Cool Concept Gadgets

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Gets New 5.5-Liter V8 with Active Cylinder Management

2011-07-25T20:42:00.002+05:30

SPEED Looking for Drifters in L.A. to Race in New Show

2011-07-25T20:40:00.000+05:30

Porsche Confirms (again) Sub-Boxster Sports Car

2011-07-25T20:39:00.000+05:30

Spy Photos: 2013 Honda CR-V Caught with Hatch Open, No Third Row

2011-07-25T20:38:00.000+05:30

Why Not? Travis Pastrana Heading to IndyCar for Vegas Race

2011-07-25T20:37:00.000+05:30

Best Android Tablets of 2011

2011-05-23T08:17:00.000+05:30

The tablet space is heating up in a big way. At CES, we witnessed the unveiling of over 70 different tablets. Mobile World Congress demonstrated that Manufacturers, like HTC, Samsung and LG, all of whom have significant clout in the marketplace, are putting their money where their mouth is too, and we now have some serious Xoom contenders. We have compiled a list of the best Android Tablets in 2011. Most of these won’t be available for a few months, but we wanted to ignite your techno lust prematurely so you know where to throw your hard earned dollars. Good news for Qwerty lovers everywhere too, as some unique designs are coming your way. Read on below and let us know which one you like best! 2011 is looking to be the year when some excellent Tablet offerings will be available for all to enjoy.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch

Unlike its seven-inch predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will run the true Honeycomb OS with no overlaying customization or TouchWiz UI. This particular tablet will feature a 10.1-inch TFT display with a 1280 x 800 resolution and 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor. Furthermore, it will come in 16GB and 32GB varieties, and feature a front-facing two-megapixel camera and eight-megapixel rear.Unfortunately, it’s looking like this tablet won’t have HDMI – which is definitely not a good thing.

All the usual connectivity stuff is there, like b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. With Nividia Tegra 2 Dual Core under the hood, this tablet should have no problems supporting 1080p video playback at 30 frames per second and, thanks to its massive battery, will easily achieve 10 hours of heavy usage. Additional goodies on board include a gyroscope, accelerometer, digital compass, and proximity sensor. Finally, the 10.1 Tab will measure .4-inches thick and weighs just 599 grams.

Samsung claims it will launch in Europe in June, coming to Vodafone first. Samsung did not say when it will be available in the United States, or which carriers will support it. Samsung has also also finally offered us details into pricing, with the 16GB Wifi-only 10.1 Inch Samsung Galaxy Tab going for $499. Being that it’s a full-fledged Google Experience device with no custom skin means you can anticipate much faster updates than what Samsung has become (in)famous for. You can expect a full review once we get our hands on the device.

Motorola Xoom: This 10.1-inch Android 3.0, or Honeycomb, tablet sports an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, uses a laptop-like 1280 x 800 resolution, and has two cameras: a 2-megapixel sensor in the front for video chat over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G and a 5-megapixel rear camera for stills and 720p video recording. It will initially work on Verizon’s 3G network but will be upgradeable to 4G / LTE soon after launch. The Xoom is expected to be available in the first quarter, although no pricing has been announced. Most analysts and tech bloggers are saying this is the one to watch, and we are inclined to agree with them. Finally a manufacturer has realized that consumers want a quality, performance tablet with a high resolution screen, and a relatively thin bezel. We will keep you posted and offer you a hands-on as soon as we can. You can find our in-depth analysis and review on the Motorola Xoom here.

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer: The 10.1-inch Android 3.0 tablet runs for 8 hours and can mate with a keyboard dock, providing a laptop-style configuration while boosting battery life up to 16 hours. The slate runs on the dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and features two cameras. It will sell for $399 to $699 and be available in April. While different than the Slider, it offers a significantly better keyboard to use, but also a bigger footprint, so its QWERTY magic comes at a price. The 10.1-inch tablet will both be fully functional as a keyboard free device, and be even further functional once it’s docked into the external keyboard.

