600 and 810 "transformer books'' which are really nice looking Windows 8 running Transformer tablets. Some of the main differences are of course one running Windows RT and one running Windows 8, the RT version is based on the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core chip which is an excellent choice especially the embedded graphics but has 2 GB of RAM instead of 1 GB so it can run Windows 8, also the screen on the ARM model 600 is of a lower Super IPS ++ 1366 x 768 instead of the 1920 x 768 and the Transformer Pad Infinity is supposed to be of an even higher resolution in the ongoing pixel war between the new Ipad and her competitiors. Mainly the specs are the same both sporting 8mp rear auto focusing cameras and a 2mp up front for HD video chatting. The Intel device runs on the Medfield chip and has an active digitizer layer which allows you to use a pen which is a whole lot more accurate than a regular stylus.

Skypad Protos Out Update: Gemini Up for sale

Amazon.com: SKYTEX Technology Inc. Skypad SX-SP970A 9.7-Inch Tablet (Black): Electronics


Okay so I was a bit excited in my haste to post this that I only included a link and now am featuring the specs added by Skytex and the Gemini is available to be bought for $169 which is very shocking (not to be confused with the Skypad Alpha 2 on the official Skytex website for $169. The Skypad Protos is not available for sale or pre-order currently and is featuring the same specs as said on the website except this time around (per my suggestion) they have included a 5mp rear camera that should make this all the more IpadHD competitor. Some people have scoffed saying that this can not possible be the real thing but according to the model numbers on the Gemini and Protos we have enough information to believe this is the real deal and are waiting on a statement from Skytex. Also the specs on the Gemini deviated from what we were lead to believe: first instead of Bluetooth 4.0 it is listed as 2.0, second it says it has a full USB 2.0 port on the tablet which is hard to believe for a budget Android tab, third which really are just questions I have are that is says it has a mini HDMI 1.4 and optimized Wi- Fi which means usually it is going to be a hard plastic backing or it will feature an aluminum backing with two wi-fi radios instead of one.
Update: We have word from a company spokesperson that the Gemini and Protos will be up for order next week!

We do have the Protos and Gemini as pre-orders on our site but shipments are not expected to go out until the 2nd week of July

 Gemini will be available for puchase next week.

These are two of the statements made to us. Sadly no word about the Protos.

Windows 8 Upgrade Offer??

Well we have been hearing some specualtion about a Windows 8 upgrade and now it has come out on microsoft's website for $15.00 you get Windows 8 pro on your Windows 7 PC.  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/upgrade-offer Now this is plain dirt cheap for a Pro version of Windows. https://windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US/ will let you sign up before next February and you get Windows 8 pro for $15.00!!  

Download Windows 8 Release Preview!!

I am dead serious I have the link and this is no gimmick!! I am downloading it right now and the link can be found below!! http://www.windows8update.com/2012/05/31/download-the-windows-8-release-preview-here/

Samsung keeps on Innovating

Samsung has a long list of innovations such as the Smart tv, smart appliances (you can listen to music with your refrigerator) biggest smart phone aka phablet, dual screen camera, smart camera, and now the do it all Samsung Galaxy One with a built in projector. This is the first tablet to feature a built in projector but not the first Windows prototype device to feature one. The LG EXPO was a Windows Mobile 6.5 (not Windows Phone 7 same platform different UI and market) and was to be featured on AT&T. It did come out and was not a very big hit even though I only remember it because of the funny commercial they made for it. The Galaxy brand is very classic of Samsung to brand their devices flagship or second generation design (Samsung Nexus became Samsung Galaxy Nexus). The importance of Samsung entering the tablet market for Windows 8 (also featuring the flagship Samsung Series 7) is that even though Microsoft has a lot of money they can not only take the burden of advertising alone. Samsung to date is the largest cell phone maker followed by Nokia and Apple with LG and HTC gaining traction. Samsung has already dabbled in the Android tablet market and has had some moderate success especially with the Verizon 4G market. Also we already know they have an excellent legal team so when Apple goes for round 100 Samsung will back up their devices and win. This prototype device is actually a really beautiful designed tablet. As shown is the many functions that can be made with this device. It looks to have two cameras and has a dual featured pop out stand to use for the projector, for watching a movie, preforming normal Office functions, and what ever rocks your boat. The screen looks like it is 11.6 or 12.1 inches and with the projector included it is pretty thin. 

The stand concept is not new to the mobile market and HTC the Taiwanese smartphone giant has quite a few smartphones with kickstands which were not really good at their jobs. This stand looks firm and solid and should be able to stand up to pressing your finger against it in any spot and what ever other torture you do to your tablet. 

This shot to me is very controversial since it depicts Windows 8 with a Start button which the recent Consumer Preview does not have. The start button was what Metro was built on and has been a very big argument since most power users have essentially cried about not having a button that when they swipe from one side of the screen or move their mouse into the bottom right or left corners brings up the charms bar. 

