Tag Archives: tablet

Lenovo shows off Skylight & Hybrid innovations

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The Lenovo Skylight is being billed as a “smartbook,” positioning itself in the yet to be exploited niche between a netbook and a laptop.  The internals are the most intriguing, so let’s start there.  It’s the first ARM-based smartbook based on Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor and it packs a 10.1 inch (1,280 x 720) display, 20GB of Flash storage, 2GB of cloud storage, an 8GB miniSD card, a 3.1 megapixel webcam, WiFi, and two USB ports.  It also features an AT&T WWAN module, allowing you to connect to AT&T’s 3G service for internet access on the go.  Keep in mind you must purchase an AT&T DataConnect plan in order to enable this feature.  The impressive internal battery lasts up to ten hours on one charge.  The Skylight has a very sleek, minimal design; it weighs under two pounds and it’s about the same thickness as a standard smartphone.  When you open the no-frills clamshell lid you find the HD display, a full-sized keyboard, and an integrated USB stick.  There’s a designated slot where the included USB stick can be stored when it’s not in use.  On the software end, the Skylight runs a customized version of Linux that is based around “live web gadgets.”  These gadgets include customizable windows for Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and YouTube that are constantly updating in front of you.  You maybe changing your Facebook status as your live Twitter feed and Gmail account updates themselveswith a YouTube video running in the background.  There’s no need to continually log in or refresh.  And don’t fret–there’s a standard web browser to surf the Internet the way you’re used to doing it.  The OS comes with over 18 pre-installed web gadgets including Amazon MP3 and Roxio CinemaNow, to purchase and download music and movies, respectively.  The Skylight will be available for purchase this April for $499 at Lenovo, AT&T, and AT&T stores.  There’s no word as to whether or not AT&T will sell it at a subsidized price if you were to purchase their two-year Data Connect plan at time of purchase.  Look after the break for a Lenovo product tour video.

Next up is the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid.  Lenovo is marketing it as the industry’s “first hybrid notebook” giving users the ability to switch from a normal laptop setup to a slate tablet.  Allow me to explain.  The Hybrid contains two PC form factors in a single device.  What’s interesting here is that each form factor has its own processor, operating system, and storage.  At first glance, the Hybrid is a 3.8 pound traditional clamshell laptop an 11.6 inch LED (1366 x 768) screen, a full-sized keyboard, runs Windows 7, and is powered by a CULV Intel Core 2 Duo processor.  You guessed it–the second form factor is the detachabledisplay.  The display doubles as a 1.6 pound multitouch slate tablet with its own Snapdragon processor and customized “Skylight operating system” as found in the Skylight smartbook.  Other specs include up to 4GB of RAM (512MB in tablet mode), two USB ports, eSATA, VGA, HDMI,  4-in-1 memory card reader, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam.  The laptop can be equipped with a 128GB solid-state drive, with 16GB allotted to the tablet.  Like the Skylight it also includes WiFi + 3G Internet connectivity.  The battery can support up to five hours of 3G web browsing and six hours when 3G is switched off and in tablet mode.  Also neat is that the two form factors are always synchronized; for example, if you are browsing the Internet in laptop mode and detach the display your content seamlessly transfers to the Skylight OS without interuption.  The two also share “battery power, 3G wireless, data and documents.”  The Skylight software features a “Me Centric” user interface with a four or six section screen display option allowing you to easily access websites, calenders, and other apps while in landscape or portrait mode.  Lenovo plans to release the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid on June 1 for $999.  Again, no word on a 3G carrier subsidy price.

Normally I do not report on every PC/laptop/netbook release that comes my way.  I deemed it poignant to share Lenovo’s smartbook and laptop/tablet hybrid machines because they radiate innovation.  The Skylight has a distinctly small, light, and no-frills design and packs impressive internal specs and battery life.  It’s customized operating system is unique in that it’s optimized for the web experience from top to bottom.  The IdeaPad U1 Hybrid is a fresh concept that I’m frankly surprised to see actually coming to the market.  Though it poses as a sleek and lightweight notebook, its detachable multitouch screen that runs the Skylight OS is very intriguing.  Such a wild idea may result in the long sought solution to helping the slate tablet find its niche in PC market.  No matter how these new entrants in the young smartbook and new hybrid categories sell once they’re released I have a strong feeling their unique form factors and intentions will reverberate throughout the industry as effective product designs.

