Month: January 2014

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Lenovo CES Assault: Desktops – Windows A740 & Horizon 2, Android N308, and Beacon Home Cloud Storage

A740_01Lenovo is leading the charge on redefining the home computing experience with a trio of large touchscreened solutions.

On the Windows front, the A740 Touh All in One features a 27” screen with up to 2560×1600 resolution powered by an Intel Core i7, up to 8GB of RAM, NVIDIA graphics, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 AC, NFC, and Dolby Home Theater certified JBL speakers. The Stand features the handy trick of swiveling to lay the computer completely flat, allowing it to act as a table top computer.

The Horizon 2 matches all of the specs of the A740, but includes the handy trick of being battery powered. Continue reading “Lenovo CES Assault: Desktops – Windows A740 & Horizon 2, Android N308, and Beacon Home Cloud Storage”

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Lenovo CES Assault: Miix 2 10 tablet, Yoga 2, and Flex Laptops

YOGA 2 (13'')_Orange_Standard_04

Windows 8 really comes alive with hardware built for its unique UI. After scoring some early success with the original Yoga, Lenovo is pushing farther into new form factors for Microsoft’s OS.

A new consumer variant of the Yoga 2 will feature 11 and 13 inch displays. The 11 will be powered by a lower power Intel Pentium processor, while the 13 steps up to a Core i5. Both rock the same swivel hinge which can flip the laptop screens around into full tablet PC’s. I’m really stoked to see the orange lid return from the Yoga 2 Pro. A nice touch of branding for a company mostly known for Thinkpads.

The Miix 2 is one of the more sought after mini-tablets for Windows 8 users. Now the Miix line is expanding with 10” and 11”  slates. The 10 has an Intel Atom quad core and 2GB of RAM. The 11 will step up to a Core i5 with up to 8GB of RAM, and both are sporting 1080p LCDs. Continue reading “Lenovo CES Assault: Miix 2 10 tablet, Yoga 2, and Flex Laptops”

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First Impressions Video: The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom on AT&T

Samsung is one of the most experimental companies on the planet when it comes to various gadget form factors and features. As a follow up to last year’s Galaxy Camera, they’re expanding the Galaxy S line-up with a crazy zoom lens phone. From an optics standpoint, it looks like it might be able to give the Lumia 1020 a run for its money…

The Zoom is an interesting set of features and compromises. Let’s take a look around!

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Have you heard of the Typo iPhone Keyboard Case? Because Blackberry is suing them…

typo iphone keyboard case ryan seacrest blackberryMaybe one of the dumbest things BB could do right about now…

I’m tied into tech and the Typo iPhone case barely made a blip on my radar. It’s a case with a hardware QWERTY keyboard designed for iPhone 5/5S. There’s nothing particularly special about that. There have been a number of keyboard solutions for the iPhone over the years, some portrait, some landscape sliders.

It’s sort of an “old fashioned” idea that many people will poo-poo anyway as there seems to be a collective hatred of hardware keyboards from the self-proclaimed “Tech Elite” on the intarwebs.

Here’s a video showing the Typo off:

About the only novel aspect of Typo was the fact that it was backed by Ryan Seacrest of all people. No. Big. Whoop.

That is until Blackberry went and stepped their foot in it.

Delivered via press release, BB Chief Legal Counsel Steve Zipperstein had this to say:

“This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design. From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations,”

Would the Typo have been a success on its own? Backed by Seacrest, probably yes, but I still have significant doubts that it would have been high mind share. Regardless of the legal outcome, Blackberry just guaranteed that it’s going to show up in a lot more headlines now. You just can’t buy that kind of publicity…

typo iphone keyboard case profile ryan seacrest blackberry

Full BB PR after the jump.

Continue reading “Have you heard of the Typo iPhone Keyboard Case? Because Blackberry is suing them…”

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AT&T Offers $450 to T-Mobile Customers Looking to Switch

ATT logoThe carrier wars are already heating up for 2014. After failing to acquire T-Mobile, and being forced to dump cash into their coffers, looks like AT&T is getting a little tired of competing against their own money.