ASUS Eee Pad Slider: The smartbook-like 10.1-inch Slider is similar to the Transformer, but features an always-attached, slide-out keyboard and weighs in at 2.2 pounds. It features Android 3.0, a Tegra 2 processor and two cameras. It will sell for $499 to $799 and be available in May. We like the form factor here, and while it feels a bit like there’s wasted space on the keyboard base because of the screen tilt, this is one is compact and light. For those wanting something neater and better looking than a netbook, this is a good one to keep an eye on. People still love having the convenience of a full QWERTY. We can see a clear use for the Asus Eee Pad Slider for many people out there. Many tablets are striving to be just tablets, and it’s good to see a few unique designs being proposed.

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Iconia is another thin Android tablet, but Acer added a custom UI to the device, which could make future updates a challenge. The lack of hardware buttons on the display bezel required Acer to create gestures from the bezel; sliding a finger from the right edge towards the screen brings up software buttons to go back or home, for example. The 13.3 millimeter thick Iconia runs on a Tegra 2 and will follow the Xoom as an LTE-enabled tablet on Verizon’s network later this year. Judging from what we are hearing regarding the phasing out of physical buttons in favor of gesture based commands and an active taskbar, it seems like the Iconia Tab is going to keep pace with the most recent developments of Android 3.0. The Acer Iconia Tab A500 comes with fabulous features such as a 10-inch touchscreen display, built-in gyroscope, etc. It will be powered by dual core 1 GHz NVidia Tegra 2 chipset processor and bundled with Verizon 4G wireless data plan and 4G LTE connectivity. It will be able to play full HD 1080p video through its built-in HDMI.

Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid. This true hybrid of tablet and laptop and is actually two devices in one. Lenovo showed the U1 last year, but retooled the software: Gone is the custom Linux tablet UI in favor of the more popular and recognizable Google Android platform for the detachable screen. The screen detaches for tablet use and can be purchased alone as the $530 LeTab with either 32GB or 64GB of storage. When attached to a keyboard, the device becomes a laptop running Windows 7 with 320GB of storage, 2GB of RAM and Intel 1.2 GHz CPU. All together, it’s $1,300 and is reportedly available in China first. While pricey, some users will prefer to have access to both Windows and Android. This will surely be a niche device, but it does demonstrate that Lenovo is committed to staying on top of the latest trends.

Toshiba Tablet. Toshiba hasn’t named its 10.1-inch tablet, but like most others, it has outfitted its tablet with Nvidia’s Tegra 2 dual-core processor, a 1280 × 800 touchscreen, two cameras and Android 3.0. Unique to the devices is a nice rubberized back, making the tablet easier to handle. It should be available in the second quarter with Honeycomb, although Toshiba was showing it off with Android 2.2 at CES.

Notion Ink Adam. Adam features the unique 10.1-inch, 1024 × 600, transreflective, PixelQi display that has an eInk mode to save battery life. Nvidia’s dual-core 1 GHz processor will power Android 2.3 with Notion Ink’s custom Eden interface. Instead of separate front and rear cameras, Adam sports a 3.2 inch swivel camera. The tablet will boast battery life of 16 hours, or 160 hours with the backlight off and costs between $375 and $549, depending connectivity and screen configurations. Tegra 2 is based on a low power ARM processor and high performance NVIDIA graphics that allow tablets like the Adam to handle 1080p HD video playback without breaking a sweat. The chipset can also handle games that will be able to reach up to 1080p resolution.

The comparison charts above come from our article Tablet comparison posted on April 5th 2011.

We’d love to hear your thoughts – as always.

Android 3 Honeycomb: Why this changes everything (and nothing)

2011-05-22T13:34:00.000+05:30

A preview of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) has finally been released. Developers can download the new platform and updated SDK tools and play around with it before devices such as the Motorola Xoom hit the market in February.

First rumored at Google I/O 2010, and later demoed at CES, Honeycomb was designed from the ground up to support Android-based tablets. Does that mean it won’t run on smartphones too? Is it a fork, as suggested by Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols? Not according to the man behind the overhaul, Matias Duarte.

