Moto T? Lenovo outlines its plans for a new Motorola Tablet
With the acquisition of Motorola due to be complete by the end of 2014, Lenovo plans to re-brand some of its products with the Motorola name. Sources say this will include smartphones and tablets. Depending on region and/or brand awareness, Lenovo could conceivably take any of its tablet/smartphone offerings and slap a Motorola badge on them.
Hopefully, Lenovo is wise enough to notice that Motorola’s brand identity has changed, drastically, over the last two years. Motorola has gone from a mobile phone mill, churning out model after model of basically the same phone to a company that makes much more intentional decisions based on design and function. A Lenovo tablet with a Motorola tag on it seems counterproductive.
If this is the overall strategy, all of the momentum Motorola has built will be lost. The Moto X, G, and E, along with the Moto 360, will be lost in a sea of mass produced plastic garbage built to flood the market and make a few bucks.
Excuse me for being overly critical of Lenovo, but I’ve become a big Motorola supporter in the last 18 months and want to see where their current thinking will take them.
A Motorola designed Motorola Tablet could be pretty awesome. A Lenovo designed Motorola Tablet will end up on the bargain shelf in your local electronics store.
via [G4Games]
Source [ChinaTimes]
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ASUS’ PadFone X mini phone-and-tablet hybrid reaches AT&T
If you liked ASUS’ PadFone X but weren’t willing to pay that much for the combination of an Android smartphone with a tablet shell, AT&T might soon have what you’re looking for. The carrier is bringing the PadFone X mini to the US on October 24th, when it will sell for $200 to GoPhone’s prepaid customers. There’s a lot of hardware here for the money, although it won’t surprise you to hear that ASUS makes sacrifices to give you two devices for the price of one. The smartphone half is a bit better than the regular PadFone mini thanks to its larger 4.5-inch screen, but you’re still looking at a dual-core Atom processor, a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front shooter. You’re also docking into a 7-inch tablet which houses little more than a front camera and an extra battery, so don’t expect a night-and-day difference when you use the bigger screen. With that said, the PadFone X mini beats getting a budget smartphone by itself — give it a look if you’d rather not buy a separate tablet.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS, AT&T
Source: AT&T
Vodafone’s £125 Smart Tab 4G is its first LTE tablet
When Vodafone announced its first own-brand 4G smartphones back in July, we figured it would only be a matter of time until we saw an similarly-equipped tablet emerge. Today, the carrier confirmed our suspicions by unveiling the 8-inch Smart Tab 4G, a slightly modernised version of the 3G-only Smart Tab 4 we saw go on sale back in June. So what’s different? For starters, the Smart Tab 4G sports an HD display and has swapped MediaTek’s 1.2 GHz quad-core processor for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410. It also features a 5-megapixel camera, up from the 2-megapixel shooter found on its predecessor. Everything else remains the same, right down to its size, weight, OS (Android 4.4 KitKat) and 4060 mAh battery.
With its 4G connectivity, you’d expect the Smart Tab 4G to command a higher price. Not so. For a 1GB 4G plan, you’re looking at £17 per month with a £29 upfront payment, which actually matches the price of its 3G counterpart. However, If you want to use it on one of Vodafone’s new 4G pay-as-you-go tariffs, you can get it for just £125 all-in — significantly undercutting EE’s Eagle tablet at £209.99 and even edging out Tesco’s £129 WiFi-only Hudl2.
Filed under: Tablets, Wireless
Via: Vodafone Blog
Source: Smart Tab 4G
Microsoft app gives you more control over the Surface Pro 3’s pen
The Surface Pro 3’s pen is arguably a defining feature, but you haven’t had official control over it so far. As of now, though, you finally get some say over the stylus’ behavior. Microsoft has posted a Surface Hub app that lets you customize both the pen’s pressure sensitivity and its top button. Right now, the software isn’t likely to please demanding artists and note-takers — you don’t have fine-grained sensitivity tuning, you can’t launch any app you like and the side buttons are strictly off-limits. The crew in Redmond is willing to add features based on feedback, so don’t be afraid to pipe up if you have dreams of launching Photoshop with a single thumb press.
