Tag: TABLETS

HP to Work on High-End Tablets Priced Similar to Apple iPad

HP Slate 7 came out in 2013 and since then the tablet-business for the company has not been too smooth. HP had aimed to increase sales by keeping the prices low, but that couldn’t work for the company. The manufacturer decided to modify its tactics this year, the Cyber Monday sale being an example. This year, HP conducted a liquidation sale to sort out the inventory of its low-priced slate-tablets.

Additionally, HP has split itself into two companies -one aims at enterprises, the other at consumers. Tablets for “business mobility” will now be part of production of the company. President of Personal Systems at HP, David Coughlin says the tablets will now aim at retail, education and health care.

“We are going to focus where there is profitability and growth and will not chase the low-end tablet market. We are focusing on business mobility to deliver tablets built for field service, education, retail and healthcare,” says David Coughlin

As HP got rid of pretty much most of it low-range tablets, the tablets still on the website have similar price tags as iPads. HP Envy 8 Note are two consumer tablets available on the website. They feature an Intel Atom chipset and are priced at $329 and $429 respectively. These tablets are further equipped with a stylus controlled interface.

iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil

The lowest price tablets by HP are two variants of the HP Slate 8 which include an 8-inch device powered by Snapdragon 801 along with Android 5.0 pre-installed. These tablets are priced at $469 and $499.

December 4, 2015
Microsoft Set to Launch the Surface Pro 4 and Lumia Phones in India

Microsoft held a Future Unleashed event in Mumbai today. CEO Satya Nadella delivered a keynote speech wherein he announced that the Surface Pro 4 will launch in India in January 2016. Microsoft has so far refused to sell the Surface range of tablets in India, believing that the market was not ready for high-end laptops and tablets.

Nadella also announced that the new Windows 10-powered Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL smartphones would launch in India next month. He also showcased the much talked about Continuum Mode that lets you hook up the smartphone to a keyboard and display, which in essence lets you use your smartphone like a laptop.

“We are reinventing computing with devices like the HoloLens to Microsoft Band and everything in between.”

The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 starts at $899 (Rs. 60,000), the Pro 4 with i5 is priced at $999 (Rs. 65,000) and the Pro 4 with i7 is a whopping $1599 (Rs. 1 lakh). The Indian pricing may cost a little more due to taxes and there is no word yet on which versions Microsoft plans to bring to India.

Nadella’s trip to India come just a month after PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the Silicon Valley. Microsoft had earlier said that the company was working on making affordable Internet access available to 5 lakh villages in the country. Mark Zuckerberg also held a Townhall at IIT Delhi last week where he spoke about Facebook’s interest in providing basic internet to rural parts of the country.

Let us know your views on Microsofts newest products in the comments below.

November 5, 2015
Apple iPad Mini 4 is Now Available in India

The Apple event last month not only saw the unveiling of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, but also two new iPads. The iPad mini 4 and iPad Air Pro continue Apple’s tablet legacy and now the iPad mini 4 has reached the Indian market.

The device is available for purchase from online retailer Infibeam at a starting price of Rs. 27,077 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi variant, and Rs. 38,900 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi+Cellular version. It also comes in 64 GB and 128 GB variants. The price tag is the same as last year’s iPad mini 3, and the mini 4 also sports a similar 7.9-inch Retina Display with 2048×1536 resolution. However, the iPad mini 4 has some new additions that include Apple’s A8 chip with M8 motion co-processor and Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

Other specs include an 8MP iSight 1080p primary camera and 1.2MP HD front-facing camera. It comes with a 5124mAh lithium-polymer battery with up to 10 hours of web surfing on Wi-Fi, video and music playback. The iPad mini 4 will, of course, run on iOS 9.

The iPad mini 4 comes in Silver, Gold, and Space Grey colours. You can purchase the tablet from Infibeam right now or wait for the device to hit other online and offline retailers. You can use the promo code CARNIVAL6 for a discount of 6% (up to Rs. 2000) on the iPad mini 4 on Infibeam. The Wi-Fi version will ship with 2-3 working days while the Wi-Fi+Cellular versions will take 4-6 days to reach you. No word yet on when the iPad Air Pro will launch in India.

October 20, 2015
Acer Unveils Range of Products Including Chromebook, Hybrid Laptops And More

Acer launched a variety of new products today at the Next@Acer event that took place in New York. The list comprises of plenty of devices including a new Chromebook, three tablets, several new laptops and a new all-in-one PC.