[Via Engadget, here & here; LaptopMag]


Continue reading Lenovo shows off Skylight & Hybrid innovations →

This is not the Apple tablet, but I sure wish it was (will be?)

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This is a mock up of what shopping at an Ikea store with an Apple tablet could potentially be like.  And man is it slick.  The experience is smooth, quick, and intuitive, just like we have come to learn on the iPhone.  In fact, this device looks like a super-sized iPhone, and that is exactly what I expect the oft-rumored tablet to be.  Jobs, we are waiting…

[Via Gizmodo]

OLPC conjures up latest dream tablet slated for 2012 release

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Meet the XO-3 from the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project.  You know, the non-profit organization that created the $100 XO-1 laptop and whose mission is “to create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.”  On a side note, the XO-1 “has been distributed to more than 1.4 million children in 35 countries and in 25 languages,” according to Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop Per Child.  The latest concept iteration, the XO-3, is skipping a whole “second generation.”  In fact, the XO-2 concept was unveiled in pictures (much like this go-around) and never came to fruition.  The dual-screen concept was scrapped and Negroponte began to focus on what we see here.  The XO-3 “will feature a new design using a single sheet of flexible plastic and will be unbreakable and without holes in it.”  The device itself is one big 8.5 x 11 touchscreen with a folding ring in the corner as a grip and a camera can be found on the backside.  It will take advantage of inductive charging (think the Palm Pre “puck”) and will use less than a watt of power.  Negroponte on the potential success of the XO-3: “Sure, if I were a commercial entity coming to you for investment, and I’d made the projections I had in the past, you wouldn’t invest again, but we’re not a commercial operation. If we only achieve half of what we’re setting out to do, it could have very big consequences.”  The XO-3 is designed by Yves Behar and is projected to cost $75 when it goes on sale in 2012.

In a press release Negroponte spilled the beans on two more iterations of the OLPC that are planned to emerge before the introduction of the XO-3.

The XO 1.5 is the same industrial design as the XO 1.0. Based on a VIA processor (replacing AMD), it will provide 2x the speed, 4x DRAM memory and 4x FLASH memory. It will run both the Linux and Windows operating systems. XO 1.5 will be available in January 2010 at about $200 per unit. The actual price floats in accordance with spot markets, particularly for those of DRAM and FLASH.

The XO 1.75, to be available in early 2011, will be essentially the same industrial design but rubber-bumpered on the outside and in the inside will be an 8.9”, touch-sensitive display. The XO 1.75 will be based on an ARM processor from Marvell that will enable 2x the speed at 1/4 the power and is targeted at $150 or less. This ARM-based system will complement the x86-based XO 1.5, which will remain in production, giving deployments a choice of processor platform.

The “One Laptop Per Child” initiative is great.  I’m all for putting computers in the hands of less fortunate people, giving them access to a wide array of educational opportunities.  The point of the XO-x laptops is their ability to be mass produced and shipped to countries around the world for the purpose of spreading the importance of education and development.  The XO-1 did its job, and according to Negroponte, the XO-3 and other form factors that come before it will do the same.  The only thing I worry about is whether or not the technology will be around to support Negroponte’s dream computers.  In pictures, the XO-3 looks like a device from 2050, not 2012.  Even if such technologies arearound to build this device in three years, will it be possible to price it at a mere $75?  These are pressing issues Negroponte and his designers and engineers I’m sure are dealing with today.  I have my fingers crossed that a day will come in the near future when little boys and girls in less-developed countries will sitting at desks with their thin, stylish XO-3s, developing their minds and expanding their opportunities.

“To fulfill our mission of reaching 500 million children in all remote corners of the planet, OLPC will continue to innovate in design and performance. Because we are a non-profit, we hope that industry will copy us.”  With a mission like this in mind, OLPC is on track to becoming a global force in the push for widespread education and innovation.

