Lenovo Abandons Beveled Keyboards On New ThinkPads, Unveils X1 Carbon

Subject: Mobile | May 14, 2012 - 01:23 PM | Matt Smith
Tagged: Thinkpad, news, Lenovo

Brace yourself, enthusiasts. The recent rumors that Lenovo will be ditching its traditional beveled keyboard in favor of a more modern – and some would say, inferior – chicklet-style design are true. Lenovo today announced new ThinkPad L,T, W and X series laptops. All of them ditch the old design for a keyboard similar to the one Lenovo has been using on the ThinkPad Edge since its introduction.

Lenovo’s ThinkPads have held strong for years as chicklet-style keyboards overtook the industry, causing enthusiasts looking for a great typing experience to flock in the company’s direction. Changing the design is sure to raise the ire of some enthusiasts.

The “Precision Keyboard,”as it is being called in Lenovo’s literature, is not entirely without benefits. The key surface allegedly reduces typing errors. It also finally gives ThinkPad owners a backlit keyboard option, something that couldn’t be offered on previous models because the beveled keyboard could not accommodate it. 

Some rumors had suggested that the ThinkLight (a small LED used to illuminate the laptop’s interior) would perish as a result of the new backlit keyboards. This does not seem to be the case. Screenshots clearly show that the light remains.

Lenovo’s other big announcement is the new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Lenovo’s previous X1, which we reviewed last year, was an ultrabook that predated the ultrabook – super slim, fast and expensive. Lenovo is now bestowing the X1 with the label and, as the new name suggests, a “roll cage” made of carbon fiber. 

The changes don’t end there. The new X1 is lighter, weighing it at 3 pounds instead of the 3.73 pounds of its predecessor. It has a better display, which is now 14 inches in size and ups the resolution to 1600x900.  And, as you’d expect, it receives Intel Ivy Bridge processors. That’s true of all the other ThinkPads announced today, as well. 

What do you think of the new keyboard? Love it? Hate it? Or don't care? 

Micron also looks to buy Elpida

Subject: General Tech, Memory, Mobile | May 12, 2012 - 06:10 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: micron, Elpida

Micron Technologies has confirmed that they are in talks to purchase Elpida Memory. Despite Toshiba pulling out of the race, the deal would have a rumored value of 2.51 Billion dollars. This deal would move Micron into the second largest DRAM producer, behind Samsung, with a 25 percent market share globally.

Elpida Memory, Inc. has been having troubles as a company for a couple of years.

Elpida was established as a company from its parent companies, NEC and Hitachi, in 1999 and took its current name the next year. Elpida has been delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in late March, a month after filing for Bankruptcy.

Multiple companies have come and gone in talks to purchase Elpida. Toshiba and SK hynix have somewhat recently pulled out of negotiations as the American TPG Capital LP and the Chinese Hony Capital shared a bid for the manufacturer.

Or buy us and be #2 : D

Micron has just recently announced that they would place a bid for Elpida which, if completed, would push Micron past Hynix into the second largest DRAM producer by market share. Micron also seems to be interested in purchasing Elpida to access its mobile technology. While the actual bid is not public knowledge, it has been rumored to be worth around 2.51 billion dollars.

It may also be possible that none of the above deals would go through. Reuters reports that a group of debt holders for Elpida might push for their own plan if they feel that none of the current deals would suffice.

ASUS' new Transformer 300

Subject: Mobile | May 9, 2012 - 05:19 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: asus, transformer pad 300, tegra 3

ASUS' Transformer Pad 300 is the newest model of the combination tablet and netbook and includes NVIDIA's Tegra 3 to provide processing and graphical power.  The 10.1" IPS TFT is at a decent resolution of 1280x800 but is not quite up to the quality of the more expensive Transformer Prime.  ASUS chose to go with a dock that will only work with the Transformer 300, so you won't be able to swap keyboards if you have more than one Transformer.  Overall The Tech Report liked the new 300 a lot as it possesses a good amount of features for such an inexpensive device.

