MICROSOFT SURFACE

     There's a certain amount of confusion surrounding Microsoft's dual entry into the tablet space. There are two Surface tablets-at first glance, they look identical, and even the OSes (operating systems) look essentially the same.

     But they really are different. We'll help you choose the one that best meets your needs. First, some commonalities: Both devices feature 10.6-inch displays, full-sized USB ports, MiroSD slots to expand storage, and HD video tablet's display on a TV, monitor, or projector.

     Two combination keyboard/cases are available for both devices: the very thin Touch Cover, the latter of which features movable keys for a true keyboard feel.

     The Surface RT runs Windows RT, a tablet OS that runs tablet-based apps, several of which are available at the Windows Store.

     The RT comes in 32GB and 64GB versions, is .37 inches thick, and features a 1366 x 768 display. It offers stereo speakers, a full-size USB 2.0 port, a headset jack, and HD video our. The battery is replaceable (but only by an authorized service center) and is good up to 8 hours.

     Tablet-base Office apps are included, with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT pre-installed.

     The suite includes version of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and One Note that have been optimized for tablets. Because the device and its small footprint OS draw so little power, the Surface RT stays connected even in Standby mode and automatically downloads system and updates.

     If you don't need the power of a full-blown desktop-type OS or the ability to run business apps, the RT is a good fit.

     If you're a business user (or a student whose coursework requires heavy-duty software such as video editing or desktop publishing applications), then you may be willing to trade off the RT's light weight and great battery life for something that combines a tablet's portability with a desktop machine's processing power. If so, the Surface Pro is a viable option.

     The Pro is thicker than the RT (about 1/2 inch compared to about 1/3 inch) and also a bit heavier (2 pounds compared to 1.5 pounds). It comes in 64GB and 128GB versions, and offers many of the same ports and connectors that are available on the RT. (One possibly important difference: The USB port on the Pro is USB 3.0, while the RT's is a USB 2.0 port.)

     On the Pro, you can run desktop versions of the full-blown Office suite, including Microsoft Office 2013 or the subscription-based Office 365. (You can also install Office 2010 by connecting an externel CD or DVD drive.)

    The Pro includes a variety of applications preinstalled, including Windows Mail and Messaging; SkyDrive; Internet Explorer 10; Bing; and Xbox Music, Video, and Games.

     Battery life on the Pro is less than that of the RT, mainly because of the Pro's much greater processing power. For that reasons, apps do not auto-update; when you shut the system down, it shuts all the way down.

      The Pro's 1920 x 1080 resolution is better than the RT's, though the 16:9 format remains the same. The Surface Pr's biggest selling point is that it allows you to run with Windows 7 and Windows 8 programs, including custom apps written for your workplace. It also allows you to join network domains and use a standard Window VPN to access your workplace network remotely.

     One more plus, if you happen to looking for some relaxation in the midst of all of that work: The Surface Pro will run many Xbox games, although some minor Xbox-specific functionality may be missing.

     The upshot is that the Pro is an impressive combination of desktop power and and tablet convenience. 

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

Amazon's put media consumption front and center on its HD slate , giving it a gloriously clear and vibrant 1280x800 screen, speedy Wi-Fi plenty of Amazon's offers.

     This is no e-reader that's been given a splash of colour.  It's well built, with a reassuring weight to it, if a little wide for a 7 in tab due to its huge bezel. That HD screen is magnificent, its stereo speakers are way better than we're used to on a tablet. It's got plenty of ports and dual-band Wi-Fi makes super fast downloads. So hardware-wise, there's little to complain about.

   
     Buying media is the mater of a couple of taps, and while you can't yet download movies to your slate (unlike in the US). So, it'll stream them flawlessly. So, it's not perfect then? Not quite, The Fire HD may run Android, but it's been so heavily sinned you'd never know it. Amazon's own App store lacks Google Maps, Dropbox and about half on the games on Google Play, and even email and web browsing have been sidelined to make way for apps that help you buy things from Amazon.