[Via Engadget; BusinessWire; Wiki]

Apple: iTunes subscription based services, more iPhone/tablet rumors

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Let’s get right to it, shall we?  The Wall Street Journal reports that CBS and Walt Disney Company (among other major TV networks) are “consideringparticipating in Apple’s plan to offer television subscriptions over the Internet.”  CBS will offer shows from CBS and CW and Disney will offer selections from its ABC, Disney Channel, and ABC Family networks.  Though details are being kept under wraps, word has it that Apple will offer its iTunes customers a $30/month subscription to choose from the TV networks’ selection of shows.  This is all starting to make sense now that Apple has ate up streaming company Lala; they might just have a Hulu-esque TV streamingservice in the works.  Whatever it may be, “sources” claim that Apple could finalize licensing deals and switch on the service sometime in 2010.

The Financial Times delves further into this matter and regurgitates the followinginformation:  “Apple has contacted other broadcast and cable networks, including Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting System and Viacom, which have so far been unconvinced by Apple’s proposal. The computer maker has also courted the book publishing industry, sector executives say.”  This is all very interesting, to say the least.  Major publishers like the WSJ and the FT reporting on a potential iTunes subscription-based service can only mean that something is brewingat Apple HQ.  Talks with CBS (Viacom), Time Warner, and ABC are vital if Apple plans on making such a TV show subscription plan work.  And let’s not forget about their “court[ing] [of the] book publishing industry”…cue the Apple tablet/iPhone rumors.

Addional news comes from the Financial Times, and this time it’s about the impendingannouncement of the Apple tablet: “Apple is preparing an announcement next month that many anticipate will be the official unveiling of its tablet, but the company has so far declined to confirm the existence of the device. Wall Street analysts expect mass production of an Apple tablet to begin as early as February.”

To spread to the gaining hype around the tablet and the next-gen iPhone comes news today from a Silicon Alley Insider report: “Apple is preparing to show off a new, larger mobile device with a higher resolution display in January — probably a version of the Apple tablet we’ve been hearing about for months — according to a plugged-in source in the mobile industry.”  This source says that Apple has asked a select group of app developers to prepare their apps to support a full-screen resolution (rather than the fixed 320×480 rez the iPhone currently uses) and to demo on a “new, larger mobile device.”  In addition, the report says that the tablet will be demoed in January but not released into the market until a later date.  This matches up with the FT news posted above; Apple will unveil it in January, ramp up production in February, and have it ready for the public by March 2010.  And there’s more!  DigiTimes reports that the next-gen iPhone will be packed with a 5 megapixel camera sensor.

And that’s it for now.  Exhausting, huh?  I think Apple just needs to come out with it already and unveil this coveted (albeit non-existent) tablet to calm our nerves and get us excited for something that we at least know is real.  With Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster claiming that there’s a 75% chance that an Apple January event is coming and word that the tablet will be the main focus of the event I am waiting in much anticipation.  An overhaul of iTunes, the next-gen iPhone, the tablet…so many potential topics to discuss!  Here’s hoping that Apple hits at least one of them next month.

[Via Engadget, here & here; Gizmodo, here & here; Apple Insider]

Another ‘zine publisher joins the push towards digital media

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The publishers at Popular Magazine have joined the digital revolution in print media with their rendition of a concept tablet device displaying their magazine in a digitized form.  PopSci publisher Bonnier teamed up with design agency BERG to create this mock tablet called Mag+ that does its best to recreate the magazine in a digital environment.  Bonnier joins Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated and Conde Nast’s Wired in the movement towards a digital future for magazines.  If this is indeed the future for magazines and even newspapers, I say bring it on.  Technology and interactivity could be long sought solution for keeping print media alive in a digital age ruled by the Internet.

[Via Gizmodo]

From Crunchpad to Joojoo, Internet tablet finally finds a home

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To make a short story even shorter… Michael Arrington, the head of the blog TechCrunch, back in 2008 promised to develop an Internet tablet for the masses that would carry a very light price tag of $200.  On November 30 of this year, Arrington shared a post on his blog titled “The End of the Crunchpad” where he stated that the “entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy and miscommunication” with Chandra Rathakrishnan, the CEO of Fusion Garage, the company who was helping form the device.

Flash forward to today and what we have is news that Crunchpad Joojoo Internet tablet will be releasing this month under the Fusion Garage brand with Rathakrishnan at the helm of the project.  In fact, at a recent press event where he demoed the device, Rathakrishnan stated that “TechCrunch didn’t contribute a single line of code.”  Interesting, huh?  He went on to say “There was never any agreement of any kind between the two companies.  This was nothing more than a potential acquisition that didn’t occur.  Michael sat back while we took all the risk.  The suggestion that Michael or TechCrunch owns anything is simply ludicrous.”  And with that, Rathakrishnan revealed details of Joojoo (which he explains is an African term for “magical device”).

