Monday, July 30, 2012

Amazon is working on new tablets



Amazon has big plans for the tablets and is hopefully going to outperform Samsung as both the companies are rushing to capture the second position of the tablet market behind Apples iPad. Amazon is going to introduce five to six tablets as stated by the Demos Parneros, President of US retail for Staples to Reuters. Amazon has not commented on the report as of yet. Amazon started shipping the Kindle Fire, a 7 long-anticipated tablet following its e-reader success. It cost $199.

Though some speculated that the release in November might not help in boosting the sale but that point was proved wrong and the device was sold like a hot cake grabbing about 17% of the world market. Samsung also had the shipments of table in the fourth quarter raised to 5.8 percent from 5.5 percent in the previous quarter. Amazon had a loss on hardware with the Kindle Fire and it focused on the sales by offering MP3, movies, apps and games.

As per the reports in the next two-three months, Kindle Fire had 2.5 times more paid apps downloads as compared to Samsung Galaxy tab though the number of owners of the Samsung are almost twice than that of Kindle. Since the day of the Kindle launch in November 2011, Amazon has been working on the different Kindle Fire sizes. DigiTimes reported that 8.9 and 10.1 inch models are in development. New York Times reported recently that Amazon is working on new version of Kindle Fire with a larger display and it could compete with iPad directly.


Via: Amazon is working on new tablets

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Startups working on devices that will turn your TV into an Android tablet



You will soon be able to turn your ordinary TV into a smart Android tablet. A number of startups are working on devices that will bring Android platform to your ordinary TV.

It is the wide popularity and open source nature of Google Android operating system and the inexpensive tablet hardware that has numerous startups make devices to turn ordinary TVs into smart TVs. These reported devices are small computers that make use of cell phone microprocessors to bring the Android to TVs with HDMI ports.

Pocket TV, OUYA, and Equiso Smart TV are three of the numerous projects that are working on such devices, and aim at making such devices available in the market by the end of this year.

Pocket TV, of the startup Infinitech, will run Android 4.0 ICS on a 1GHz ARM A9 CPU with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory. A microSD slot will be there to support an additional 32GB of memory. The Equiso Smart TV reportedly runs on Android 4.0, and features an ARM 1GHz A5 CPU with 512MB of RAM, 8MB of internal storage and a USB 2.0 port for connecting USB devices and external hard drives.

The OUYA is said to be an Android powered video game console, which will retail for $99. It features a Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, one USB 2.0 port, WiFi, Bluetooth and wireless handheld controller.

Each of the aforementioned three projects has been successfully funded through popular crowd-sourced funding platform called Kickstarter.


Via: Startups working on devices that will turn your TV into an Android tablet

Fuhu Nabi 2 Kids Android Tablet Available on Best Buy, Walmart & Gamestop



If youre an Android tab user with kids, and your children do not have their own slate to meddle with, more often than not they take yours. So maybe the most excellent system around this is to get hold of an Android tab for your children, so they keep their hands off of yours.

As per Android Police, there is an affordable Android slate for children named as the Fuhu Nabi 2, which will be hitting shelves in the coming days, and will contain a price label of around $199.99.

The Fuhu Nabi 2 is a Tegra 3 tab boasting a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display together with a 2 MP front facing camera and 720p video, 1 gigabyte random access memory, 8 gigabyte storage, a 1.3 gigahertz Tegra 3 quad core processor, 3.5 millimeter jack, microUSB, miniHDMI, microSD expansion, and functions the Android ICS OS.

Measuring 6.05 x 8.69 x 1.14-inches comprising bumper case, the ICS slate will carry a weight of 1.31 pounds with a 4000mAh battery, and is aimed at children between the age brackets from pre-k to 5th grade.

For those who would like to take hold of the Fuhu Nabi 2 Android Tegra tab for their loving children, the slate is available for pre-order at Best Buy, Gamestop, and Wal-Mart.


Via: Fuhu Nabi 2 Kids Android Tablet Available on Best Buy, Walmart & Gamestop

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

MIPS is porting Android 4.1 to low-cost tablets



To make a mark in low-cost tablets, MIPS is porting Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to its processors. As stated by Bernier-Santarini, director of corporation communications at MIPS in an email, the company is trying to bring Jelly Bean to MIPS and expect that they will have the licenses soon.

MIPS is a processing licensing company and is an arch rival of ARM, which has its dominant presence in the tablet and smartphone market. MIPS surprised the people w hen it announced that it is coming out with a tablet along with a manufacture Ainol , based on its processor and running Android 4.0. The processor will cost US$99.

The tablet from MIPS was the cheapest and the first one to have Android at that time but this year Google came out with its first Android 4.1 device with Nexus 7 which runs on a quad-core ARM processor. Tablets with MIPS processor are cheaply priced and have buyers mostly in the developing countries.