The new Chromebook 15 CB3-531 has a 15.6-inch screen, and its price starts at $199 (Rs. 12,644). Inside the Chromebook is a dual-core Intel Celeron N2830 processor with 2GB of RAM. With a microSD card, its memory can expand from 16GB inbuilt to 128GB. The company claims that its battery can last up to 11.5 hours. Connectivity options include HDMI, USB 2.0 port, and USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi.

Chromebook 15 CB3-531

The laptops unveiled today include two Aspire Switch 10 hybrids, whose 10.1-inch IPS screens can be detached. The Aspire Switch 10E (SW3-013) and the Aspire Switch 10 (SW5-015) are powered by Intel Atom quad-core processors. The Aspire Switch 10E (SW3-013) features a 1280×800 pixel HD resolution and the latter features a 1920×1080 pixel HD resolution. Both the hybrids include a 2MP camera, though the SW5-015 only features a front camera. The Switch 10 SW3-013 starts at $279 (Rs. 17,727).

Aspire Switch 10 (SW5-015)

Another laptop introduced is the Acer Aspire R 11 (R3-131T) with an 11.6-inch screen size. It features a 1366×768 pixel HD touch-screen display. The company also introduced the Aspire V 15 (V3-574) laptop, which will ship in August starting at $599 (Rs. 38,060). It runs on Windows 8.1, carries a 15-inch 1366×768 pixel resolution display and an option of HD and full-HD non-touch displays. Acer also revealed new models in the Aspire E series laptops, as well as the Aspire ES series. It will ship in July with price starting at $249 (Rs. 15,821)

Acer Aspire R 11 (R3-131T)

Lastly, Acer launched an all-in-one PC, the Acer Z3-710, which runs on Windows 8.1 OS. You can choose between Intel Core i3/i5/i7, Intel Pentium and Intel Celeron processors, along with a 16GB DDR3L RAM. It is completed with a Nvidia GeForce 840M, 2TB HDD and a 23.8-inch full-HD 1920×1080 pixel IPS display.

Acer also announced new Android tablets – Iconia One 8 and Iconia Tab 10. Both the tablets run on Android 5.0 Lollipop. Acer Iconia One 8 (B1-820) has an 8-inch display and runs on a 1.83GHz Intel Atom quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM. The Iconia Tab 10 (A3-30) has a larger 10.1-inch full-HD (1920×1200 pixels) IPS Zero Air Gap display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

Iconia Tab 10 (A3-30)

Along with these devices, Acer also introduced a different genre of devices like a LED projector with Intelligent Ambient Light Sensor, and curved monitor with Nvidia G-Sync Technology. Both are claimed to be the first of their kind.

With the launch of so many devices, it would be interesting to see the market response to the Acer products.

April 24, 2015
Toshiba Shows Off Three New Premium Windows Devices

At a time when other companies are bidding CES goodbye, Toshiba still has some offerings left in stock. The Japanese multinational company rolled out a trio of Windows devices at CES 2015 that puts to use the rarely-used digital stylus. The launched devices include a Portege Z20t Ultrabook and a pair of Encore 2 Write tablets.

The Portege Z20t Ultrabook by Toshiba is a hybrid laptop that detaches to transform into a tablet. The device features a 12.5-inch display with 1920×1080 (1080p HD) resolution and is powered by an Intel Core M-5Y51 processor paired with up to 8 GB of RAM. The SSD of the Ultrabook is capable of storing as much as 256 GB of data. It comes preloaded with either Windows 8.1 or an upgradable Windows 7 Professional version. On the hardware front, the Portege Z20t has a spill-proof keyboard and weighs a mere 3.3 pounds, which includes the keyboard. Even though it’s a detachable gadget, the hinges don’t bother as they turn to switch the screen into presentation mode.

Toshiba claims that the Z20t can last 17.4 hours on one full charge. The ultrabook adds Toshiba’s key input device Digitizer Pen together with an Eraser. Coming to its price, this Toshiba ultrabook will cost you $1,399.99, for 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB SSD.

The Encore 2 Write series tablets comes with the same set of specs and varies just in price and display size. The 8-inch Encore 2 Write comes at a cost of $349.99, while the 10.1-inch variant of the Encore 2 can be purchased at $399.99. The devices hold a display resolution of 1,280x800p and are powered by Atom Z3735F processor from Intel. They pack 2 GB of RAM, 64 GB of solid-state storage and come preloaded with Windows 8.1. Along with that, the tablets make use of Active Electrostatics pen technology through the company’s innovative product TruPen that has 2,048 points of sensitivity.

January 10, 2015
Lenovo Brings Out Yoga Tablet 2 Series in India

With the big dogs Apple and Google releasing their tablets, Lenovo has also decided to join the bandwagon. The company has brought their Yoga Tablet 2 Series to India. In total, the company has released four new tablets. These tablets are Yoga Tablet 2, Yoga Tablet 2, Yoga Tablet 2 (Windows) and the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro.