Taking a direct shot at Lil’ Magenta, AT&T announced today that T-Mo customers switching to AT&T, and trading in their old phones, would receive up to a $450 credit per line on their accounts. The credit is designed to ease the sting of paying a termination fee for those increasingly few on contract, or to offset the cost of a new phone or tablet.

This looks like an early warning shot from AT&T, as we’ve been hearing rumors of T-Mobile offering a similar “Switch to us” credit. Maybe AT&T got tired of T-Mo beating them to the punch on things like faster phone upgrades, and “zero down” phone subsidies.

It’s fun when companies get frisky. Full PR after the jump.

Continue reading “AT&T Offers $450 to T-Mobile Customers Looking to Switch”

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Samsung unveils Galaxy Camera 2, Android powered Point and Shoot Super Zoom

Galaxy Camera 2 5Last year the Galaxy Camera was an interesting experiment. An Android powered media player with a point and shoot camera stapled to the back. WiFi, Bluetooth, and even LTE data connections were included allowing it to do anything but make a phone call. It continued a conversation for Samsung where they could create new product niches, and play with exotic gadgets.

Now they’re continuing this experiment with a sequel of sorts. The Galaxy Camera 2 is officially official. It sports a new 1.6GHz quad core processor (likely built off of the Exynos line) and a 21X zoom paired with a similar 16MP BSI CMOS sensor. While Sammy isn’t radically changing up the sensor, and it’s the same size as the old Galaxy Camera and Galaxy S4 Zoom (1/2.3″), they are bragging about a new image processing engine which they say will improve image quality.

Galaxy Camera 2 8NFC will make an appearance on this camera to include tap and share options. Of all the updates, I’m most looking forward to the larger battery, up to 2000mAh from 1650 in the OG camera.

What we don’t know yet is if the 4.8″ LCD screen will receive a resolution bump to 1080p as the original G-Cam had 720p LCD. Also no mention is made in the press release if we’ll see another LTE enabled camera or if Samsung will stick to WiFi only devices. And of course, we have no info on pricing and availability. Just a tease that the camera will be on display at CES, but so far this sounds like an uncharacteristically modest update from a company which we’re used to seeing deliver on audacious devices.

Full PR and more pics after the jump.

Continue reading “Samsung unveils Galaxy Camera 2, Android powered Point and Shoot Super Zoom”

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iFixIt gives new Mac Pro 8 out of 10 for upgrades and repairs!

mac pro 2013 disassembled ifixitGood news everybody! Apple has apparently figured out how to manufacturer a powerful and compact workstation which is fairly easy to upgrade and repair! Someone should tell their laptop and tablet divisions, but I digress…

iFixIt tore the sucker down and found a refreshing lack glue or proprietary screws. Opening the casing allows you to easily get to the RAM. The SSD is proprietary but easy to swap out, which hopefully might encourage some companies to build 3rd party solutions. Even the CPU, while buried deep into the internals, is a stock Intel socket. iFixit estimates you could save almost $1000 buying a low end Mac Pro, and then swapping out the processor yourself.

Maybe the harshest criticism came from the proprietary graphics cards. Flanking the triangular heat sink, Apple had to design their own connectors and shape so they’d fit in the casing. iFixIt worries that this might prematurely age the system if Apple can’t keep up with newer graphics chipsets and offerings.

All in all though, this assuages most of the concerns I personally had over the construction of the Mac Pro. No machine badged a “pro” should ever lock out the user. A workstation is a MUCH longer term investment than a regular destop, and this radical new design from Apple looked like it might have followed in the same footsteps as their MacBooks, glued shut and with RAM soldered onto the logic board. Happily this is not the case, and I’m surprised that Apple themselves didn’t make more noise about it. The ability to improve the system over time larger destroys the perceived “Apple Tax” and should make homebrew OSX systems a little less cost/time effective for those looking at Bang for Buck.

If you’re shopping a high end workstation, I’d highly recommend checking out the iFixIt teardown guide, as they detail the whole process of stripping the machine with their usual wit and humor.

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