Sony Lenovo Dell to Launch, iPad Killers

Although the expected iPad competition never really heated up last year, 2011 is going to be a different story, with a slate (ahem) full of Android-based tablets, the HP TouchPad, the Research in Motion (RIM) PlayBook, and others. However, a number of interesting new iPad competitors has cropped up, lending credence to the notion that 2011 really will be the year of the tablet. First up is Sony, which announced plans for two new slate-based tablets this year, code-named S1 and S2.

Both are based on Android "Honeycomb" 3.0, and though the S1 is a "traditional," iPad-style tablet with a 9.4" screen, the S2 is an innovative-looking clamshell device with two 5.5" widescreen multitouch displays, both of which feature a resolution of 1024 x 480. No pricing or exact availability is currently available Sony says both will launch this year, possibly at different times in different markets but these new tablets are already causing quite a stir, and Sony claims it will be the number-two tablet maker after Apple by the end of 2012.

Both devices feature dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processors and will be capable of playing "PlayStation-quality" video games. Some believe the devices will be branded as PlayStations when they're released. ThinkPad-maker Lenovo, meanwhile, is prepping a ThinkPad-branded Android 3.0 tablet of its own, and given the company's pedigree, it could steal some thunder from the RIM PlayBook. Due in June, the ThinkPad Tablet will slide onto a ThinkPad laptop shell so it can be used as the screen in a true ThinkPad laptop (albeit it one running Android, not Windows).

It will also feature an IPS display and a dual-core Tegra 2 processor. And Dell, no stranger to the tablet market it launched its Streak line of tablets last year will also have an Android 3.0-based tablet this year as well as (get this) a Windows 7-based tablet for its more old-fashioned customers. The Streak Pro-branded Android tablet will feature a 1280 x 800 10.1" widescreen display, the requisite dual-core Tegra 2 CPU, and a Dell-created "Stage 1.5" user interface, according to sources. It should launch in June.

For Windows fans, Dell will offer up a Latitude ST in October, offering a 10" screen, an Intel "Oak Trail" Core-series processor, front- and rear-facing cameras, 128GB of SSD-based storage, and 2GB of RAM. And because it's a Windows machine, it will include stylus-based input with handwriting recognition in addition to standard multitouch features.

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HP Pavilion Dv6-6091nr i7 Powered Multimedia Laptop

The HP Pavilion dv6-6091nr is the new version of the dv6 multimedia notebook. The specification is pretty high; with an Intel i7 2.0GHz processor, giving quad core processing and an impressive 6GB of DDR3 RAM for all those memory hungry applications. The graphics power comes from an ATI Mobility Radeon card named HD6570, this card come with 1024MB GDDR5 memory. It’s good to see a 1TB hard drive however it’s a 5400rpm model, the guys at HP should have installed a faster hard drive.

The LED display looks great; the only quibble would be the resolution at 1366×768, this seems a bit strange as it’s supposed to be a ‘multimedia model’ most competitor models have 1920×1080. The HP Pavilion dv6 6091nr does have HDMI output; so you can connect it up to an HD TV and play full HD content.
The casing of the Pavilion dv6 is very similar to its predecessor apart from the colour which is now darker.

Specifications

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

• 15.6” LED backlit display (1366×768)

• Intel Core i7-2630QM quad core processor (2.0GHz)

• 6GB DDR3 ram

• 1TB 5400rpm hard drive

• AT Mobility Radeon HD6570 graphics card with 1024MB GDDR5

• Supermulti DVD R/RW with Lightscribe

• 2x USB3.0, 2x USB2.0, HDMI out, VGA out, 2x headphone out

• Wifi b/g/n, 10/100 Ethernet

• 6 cell 55Whr Li-ion battery

• 1 year limited warranty

Pros

There is a full number pad which you don’t often see on smaller laptops. Having USB 3.0 Is great for all the new devices coming out. Slick and clean appearance, looks cool. Great price point considering it’s a 17 Sandy Bridge multimedia laptop.

Cons

The Hard Drive at 5400rpm doesn’t match up to the power of the other components; maybe a weak point.
The screen resolution is only a max of 1366×768, so its 720p rather than 1920×1080 – 1080p which is a shame as the video card has plenty of power. The battery is 6-cell Lithium, not sure if the capacity is great enough for this high spec laptop.

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Samsung NF210 Netbook with Curves

Space is definitely a very serious issue when you’re traveling and that’s where a netbook has a big advantage over a laptop. Take a look at what Samsung’s NF210 has to offer and whether it’s enough to make for a good buy.