     That said, the Kindle is easy to use and great for newbie. It's also as cheap as the Nexus, so which you get boils down to want you want it for. If it's media consumption, you'll be happy with the Fire HD.

Acer ICONIA B1

A 7in tablet by Acer, powered by a dual - core processor and Android's Jelly Bean, for 8K? Sounds like a nasty trick, the same kind you play on your dog when you pretend to throw the stick and he runs excitedly into the distance to find nothing, coming scampering back with the most confused eyes. Aww. Mean, mean person! That's pretty much the same feeling we got when we heard about the price for a tablet with a decent spec sheet. But it's not a trick it is the TRUTH. Faith in humanity, restored.

Priced at Only 7999 INR

Android 4.0 tablets Coming for under $250

     TABLETS WITH SCREEN sizes of up to 10 inches and Google's Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich OS)will soon become available at prices ranging from $100 to $250. Some of them run on phone processors and may lack the power of Apple's iPad 2. But with cameras, high-def video functions, and HDMI ports, they could offer good value to budget buyers.

     ViewSonic's $170 ViewPad E70, which is set to ship this spring, will have a 7-inch, 800-by-480-pixel capacitive touchscreen, a MicroSD slot for expanding storage to up to 32GB, and Micro HDMI port to connect to HDTVs.

     Other inexpensive Android 4.0 tablets include the 9.7 inch Nextbook Elite 10 from E Fun (due in spring for about $229 ), and Velocity Micro's 7inch Cruz tablet T507 ($150) and 10-inch Cruz Tablet T510 (about $250), both scheduled to ship in late February on early March 2012. Also in the first quarter, Coby was to launch a range of models,starting at $179 for a 7-inch version. 

Idea Pad K1 Rises Above the Android Tablet Fray

THE $500 LENOVO Ideapad K1 combines 32 GB of storage, The Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) OS, a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2CPU, and 1GB  of memory. The front face is a 10.1-inch, 1280-by-800 pixel display, with a generous black border around it.

     The Idea Pad measures 10.4 by 7.4 by 0.5 inches and weighs 1.65 pounds, making it too heavy to hold for long in one hand-despite the pleasing contours of its edges.

     The Ideal Pad's design favors a landscape orientation. A2 megapixel front-facing camera is centered atop, a head phone jack, and a docking port run along the the bottom edge; and power and volume buttons, a screen rotation lock, and a MicroSD card slot run along the left side. On the back, you'll find a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash.

     In a sea of Android tablets, the Ideal PAD K1 makes a strong case for itself with usability enhancements and a snappy design. Drawbacks include poor speakers, the device's heft, and an annoy ingly uncooperative Micro SD Card slot door; but Lenovo makes up for those inconveniences with useful preloaded apps, 32 GB of storage, and an attractive price..  THE IDEAPAD K1 comes with a black,white,or red plastic back.

     

Acer Iconia Tab A100 (Wi-Fi)

     The sweetest Honeycomb tablet we have seen so far packs modern Android goodness into a pocket-sized package, with a new OS version going far to solve Android's tablets' biggest problem to date: the lack of decent tablet specific apps. But the 7-inch Acer Iconia Tab A100's petite form means a battery that's too small.

     The Iconia Tab A100 is the first tablet shipping with Android 3.2. This is a big deal and a very good thing. The Android Market, home to more than 200,000 phone apps, is hideously broken for tablets, but Android 3.2's new Zoom Mode convinces phone screen and magnifies text and images rather than filling in chunks of the screen with blank space. This won't be great for 10-inch tablets, but is kind of wonderful on a 7-inch device. We tried the Conan O'Brien Team Coco app, which looks awful on most tablets. In Zoomed mode, it's right and good-looking.

     This isn't a panacea, not by a long shot. Google still needs to fix the Android market for tablet owners. But it's better than the experience on any other Android tablet so far.