"Asus has revamped its entry level Transformer tablet, squeezing Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor into a slimmer, sexier body. The trademark keyboard dock remains, as does the affordable price tag. We take a closer look to see how the Transformer Pad 300 measures up."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• MSI GT70 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Samsung Series 9 (2012; NP900X4B) Review @ TechReviewSource
• Gateway NV57H54u Review @ TechReviewSource
• Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 @ Kitguru
• Mobile GPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• NZXT Cryo E40 Notebook Cooler Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• The iPad 2,4 Review: 32nm Brings Better Battery Life @ AnandTech
• HTC One X (AT&T) Review @ TechReviewSource
• Infographic: The World of Lost Smartphones @ TechReviewSource
• The HTC One X for AT&T @ AnandTech

AMD Releasing Mobile Trinity APUs In May

Subject: Processors | May 8, 2012 - 05:30 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: ultrathins, trinity, piledriver, mobile, APU, amd

Last week we detailed the changes and improvements in AMD’s upcoming Trinity Accelerated Processing Units (APU). Today, DigiTimes has confirmed that Trinity will be released later this month. The only catch is that the company is only releasing the mobile Trinity chips in May. The higher end, and higher TDP, parts will not be released until August 2012.

A Trinity APU die next to a USB flash drive

According to their sources, AMD will be pricing the mobile Trinity chips very aggressively. They will offer a cheaper alternative to OEMs as AMD based ultrathins compared to an Ivy Bridge based ultabrook notebook. The low power Trinity chips will have vastly superior GPU execution units, though Ivy Bridge may retain the CPU performance crown. Both chips are able to sip voltage and have low TDPs so it will be interesting to see the results of battery life tests once the chips and notebooks are released and are in the hands of reviewers.

Trinity desktop parts are scheduled for release in August, including the A10-5800K, A10-5700, A8-5600K, and A8-5500. They are also planning lower end A6 and A4 series Trinity APUs.

Beyond Trinity, their sources have indicated that AMD will release very low power Brazos 2.0 processors for ultrathins and Windows 8 tablets that have 18W TDPs in June 2012. Vishera–Piledriver architecture, AM3+ socket–FX series desktop CPUs (no iGPU) will be released sometime in the third quarter of this year (Q3 2012). The FX and Brazos processors include the FX-8350, FX-6300, FX-4320, and the E2-1800 and E1-1200 respectively.

While AMD may not have the lowest manufacturing process, are seemingly dropping employees like flies, and had a huge financial loss due to buying themselves out of GlobalFoundries they are still hanging in there and delivering competitive products for the low to mid-range markets.

Samsung Galaxy S III Officially Announced at Samsung Unpacked

Subject: Mobile | May 7, 2012 - 02:09 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: smartphone, Samsung, galaxy s3, galaxy s III, Android

Previous rumors of a quad core smartphone from Samsung proved to be true at the 2012 Samsung Unpacked event in London on Thursday. There, they officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S III Android 4.0 smartphone.

The new smartphone runs the latest Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” mobile operating system with an updated version of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface that adds additional functionality on top of the vanilla Android experience. Many sites have mentioned that Samsung really focused in on the software and experience aspects of the phone rather than the underlying hardware specifications and performance characteristics.

The company is introducing a number of new features with the Galaxy S III including voice control with S Voice, “S Beam” wireless file transfer, and a feature called “Pop up Play” that allows users to play videos while checking email and browsing the web. The S Voice feature lets users turn their phone on by saying “Hi, Galaxy” as well as writing emails, sending text messages, hitting “snooze” on the alarm, organizing schedules, and taking photos. Another feature that the Galaxy S III offers is NFC payment.

On the hardware side of things, the smartphone measures 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, and weighs 133g. On the outside, there is a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED Pentile display with a resolution of 1280x720. There is a 1.9 megapixel camera on the front and a 8 megapixel camera on the back with backside illumination to improve low light performance. The phone is available in Pebble Blue and Marble White at launch, with additional color options to follow. Powering the software and HD display is a 2,100 mAh battery, 16, 32, or 64 (coming soon) Gigabytes of storage, microSD card slot, 1GB of RAM, and a Exynos 4 quad core processor. It also features 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi (support channel bonding), GPS, GLONASS (radio navigation system), NFC, and Bluetooth 4. As far as cellular technology, it supports EDGE, 3G, and 4G (depending on which model you buy–more on that below).

Matt at Engadget managed to shoot some video of the new Samsung phone at the launch event, seen below.