Some could say it looks like an “over-sized iPhone” because on the surface it’s just one big screen, no buttons.  Here’s a rundown of the specs (thanks Gizmodo): “A screen-only tablet that measures 12-inches [1366 x 768], has a [all glass] capacitive touchscreen, runs its own operating system (that’s basically just a browser) and boots in 9 seconds. It will also have a 5 hour battery life, run Wi-Fi only (no 3G) and come in only one color, with 4GB internal storage.”  It runs its own operating system that’s basically just a browser, huh?  Seems very Google Chrome OS-y to me.  In fact, like Chrome OS (and since it only runs a browser-like interface), Joojoo can only run web-based applications.  Ports: one USB 2.0, one power input, and audio/headset jacks.  External peripherals like a keyboard, mouse, or headset will be supported via USB port or Bluetooth.  And it sports a one megapixel webcam on the front for video-conferencing.

The home screen of Joojoo is a series of large icons for the web apps.  For example, there’s large icons representing Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, YouTube, and Gmail.  After giving it a test-run, Engadget reports that has smooth 1080p playback and the Webkit-based browser includes Silverlight and Flash support.  The multitouch screen supports scrolling and pinching, though the latter does not zoom, it brings you back to the homepage.  Though the home screen of the demo device lacked notifications, Rathakrishnan promises it will be included in the final unit.

With all kinds of legal action hanging in the balance between Fusion Garage and Arrington, Rathakrishnan stills plans on taking preorders of the Joojoo on December 11 (that’s tomorrow!).  It will go on sale for a dream-shattering $500.  Rathakrishnan on Arrington’s dream of a $200 device of this nature: “There are dreams, and then there are hallucinations.”

All in all, the saga of the Crunchpad-turned-Joojoo has been an interesting ride and I’m glad that some sort of device is making its way out of the rubble.  If/when you arrive, Joojoo, enjoy your place in the Internet tablet realm because we all know that Apple has something up their sleeves.

Check out Engadget and Gizmodo’s hands-on pictures of the Joojoo in the galleries below.  Also, after the break is a video of Giz’s hands-on.

[Via Engadget, here & here; Gizmodo, here & here]

 

 

Continue reading From Crunchpad to Joojoo, Internet tablet finally finds a home →

Apple tablet rumors aflutter

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According to the latest round of rumors the reveal and shipping date of the Apple tablet device will be delayed until the second half of 2010 due to component switches.

The source says Apple will ship two versions of the tablet; one with a 9.7 inch LG OLED display that may cost around $2,000 and one with a larger 10.6 inch TFT LCD display costing between $800-$1,000.

…gotta love rumors.

[Via Gizmodo; Digitimes]

Microsoft Courier UI in more detail

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Gizmodo’s got the scoop on how the oft-rumored Microsoft Courier tablet will function.  Some features include finger-swipes and gestures, “clip, tuck, and paste,” and a camera.  The user interface includes Infinite Journal, Smart Agenda, and the Library.  The device will have its own browser, information will stored on “the cloud” (allowing users to edit/share their data on various devices), and it will come with a pen (not stylus) that functions as a drawing tool and has two buttons.  For detailed explanations on all of these features check out Gizmodo’s coverage.  Or just look in the gallery below for some concept screen shots of this tablet-of-the-hopefully-near-future.

[Via Gizmodo]

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Microsoft Courier: UI tour, additional details in the rumor mill

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In addition to this revealing video picked up at Gizmodo, ZDNet’s Mary Jo-Foley reported on new speculation from a “more verifiable source” that sheds some more light on the still unannounced Microsoft Courier booklet device.  Her source claims that the Courier is currently running on top of the Windows 7 operating system.  However, the consumer will not be able to install Windows 7 apps on the device: Microsoft tablets of the past “failed because the applications were not tailored to a tablet form factor – that is, Word still had toolbars and menus and scollbars. So, a tablet needs to be like an iPhone – a UX that is specific for the form factor.”  The source mentions that the development team at Microsoft is creating this device like they did the Xbox video game console; Microsoft will handle the hardware and software so as to speed up the development process.  The source also says that the Courier is on track for a “mid-2010” release.