One of the biggest things we use our tablets for is reading. Now what I see is all newspaper no interference which is very uniform for Metro. The good part that Microsoft learned Apple hasn't is a uniform design that is hardly seen. Also the amount of Apps is not as good as quality apps. Apple may have over 500,000 apps the most hardcore Apple fanboy will tell you there is a lot of junk apps. I believe Microsoft will be able to get all of the good quality apps into the Windows 8 Marketplace without the more junkier apps. 

Now the lucky couple who hopefully gets to keep their Samsung Galaxy One is watching a 1080p movie with their tablet no tv screen required. Of course a clean white wall would be the best to fully enjoy your movie. Also the tablet can efficiently project images up to 8 feet which is great for sitting your device down on a coffe table like this couple did. Also the projector  is more than a novel concept, but a valuable money saver in the working/student environment. 

Like I was saying perfect for meeting were you do not have an overhead and are trying to deliver a cutting edge power point. The coolest point about this picture is the tablet is projecting itself showing off the goods of a Metro interface. The current Samsung Windows tablet the Windows 8 flagship device did not have a stylus holder and this looks like it has that hole covered no pun intended. 

Here we have two Galaxy Ones using the Remote Desktop app. Of course an Ipad could never pull this off by itself unless helped by a great immortal device with Splashtop Streamer and a projector like the Galaxy One. What this just did is have the one Galaxy One turn the other into a desktop, keyboard, and multi gesture touch pad. I wish I could do that!!

Another innovation is that the projector can rotate which can be very helpful depending on your environment.

Now this is what I call multi-tasking. Instead of having a large monitor showing you your Skype conversation just use the projector  while you chat with whom ever you choose. 

Angry Birds Space is a very popular game and can be a large factor if an OS has any success. Since Angry Birds Space is not yet available for Windows 8 Marketplace it must have been used using Bluestacks the Android emulator that can run any Android app on your home computer. 

I know some friends who love to draw and the pen would be a great advance over buying an additional stylus with an Ipad and not being able to accurately draw since it does not have an active digitizer layer. 

The presence of the Galaxy One if it ever gets out of the drawing room (and the hands of a select few testers) will be a great help to Windows 8 and my words to Samsung is keep on innovating and I want one of these really bad!!

 

Windows Phone 7 UI review

Test Subject: HTC Trophy

OS Version: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango

Rating 4.7/5

Performance

     Windows Phone 7.5 is a big step up from 7.0 with over 400 bug fixes and a more beautiful, natural, and ergonomic design. Multitasking is much better in Mango and the overall performance is very zippy. Some of the big things is more apps able to run in the background, message threading, more stable UI, and a whole lot more apps. On the HTC Trophy apps loaded up fast and games ran very quickly. Windows Phone is very minimal and everything is bigger, faster, and better than other mobile operating systems. Internet Explorer 9 is not what you think it is big bulky and always in the way. This time around it is almost non existent and the address bar is at the bottom of the screen and is much improved in quality and speed. Also the entire look and feel is more refined. I prefer this OS to any other and hope to see some of WP7 (marketplace apps) on Windows 8.

Marketplace

     Windows Phone 7.5 brought in a lot of mainstream apps but not enough for many picky consumers. Adobe reader, ESPN, Shazam, Pandora client, Tune In radio, and Iheartradio shows you that they have great music choices for the regular music streamer. There is a ton of Xbox Live games for the true gamer at heart and the average daily Joe like angry birds, Hydro Thunder Go, fruit ninja, and Pac Man Rally. Even at 70,000 apps it is still found lacking in some departments but also has some very unique apps that I found like the free Tom and Jerry app with 100+ episodes and for $3.99 you can get the best outdoors app to date SAS Survival Guide with not only the best selling book in the app it also includes video gallery, comprehensive picture database of edible and non edible plants and animals, and pop quizzes to test how smart you are in the wild! Windows Phone apps are the best looking and quickest loading apps out in the smartphone arena.

Design

     The Windows Phone 7 team must have taken a long time planning the layout of a otherwise unknown Operating System. The important thing about the layout is the ease of use of the WP7 platform. The main thing to know about the design or layout is the unique metro layout. The idea behind the "metro" look is putting the user first. The word metro derives from a subway station where there is a whole bunch of metro or retro stores underneath the ground. The entire metro interface follows you wherever you go even especially in every app. The whole design has a similar character trait with Apple's IOS platform uniformity. In Android you do not get the same experience where ever you dare enter. With IOS it is the same look wherever you go even if it is not a very refined look. Also the only thing able to be customized is the background and all you see is a wall of apps which do not tell you anything except for the few with little red notifications on them. With Windows Phone 7 you get a beautiful Start menu which you can choose to pin certain items and things like the temperature on your weather tile or how many and who e-mailed you all show up without you actually going into the app. The whole fluid minimal design puts the user up front and personal with what you want not just random bloatware. It may have a ways to go but for me it does the job well and beautifully. 

Score 9.5/10