Filed under: Tablets, Software, Microsoft
Via: The Verge, Surface Pro Artist
Source: Windows Store
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Soldiers will soon steer iRobot’s machines with an Android tablet
While iRobot’s most famous for creating the Roomba, the robotic vacuum is far from being its only product: the company actually supplies defense, reconnaissance and first response machines to authorities, as well. In an effort to make these robots a lot easier to control in high-stress environments, iRobot has developed the uPoint Multi-Robot Control (MRC) system, which lets human operators navigate their machines using only an Android tablet. At the moment, these robots (all 6,000 of them deployed worldwide) are controlled using an old-school joystick and a separate monitor powered by a Linux-based OS. When uPoint launches, all the soldier/cop handlers need to do is fire up the app and steer their machines by tapping on the screen, effectively nixing the need to train them on the procedure for a few days.
In addition, operators can switch between robots just by switching tabs, share data to team members, as well as capture videos through a robot’s camera and upload the clips to the cloud. The app, by the way, communicates with the machines through the company’s new uPoint Robot Radio network, since Bluetooth might not be secure enough for sensitive situations. The system’s slated to come out by the second quarter of 2015, though we doubt you’d get to use it unless you control a fleet of ground robots for the government.
Filed under: Robots, Tablets, Mobile
Source: iRobot, The Wall Street Journal
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The next big iPad reportedly uses a souped-up iPhone 6 processor
Last year, both the iPad Air and Retina iPad mini used nearly the same A7 chip that you saw in the iPhone 5s. That wasn’t exactly a problem, but it was a bit disappointing if you were hoping for some extra oomph in bigger iOS devices. You may not have to worry about getting similar parts this year, though. Taiwanese site Apple.club.tw has posted photos that reportedly show the next big iPad’s motherboard, including what looks like a shiny new A8X processor. If history is any indication, that X means that it’s a tangibly faster upgrade to the iPhone CPU that could involve improved graphics, a higher clock speed or other new (though not revolutionary) tricks. The club also claims that the new board has 2GB of RAM (twice as much memory as you see in the current iPad), although it’s hard to verify this without a closer look. This probably won’t prompt an upgrade if you’re happy with the tablet you have — assuming it’s accurate in the first place, of course — but it may give you something extra to look forward to at Apple’s October 16th event.
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Apple.club.tw (translated)
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Blackphone to test new waters with privacy-minded tablet
After turning an ambitious plan into reality, the people behind the privacy-focused Blackphone are ready for a new adventure. During an interview with BBC Newsbeat, Jon Callas, co-founder of Silent Circle, which made the privacy-focused device in conjunction with Geeksphone, let it be known that the company will have a tablet in the near future. “Blackphone as it is, is our first device not our last device,” Callas said. While he didn’t reveal any more specific details, Callas did mention such tablet is already in the works and set to be coming “soon.” The bigger hardware would likely bring similar features to the $629 Android phone, most of which is done with user privacy in mind first and foremost. One thing is for sure, it’s going to be interesting to see what Blackphone does next.
Source: BBC Newsbeat
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Tesco cuts the price of its original Hudl tablet to £79
Tesco’s Hudl2 tablet is now on sale, and as is typically the way when a next-gen product usurps its predecessor, the supermarket’s cut the price of the first Hudl to just £79. When the Hudl2 was announced, Tesco said it would keep selling its first tablet, which launched at £119 before later being discounted to £99, until it had shifted all remaining stock. Now you can actually buy the Hudl2 for £129, Tesco’s thought it best to make its other tablet a more attractive offer. It’s now a year old, so you’re not exactly getting 2014 hardware, but if you’re after a couch-browsing companion or something for the kids to poke at, £79 is nothing to shrug at. It can also be picked up in-store or online for half that value in Tesco Clubcard points, so that’s something to consider if you’ve got a loaded account and a tablet-sized hole in your life. If you’re thinking the Hudl2 is more your bag, however, then keep your eyes peeled for our review of Tesco’s new offering next week.