Design and Build Quality

The first thing to notice about the NF210 is its design. While the basic form factor is that of a netbook, Samsung has thrown in some well thought of curves, which definitely gives a neat look to it. The piece that came in for review had a powder blue colour and a glossy finish on the lid. Unlike the lid, the screen inside is a 10.1-inch LED backlit display which has a non-glossy finish.

The keyboard has a Chiclet design which makes it pretty comfortable to type on. One slight qualm would be that the area below the keyboard was a little smaller than usual, but that might be because of the upper area being used as an opening for the speakers of the netbook. The trackpad also felt a little small in size and lacked some response as well.

The ports around the netbook are all well placed and designed so there’s nothing much to talk about from that perspective. On a whole, the design is catchy to the eyes and the build quality is really good for a netbook.

Features

In terms of features, there’s nothing special that the NF210 can boast of. It has a dual-core Intel Atom N550 processor that clocks 1.5 GHz and a 1 GB DDR2 RAM. There’s 250 GB of storage space which is sufficient for a regular user.

The Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 n capabilities mean that the netbook has good connectivity options. The NF210 also boasts of a 3 W speakers which has its openings over the keyboard as mentioned earlier.

Unfortunately, the NF210 runs on Intel’s NM10 chipset which doesn’t include support for USB 3.0 ports. While it might not be a standard addition, but nowadays a USB 3.0 port can always come in handy.

Performance

With those kinds of specifications, you might expect the NF210 to give scores ranging from below average to average. However, pleasantly surprised to see the netbook fare almost equally with other netbooks. In terms of scores, the NF210 comes quite close to Toshiba’s NB520 which had a 2 GB RAM. There was a minuscule two percent boost in the Cinebench R10 scores. Plus, compressing a file took two seconds lesser than the NB520. Have a look at the scores below.

The hard drive didn’t perform too well on transferring a single 4 GB file a very poor speed of 22.75 MB/s and for the assorted 4 GB file transfer test, it dropped to 16 MB/s. The viewing angles of the screen were one really bad aspect of the netbook. Apart from opening the screen fully, the display is neither easy nor comfortable to view. Probably a better screen would add to the overall value of the netbook. The NF210’s 3W speakers which can play loud enough to be heard in the living room.

While the bass is almost negligent, the mids are quite easy to pick and so are the highs. Finally, battery test the netbook run for 3 hours 50 minutes from a 6 cell Li-Ion Battery which is quite low if compared to the Aspire One D260, or the Acer Gateway LT23. Mostly, netbooks are expected to give a minimum of 4 hours and 30 minutes of running on a single charge. To summarize the performance, the scores recorded are not the best out there, but they are good enough to match standard netbook scores. 

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Sony Vaio VPCEB4J0E/WI CEK White Laptop

The powerful Sony Vaio VPCEB4J0E/WI.CEK, driven by Intel technology is not just an eye candy with its amazingly stylish look, but also a strong contender in terms of its performance. The model, also known as the Sony White Laptop is powered by the Intel Core i3-370M processor and it runs on the Genuine Windows 7 Home Edition (64 bits) operating system.

It features 3 GB DDR3 RAM (expandable to 6GB) and a storage capacity of 320 GB (SATA, 5400rpm). Optical disk drives are supported. The Intel HD Graphics card offers approximately 1271 MB dedicated graphic memory. In the display department, the laptop amazes with its 15.5 inch LCD widescreen and a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768.

The screen also features the Sony trademark LED backlit VAIO display. When it comes to connectivity, the laptop comes with one VGA and one HDMI video interface, one microphone jack, one headphone jack, one HDMI digital A/V output, one USB/eSata and three USB2.0 ports.

The audio features comprise of integrated stereo speakers, Dolby Home Theatre technology and internal monaural microphone amongst others. Some other key features include the likes of the MOTION EYE webcam with 0.3 megapixel sensors, WEB Button, Kensington lock slot, memory card reader and many more.

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Apple Slips Faster SSD Drive from Samsung into Its MacBook Airs

It’s a bit ironic that after Samsung releases its competitor to the MacBook Air in the form of the Series 9 notebook, the same company is responsible for giving Apple’s ultraportable laptop a bit of speed boost. That’s because new MacBook Airs are shipping with a new, faster solid state drive apparently from Samsung after initially coming with a Toshiba SSD.

How much faster is the Samsung “blade” SSD (a.k.a. the mSATA form factor that Apple introduced with the Air) than Toshiba’s? According to Anandtech, the Samsung SM128C offers 260MB/s read speeds and 210MB/s write speeds, compared to the Toshiba TS128C’s 210MB/s read speeds and 185MB/s write speeds. If you’re in the market for the Air, hopefully you’ll get a Samsung SSD-equipped version, though you probably have no way of knowing until you bring the notebook home. Such is Apple’s way.