While some models will run the Exynos 4 quad core processor, the US version will likely have a dual core Qualcomm processor due to incompatibilities between the necessary LTE radio and the Exynos 4 SoC. In the end, the general user experience should not suffer as a result but it is still regrettable that there is not a quad core part from a hardware perspective. Because the Exynos 4 SoC is based on older ARMv7 CPU cores and a Mali 400 GPU core, it will be faster in multithreaded tasks but the newer dual core Qualcomm in the LTE models will be faster in general usage thanks to the newer CPU technology and Android’s notoriously poor multithreaded performance. Users should not write off the dual core Galaxy S III phones on specifications alone.

The phone will be available for purchase in Europe at the end of May, with other countries to follow. No official word on pricing has been given yet.

Are you still excited for the US Galaxy S III now that it is official? Will you be upgrading or waiting on one of the other upcoming Android smatphones?

Alienware Updates Laptop Lineup With Ivy Bridge Processors

Subject: Mobile | April 30, 2012 - 12:43 PM | Matt Smith
Tagged: news, Ivy Bridge, gaming laptop, alienware

When Alienware made some adjustments to its laptop lineup about a week before the Ivy Bridge release, many observers scratched their heads. Why update now? Was the company going to delay its introduction of Ivy Bridge laptops?

Apparently not, as they’ve now made the availability of Ivy Bridge in Alienware laptops official. The M14x, M17x and M18x can now be configured with one of several Ivy Bridge quad cores including the Core i7-3610QM, 3720QM, 3820QM, and 3920XM. The M11x, axed in the lineup change prior to Ivy Bridge's launch, remains dead.

The XM processor, which features a blazing base clock of 2.9 GHz with a maximum Turbo Boost of 3.8 GHz, is only available in the flagship M18x. If that’s still not fast enough for your tastes you can order an overclocked version that ups the Turbo Boost maximum. 

While Ivy Bridge processors will be stock on the M17x and M18x, the M14x still comes standard with a Sandy Bridge dual core. This is because the new dual-cores have yet to be released into the wild. It’s all but certain that the M14x will be updated with a standard Ivy Bridge dual-core once the parts are available.

As you’d expect, Alienware is pairing the latest CPUs with the newest GPUs. The M14x now comes standard with a Kepler-based GT 650M. Buying an M17x will give you a choice between a GTX 660M, GTX 675M or a Radeon HD 7970M. And the mammoth M18x can be had with a GTX 660M, GTX 675M (single or SLI) or two Radeon HD 7970Ms in CrossFire.

If my memory is correct, none of these laptops have been slapped with a price increase. The M14x is $1099, the M17x is $1499 and the M18x is $1999 - in base form, of course. 

These updates put to rest any concerns about the company’s laptop lineup. Based on our review of Ivy Bridge for mobile, we expect the new processors to provide Alienware’s products with a respectable boost in performance. They may allow the laptops to run cooler and quieter, as well. 

Make the jump to read the full press release.

The i7-3720QM rules the mobile roost

Subject: Mobile | April 26, 2012 - 12:55 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: mobile processor, mobile cpu, Ivy Bridge, intel hd 4000, Intel, i7-3720QM

Matt was not the only one who had a chance to play with a notebook based on the new i7-3720QM, Hardware Canucks received an engineering sample of the ASUS G75VW-3D which contains the Core i7-3720QM and an impressive 16GB of DDR3-1600.  Their testing agreed with Matt's as they saw improvements across the board when comparing this system to a similar SandyBridge based machine on general GPU computing and an even larger increase when testing the HD4000 graphics engine on the chip.  Catch their full review here.

"With such a big deal being made about the introduction of Intel's Ivy Bridge lineup on the desktop side, their new mobile chips deserve a chance in the spotlight as well. In this review, we take a closer look at the new i7-3720QM notebook processor which promises to be a significant step forward for the mobile product space."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• Dell Latitude XT3 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Asus N56VM Review @ TechReviewSource
• Toshiba Excite 10 LE Review @ TechReviewSource
• MSI GT683DXR Gaming Laptop Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Toshiba Qosmio X775-Q7170 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Mobile CPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• Waterfield IPad2 Suede Jacket Sleeve Case Review @ PCSTATS
• ASUS Transformer Pad 300 @ AnandTech
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Tablet @ TechSpot
• Otterbox Samsung Galaxy S II Commuter Series Case Review @ Madshrimps
• Lava Xolo X900 Review - The First Intel Medfield Phone @ AnandTech

New mLink PCI-E to Thunderbolt Enclosure Shown Off at NAB 2012

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | April 24, 2012 - 01:37 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: thunderbolt, PCIe SSD, pcie, mlink, apple

California based company mLogic LLC debuted a new “mLink” Thunderbolt enclosure at the NAB 2012 show that will allow users to connect PCI-E based cards to computers using Thunderbolt connections. Unfortunately, enthusiasts wishing to slap a graphics card into the enclosure are out of luck. The incompatibility is due to graphics cards not having Thunderbolt aware drivers and may be something that is rectified in the future but currently not an option.

