LAPTOP Magazine: The Pulse of Mobile Technology

AMD Ready to Roust Intel in Mobile, Details Three New CPU Platforms

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:29:44 +0000

AMD is getting ready to take the low-power, mobile platform fight to Intel, pulling the wraps off of three major APU (AMD’s term for a CPU) lines for devices ranging in size from small tablets to powerful productivity notebooks. The new processors are designed to compete with Intel’s Atom chip in lightweight tablets and hybrids while besting the Core i5 in larger laptops.

2013 AMD Elite Mobility APU

Formerly code-named “Temash,” the AMD Elite Mobility APU will be available in both dual and quad-core versions with the part names A4-1200 (1-GHz, dual core), A4-1250 (1-GHz, dual-core) and A6-1450 (1.4-GHz, quad-core). Targeted squarely at Intel’s current-generation Atom “CloverTrail” platform, the Elite Mobility APUs provide graphics performance that AMD says is nearly 5 times better and between one and 2.5 hours more endurance on the same tasks.

The Elite Mobility chips will also provide other key features that Intel Clovertrail lacks, including the ability to output 2560 x 1600 resolution to dual displays, DDR3 memory support, USB 3.0 ports and SATA II for faster storage. Some hybrid systems with Temash will also be able to connect to Turbo docks, which will allow them to reach 40 percent higher speeds as they get added cooling. We saw a number of intriguing prototypes based on Temash in February at Mobile World Congress and came away impressed.

2013 AMD Mainstream APU Platform

Targeted at low-end budget desktops, an area where AMD already competes aggressively with Intel, the Mainstream APU Platform chips promise longer battery life and significantly better graphics performance than you’ll get with Intel Celeron, Pentium and Core i3 CPUs. Formerly codenamed “Kabini,” this platform will have five models associated with it, ranging from the dual-core, 1-GHz E1-2100 to the quad-core, 2-GHz A6-5200.

AMD claims that Mainstream APUs will provide over 9 hours of web browsing enduance and more than 6 hours of 1080p video playback. At the same time, the company says that its Kabini chips provided much better FPS in Batman Arkham City and higher synthetic scores on 3DMark Cloud Gate.

MORE: 10 Laptops with the Longest Battery Life

2013 AMD Elite Performance APU Platform

Built for high performance and strong gaming, AMD’s Elite Performance APUs are designed to compete with Core i3 and Core i5 processors in more expensive laptops. Formerly codenamed “Richland,” this platform launches with 7 different models, ranging from the 2-GHz, 17-watt A4-5145M on the low end to the 2.5-GHz, quad-core A10-5757M on the high-end.

According to AMD, Richland APUs provide 7.5 hours of web browsing endurance along with significantly higher graphics scores than their direct competitors from Intel. For example, in AMD’s tests, the A10 APU achieved a frame rate of 27 fps on Batman Arkham City while a Core i5 CPU managed just 16 fps. The same APU scored 939 on the 3DMark Firestrike benchmark while its competitor got just 550.

In addition to their high performance and power efficiency, the Elite Performance APUs can send data to up to 3 external monitors at once when attached to a dock. They also offer AMD’s Wireless Display technology which is supposed to provide much lower latencies than Intel WiDi so users can play games on their HDTVs without noticeable lag.

With the Computex Taipei show just around the corner, we hope to see a number of new designs based on all three of AMD’s new APU platforms. If the devices deliver the kind of battery life and graphics performance that AMD claims, the company could gain a much stronger foothold in mobile. However, AMD’s main competitor isn’t exactly sitting still as we expect Intel to release its next-generation chips later this year.

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HP Refreshes Envy Lineup, Drops Price to $529

Thu, 23 May 2013 04:01:35 +0000

HP announced a refresh of its high-end Envy lineup of notebooks, featuring full HD touchscreen displays, thinner and lighter chassis, Beats Audio and a lower starting price of $529.