Top 10 features in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

2011-05-22T13:30:00.000+05:30

The long awaited Gingerbread release is out, along with a plethora of user and developer oriented features that will delight and amaze. For me, I’m just excited to have another excuse to use the word “plethora” in a sentence. I mean, really, how often does that happen?

Before getting to the good stuff, I have a couple of disclaimers regarding Gingerbread that you should be aware of:

You can’t have it. Not on a real phone, until December 16th when you can shell out $529 for a new Nexus S phone ($199 with 2 year servitude, er, I mean contract). There is no word on when or if Gingerbread will be available on other phones. Even the Nexus One, which up until now has always gotten updates before any other phone, won’t be getting Gingerbread for “a few weeks”. Most users don’t even have 2.2 yet.

It’s not Android 3.0. Gingerbread is a minor release, which will be replaced next year with the big 3.0 Honeycomb release. Andy Rubin, the father of Android, demonstrated an Android tablet from Motorola yesterday, and it was running Honeycomb, not Gingerbread. I’m sure we’ll see new tablets with Gingerbread just like we saw them with FroYo, but if you’re looking for the mythical Tablet-optimized version of Android, this is not the droid you’re looking for.

There are dozens of changes in 2.3 but I’m just going to pick 10 that stick out as being especially useful or game changing. As usual, I’ll break this up into 5 user features and 5 developer features. First up: goodies for users.

User features

New on-screen keyboard. The standard keyboard has been greatly improved in Android 2.3, with faster input and more intuitive typing. Even cut-and-paste got a makeover.

Streamlined user interface. New color schemes and various UI changes and polish make Android more consistent and simpler to use.

Application and power management. Android 2.3 provides better insight into what is running in the background, how much memory and CPU time it is using, and even lets you kill misbehaving apps. Yes, after months of telling us we don’t need a task killer, they give us a task killer. Enjoy your chuckle, iPhone fans.

SIP Internet calling. Voice over IP is integrated directly into Android 2.3. Unfortunately you’ll have to get a SIP account from a third party, and the ability might be curtailed on some carriers.

Download management. All your downloads from your browser, email, and other apps, can now be viewed and controlled from one place.

Developer features

Native development. The ability to write Android programs or parts of programs isn’t new but in Android 2.3 it gets a huge boost with Release 5 of the Native Development Kit (NDK). For example you can now receive input and sensor events, produce sound, manipulate 3D graphics contexts, access assets and storage, and more all from native code. They even added a NativeActivity class that lets you write your lifecycle callbacks in native code.

JVM speed. For Java developers, 2.3 adds a number of speedups, most notably a concurrent garbage collector. According to Google garbage collection pauses will be under 3ms, which is small enough not to be noticed in a 30fps or even 60fps game. New JIT optimizations make Dalvik code run even faster than before.

Faster event distribution. In previous versions of Android, just holding your finger down on the screen would cause whatever program was running to slow down, sometimes dramatically. This is all fixed in Android 2.3.

Multimedia. Rich audio effects like reverb and headphone virtualization can be applied to local tracks or globally across multiple tracks. The platform adds built-in support for VP8/WebM video, plus AAC and AMR wideband encoding. Also, there are now official APIs for accessing the front and rear cameras. There is some limited support for extra large (tablet and TV) displays.

Near Field Communications (NFC). In Japan, NFC is a Big Deal, and the hope is that it will catch on in the rest of the world too. It has all kinds of uses, for example with the right hardware and software you could use your phone as a replacement for your credit card to make point of sale purchases. Using the NFC API apps can respond to NFC tags embedded in stockers, posters, and even other devices.

For a full list of changes see the Android 2.3 Platform Highlights and the API Differences Report. According to statistics on the API Differences page, Android 2.3 is 2.93% different compared to Android 2.2, with 764 additions, 263 changes, and 40 removals. Android 2.3 will be available later this month on the Nexus S phone from Samsung, and from other vendors next year.

Keep watching the Platform Versions Dashboard to see what kind of market share this new Android version achieves over time. I advise all developers to test their apps on the 2.3 emulator now to make sure they run, but keep in mind it will be a while before there are enough 2.3 devices in the field for it to make a viable target.