Right now, there are only a few storage devices and networking NICs that are compatible with the mLink enclosure including Apricorn and OWC PCI-E SSDs, Atto Technology’s Fiber Channel network cards, and Atto Technology’s SAS RAID controller cards. (The full list of compatible devices is located here.) Not terribly exciting, but some users will find it very useful. The design is very streamlined and sleek, though its worth mentioning that it comes at a cost of $400 USD.

Enthusiasts wanting to add more graphics horsepower to their notebooks will have to look elsewhere, but for users that need super fast storage in a sleek industrial design enclosure it is an interesting option. The price will be something that turns many people off of it, however. It is slated to release in June with pre-orders being accepted now. More information along with photos of the device is available here.

It sure looks nice, but is this something people will actually use? Let us know in the comments!

Intel Medfield powered cellphone appears ... in the Orient

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | April 19, 2012 - 11:50 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: atom, Medfield

The new Atom processor, named Medfield, has appeared in a market far, far away.  The chip powering Lava's Xolo X900 runs at 1.6GHz and supports hyperthreading, the graphics core is clocked at 400MHz which Intel believes should be enough to allow it to output 1080p video via its HDMI plug.  The power efficiency of the new architecture has yet to be tested but the claim by the manufacturer is eight hours of talk time and five hours of 3G web browsing.  There are no available benchmarks yet but you can get an idea of the overall capabilities of this phone at The Inquirer.

"Intel and Indian handset maker Lava announced their intention to ship an Atom smartphone at Mobile World Congress in January. However Lenovo's K800 received all the attention, so Lava's Xolo X900 slipped under the radar to become the first shipping smartphone to feature Intel's Medfield Atom processor."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Intel to launch next-generation Xeon processor by the end of 2Q12 @ DigiTimes
• 5th Ave Frogger Uses Real Cars, Spares Frogs @ MAKE:Blog
• Powerline Network Adapter Shootout @ Legit Reviews
• Noctua Joint Contest @ NikKTech

Why do cell phones get all the dots?

Subject: Mobile | April 17, 2012 - 07:11 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: DPI

While laptops seem stuck at the horrible resolution of 1366 x 786 no matter how big the screen, cellphones have evolved from 320 x 240 to as much as 1280 x 720.  In other words there are cellphone models out there with almost the same amount of pixels as a 17" laptop.  This means the dots per inch rating on a cellphone is significantly higher, making colours richer in light, text sharper and video more crisp than that $1000+ laptop you just picked up.  The Tech Report doesn't feel that this is in any way, shape or form fair; they do have a good idea why it is so however.

"The explosion of high-DPI displays in phones and tablets has upset David Morgan's PC enthusiast sensibilities, as he explains:"

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• HP Folio 13 Review: Deviating From the Norm @ AnandTech
• ASUS ZENBOOK UX31E Ultrabook Review @ Legit Reviews
• Toshiba Satellite L745-S4130 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Toshiba Satellite P755D: Nearing the End of the Road for Llano @ AnandTech
• Toshiba Satellite C655-S5542 Review @ TechReviewSource
• HP Folio 13 Ultrabook @ Techspot
• Thermaltake Massive23 GT Review @ XtremeComputing
• Nokia Lumia 900 Review: Windows Phone's New Hero Device @ Techspot
• Samsung Galaxy xCover @ Kitguru
• AT&T Elevate 4G Mobile Hotspot Review @ Legit Reviews
• The new Apple iPad (2012) Full Review with Video @ Tweaktown
• The Best Free iPod Touch Apps @ TechReviewSource
• Smartphone Buying Guide: Best of 2012 @ TechSpot
• Sony Xperia S Android Smartphone Review @ HardwareHeaven
• HTC One X @ The Inquirer
• Biscotti TV Phone Review @MissingRemote

Valve, tired of rumors, announces wearable computing

Subject: General Tech, Systems, Mobile | April 14, 2012 - 04:09 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: valve, wearable computers

Valve has been under the public eye since rumors of The Steam Box broke. To put out the rumors, Michael Abrash -- now at Valve -- announced their mystery project investigates computing devices that you can wear.

