Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite gets official with 7-inch screen and dual-core processor

Yesterday we mentioned that some images and specs had leaked about a new Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite tablet. This morning that tablet has gone official with Samsung offering details of the latest member to the Galaxy Tab family. The official specs confirm what we talked about yesterday.

The Galaxy Tab 3 Lite will use a 3600 mAh battery good for up to eight hours of video playback. The tablet has a 7-inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600. The operating system for the tablet is Android 4.2 Jellybean.


The processor under the hood is an unnamed 1.2GHz dual-core unit. The little tablet has no front facing camera. The rear camera is a 2MP unit that has features like Smile Shot, Shoot & Share, and Panorama Shot.

Other hardware features include integrated WiFi, WiFi Direct, and GPS. The tablet also has Bluetooth 4.0. The 1.2 GHz processor is paired with 1GB of RAM and the tablet has 8GB of internal storage. Storage can be expanded with microSD cards up to 32GB. The tablet will launch globally in black and white colors. No time frame for launch or price details are available at this time.






SOURCE: Samsung

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Lenovo’s ThinkPad 8, hands-on with the ‘full PC’ in tablet form

Lenovo ThinkPad 8 is an 8.3-inch Windows tablet, which is touted as a “full PC in the Palm of your hands”. That’s a bold statement, and we’ve seen Windows tablets before that couldn’t hold up under the pressure. As Microsoft tries to find a true cross-reference OS, Lenovo tries to bring some true power to back it up. In Las Vegas at CES 2014, we got the chance for a quick hands-on with the new Windows tablet.

To start, the ThinkPad 8 is comfortable in-hand. The form factor is one we were suspect of, as Windows lends itself to a larger screen. Though screen size isn’t everything, it’s important when considering a Windows tablet, and we were just plain suspicious of the ThinkPad’s size. Comfortable to hold is one thing, a pleasure to use is the real benchmark, though.

Backed by an Intel quad-core Bay Trail processor, the ThinkPad 8 has a 2MP camera up front, and an 8MP shooter around back. Running Windows 8.1, and weighing just under a pound, the 8.8mm ThinkPad packs a lot into a small package. The screen is 1920 x 1200, making it more than capable of handling Window’s “metro” UI. In using the ThinkPad, we found ourselves happily surprised by what’s on offer, but a full PC?

Yes. The ThinkPad is, in regard to hardware, a full PC in a tiny package. While not the most robust Windows PC you can find (it’s still a tablet, after all), it gets the job done. The aluminum casing instilled a sense of confidence, and the responsiveness of the ThinkPad 8's screen and processor made it a pleasure to use in tablet form. Synced to a screen (we used Lenovo’s phenomenal 4K2K monitor), it actually becomes a very simple Windows PC. Again, not the top-end PC you might need, but for the professional on-the-go, it’s a true winner.

For consumers, this one offers even more utility. A PC wherever you go, whenever you want, without much compromise. Lenovo promises up to 8 hours battery life, which we sadly couldn’t task, but we’re not doubting that — yet. In our testing, we’d easily call this the best small Windows tablet on the market right now. We also really liked the Smart Cover Lenovo has for the ThinkPad 8, which is much like Apple’s offering. A neat flip-down corner wakes the rear camera, and brings quick shooting for those moments you just need to capture quickly.

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Lenovo ThinkPad 8 is a three-mode tablet with Quickshot cover

Tablets are a dime a dozen, something that makes room for tablets that take their time, in a manner of speaking. Such is the case with Lenovo's ThinkPad 8, and 8-inch tablet that is promised as offering a "full PC experience" while on the go. The small form-factor allows for easy portability, but the company says that the device's design is premium quality, including machine-cut aluminum and a unique Quickshot Cover.

The ThinkPad 8 can be used in Desktop Mode with a keyboard and external display, or in Tablet Mode, which is exactly what it sounds like. The idea is that professional users, which is Lenovo's target base with this product, can find uses for the device is any situation, whether they need something on the go or want to use it while parked in an office. A dock can be used for the latter, making it easier to use it as a regular desktop computer.

As mentioned, the ThinkPad 8 can be had with a Quickshot Cover, which is an interesting cover that allows the tablet to be convered into a third mode -- Tent Mode. With the Quickshot Cover, the user can take a picture by "peeling" back the cover to bring the 8-megapixel camera into view. This motion triggers the camera's app, making it easy to take a picture without completely opening the cover and manually launching the related software.