     The Acer Iconia A100 is one of the favorite tablets so far. It's great for watching movies, video chatting, surfing the Web and playing with apps, untill its teeny-tiny battery runs out. That battery gave us a mere 3 hours, 53 minutes of video playback on a charge, not enough for a cross-country flight. If not for the battery issue, it would've earned an Editor's Choice nod. It comes with 8 GB and 16 GB variant with Rs. 16500/- and Rs. 17500/- respectively.


Advantages

• Works well with many Android apps
• Great multimedia features

Disadvantages

• Bloatware
• Short Battery Life
• A bit cheaply made

Reliance 3G Tablet - Tablet Fever is Spreading

          Reliance 3G Tablet comes with a smaller price tag of Rs. 12,999/- only in Indian Market and is a worth using gadget. It has a capacitive 7-inch display. Besides that it comes with 512 MB RAM and 800 MHz processor with optional and needy features like Wi-Fi, 3G Connectivity and a 3400 mAh battery. It runs on Android v2.3 platform.

          Manufactured by ZTE in China, the Reliance 3G machine weighs around 389 gm. It has a locking screen which is a bit different among others. It runs on the Android platform. It shows the notifications for e-mail, message and pending notifications on its locked screen. Reliance Tab is easy to operative and comfortable to hold. It has a small row like taskbar at the bottom which remains static even after the Application Launcher with Home, Dialer, Phonebook, E-mail and Message icons. Interface is replaced with Launcher Pro gave it a regular Android feel and quick access.

          There is an easy access to RWorld Online for content like music, cricket, start talk, mobile health etc. It has preloaded set of apps from Google Services such as Gmail, YouTube, Search, Gtalk alongwith Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, Document to go (Reader). A Google Account login is must to access Android market.

          While Typing, Onscreen QWERTY keypad in portrait mode was easy to

All new Sony Wedge Shaped Tablet S

Android Tablets are launched by the Technology giant Sony Corporation. All new stylish, curved and wedge shaped full sized tablet aka Tablet S by Sony is launched to give an edge competition to the Tablet Market. It will be launched this month i.e. September 2011 with two versions of 16GB and 32GB respectively. According to the Indian Market, technologists are expecting this tablet in the range of Rs. 25000 to Rs. 30000, which is a genuine price on the name of Sony...

Wi-fi is an advantage but One more Android dual screen tablet launched by Sony aka Tablet P will be outfitted with AT & T wireless connectivity option.

Android honeycomb is the expected version for this kind of hardware but we will get a complete thorough review only after launching. From the front, the S looks like every other tablet: boring, shiny and flat. But from the side or the back, you can see it resembles a magazine with the front cover and the first dozen pages folded around back. The black plastic shell wraps around the fat “spine” and continues across the back of the tablet, tapering off and ending before it goes all the way to the other end — just like a folded magazine cover doesn’t wrap all the way around, leaving an inch or two of the back cover’s outer edge exposed.

There’s another advantage of the wedge shape, which is that when you set it down to type on the screen in landscape mode, the top of the tablet is propped up towards you a little. It’s not ideal — I found myself wanting to slide something under the spine to angle the screen toward me more — but it’s better than typing on a touchscreen that’s laying totally flat.

The screen is lovely. It’s bright with excellent color depth, and black tones are represented especially well. I’d expect a good display from Sony, and this one excels. Of course, the 9.4-inch screen rotates to accommodate both left-handed and right-handed users.

The S has a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor and 1GB of RAM. It also has a touchscreen remote that is universal. This device will have a class on its shape, style and the android advantage with the name of Sony.. 

Just wait for a heart touching moment of the launch of this tablet... 

Motorola's Xoom Wi Fi - a new Tablet for US Market

Motorola’s Xoom Wi-Fi is coming to the US on March 27 to rival Apple’s iPad 2 and Dell’s Streak.