Great, that is just what we need, more Steam punks and their costumes.

Valve has traditionally been somewhat of a quiet company accustomed to public speculation. In a change of pace from the typical cries to release Half Life 2: Episode 3, Valve has recently been subject to rumors about breaking into the hardware business. In another change of pace, Valve has announced their hardware project is wearable computers and publicly solicited for job applicants to join in the research.

Want me to show you my knife collection?

(Photo Credit, Giant Bomb)

Michael Abrash wrote in his blog on Valve’s website what his work is based on and it is quite similar to what Google is looking at with their augmented reality glasses.

By “wearable computing” I mean mobile computing where both computer-generated graphics and the real world are seamlessly overlaid in your view; there is no separate display that you hold in your hands (think Terminator vision).

While this is very interesting, it still remains to be seen where Valve intends to be involved with this project. Steam is pushing out from the desktop PC to the home theatre with their Big Picture UI and what that could potentially spread out into.

It is entirely possible that Google and Valve both see some link between Steam/Google TV and Wearable Computers/Augmented Reality glasses that we are just unable to perceive yet and are lunging for the same target. While the blog posting is very interesting, it still reveals little about the technology itself.

Also, this announcement does not mean that Valve is not working on a hardware platform to accompany The Big Picture, it just says more about what Valve is currently working on in secret. The previous rumors could still have some shred of truth in them.

As for when we will see wearable computing? It’s still a long ways out in Valve time.

To be clear, this is R&D – it doesn’t in any way involve a product at this point, and won’t for a long while, if ever – so please, no rumors about Steam glasses being announced at E3. It’s an initial investigation into a very interesting and promising space, and falls more under the heading of research than development.

HP dm4 Beats Edition Available For As Little As $798

Subject: Mobile | April 9, 2012 - 01:40 PM | Matt Smith
Tagged: review, laptop, hp, dm4

Pricing research is an important part of our laptop reviews. We always price out the laptops we receive on the website of the manufacturer and popular e-tailers, such as Amazon and Newegg. We also look at similarly priced laptops to judge how well a product’s value stacks up against the competition.  

Still, mistakes happen. HP altered us to one such error in our recent HP dm4 review. In that review we discovered that the HP dm4 Beats Edition cost $1169 if customized with the hardware we received, which was far too much given the laptop’s entry-level roots. However, we missed a quick-ship option that configures the laptop as it was received for just $899. That’s $270 less. 

HP also told us that Wal-Mart is selling the HP dm4 Beats Edition. We looked in to it and found that the review configuration is currently out of stock, but if you don’t mind a slight downgrade in processor performance and the loss of the solid state drive, you can pick up the laptop for $798. 

Such a large difference in price would have an impact on any review, but it’s particularly important in this case. We didn’t find anything wrong with the laptop’s performance. We also praised its 1600x900 matte display and decent, though not excellent, user interface. It was the price we could not tolerate – paying HP Envy bucks for a gussied-up dm4 didn’t strike us as a great value.

The correction in pricing has resulted in a change in the review’s conclusion. The laptop now earns a Gold Award.  In fact, buying the pre-configured dm4 Beats Edition actually appears less expensive than buying the basic HP dm4 when it is configured to match the hardware found in our review unit. So-so battery life and unexceptional design are now the only traits holding it back from an Editor’s Choice.

NVIDIA Tegra 4 Specifications Sheet Leaks

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | April 7, 2012 - 07:11 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: tegra 4, tegra, SoC, nvidia, mobile

The Chinese language VR-Zone website has allegedly managed to get their hands on a leaked specifications sheet for NVIDIA’s upcoming Tegra 4 System-on-a-chip (SoC) aimed at mobile tablets. Codenamed “Wayne,” the new SoC will come in several flavors and will arrive next year.