As far as specifications go, the ThinkPad 8 tablet comes with an 8.3-inch 1920 x 1200 pixels display. There's both microHDMI and Miracast for playing content elsewhere. Under the hood, this small Lenovo tablet has an Intel Bay Trail quad-core processor and up to 128GB of internal storage space. There's a microUSB 3.0 port, LTE, and Windows 8 Pro. The tablet will be available later this month for $449 USD.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Spotted on AnTuTu, Exynos 5 Octa Chipset, and more

There’s no denying Samsung is working on a bunch of tablets, which are rumored see the daylight in the coming weeks. Some of them are high-end while others target the low-end to mid-range markets. Samsung is rumored to launch a bunch of tablets this year, including a gigantic 12.2-inch one dubbed as Galaxy Note Pro, along with a few others.

One of them is the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (SM-T520), which was recently spotted on AnTuTu benchmarks, and is rumored to come with a 10.1-inch display featuring a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels.

The AnTuTu benchmarks reveals some of the specifications the purported Galaxy Note Pro 10.1 is expected to bring at the table. Other than the impressive display, it is rumored to be powered Exynos 5 Octa 5420 chipset with a clock speed of 1.9GHz and Mali-T628 GPU.

Other features include 2GB RAM, 8MP rear camera for photos and videos, 2MP front-facing camera, 32GB internal memory but we’re expecting it to launch in two storage models, and Android 4.4 KitKat pre-installed out of the box.

Based on earlier rumors, the tablet is expected to launch sometime in February, possibly at the Mobile World Congress 2013, along with a bunch of other tablets. But, it’s just a speculation, who knows Samsung might showcase one of these next week at CES 2014. We’ll keep you posted on all the happenings.

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Qualcomm Ultra Sound NotePad: paper to tablet transfer in realtime

This upcoming week at CES 2014, Qualcomm is planning on demonstrating their Snapdragon 805 proccessor abilities out with several new technologies, one of which is Ultra Sound NotePad. Using this processor's abilities tied to this unique tablet (a developer test tablet, for the moment), ultrasonic sounds created by a digital pen are able to be picked up and transferred to replications of drawings done on a piece of paper directly down to an app. You might have to see this to understand what it's all about.

While previous solutions relied on the pen's ability to record, then transfer to an app at a later time, this solution transfers data in realtime. No longer will you have to write on the tablet itself or wait for your drawings to be processed from the pen to access them. Here you'll be able to make a drawing - or series of notes - on a piece of paper and have them instantly appear on the tablet nearby.

This will make an extremely interesting set of use-cases available to artists in the near future, that's for certain. Where before now the only solution for creating real paper-and-pen art visible on the computer was to scan your finalized work of art after it was made, this solution makes an instant double.

One perfect use-case for this technology will be for comic artists who otherwise have relied on multiple step processes to transfer their works from paper to the web. Many artists still rely on the sensations and quality delivered by working with real ink delivery to a piece of paper rather than moving in to a whole new world with digital stylus-to-screen bits like Samsung's S Pen technology (as seen in the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 most recently) or NVIDIA's newer Tegra Note Stylus technology - as seen most recently in the EVGA Tegra Note 7.
For a full-on delivery of how this Qualcomm technology works, we'll be heading to CES 2014 for an up-close experience. Stay tuned for our full CES 2014 coverage starting this weekend, Qualcomm included!





VIA: Android Central

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Acer Iconia B1-720 7-inch Android tablet is slimmed down and faster

Joining the newly announced A1-830 tablet is the new Acer Iconia B1-720, a smaller 7-inch tablet that is otherwise fairly similar to its larger A1 sibling. As with the A1, the Iconia B1-720 offers Jelly Bean and the promise of both high performance and battery life. Rather than the aluminum design, however, the B1 makes things a bit more classy with a textured and silky finish.

The Acer B1 tablet features a dual-core 1.3GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, and whilst internal storage space comes in at 16GB, there's a micro SD expansion slot with support for up to 32GB. The software is Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean, the same loaded on the new Iconia A1, and as always, performance is promised to be solid and smooth for activity ranging from Web browsing to mobile gaming.

Acer is aiming this particular model at families, those new to the world of tablets, or as an offering for those who don't want to give their kids access to a more expensive slate. This is the third-generation of the B1, clocking in as slimmer than the previous model with a boost in performance and a promise for better sound. There's a single speaker, as well as a microphone and front-facing camera, the resolution of which wasn't detailed.