Shameless plug alert: Counting 2.3, there are now 5 different versions of Android in active use, starting with version 1.5. Making your apps compatible with all these versions is a major focus of my book, Hello, Android. Free examples with source code are included.

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HTC Flyer Now Available in Europe

2011-05-20T18:56:00.000+05:30

HTC has launched its 7 inch tablet. The HTC Flyer will launch, along with a free capacitive stylus, today where you'll be able to pick it up for either €649 for the WiFi and 3G model and €499 for the WiFi only model.

The 3G version of the tablet comes with 32GB of onboard memory that can be expanded by microSD up to 64GB in total. The WiFi only model comes with 16GB onboard.

Google Chromebook Coming to Three UK

2011-05-20T18:55:00.002+05:30

Three UK has been selected as a 3G connectivity partner for the new Google Chromebooks that were announced earlier this week.

Over on the Google Chromebook website we see that several options are available for 3G subscription services. Three will be offering plans that start at £2.99/month and move up to £25/month all dependent on how much data you need and want.

Samsung Has Announced a 2560×1600 Display

2011-05-20T18:53:00.001+05:30

Samsung has announced a new display that measures 10.1 inches and crams 2560x1600 pixels on to the screen. The display has a DPI of 300 and comes close to the DPI of the Retina display used in the iPhone 4. The new screen will be on display on May 17-19 at the SID Display Week in the LA Convention center.

The technology used on the screen is LCD and with that pixel density of 300 DPI, it allows more clarity in small text which makes reading, browsing and over tablet based activities a little better.

LG Optimus Pad Arrives in the UK

2011-05-20T18:48:00.002+05:30

LG has launched the LG Optimus Pad in the UK. The device runs the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system and has an 8.9 inch display. The processor running that tablet is an NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual-Core.

A unique feature of the Optimus Pad is that it utilises dual cameras on the back which each can capture at 5 megapixels. By combining both cameras together, 3D video is capable of being captured on the device.

SoftLayer Create Time Lapse of “Truck Day”

2011-05-20T18:47:00.003+05:30

If you want to know what Truck Day is, it's the day at Soft Layer where a mass amount of servers are delivered and installed within the day.

This time around Truck Day saw the delivery of 750 rack mountable servers and the whole process from delivery to installation was captured on video in a time lapse.

AGC Create 0.1mm Thin Glass for TFT and OLED Screens

2011-05-20T18:47:00.000+05:30

AGC has created new glass that measures just 0.1mm thin. The glass can be used for either OLED or TFT-LCD screens.

Alkali-free glass, composed mainly of silicon dioxide, boron oxide and aluminum oxide, is free of alkaline elements such as sodium and potassium, and is used widely as substrates for TFT-LCD and OLED.

HP Launch the x2301 Ultra Thin Monitor

2011-05-20T18:46:00.002+05:30

The x2301 is a new display from HP that measures 23 inches diagonal and is also classed as being very thin. The monitor is just 9.8mm thin which is achieved by moving a lot of the electronics in to the base/stand of the monitor. The weight of the screen is also quite low at 7.7lbs.

iPhone 5 to Lack NFC

2011-05-20T18:45:00.001+05:30

Near Field Communications (NFC) was first rumored to be arriving in the iPhone 4 last year. This of course didn't happen. Due to a few Apple patents, these rumors were then reignited for the soon to be released iPhone 5. We now hear that this also wont be happening.

Dual and Quad Core Amazon Tablets Could Arrive This Year

2011-05-20T18:43:00.003+05:30

Amazon is likely to be launching two new tablets by the end of this year. The two tablets are codenamed Coyote and Hollywood with Coyote being the entry level tablet which will utilise a Dual-Core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor inside. Moving on to Hollywood, it is expected that Amazon will use a quad-core chip called the NVIDIA T30 “Kal-El”.

Nokia N9 Spotted in Advert

2011-05-20T18:23:00.000+05:30

An advert showing the Nokia N9 has leaked. The new ad looks to be officially made by Nokia and shows a few features of the N9. With this in mind, it's believed that the new MeeGo powered smartphone will be launching soon.