MIPS is going to launch a new tablet called Miumiu W1 from a Chinese company Ramos and that will be available in India, Latin America and Europe in a few months. The tablet will have models with 4 GB and 8 GB storage but prices are not available.


Via: MIPS is porting Android 4.1 to low-cost tablets

Top 5 Fresh Android Games



With Android now the dominant force in smartphones and even in tablets, we are seeing more and more developers creating games for the Google-based operating system. This is great news for us and for you, because who doesnt love playing games on their smartphone or slate? Now, weve all probably played Angry Birds to death, drawn more pictures on Draw Something than we would ever care to remember and sliced way more that our five-a-day on Fruit Ninja, so what other games are out there?

Well, downloading this list of the top 5 fresh Android games, so keep you satisfied for a little while.

1) Monster Ate My Condo

Adult Swim is renowned for general producing bizarre games and there is nothing stranger than Monster Ate My Condo. Basically (as you might have already guessed), this game is about monsters, ghastly looking creatures that love to tear apart cities. Your job is to keep them from doing this by ensuring they are well fed. This game might well be one of the strangest that you play this year, but it will also be one of the funniest.

2) Frisbee Rush

Because of the expense of your smartphone, using it as a Frisbee is something you have probably never considered you best use an old Nokia 3310 for that. However, just because you cant physically throw your phone doesnt mean you cant enjoy playing Frisbee with it. Frisbee Rush allows you to use your handset in conjunction with your desktop to bring the game to life. Old school fun for the smartphone generation!

3) Call of Cthulhu: Wasted land

For all you RPG and strategy gaming fans out there, Call of Cthulhu could be your new found obsession. There is the clichd story line of ancient enemy carries out dastardly plan and must be stopped by a team of investigators (you) before things get out of hand, but it really is a classy, smooth gaming experience. Its pretty scary in parts too! But still, the game looks great, and youll be able to enjoy its graphics on big and powerful smartphones like Samsungs new Galaxy S3 with quad-core CPUs or tablets/phablets like the Galaxy Note.

4) Quiet, Please!

Interacting with your environment and solving puzzles both key elements of the old-school adventure game. Thats what Quiet, Please! offers. 16-bit graphics and simple gameplay equal hours of fun! This game will run on any smartphone, even on old ones, which is also a big plus.

5) Movie Star Planet

Ever wanted to see what its like to be famous? Well, Movie Star Planet offers you the perfect opportunity. This social game allows you to make yourself into a star and rise through the ranks toward A-list celeb, updating your status and signing autographs for fun. Probably not one for the boys, but great social gaming nonetheless.


Via: Top 5 Fresh Android Games

The Google Nexus 7: A look



After Nexus 7 from Google got released, the big question is if it is as good as the New iPad? It may not be as good as the New iPad, but again the price is also half of it. By paying $200 for the Nexus 7, the users are getting enough specifications which is sufficient to make them forget the iPad.

It is the first pure Google tablet. It is fast and has good response with its quad-core Tegra 3 processor. This is the first tablet running on Android 4.1 Jelly bean and it is the smoothest and slickest Android made as of now. Some of the early reviews made by CNet, Engadget, and Verge had also praised Nexus 7 features a lot.

There is a rumor that Apple might come out with a 7.85-inches iPad mini and the most important reason behind pushing Apple for the release is the Google Nexus 7 tablet. The consumers do appreciate a tablet smaller than 10-inches as is evident from the popularity of the Amazon Kindle Fire.


The size is an appealing factor for the ladies and the kids and it is easy to handle it and it can fit easily in the pocket. The users can get 16 GB Nexus at half the price of the entry level 16GB new iPad. There is no need to say that Apple is observing the market response of Nexus 7 very closely.


Via: The Google Nexus 7: A look

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet may be launched by HTC



HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, may be coming out with a new tablet running on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is the latest version of Android operating system. Not much of details have been provided in the report about the HTCs latest tablet device based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

It is speculated that the manufacturer is getting ready for its new device as the Shipping of the Jelly Beans tablets have been started recently. There can be announcement by HTC at the upcoming IFA conference in Berlin next month about its new device in the list. The report also says that the HTC Jelly Bean Tablet may have their first release in UK.

Some of the most far-famed characteristics in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean consists of a significantly quicker, quieter interface, which Google set up under the nickname Project Butter; Android Beam that permits you instantaneously share pictures as well as video recordings through NFC by tapping your machine to the other well-matched device; a novel and enhanced touch keyboard with enhanced analytical capacities; a novel notification system, which permits you react to certain notifications straightly from the Android notification tray and without opening up an application program.


Via: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet may be launched by HTC

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