As with previous models, the new Envys will have an all-metal design, backlit keyboard, and Beats Audio. The notebooks now have a soft-touch finish, making them more comfortable to hold, and keeping fingerprints at bay.

The Envy TouchSmart 15 will have a flush glass touchscreen, as well as a full-size number pad and a fingerprint reader. The Envy 15 will go on sale on June 5, and have a starting price of $529. For that, consumers will get an AMD A8 processor (Intel Core i5 and i7 are also options), 6GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 750GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive.

The Envy 17 will have a full HD display, Nvidia graphics, up to 2TB of hard drive storage, and a DVD RW or Blu-ray player. The notebook will also have four speakers as well as a dual-drive subwoofer for added bass. It will also be available on June 5 and start at $699, which will get you an Intel Core i5 processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 750GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive.

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CTIA 2013: Top Stories of Day 2

Thu, 23 May 2013 03:11:37 +0000

It’s day 2 at CTIA 2013 and over a thousand exhibitors continue to show off the latest in mobile gear and gadgets. LAPTOP spent the entire day on the show floor at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, sampling new software from anti-virus companies, going hands on with an innovative mid-range smartphone, and playing with an entertainment-focused streaming device. And if that’s not enough, we also sat in on the latest project from super-celebrity Jennifer Lopez. Hint: it’s not an album.

SuperTooth Freedom Headphones

SuperTooth believes that wireless headphones should be easier to pair and they've designed the Freedom headphones to show you how. These over-ear cans are built with the same Bluetooth technology found in other wire-free headphones, but they also include NFC. With that technology, you don't need to put these headphones into pairing mode. Just tap them to your NFC-enabled smartphone and you're ready to listen.

More: SuperTooth Freedom Hands-on

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Kingston MobileLite Wireless: Wireless Storage Meets Portable Power

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:22:29 +0000

Taking the wireless hard drive category in a new direction, the Kingston MobileLite isn’t a drive at all. Unlike the company’s earlier Wi-Drive, this $70 device features a USB slot and SD Card Slot, so you can add your own storage for streaming content to your iOS or Android device. Plus, MobileLite Wireless doubles as an external battery for your phone or tablet. We took this new accessory for a spin at CTIA 2013.

Although the MobileLite Wireless is fairly long, it’s very light, because there no hard drive inside. You just pop in a memory card or USB drive, then fire up the MobileLite app on your phone or tablet. From there, users can access up to three different movies at the same time, which is great for road trips.Kingston has made some welcome improvements to its app. For example, you can easily see how much battery life is left on the MobileLite, and you can have a device connected to the wireless storage device and connected to the Web at the same time. With the previous version of the app, you couldn’t be online while connected to the drive. What’s more, the app lets you share content via the Camera Roll, Facebook, Twitter and Email.

The other selling point of the MobileLite Wireless is its built-in 1800 mAh battery, which should come in handy when you need an emergency charge for your iPhone or Android device.

Overall, the MobileLite Wireless is versatile, but it will be even more compelling when the cost comes down. A Kingston rep told us that Staples and other retailers could drop the price to as low as $50 in the near future.

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Mobelisk MoGo Chimera Case Makes Tablets Retail-Friendly

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:01:49 +0000

Mobelisk wants to make it easier for enterprises to use the tablet of their choosing, without having to worry about breaking them. That’s where the company’s new MoGo Chimera smart case comes in. The case, which supports a wide array of 7- to 8-inch tablets including Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7 and Apple’s iPad min, not only protects the tablet from drops and spills, but provides an additional layer of functionality via optional add-ons, as well.

Available add-ons include items ranging from hot-swappable batteries and enhanced durability to credit card readers and barcode scanners. Mobelisk sees the Mogo Chimera as a means for retail shops, restaurants and stadiums to provide their customers with a customized tablet-based shopping experience.