Connectivity is basic with WiFi, and a tablet is being sold separately for this latest B1 model. The front portion of the tablet will be available in red and grey, while the cover will be available in multiple unspecified colors that doubles as a stand. The tablet will be available from retailers later this month for $129.99 USD and CAD.

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DreamTab tablet from DreamWorks and Fuhu heads to CES 2014

You might not recognize the name Fuhu unless you have kids that like tablets. Fuhu is the company that produces the popular kids tablet line called Nabi. Fuhu has teamed up with DreamWorks to produce a new tablet called the DreamTab.

The tie up between the two companies gives DreamWorks a new way to get its popular animated characters in front of children around the world. DreamWorks is the studio behind popular animated cartoons like Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, Kung-fu Panda and more. The DreamTab tablet will make its official debut at CES 2014.

The tablet will hit stores this spring. Pricing hasn’t been hammered out just yet, but it is expected to sell for under $300. The tablet that lands this spring will have an 8-inch screen. The two companies are planning a 12-inch version as well.

DreamWorks says that it will be able to give kids a "new character moment" every day for the entire year via the tablet. The moments will include stuff like drawing lessons from DreamWorks animators and more. The tablet is also tipped to get tech allowing it to work with DreamWorks toys. The tablet will also have the ability to send instant messages and email. Fuhu promises about the same computing power as an iPad when the DreamTab is in parent mode.





SOURCE: NYT

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Amazon Mayday delivers Bezos’ promise, avoids Kindle Fire meltdown

Amazon's Mayday system for the Kindle Fire HDX, putting a live customer services assistant on the screen of the Android-based tablet, saw the retailer beat its self-imposed time-to-answer target, though highlights lingering questions as to how many new owners needed hand-holding to understand the media-centric slate. Mayday, launched alongside the 7- and 8.9-inch Fire HDX models earlier this year, connects to remote tech support who can either guide users through setting up or troubleshooting their tablets, or take control and do the hard work themselves.

Amazon's goal, the company said, had been to answer Mayday requests for assistance within 15 seconds. In actual fact, it was announced today, the average response time was 9 seconds.

As ever, Amazon is coy on Kindle sales figures - it said today that "millions" received Kindle Fire tablets over the holidays, but declined to give specifics - and it's similarly reticent to say exactly how many Mayday calls were handled. "Thousands" of customer services staff were supposedly drafted in to handle the predicted demand.


Mayday as a system was designed to address one of the lingering complaints about Android-based tablets; namely, that they can have a tricky learning curve that leaves new users unsure as to go through setup stages and other features. As we found when we reviewed both the Kindle Fire HDX 7 and its bigger sibling, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 Amazon has thoroughly reskinned Android for its purposes - as well as excising Google's Play store in preference of its own ebook, TV show, music, and movie download options - but some of the settings can still be tricky to navigate.

Whether systems like MayDay are the best approach to handling that remains to be seen; some would argue that Amazon's efforts would be better spent making its customized OS more straightforward out of the box.

That's not a position Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would agree with, however. Speaking to SlashGear at the Kindle Fire HDX launch, the outspoken CEO argued that it was tech usability as only Amazon could do it, and recognized that no matter how straightforward the device, there'd always be someone who needed further support and that Mayday would make that more efficient all round.

Bezos' predictions for how Mayday would help Amazon come the holiday period also seem to have come true, if today's response time figures are anything to go by. "We'll be ready for Christmas morning," the exec had promised, "which is always a very big tech support day for us."

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Apple’s Tim Cook heading to Turkey in 2014 over big iPad deal, says sources

Yesterday, an Apple employee newsletter surfaced in which CEO Tim Cook teased some big plans the company has in store for 2014. While such big plans weren't elaborated on, a Turkish publication -- Emlakkulisi -- has reported that Cook has a trip to Turkey planned for February 2014, where he will reportedly talk to Turkey's President Abdullah Gul about something being referred to as "FATIH Project".

The FATIH Project, as it is being called, is a mission to update educational institutions in Turkey from the traditional chalkboards and textbooks to things more modern and portable. The technology would include a vast quantity of tablets, of which it is being reported iPads will make up a hefty sum. This follows a visit by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Apple's headquarters earlier this year.