 

“Motorola Xoom is a truly innovative tablet – its design, coupled with being the first tablet to have Android 3.0, results in a user experience that is one-of-a-kind. We are now continuing to expand the choices available to consumers with the Motorola Xoom1Wi-Fi to be available soon from numerous leading retailers in the United States,” Motorola Mobility’s Vice President of retail sales, Dan Papalia, was quoted as saying.

 

The Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi tablet will be available at $599 (32 gigabyte).

 

The Motorola Xoom is a 10.1-inch touchscreen tablet computer, which is often touted as one of the best launches at Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The tablet runs on Android 3.0 platform developed jointly by Google, Motorola and Nvidia.

 

Besides, the tablet has two digital cameras- a 2.0-mega pixel camera in the front panel and the other with 5.0 mega pixels at the rear side. Xoom is equipped to capture 720p high-definition video.

Hopefully for the launch in India soon.

Mintpass’ tablet - Android and Windows 7

Korean firm Mintpass is planning a dual-touchscreen tablet for release in the first half of 2011, which would dual-boot between Android and Windows 7. The tablet, so far unnamed, will use a homegrown touchscreen technology that Mintpass is calling “Space Touch”, and allow for book-orientation and notebook-orientation use (with one of the screens displaying a virtual keyboard).


“The Tablet Wars”: Sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it? Well it might have had it not been preceded by years of the smart phone wars. But it’s more than that. The smart phone wars were predicated on fundamental differences in philosophy as to what kind of functionality should be emphasized in a smart phone. Should it be the power business features of a BlackBerry, the ultra hip user experience of an iPhone or the universality and integration of an Android device?
The answer to these questions ultimately led to truly unique and original directional designs by each respective company, both in terms of hardware and software. BlackBerry is staunch about having a full physical keypad, even on their new touch model Torch. iPhone is notorious for the closed and controlling nature with which Apple governs the extent people can customize them. Even Apple’s app store is under constant criticism for the draconian way they run things there. And Google of course, designs everything they do with browsing and search integration in mind.

The end result of all this is an extremely diverse ecosystem of hardware and software from which the greater market can pick and choose what best speaks to their individual needs and wants. In short, a good war is healthy… and quite frankly, far more fun to write and read about too.

On the other hand, the tablet market and the war brewing there, in-spite of its incredible potential to make the US State Department’s list of places too dangerous for developers to visit – is getting off to a pretty boring start. This is due in large part to the initial attempts by the iPad’s competition. I lamented the lack of design originality of the post Apple newcomers to the tablet market. Jon Evans expressed similar misgivings; specifically with regard to RIM’s PlayBook and how they may have dropped the ball before they even got started.

When expressing my sentiments about the lack of tablet ingenuity to some friends and colleagues, I was dismayed to find them take a conciliatory approach by defensively asking what kind of original designs could Samsung and RIM have brought to the table anyway?

What original designs!?

To my knowledge, Samsung and RIM are not strapped for cash startups; it’s their job to be original. Hire top notch designers (you can afford it) and start to throw around some ideas!

Well thank the nerd angels for Mintpass. According to an Endgadget article, the Korean company will be releasing a dual touch screen, dual operating system tablet sometime in 2011. It will run both Windows 7 as well as Android and will feature something they call “Space Touch”. I have no idea what that is but it sounds pretty Fancy Schmancy.

The dual display can either function as two separate units running individual apps simultaneously, or it can be folded laptop style with a touch keyboard on the bottom controlling your apps on top.

MintPass wasn’t the first one to come up with such an innovative idea –Toshiba’s Libretto W100 has a similar design.

Now, have you ever heard of Mintpass before this announcement? Me neither. And that’s just the point. Why are the undiscovered coming up with the original ideas? Past success is not a free pass to sit on your laurels, Samsung and RIM. Next time I will be expecting more.

So far there’s no word on what version of Android the Mintpass tablet might use, what processor(s) it will adopt, or any of the other specifications.