Filed under: Tablets
Via: Pocket-lint, HotUKDeals
Source: Tesco
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Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro brings a 13.3-inch Android tablet with a 2k display and embedded pico projector
Lenovo took to the stage today with Ashton Kutcher to announce a refreshed line up of Yoga tablets for the holiday season. We caught some leaked details about the tablets earlier in the week that gave us a pretty good idea as to what they would announce. However, leaks don’t always get everything. Among the new 8 and 10 inch offerings was the new Yoga Tablet 2 Pro.
This Pro version of the Yoga line brings in a 13.3-inch QHD screen with a resolution of 2560 X 1440 quad HD. It uses the Intel Atom Z3745 quad-core processor clocked at 1.86 GHz and offers up 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is 32GB and also offers an SD card slot. There is a 8MP f2.2 rear camera with auto focus and a 1.6MP front facing camera for selfies and video calls. As for connectivity the tablet offers Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n dual-band (2.4 and 5 GHz). There is an optional 4G variant of the device, but sadly it won’t be in the US. Sticking to the original design the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro offers up a set of front facing speakers with 1.5W output each. Here is where it gets a little cooler though. On the rear is a 5W JBL subwoofer. That totals 8W of audio output. On a tablet. Battery life on the Yoga line has always been a huge focus. They beefed up the battery to support the larger screen-size and resolution to a whopping 9600 mAh battery that is rated for 15 hours of continuous use. Not quite the 18 hours of the smaller variants, but still impressive. Physical size is 13.1 x 808 x 01. – 0.5 inches. The thinness variance accounts for the round battery down to just the screen. All of this only weighs in at 2.09 pounds too.
There is more though. Ashton made mention of something in a YouTube video that Lenovo released a few days ago. He proposed this question: “What if there was a projector that put the screen on the wall?” Yup, Lenovo did that. The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro offers up a pico projector built -in on the side of battery cylinder with an on/off switch. It projects a 50-inch image of the screen to a wall at 2 meters. It won’t be in the same resolution that the screen is, cause that would just be crazy. The resolution is 854 x 480 at 40-50 lumens bright.
Along with the pico projector, the crazy hi-res screen and the outstanding battery life you will also find the kickstand that lets you use the tablet in more ways than a typical slab. The kickstand lets you place the tablet in stand or tilt mode, but it also has one more trick added to its abilities. It now can rotate a full 180 degrees and has a cut out in the aluminium so you can hang it.
Put all that together with Android 4.4 and you have to be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $800, right? Nope, Lenovo has the tablet priced at a very competitive $499.
I am personally really excited about Yoga Tablet 2 Pro. It packs in so much for such an affordable price. Be on the look out for these at Lenovo.com and stay tuned for a review a bit later. I can’t wait to put a big movie on in my sons room with some popcorn and soda. It is going to be awesome.
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AMD’s new CEO has a background in mobile technology
It feels like just yesterday that AMD brought in Rory Read to turn around its ailing fortunes, but today there’s another changing of the guard. The chip designer has announced that chief operating officer Lisa Su is its new CEO, effective immediately; Read will stick around as an advisor until the end of the year. The company isn’t going into detail about the reasons behind the shift, but it does say that Read has been planning a succession with the board of directors. It’s an “ideal time” for Su to take the reins, the board’s Bruce Clafin says.
Su hasn’t said much about what she’ll do so far, but she hints that she’s likely to continue a strategy of crafting chips for “diverse” categories (think game consoles and mobile devices) that Read used to great success. Whatever the new CEO does, she likely has the right background for it. Su spent five years heading up technology development at mobile giant Freescale before she joined AMD in 2012, and she spent 13 years in semiconductor- and business-related positions at IBM before that. It’s safe to presume that she knows a thing or two about the importance of super-efficient silicon.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, AMD
Via: New York Times
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