Very interesting tidbits of information, yes.  As Apple is currently in the process of manufacturing their own tablet, I am excited to see how all of this will play out.  Will it be the MS Courier vs. the Apple tablet in the near future?  Only time (and potential surfacing FCC filings) will tell.

[Via Gizmodo; ZDNet]

Microsoft Courier booklet device

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The awesome dudes at Gizmodo picked up this story earlier this week, and boy is it a fascinating one.  What was a big secret for Microsoft has now been reveiled to the public–a MS-hardware and software designed booklet.

Gizmodo has the details:

Until recently, it was a skunkworks project deep inside Microsoft, only known to the few engineers and executives working on it.

Courier is a real device, and we’ve heard that it’s in the “late prototype” stage of development. It’s not a tablet, it’s a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They’re connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.

So, the MS Courier is in fact a real device, it packs two 7-inch multitouch displays and an integrated camera, and has a UI design that looks sleek, organized, and most importantly, simple.  For more on the UI, check out the video below for a quick tour of the Courier user interface, still in development.  One question: What’s with the stylus?  That’s so 1990s!

[Via Gizmodo]

Analyst fondles new Apple tablet

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Today Barrons is reporting that one lucky analyst has actually seen and handled the hyped and rumored forthcoming Apple tablet device.  From the article…

One veteran analyst who has seen first-hand a prototype slate-style computer from Apple  says the device could be announced in September for release in November.

Whatever the exact dates, the computer industry is so anxious to see what Apple introduces that it has held off on competing designs until Apple CEO Steve Jobs gives the device his final blessing. “It’s close enough now to a final design that in Asia, there’s no other product in the waiting room or in the bullpen,” said the analyst. “There are dozens of ODMs [original device makers] making products for Lenovo and other PC makers that are all waiting to see what the Apple product is.”

The new device, which may retail for $699 to $799, could fulfill a variety of multimedia functions currently taken up by a gaggle of individual consumer electronics devices. It could be a home media center, somewhat like the current Apple TV, and it could be a gaming machine, opines Jon Peddie, head of Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon, Calif. “Gaming will be a big part of what this is about,” he adds.

The machine impresses with its display of hi-def video content, says the veteran analyst, who asked not to be identified. “It’s better than the average movie experience, when you hold this thing in your hands.”

…

A second source confirmed to me that news of the new device “is all over the supply chain in Asia.” The biggest question at this point, and the least understood by anyone outside Apple, is whether the company’s App Store will be the exclusive distribution point for software for this device.

As Steve Jobs says, it’s the software that defines these things.

So, what do we gather from this?  A September announcement, a November release, a $699-$799 price point, media center and gaming capabilities, and computer manufacturers have put production on hold until official specs and other information is released.  More rumors added to the spinning, gigantic rumor mill.  What do you have up your sleeve, Mr. Jobs?  September cannot come any sooner.

[Via 9to5Mac; Barrons]

Apple tablet/netbook rumors back in full force

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The whispers of a Apple tablet/netbook device began in March.  The rumors of such a device have been newly rejuvenated today by China Times:

“Taiwan’s high-tech supply chain companies said Apple will debut its first netbook in October; Apple will pose itself to tackle the Christmas shopping season. Three corporations – Foxconn, Wintek, Dynapack have received direct orders from Apple…Because Apple will adopt touch screen technology on its netbooks, Apple will not target low-end consumers, avoiding direct competition with Acer, Asus, as well as their less-than-500-dollars netbooks. Apple’s netbook (or a “tablet” as many call it,) will probably be sold at around $800 USD each.”

The device will purportedly have a 9.7 inch screen.  Anaylists and comsumers alike beleive the aforementioned Apple device will either be an over-sized iPod touch/iPhone-type product running the mobile version of Mac OS X or an entirely new hardware that resembles current netbook-like mini laptops and/or a tablet ‘slate’ device.  Whatever the case may be, I am glad to see the rumor mill turning as well slowly but surely reach the end of the summer and enter Q4, the time when Apple annually updates its iPod and Mac product line.

*Note: The image above is a mockup (read: not real).

[Via Gizmodo; Engadget]