The visit was said to involve listening to a company pitch of its iPad slates, something similar to visits that also took place with Microsoft and Google. Under the FATIH Project, 10.6 million tablets will be acquired in phases for schools in the nation. Following that acquisition, it is being reported iPads numbering between 2 and 2.5 million units could be purchased.

In February, CEO Cook will reportedly visit Turkey to discuss this matter, as well as to visit the first Apple Store in the country, which is located in the Zorlu Center in Istanbul and opens in early 2014. The information is said to come from unnamed sources close to the matter that spoke to the Turkish media company.





SOURCE: Apple Insider

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Samsung Galaxy Note Pro reportedly to be offered in two size options

It has been expected that Samsung would roll out some new tablets, and last Friday details emerged regarding Tab Pro, Note Pro, and Tab Lite models. Following this has been a so-called leak regarding the Note Pro in particular, with Korean website Move Player offering an interesting (and dubious) claim about the model, which will reportedly see a CES 2014 or MWC launch.

As you may have guessed from the image above, Move Player is stating the Galaxy Note Pro will be offered in two different sizes: the first, a 12.2-inch model, and the second, a smaller 10.1-inch offering. Reportedly, the smaller of the two models will have a generous display resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, as well as 3GB of RAM. Also generous is the claimed battery capacity of 9500mAh. The OS is said to be Android 4.4, and the overall weight is pegged at 750 grams.

Beyond this, the website is also claiming the Note Pro's claimed dual-booting functionality isn't true, citing unnamed sources who nixed the idea of Windows running as a secondary operating system alongside the expected Android offering. The news is disappointing, perhaps, but not terribly surprising at this point.

The question now is whether such claims can be trusted. The sources aren't identified, and the source article Move Player draws its information from has since been pulled. There are no verifiable sources that can be seen, and nothing in the way of any sort of relationship that could lend credibility. Until something -- anything -- concrete lands, this one will stay filed away in the rumor section.





VIA: Android Community
SOURCE: Move Player

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HP rumored to launch two Android phablets by year’s end

Hewlett-Packard may or may not release two brand new smartphones by the end of 2013, reported The Information today by way of The Verge. That gives the computing company eight days to make rumors come true. The phones -- for which no leaked or officially sanctioned images exist to our knowledge -- are expected to be a 6-inch "phablet" and a 7-inch phablet.

By "phablet" we mean either a huge phone or a small tablet. The origin for today's rumor is -- surprise, surprise -- "sources". Both products are expected to run Android, not HP's webOS.

Previously, HP launched and soon thereafter shuttered its webOS smartphone ambitions with the Pre3 (see hero image above) and the itty-bitty Veer (see below). The phones couldn't compete against the Apple-Samsung near-duopoly in the global smartphone marketplace, let alone claw past the likes of HTC, Sony and LG.

An image and benchmarks for a possible HP Android smartphone surfaced in July 2013, only to be briskly denied by an HP representative as false. "Someone is making stuff up," the representative said in a tiny statement.

The two rumored phones now under discussion will be released in emerging markets first, specifically India, China and the Philippines. The prices are pegged in the range of $200-250 USD off-contract.

Eight days. Clock's ticking. We'll see if The Information's sources pan out and let you know if anything emerges.




SOURCE: The Information
VIA: The Verge

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Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 and 10.1 to ride with Tab 3 Lite in 2014

There's a whole slew of new tablet devices coming from Samsung inside the first quarter of 2014, likely appearing at CES 2014 here in the USA first and foremost. What we're going to see besides the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.1 is a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. We'll also see a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1, the both of them rolling with processors that are likely well above the pale - certainly more well-off than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 series, that is to say.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 and 8.4 will likely take on the appearance of the Samsung Galaxy Note family. This means they'll have faux-stitching along their backs and will have some friendly notching around the edges. The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is said by SamMobile to be launching alongside the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 sometime in the sixth week of the year - just in the midst of the two biggest tech conventions of the year.

You'll also want to follow SlashGear to Mobile World Congress 2014 while you're at it - Samsung will be appearing in force. There we'll also likely hear of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite. This machine is tipped to launch inside the second week of 2014 and will be appearing with a 7-inch display and a "Cream White" color.

The Samsung Galaxy Pro 10.1 is said to launch in the 7th week of 2014, bringing the full collection up in black and white. It's suggested also that the Galaxy Tab Pro set will be appearing with base storage sizes of 16GB - tiny! The full line has not yet been photographed in the wild, but we'll likely find them all rather familiar.