MORE: Top 10 Tablets

Mobelisk’s clients also have the option to brand their Mogo Chimera according to their own specifications. So if a sports team wants the beer guys in their stadium to be able to sell beers to attendees that don’t have cash on them, they can use the Mogo Chimera to scan the buyer’s credit card and hand them a cold brew.

Mobelisk says a standard smart case includes a 4,000 mAh battery and meets Mil Std 810g and IP54 standards for shock, water and dust protection, allowing the tablet to be dropped from a height of 1 meter onto a concrete floor without breaking it.

Mobelisk hasn’t announced any partners just yet, but company representatives have assured us that the company is working to bring its product to market soon.

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Bitdefender’s Clueful Keeps Apps From Snooping on You

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:44:10 +0000

Antivirus maker Bitdefender is helping to make sure that slick new app you just downloaded isn’t snooping on you with its new Clueful app for Android. The app, which is now available for free through the Google Play s tore, searches all of the apps on your handset or tablet and checks them the to see what types of permissions they require you to agree to in order to run.

If an app requires suspicion permissions, Clueful will flag it as either high-risk, moderate-risk or low-risk. For example, if you download a wallpaper app from the Google Play Store that requires permission to view your contacts or browser history, Clueful will flag it as a high risk app. The software works by checking each app against Bitdefender’s constantly updated cloud-based database of malicious apps.

MORE: 25 Best Android Apps

When Clueful is first installed, it will automatically search through all of your apps and, based on the risk level of each app, provide you with an overall Privacy Score ranked from zero to 100. The higher your Privacy Score, the more at risk your handset is. Once the app has assessed your Privacy Score, you can view a full list of your apps based on their risk assessment.

Tapping the High Risk Apps tab at the bottom of the screen brings up a list of all of the high-risk apps stored on your Android device. Tap an individual apps to see what permissions requires you to accept that are out of the ordinary. If you determine that the app is indeed a high-risk, you can choose to either Dislike! it and send a message to your friends via email or your favorite social network telling them to be wary 0f the malicious app. Similarly, you can choose to uninstall the app directly from Clueful.

Once Clueful completes its first scan, it will automatically scan any new apps you download and advise you of their risk assessment. Of course, even perfectly safe apps such as Netflix and Clueful itself, will show up in the low-risk apps list, ensuring you know what every app on your device has access to.

Clueful is currently available through the Google Play store for free.

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SuperTooth Freedom Hands-on: 15-Hour Battery, Sweet $149 Price

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:56:54 +0000

SuperTooth hopes to take Bluetooth stereo headphones to the masses this June with its Freedom headphones. These $149 cans don’t feel cheap, however. In fact, you get a lot of features found in higher-end headphones for less, including NFC for easy pairing and integrated mic for making calls and built-in touch controls.

Here at CTIA 2013 we stopped by the Supertooth booth to try the Freedom’s for ourselves, and we like what we saw–and heard.

The Supertooth Freedom’s are fairly sleek, offering a choice of three colors. We’re partial to the black version with blue on the interior but you can also get the headphones in glossy white or black with gray interior.

The right earcup includes a button towards the bottom for Play/Pause and accepting calls. Double pressing the button, which depresses slightly, skips to the next track. You’ll also find a narrow volume rocker on the inside of the right cup next to the power button. This was a bit more difficult to find by feel, but we got the hang of it quickly.

To try out the NFC pairing feature, we simply placed a Galaxy S4 next to the Freedom’s and the two devices were paired. However, we had to dig into settings to connect the phone to start streaming music. When we played Coldplay’s “Paradise,” the audio sounded rich and full.

The best part of the Freedom’s is its rated 15 hours of battery life. A company rep told us that SuperTooth was seeing up to 20 hours of endurance in its tests. And if you do run out of juice, the SuperTooth Freedom comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Overall, the SuperTooth Freedom looks like a good value for those looking to rock out in comfort all day long. Stay tuned for a full review.