Although it is believed to be a MeeGo powered smartphone, there's also some hints that it could be using Anna. Symbian Anna is the new version of Symbian^3 that currently runs on the latest Nokia phones. Until Nokia make an official announcement, or if info leaks, we wont know for sure which OS it runs. If you take a look at the Facebook Page found here, you might also see that it could actually be MeeGo after all.

iPhone 4 Noise Cancellation is Powered by Audience

2011-05-20T18:20:00.002+05:30

iFixit has revealed that the iPhone 4 has noise cancellation technology that is powered by Audience. Audience is the same chip that is used in the Google Nexus One in that two microphones are used with one capturing the voice and the other capturing background noise. The chip then can cut out background noise to make better quality calls.

The iPhone 4 uses this same technology. When iFixit first took the iPhone 4 apart, they did find two microphones but it wasn't clear what technology was being used for noise cancellation. After another look inside the iPhone 4 when the Verizon model launched, the same mysterious unknown chip was found inside. Rather than ignore it, Chipworks (friends of iFixit), decided to take a look inside the chip and they found the following:

Angry Birds Now at 200 Million Downloads

2011-05-20T18:07:00.000+05:30

Angry Birds has been a huge success for Rovio. Back in December it hit an impressive 50 million downloads. We now hear from TechCrunch that it has now hit 200 million downloads which is more than double what was expected by the company.

Dell Streak 7 Goes on Sale in the UK

2011-04-17T18:17:00.001+05:30

Dell has launched the Streak 7 tablet in the UK. The new 7 inch screen tablet launched in the US recently and just like the US based version, this one runs the Android operating system. On this model is Android 2.2 although future updates will be provided over the air, perhaps to 2.3 or possibly Honeycomb if it follows the HTC Flyer.

This version of the tablet has a 7 inch multi-touch display. The device is capable of running Adobe Flash 10.1. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front as well as a larger 5 megapixel camera on the back. The camera on the back uses auto focus and also has a flash. Powering this tablet is an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor.

Nintendo Could Unveil Next Gen HD Wii This Year

2011-04-17T18:14:00.002+05:30

Today, reports are hinting that a new Nintendo HD could be launching this year. The new console is expected to be announced at E3 this year, and perhaps earlier from what we also hear.

What we expect to see with the new console is of course, HD – high definition graphics. Although the Wii defined a different type of gaming experience a few years ago, one of the problems with it was the lower resolution graphics when compared to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Self Erasing Hard Drives Coming Soon from Toshiba

2011-04-17T18:13:00.002+05:30

Toshiba is working on a new type of “smart” hard drive that can be programmed to either wipe data or secure it in the event of being plugged in to an unknown machine. The drives work with AES 256 encryption and when users move files on to the drive, they can specify if the files are to be kept secure, or if the drive is to be wiped if unauthorised access is detected.

The system works to the Opal specification that lists the standards that corporations work to and this is mostly where the new range of drives will be aimed at… corporations. If a drive happens to be stolen, then companies have more assurance that data will be either deleted or encrypted so that those trying to access the data cannot see it and in turn, it could prevent a data leak.

iOS 4.3.2 Update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch Arrives

2011-04-17T18:11:00.000+05:30

Apple has released an update for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The new version is 4.3.2 which is a minor update that brings a few bug fixes to the OS.

The fixes include the FaceTime problem where a blank screen or frozen video would occur during a call. Also, a fix specific to the iPad WiFi+3G model has been fixed which prevented some users from connecting to networks (international problem only). Finally, a number of other security updates were baked in to the update which we suspect just seal a few security holes, perhaps to help prevent those who update from jailbreaking with the current methods.

PlayBook Promotional Videos Uploaded by RIM

2011-01-10T22:55:00.003+05:30

RIM has launched a couple of new promotional videos for the BlackBerry PlayBook. These two videos arrive just in time for CES 2011.
The first one shows the tablet running HTML5 content as well as Flash games. Social networking sites such as Facebook are also seen running in the video.
The second video shows details about the tools available to developers as found in the BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK. Adobe Flash Builder 4 is also shown as well as Flash Builder Burrito.