The Yoga tablets are quite innovative and come in two operating system options. They will all be available exclusively on Flipkart. The Yoga Tablet 2 (8-inch, Android) and Yoga Tablet 2 (10-inch, Android) will come to Flipkart from Friday, October 17th. Yoga Tablet 2 (10-inch, Windows) and the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro will be available around November-end.

The tablets have been made in collaboration with Product Engineer Ashton Kutcher.

All Android tablet are working on Android 4.4.4 whereas the Windows tablets are working on Windows 8.1 with Bing 32-bit. All tablets in the Yoga Tablet 2 series feature 1920×1200 display resolution. The Yoga 2 Tablets come with an Accutype keyboard dock that is powered by Bluetooth. It also doubles up as a cover for the device.

The devices have identical specifications; they are powered by a 1.3GHz intel Atom Z3745 Processor and come with a 2GB of RAM. They come in 16GB or 32GB storage options which are expandable up to 64 GB.

Camera wise the devices have an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing selfie shooter. The 8 inch tablets have a battery capacity of 6400mAh whereas the 10 inch models come with a 3-cell 9600mAh battery.

With a 13 inch display the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro is a monster of a portable device.

The tablet that will be a multimedia maniac’s dream come true is the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro. The tablet has an in-built Pico projector that can project an image of up to 50-inches. It also has an 8-watt sound system with a subwoofer.

The tablet has been developed with Ashton Kutcher. No wonder the specifications on the device simply rock. The device has a 13-inch QHD (2560×1440 pixels) display. It is powered by the same 1.3 GHz Intel Atom Z3745 Processor like its younger siblings, which seems less for the massive display on the device.

The projector on the device sets it apart from all other tablets.

Yoga Tablet 2 Pro comes with 32GB internal storage with microSD card which is expandable up to 64GB, It gets its juice from a 3-cell 9600mAh Li-Cylindrical battery. This seems like a device meant for the professionals, and hence has a steep price tag of Rs. 47,990.

The price of the other devices are: the Yoga Tablet 2 (8-inch, Android) for Rs. 20,990, Yoga Tablet 2 (10-inch, Android) for Rs. 28,990 and the Yoga Tablet 2 (10-inch, Windows) for Rs. 34,990.

October 16, 2014
Huawei Brings Out Metal-Clad Honor Tablet T1 and Honor 6 Smartphone in India

Huawei has introduced two new devices, the Honor 6 smartphone and Honor T1 tablet in India priced at Rs 19,999 and Rs 9,999, respectively. The budget-friendly tablet and slightly-pricey smartphone will be sold exclusively through Flipkart 6th October onwards.

The Huawei Honor 6 runs on Android 4.2.2 KitKat with Emotion 2.3 UI and is powered by a Huawei Kirin 920 octa-core processor and comes with 3GB RAM. Huawei Honor 6 sports a 5-inch full-HD display (1920x1080p, 440ppi) with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. The smartphone comes with a 3,100mAh battery.

The Honor 6 smartphone comes with 16GB internal storage variants and a microSD card slot (supports cards up to 64GB). In terms of connectivity options, the Huawei Honor 6 supports 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.

The MediaPad Honor T1 tablet sports an 8-inch HD IPS display. Powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1GB RAM, the tablet comes with 8GB storage. It sports a 5MP rear camera and comes with a 4,800mAh battery. The tablet runs Android 4.3 with Huawei’s Emotion UI.

Last week, Huawei had also launched the Honor 4 Play smartphone priced at approximately Rs. 7,900. The Honor 4 Play smartphone offers dual-SIM support and features a 5-inch HD IPS display with a 720×1280 pixel resolution. The smartphone runs on Android 4.4 KitKat paired with its native Emotion UI 2.3.

The Honor 4 Play features a 64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) processor, coupled with an Adreno 306 GPU (320MHz) and 1GB of RAM.

September 29, 2014
Meet Cortana , Microsoft’s Alternative to Siri

Microsoft has finally shown off its new mobile search assistant, Cortana, its version of Siri and Google Now.

As a part of Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8.1 update, Cortana is a new Voice Recognition based personal digital assistant. Named after the AI in the popular XBOX title “Halo” the “personal digital assistant,” has the ability to search the Internet, set up alarms, shift calendar appointments, find restaurants, send messages, place calls and more.