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Dual-Core HTC Pyramid Gets Official as the Sensation 4G for T-Mobile

Taiwanese gadget maker HTC Corp. (2498) has enjoyed a rise that is nothing short of meteoric. Thanks to positioning itself as perhaps the most prolific maker of high-end Android handsets, HTC recently soared past the world's largest cell phone maker, Nokia Oyj. (NOK), in terms of market cap. Just a couple years ago that would have been considered a laughable proposition. HTC looks to continue its winning ways with the HTC Sensation "4G" press release, a new Android smartphone which will be available on T-Mobile in the U.S. (DTE).

Whereas the hot selling HTC Thunderbolt 4G on Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ) was essentially a rebranded HTC EVO 4G (Sprint), the HTC Sensation 4G like the upcoming HTC EVO 3D brings substantial aesthetic and hardware changes to the table. Starting out, it is HTC's second upcoming phone to pack a dual core CPU. Like the upcoming EVO 3D (the successor to the EVO 4G) it carries one of Qualcomm Inc.'s (QCOM) latest Snapdragon CPUs.

Its dual cores are clocked at 1.2 GHz. The phone has a bit in common with Motorola's Atrix 4G, a smartphone deployed on what may soon become T-Mobile's parent network AT&T Inc. (T). The Atrix 4G packs a dual core Tegra 2 from NVIDIA Corp (NVDA). It should be interesting to see how the Tegra 2 stacks up against Qualcomm's similarly clocked dual-core offerings in processing might and power efficiency. Like the Atrix 4G, the Sensation 4G will pack an HSPA+ modem.

While not true "4G" T-Mobile and AT&T's marketing departments have opted to rebrand this "3.5G" tech as "4G" due to their inability to roll out a "true" "4G" network like Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) (WIMAX) or Verizon (LTE). A common defense of this practice is that current "4G" networks from Sprint and Verizon don't live up to the speeds promised in their spec. This is very accurate, but it ignores the fact that T-Mobile and AT&T's HSPA+ speeds also fall short of the standard's spec.

At the end of the day you will probably receive faster speeds than 3G phones with T-Mobile and AT&T's "4G" (in applicable regions), but it won't be quite as fast as Verizon or Sprint’s true 4G (again, in applicable regions). This is still somewhat of a win for customers, in that it represents a slight improvement, even if the branding somewhat misleads in disguising the fact that T-Mobile and AT&T are using an older/lesser standard.

Android fans will be pleased that Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the latest version of the operating system will be preinstalled on the phone.  HTC, like other Android phone makers has had a bit of an issue with selling handsets with outdated versions of the OS for example the Thunderbolt comes with Android "Froyo" 2.2. Hopefully the Sensation 4G is a sign of things to come in this regard. Fans may be less pleased to discover that HTC has packed in its latest version of its user interface skin Sense 3.0 into the Sensation 4G.

Many users complained that past versions of sense felt clunky and slowed the phone. Hopefully HTC's latest effort shapes things up slightly. Like the EVO 3D, the phone packs a 4.3-inch (540 x 960) Super LCD screen. While lacking the EVO 3D's dual rear sensors for 3D imaging, its single rear sensor are a beefier 8 megapixels. It also adds a second LED flash, for better pictures in dim conditions and speeds of the maximum video framerate to 30 fps at 1080p.

The Sensation 4G was formerly codenamed the HTC "Pyramid", so you may have heard of it under that name. It won't land in the U.S. until this summer, but the Sensation 4G will be available as a Vodafone exclusive for "a couple of weeks", starting in mid-May. It should be available in Germany, the UK, and other "key" markets. After the initial couple of weeks, other European carriers should be able to pick it up. HTC didn't hint at whether the handset might come to other carriers besides T-Mobile in the U.S.

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Nokia Wants One Ring to Rule Your Cellphone

Nokia Research Labs has created a magnetic ring called Nenya, after Galadriel's Ring of Power, that can control your cellphone as you twist it on your finger. The magic behind this functionality isn't really all that magical: by mounting a magnet on a ring, you can create a magnetic field with a detectable orientation. As you twist the ring around your finger, that orientation changes, which functions as an analog input dial of sorts. A Bluetooth-equipped bracelet picks up on the field orientation, and by tugging the ring forward on your finger a bit, you've effectively got a 'select' button.

All these inputs are sent to your cellphone, enabling you to do everything from toggling your music to answering calls to interacting with specialized apps. In user testing, Nokia has found that most people can accurately position the ring in increments of 45 degrees, suggesting that eight different options could exist on one ring or more if you're willing to move the ring back and forth along the axis of your finger. And while the sensor bracelet is pretty fugly at the moment, there's no reason the technology couldn't be built into something like a watch.

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