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Dubai Hotel Guests Get the Gold iPad Treatment

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:26:23 +0000

For those dumb enough to spend $20,000 a night on a hotel room, there’s now an accessory that will make you look like the tool you are. Hotel guests at the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, which deems itself “the most luxurious hotel in the world,” now get to enjoy having a gold-plated iPad right in their room.

The iPad serves as a “virtual concierge.” That’s helpful since walking down the hall to the reception desk that’s on every floor would require too much effort. Plated in 24-carat gold, the hotel’s iPads come from UK-based Gold & Co. London and sport a Burj Al Arab’s logo engraved. Hotel guests can use their iPad for the extent of their stay to learn more about the hotel’s services and facilities. If they really can’t part with it at the end of their stay, they can purchase their very own for $10,200 in the hotel’s boutique.

The luxury hotel charges between $1,400 and $20,000 a night for one of its 202 luxury rooms, and offers in-suite check-in and check-out, a rooftop tennis court, 24/7 personal butlers, a private beach, a waterpark, chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce’s and helicopter transfer services. And if you’re not a tablet user, you can purchase a gold-plated iPhone 5 or BlackBerry Q10 from the hotel boutique as well.

Image credit: Digital Trends

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Most Mobile Users Don’t Protect Their Smartphones

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:50:58 +0000

Our mobile devices are loaded with personal information, but most people aren’t worried about making sure their smartphones and tablets are kept safe, a new study says. CTIA’s Harris Interactive Survey indicates that most consumers know their devices are vulnerable but don’t take any action or precaution.

According to the survey, 85 percent of wireless users know that their mobile devices are very or somewhat vulnerable; while 74 percent believe that keeping devices safe is their own responsibility. Most users are likely to protect their smartphones or tablets against a tangible threat, such as having a device lost or stolen, but few have installed software to keep devices secure from cyber threats. Less than a third of those surveyed installed anti-virus software on their smartphone, compared to the 91 percent of respondents that installed security software on their laptops.

“Cyber security is everyone’s responsibility, from the consumer to the app creator to operating system to the device manufacturer to carriers and everyone in between,” Steve Largent, president and CEO of CITA said in a statement.

While the majority of consumers may not take steps to protect their devices, mobile security has become a bigger priority more recently. In the past year, reports have indicated that Google and Apple are working on security alternatives to the traditional password.

Apple’s alleged solution involves biometric fingerprint sensors built in to iPhones, while Google has discussed the possibility of a USB stick that could log users into a modified version of Google. Malware has proven to be a more serious problem on Android than iOS, however, considering that Google’s mobile OS accounts for 96 percent of malware across mobile devices according to F-Secure.

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Most US Women Would Choose Smartphones Over Sex

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:44:32 +0000

Sorry fellas — it looks like you can’t come between a woman and her phone. A new survey has found that 57 percent of women polled in the US would rather give up sex than their mobile device for a week.

AVG Technologies surveyed 4,000 women across the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Brazil to see how technology affects romantic relationships, and some of the results were quite surprising. In addition to American women refusing to part with their smartphones, the findings said more than a quarter of women worldwide would break off a relationship via text message.

“The study suggests an increasing level of detachment, where devices serve as agents to filter potential partners and release them when women are ready to move on,” John Giamatteo, COO of AVG, said in a statement.

According to AVG, Brazilian women may be the most technology-driven daters of all those surveyed. Not only would 58 percent of females break up with a significant other via phone call, but 61 percent had admitted to cancelling dates based on a user’s social media presence. The study also found that 35 percent of women use social media to screen dates beforehand, prioritizing photos, whether or not the date is followed by common friends, interests and comments on the user’s page.

Talk about being tied to your technology. AVG’s survey is yet another indication that mobile devices and social media are playing a more significant role in our personal lives. Just earlier today a study from Pew Internet revealed that teens are straying from Facebook to avoid “drama” that affects real-life relationships.

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