Cortana is quite identical to Siri on an iPhone, tap a button and ask the ui a question, however like Google Now Coranta can also tap into applications and and the phone’s core services to deliver you contextual information.It can offer the weather where you’re located, deliver favorite sports scores, or scan email and provide updates on a flight status or package delivery.

Cortana runs on Bing and has a lot of intriguing features, for example it learns from habits of its users when and how they do their tasks. One unique feature of Cortana is that it can actually push the results of its searches over to other apps. Also like competition, Cortana doesn’t need to learn your voice and tries to interact with you naturally.

Cortana wasn’t the only new aspect of Windows Phone 8.1, which now has a notification drawer called Action Center, which collects text messages, emails, calls and updates from social networks and other apps. It also has quick toggles for things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi seen on Android and iOS both.

Microsoft Also plans to push this Windows for free for hardware makers to use on phones, tablets with screens under nine inches. This should considerably bring down the costs of hardware running Windows.

April 3, 2014
Skype 4.5 for Android Tablets Brings Video Calls Anywhere and More
Skype has again updated its Android application specially for tablets. The company seems to have focus on optimizing its application for Tablet users. The Skype 4.5 for tablets brings some new features like picture in picture window and new pinch to browse feature.

Skype is the first Android application to offer a picture in picture window that lets you see the video call even when you switch away to other applications. Which means, users can simply use the tablet for anything, surfing the web or playing games while the video call is still active. Skype is trying to create the Snap View type of experience that is currently used by Windows 8 users.

On the other hand, the company has also added a new scrolling feature to jump from one contact to another quickly. Users now just have to pinch the contact list to zoom out to an alphabet and tap on the letter to jump to that section. The company claims that this is alot faster than actual scrolling.

Alongside the addition of these two new features, Skype has also added some improvements to this version:
- Improved Video Instant Messaging functionality overall, including fixes on latest Samsung phones
- Added compatibility for the Hudl tablet
- Fixed crashes on the Nexus 5
- Drop down filter selections on the people tab are now persistent
[Skype]
December 14, 2013
Samsung Tops J.D. Power Tablet Customer Satisfaction Survey, Beats Apple

J.D. Power and Associates is an American-based marketing information services firm that’s highly regarded for its research on customer satisfaction. Apple loves to quote their surveys, and does so at media events and on earnings calls.

But this is one report Tim Cook and company are probably not going to be mentioning. In J.D. Power’s latest tablet customer satisfaction survey, Apple was bested by Samsung on overall satisfaction and in particular areas like device cost.

“Samsung showed particularly strong improvement in the cost factor (25-point increase),” the firm said in a statement. “Apple ranks second scoring 833 and performs particularly well in performance and ease of operation.”

Apple scored 5 out of 5 stars for Overall Satisfaction, Performance, Ease of Use, Physical Design, and Tablet Features, as shown in the chart below. For Cost, apple scored 2 out of 5. In comparison, Samsung scored a 5, 3, 3, 5, 4, and 4 in those same categories, losing to Apple on four of categories, tying in one, and winning on the sixth, Cost.

Samsung tablets received 835 points on a 1,000 scale, with Apple (833), Amazon (826) and Asus (821) right behind it. This is commendable, seeing as in its April study, J.D. Power’s survey ranked Samsung under the study average, with a score of 822, while Apple took the top spot with 836. The surveyors from the marketing firm also note that Samsung is the only manufacturer to have improved in all five areas that are being examined since the last study. These include performance, ease of operation, styling and design, features and cost.

November 1, 2013
Skype For Android Gets Update, Improved Video Quality
Did your phone updated to the latest change from Skype this morning ? If not, you might want to update it manually as the latest version of Skype on Android has got two new major updates, better video quality and a new tablet user interface. The company claims that you can now enjoy video chats with up to four times the resolution of older Skype versions, while using a phone or a tablet.

The user interface, tablets have got a completely new UI with the new 4.4 version of Skype, the new UI displays latest chats and calls which we have seen on the smartphones but is new for tablets.

Apart from changes, the new update also has some bug fixes like:
- Accessibility improvements with full support for TalkBack screen reader
- Updates that address incoming call issues, including one that was causing phones to reboot
- Additional changes to audio routing
- Display and UX enhancements when switching orientation
October 9, 2013
HTC Corp. (US) Confirms Job Cuts

HTC Corp. has terminated more than two dozen jobs at its U.S. offices on Friday. The company said in a statement that the cuts were a decisive action by HTC Corp (US) to streamline and optimize our organization and improve efficiencies after several years of aggressive growth.

The specific number is not given, but as per source familiar with the situation said that about 30 positions were eliminated. It seems that the company is doing everything that is required to boost up the growth, as the company’s ‘Here’s The Change’ promotional campaign is also to its peak.