The upcoming chips will have 10x the performance of NVIDIA’s original Tegra and five times the performance of the current generation Kal-El Tegra 3 chip. NVIDIA has run into several hurdles in integrating an LTE cell radio into their SoCs, but if the leaked document is true, the company will finally release a Tegra chp with built-in LTE 100 and HSPA42 cell radio capabilities as early as the third quarter of 2013.

Further, the Tegra 4 SoCs will come in four flavors: T40, T43, AP40, and SP3X. T40 will represent the first Tegra 4 chp that manufacturers and consumers will be able to get their hands on -- as early as Q1 2013. It is a quad core part with one companion core and will run at 1.8 GHz. T43 is an evolution of the T40 and will bump up the clockspeed to 2.0 GHz. The AP40 chip will be the first budget Tegra 4 processor and will run anywhere between 1.2 GHz and 1.8 GHz. The T43 and AP40 SoCs are reportedly coming out in Q3 2013. All three chips -- The T40, T43, and AP40 -- are based on the ARM Cortex A15 architecture.

The final Tegra 4 chip is called SP3X, and it will arrive in Q3 2013. Aimed at mainstream tablets with 7” or smaller screens, the upcoming SoC will feature LTE support and will have a clockspeed of 1.2 GHz to 2.0 GHz. It is a quad core (plus one companion core) part but is reportedly based on the ARM Cortex A9 architecture.  The leaked release dates do seem to be in line with earlier reports, though they should still be taken with your daily dose of salt.

Right now Tegra delivers on performance and many high end mobile devices have incorporated the NVIDIA chip. Even so, they still have very little market share, and the two mainstream Tegra 4 chips -- especially the SP3X with LTE radio -- should help them make inroads against Qualcomm and Samsung who hold a great deal of market share.

Acer's Fermi powered Timeline Ultra M3

Subject: Mobile | April 5, 2012 - 04:17 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ultrabook, acer, timeline ultra m3, timeline, aspire

Acer's Aspire series has gained an Ultrabook model, the Timeline Ultra M3.  Powered by an i5-2467M and bolstered by an NVIDIA GT 640M, this 15.6" 1366 x 768 ultrabook should be able to boot quickly thanks to the hybrid storage system which includes a 20GB mSATA SSD while the 500GB HDD offers storage at a lower price than a purely SSD solution would offer.  While it sounds good on paper, by the end of the review Hardware Canucks were very disappointed with its "ghastly trackpad, an unnecessary space consuming optical drive, testicle-searing exterior temperatures, a poor keyboard layout, a low resolution screen ...". 

If you think they were overly harsh, Matt was no kinder to it when he reviewed this Ultrabook.

"Acer's new Timeline Ultra M3 blazes a path that no others have been willing to take. By incorporating one of NVIDIA's new GT 640M Kepler-based graphics processors within their design, they have become the first company to include a gaming-grade GPU into an Ultrabook. It sounds great but does this combination actually work out as planned? We find out."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• HP Folio 13 @ The Inquirer
• Toshiba Satellite P755D-S5172 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Toshiba Portege R835: Less Ultra, More Notebook @ AnandTech
• Samsung Chronos Review @ HardwareLOOK
• Sony VAIO SE: An IPS Laptop for Under a Grand @ AnandTech
• AT&T Pantech Element 8-Inch 4G LTE Tablet Review @ Legit Reviews
• The 2012 iPad Followup: Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE Comparison @ AnandTech
• The Apple iPad @ AnandTech
• Nextivity Cel-Fi RS2 3G Coverage Booster Review @ eTeknix
• Cooler Master NotePal X3 Silent Laptop Cooling Pad Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• The Nokia Lumia 900 @ Ars Technica
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus Smartphone Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Nokia Lumia 900 @ AnandTech
• HTC One X @ TechSpot

Raspberry Pi red tape: not scratch and sniff just more delays

Subject: General Tech, Systems, Mobile | March 30, 2012 - 02:29 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi has been further delayed while it acquires an additional certification to conform to British Law. The delay affects all regions because the products are shipped to the UK before being distributed internationally. The delay is expected to last just a couple of weeks.

It has almost been a year since the first announcement of the Raspberry Pi ultra-cheap PC and we can almost taste its arrival. Originally inspired by David Braben, developer of games such as Rollercoaster Tycoon, the Raspberry Pi was built to cheaply enable students to learn computing.