Above you're seeing the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition and the Galaxy Note 8, both of which will lend their aesthetics to the 2014 generation of products. Stay tuned!



SOURCE: Slashgear

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Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.1 coming in 2014

There's a who gush of new devices appearing in the early release tip mill this week, the largest of which is in the Galaxy Note category. This is the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.1, the largest Samsung Galaxy Note to see the light of day, made with the power to take on tasks that previous iterations of the Note series simply could not. It'll be interesting above all else to compare to power of this device to whatever "Tab" the company releases soon after.

This release is part of a set of reveals that have come up today courtesy of SamMobile. There they've spoken with an inside who suggests the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.1 will be released near the same time as three new Galaxy Tab units. There's the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1, and the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite.

The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.1 is pictured above courtesy of an early viewer from Seeko in Korea. This image shows what may at first appear to be the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014, but given the amount of space between the left-facing speaker and the headphone jack, as well as the length of said speaker, we're looking at a tablet that's significantly larger. In other words: this machine will very closely replicate the look and feel of the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition.

This device has not been given a list of specifications, nor has it been detailed at length. The folks at SamMobile have suggested the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 will work with 32GB of internal storage, but that's just about all we can wager to guess - beyond the normal Galaxy Note improvements, of course.

You can expect to see these devices at CES 2014 and MWC 2014 as well - stick around!

SOURCE: Slashgear

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Nexus 7 2 Best Buy ad affirms full HD display

We might have already heard quite a few ramblings of the next-generation Nexus 7, but nothing is quite as solid as a leaked retail store circular ad. A leaked Best Buy ad shows off the next-generation Nexus 7, revealing not only its $229 price tag, but also the 1920×1200 full HD display gracing the front of the tablet.

The ad also notes that the $229 price tag will get you 16GB of storage, meaning that the 32GB version will cost just a little bit more, possibly in the $249 or $279 range. Sadly, Best Buy is always pretty vague about advertising products in their weekly ads, so we don’t get treated with any more details than those little tidbits.

However, the Best Buy circular mentions that the tablet will be “available Tuesday.” Seeing as how Google is holding an event on Wednesday this week, the ad could be referring to July 30 as the official launch date of the refreshed Google slate. However, the distribution date for the leaked circular isn’t known, so whatever date “Tuesday” is, is still unknown, but it’s said the circular will begin running on July 28, so we have no reason to not think that the new Nexus 7 will be arriving on July 30.

The refreshed Nexus 7 is also said to be getting an update to Android 4.3, and will come with dual cameras, as well as wireless charging, which we’ve already seen on Google’s latest Nexus 4 handset. The tablet is also said to be sporting a quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM paired up. Exact specs aren’t known, obviously, but it seems this new Nexus 7 refresh will be a big one, while keeping the same 7-inch screen and mostly the same body style.





SOURCE: Phone Arena

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Huawei MediaPad 7 Youth tablet revealed with Q3 launch

Huawei has announced a new 7-inch tablet that will be rolling out later this year, the MediaPad 7 Youth. The slate is a modest offering, with Huawei detailing the general specifications around a marketing push that targets the younger generation. There’s no specific launch date for the device yet, with the maker only specifying “Q3 2013.”

The MediaPad 7 Youth, as its name suggests, features a 7-inch display with support for 10-point touch. Unfortunately, Huawei didn’t break out more details about the display, such as what kind of resolution we can expect, nor what kind of panel is used. They do, however, say that it allows for “vivid” 1080p full HD video playback.


Inside, the MediaPad 7 Youth has a 28nm dual-core 1.6GHz processor and a “powerful GPU,” neither of which were detailed further. Connectivity includes HSPA+ 21Mbps and 802.11 wifi. The Li-Polymer battery has a capacity of 4100 mAh that is said to provide a standby time of nearly two weeks. The software is Android 4.1.

As far as the slate itself goes, Huawei says it measures in at 9mm thick, and weighs 350 grams, with a body being constructed of unibody aluminum. The tablet’s price is still unknown, but it’ll be launched in Asia Pacific, Russia, China, Europe, and the Middle East in the next couple months.

Said Huawei’s Vice President of its Home Connected Device Product Line Wang Yinfeng, “The MediaPad 7 Youth is a versatile tablet that provides an unsurpassed experience across hardware and software. Ideal for young people who are always on the move, the MediaPad 7 Youth delivers on Huawei’s promise to make extraordinary technology experiences accessible for all.”

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