The official statement given by the company:

Today’s reduction in force is a decisive action by HTC Corp (US) to streamline and optimize our organization and improve efficiencies after several years of aggressive growth. Realigning its human resources against key strategic initiatives will help HTC more effectively advance into a new stage of growth and innovation. This is a hard decision that has direct impact on people who have contributed to the growth HTC has experienced the past several years. However, to achieve our long-term goals as a business and return maximum value to our shareholders, this is a necessary step to drive ongoing innovation, ensure our ability to create strong products like the HTC One, and forge strong customer relationships that solidify our future. HTC is proud of its employees and has a track record of hiring the best and brightest; we continue to hire in strategic areas and encourage impacted employees to apply for open positions that are a fit for their skills.

September 16, 2013
Samsung Working On 12.2″ And 10″ Tablets With 2,560 x 1,600 Resolution Panels

Samsung has just released three new tablets in the form of the entry-level Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, the mid-range Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and the in-the-middle Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. While all are clear improvements over their predecessors, both in terms of appearance and software, they still lack the high-end components of some of their Galaxy Note counterparts.

According to evleaks, Samsung is to release a 12.2-inch Galaxy Note variant with an Exynos 5 Octa chip and high-resolution screen of 2560×1600 pixels, along with an S-Pen. This will likely appeal to the stationary tablet user, someone who wants a large, sharp display for sketching or drafting. Its model number is slated to be SM-P900.

Another tablet, a more manageable 10-inch variant, will likely join the Galaxy Tab family, and have a similar resolution of 2560×1600 pixels — this is the same density as the Nexus 10 — along with an ultra-fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC. Model number P600.

Expect these tablets to debut in the coming months, as Samsung continues to saturate the phone and tablet market with every conceivable price range and screen size.

There also exists the possibility that both of these tablets may have 3GB of RAM onboard. Right now no alleged pictures of both tablets have leaked and it is not known when Samsung plans on making them official.

[Via]

July 29, 2013
Gartner: PC Market In Decline As Tablets, Smartphones Take Over

The days of the desktop PC are coming to an end, with a new study from Gartner revealing that most consumers now view tablets as their new main computing device.

Worldwide devices (the combined shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones) are on pace to total 2.4 billion units in 2013, a 9 percent increase from 2012, according to Gartner, Inc. Device shipments are forecast to continue to grow, reaching more than 2.9 billion units in 2017, but the mix of these devices will significantly change over the forecast period.

The proliferation of lower-priced tablets and their growing capability is accelerating the shift from PCs to tablets. “While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis.”

As a result, the traditional PC market of notebooks and desk-based units is expected to decline 7.6 percent in 2013 (see Table 1). This is not a temporary trend induced by a more austere economic environment; it is a reflection of a long-term change in user behavior. Beginning in 2013, ultramobiles will help offset this decline, so that sales of traditional PCs and ultramobiles combined show a 3.5 percent decline in 2013.

Worldwide tablet shipments are forecast to total 197 million units in 2013, a 69.8 percent increase from 2012 shipments of 116 million units. “Lower prices, form factor variety, cloud update and consumers’ addiction to apps will be the key drivers in the tablet market,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. “Growth in the tablet segment will not be limited to mature markets alone. Users in emerging markets who are looking for a companion to their mobile phone will increasingly choose a tablet as their first computing device and not a PC.”

In the shares of operating systems (OSs) in device sales, the shift to mobile and the fight for the third ecosystem becomes more evident. Android continues to be the dominant OS in the device market, buoyed by strong growth in the smartphone market (see Table 2). Competition for the second spot will be between Apple’s iOS/Mac OS and Microsoft Windows.

Tablets are not the only device type that is seeing aggressive price erosion. Smartphones are also becoming more affordable, driving adoption in emerging markets and the prepay segment in mature markets. Of the 1.875 billion mobile phones to be sold in 2013, 1 billion units will be smartphones, compared with 675 million units in 2012.

[Gartner]

April 4, 2013
iPad Mini will launch Oct 23rd according to All Things D

iPad Mini is all set to launch on the 23rd of this month according to a report by AllThings D. The Apple iPad Mini is said to be a stab at success stories behind the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 type tablets. The iPad Mini will be, if at all, Apple’s first foray into this size segment. Weather or not the tablet will fit the size bill is unknown.

You might want to take this news with a pinch of salt as there is really no confirmations surrounding it. Recent reports have been in agreement that we should expect a 7.85-inch iPad with Apple’s new Lightning connector, and an “ultra-thin” design.

[All Things D]

October 12, 2012