As it turns out, the cost and performance of the device drew massive attention from the hobbyist and home theatre crowd. All interested parties will need to wait, however, as the product has been briefly delayed again because someone forgot to cross their t’s.

C’mon, almost there, almost there.

All joking aside, the delay is quite small and minor and will still ship within their original target window. The delay was caused by the foundation failing to be granted a Conformité Européenne (CE) mark for their product. The CE certification is the direct analogy to the FCC’s electromagnetic (EM) noise certification which must be obtained for cellphones and other electronic devices in the United States. CE certification is expected to take just a couple of weeks.

Delivering a product is an involved task. I am willing to give the foundation a pass on this specific delay due to their lack of experience in their field. That is unless of course the product is found to interfere with EM broadcasts of some protected frequency. That -- would suck.

Then again, I have also not attempted to order a Raspberry Pi so perhaps my opinion is invalid. What do you think?

Rovio buys Futuremark Games Studio: polar opposites unite!

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | March 29, 2012 - 07:24 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Rovio, Futuremark

Rovio Entertainment purchases Futuremark Games Studio, but not all of Futuremark, for an undisclosed amount.

Rovio is known for making graphically lightweight yet intensely addictive games for about as many desktop and mobile platforms as they can get away with. Futuremark Games Studio is known for making beautiful PC games which are entertaining to some extent. Naturally they make a perfect couple.

So *that’s* how it got shattered!

Of course the real topic for discussion is why Rovio would want to purchase Futuremark Games Studio. One possible reason is that Rovio wishes to challenge Infinity Blade by Epic Games and capture the market of mobile eye-candy games. The other possibility would be that Rovio wishes to expand into making large budget games themselves.

In their purchase, Rovio has only acquired the studio but not any of their intellectual properties. Shattered Horizon and their other games remain property of the original parent company, Futuremark.

What do you speculate is just over the Shattered Horizon?

Samsung's Tablet Phone, can the Galaxy Note do both jobs well?

Subject: Mobile | March 28, 2012 - 05:59 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Samsung, galaxy note, tablet

The Samsung Galaxy Note is probably the biggest cellphone since the ill fated N-Gage, though instead of being a portable gaming system that thinks it is a phone you have a phone which thinks it is a tablet.  Dual purpose devices have a somewhat flaky reputation but some combination tools end up being more useful than their separate component pieces. With an ARM cortex A9 powering a 5.29" 800 x 1280 AMOLED screen this Android device seems to have a lot of promise.  Read the full review at Hardware Look to see how well Samsung combined the two devices into one.

"The Samsung Galaxy Note is a smartphone that has gone in the opposite direction of the conventional modern technology. As we see technology advancing, we see it getting smaller and smaller, the Samsung Galaxy Note is the largest smartphone on the market, posing a huge 5.29-inch display..."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• HP Pavilion Phoenix h9 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Mobile GPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• Case Logic Compact Systems Camera Bag Review @ Tech-Reviews
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review @ HardwareLOOK
• Samsung Galaxy Note Smartphone/Tablet Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Powerful personal projector for iPhone ready to launch @ Kitguru
• Pixel-pumping prowess: Ars reviews the third-generation iPad
• Apple iPad (3rd-Gen): The TechSpot Review
• The new iPad: Retina Display Analysis @ AnandTech

Google's Deep Shot patent: It's like copy-paste with a camera

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | March 28, 2012 - 02:33 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: google

Google patents the ability to take a photo of an internet-capable application such as a website or videogame to share its state to another device.

If you have ever used a smartphone keyboard than you would probably know how difficult it is to type certain web addresses into your location bar. If you are leaving a device but want to resume using the web application you left behind then you might just need to take a picture of it. In the future that might be preferred way to transfer what you are doing between devices.

Imagine how different the Copy/Paste war would we have been given this on the iPhone?

From how I understand the patent, both devices would need to be logged into the same Google account. Such a limitation means that you could not show your laptop to a friend in a lecture hall and share the state of your website with them. This limitation also means that someone malicious could not take a picture over your shoulder to find out where your Google Maps destination will be. It is possible that Google could allow you to share it with, for instance, Google+ circles -- but that is all my speculation.

The patent extends beyond surfing web sites. Specifically mentioned is the ability to capture the state of a videogame and transfer it to a different platform.

So what do you all think? Creepy or cool, perhaps both?