Samsung’s Windows RT Tablet-ATIV Tab Will Hit the Shelves This Month Later

Since the Galaxy Tab 10.1 came out in 2011, Samsung has had plenty of follow-ups, for example, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, the 7-inch version of the same tablet and the Galaxy Note line of tablets and smartphones. Samsung has been quite a presence at this year’s IFA and not only did the company unveil the highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note 2 but they’ve also showcased two of their Windows-based devices, the Samsung ATIV S WP 8 smartphone and the Ativ Tab Windows RT tablet. Speaking of the ATIV Tab tablet, it is one of the first to run Microsoft’s forthcoming tablet operating system, Windows RT.

                                                     

Samsung unveiled its first Windows RT tablet, the Samsung ATIV Tab (GT-P8510), back in August and four days ago the device made an appearance on the FCC. The 10.1-inch tablet won approval for dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC. FCC documents do not reveal much about the device. But ATIV Tab’s FCC approval comes just in time for the launch of Windows 8. Samsung hasn’t announced a release date for the ATIV Tab yet, but the device is expected to be unveiled by the end of October.

                                                     

According to the latest leaks and rumors, the ATIV Tab will arrive on the European market a bit later than we’ve expected. Word around the campfire is that Samsung’s Windows RT tablet will hit the shelves starting with the 48th week of the year, between November 26h and December 2nd. Needless to say, if you were hoping to purchase the ATIV Tab as soon as the new Windows platform gets fully unveiled by the Redmond Giant, on October 26th, you might have to wait a bit longer than that.

                                                            

The ATIV Tab is Samsung’s first tablet running Windows RT which is specially designed to run on ARM processors, weighs 570 grams and measures 8.9 millimeters thick. Spec-wise, the tablet is definitely promising, being powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core CPU running at 1.5 GHz, 2 GB of RAM and a 8200 mAh battery. It also features a 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1366 x 768 and Samsung has also fitted a full-sized USB port on the side alongside a Micro-HDMI port. The tablet is made of plastic which is the same as on the latest Galaxy devices like the SIII and the Note II, but it feel comfortably in the hands. Samsung is listing a 12-hour battery life for its Ativ Tab tablet when playing movies, which is perhaps the most of any tablet available today.

                                                          

The Ativ Tab also has a software and hardware feature called AllShare, which will allow the tablet to share multimedia files with other Samsung devices such as Android-based Galaxy tablets. Other features include NFC and Wi-Fi Direct, which is a way for devices to talk wirelessly without the need for additional attachments.

Pricing for the tablet hasn't yet been announced. But U.K.-based online retailer Clove said in a blog that the tablet will become available in late October for about US$735, which totals about $880 including value-added tax.

Frankly speaking, the new 10.1-inch slate isn't quite as aggressive as its Android counterpart. But with more tablets from Asus, Dell, Samsung, Lenovo and Acer coming in the following weeks, the tablets are designed for long battery life and will compete with iPad and Android tablets on price and features. We’ll definitely keep an eye out in order to figure out Samsung’s plans when it comes to its participation in the Windows market segment.

                                                            

Unfortunately, the manufacturer has not revealed any details concerning the price of its Windows RT powered Samsung ATIV Tab, but we’ll keep an eye out so stay tuned for that particular tablet.

Asus Unveils Its PadFone 2-the Great Avatar of Phone/Tablet Combo

Asus announced its phone/tablet hybrid during a media launch in Taipei on Tuesday, as expected, with some great upgrades to the original and a new docking mechanism for easy insertion. The PadFone 2 is a powerful smartphone that slides into its companion tablet and actually provides the computing power for the slate when a bigger screen is needed.  Asus' has had a number of interesting Android tablet concepts out there, from the high-end Transformer Infinity line through to the quirky PadFone, a combination Android phone and tablet. All these efforts indicate Asus' motivation to become an electronic giant in the competitive market.

                  

Speaking of the smartphone only

Though the original PadFone is a little half-baked, the Padfone 2 sounds much more like a high-end smartphone than its predecessor. It is an upgrade over its predecessor in more ways than one, frankly speaking, it's thinner, lighter and faster than its old version. It measures 137.9 by 68.9 by 9mm and weighs 135 grams and the screen of the phone is a huge 4.7 ” Super IPS+ display, almost as huge as the one on the Samsung Galaxy S3, but the same 720 x 1280 pixels resolution means better PPI, which makes things look really sharp.

The PadFone 2 runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz quad-core processor and Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich).The camera has 13 megapixels, an f/2.4 aperture and can take 100 shots at six shots per second—while recording 1080p high-definition video at 30 frames per second (fps) or 720p HD video at 60fps. The front facing 1.2MP camera isn't quite as highly specced, but should be good enough for a Skype call. The backside-illuminated sensor is provided by Sony, making it likely the same one as seen on the Xperia T.

Other specs of note include LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with GLONASS support, and a custom new 13-pin dock connector that supports Micro USB 2.0 and MHL connections.

                     

The tablet station is fresh new design

Of course, a PadFone wouldn't be a PadFone without a tailor-made tablet accessory, which in the case of the new handset is a thinner slate with a redesigned docking connection. The door of the original hybrid has been removed and the PadFone 2 now sits vertically in its tablet dock, giving it the appearance of a protruding spine to the significantly slimmer tablet.

The tablet station is stated to feature a 10.1-inch IPS display with a 1280x800 pixel resolution. It’s also thinner, lighter and features a slicker design and docking mechanism than its predecessor. The battery on board has actually been downgraded to 5000mAh from the original's 6600mAh.

                        

The whole thing will come with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, but is upgradeable to Jelly Bean, which Asus promises as soon as possible after launch. Sadly, however, it has a few backwards thanks to the loss of keyboard support and microSD. It’s not 100 per cent certain that there’s no keyboard, but Asus hasn’t said anything and multiple news sites have reached this upsetting conclusion already.

Asus has priced its new smartphone/tablet hybrid at 799 euro for the 32GB version and 899 euro for the 64GB model. The new smartphone / tablet hybrid's release date is set for "before the end of 2012" for Europe and Asia, while other countries will be announced later on.

The Final Conjecture-Apple iPad Mini Will be Released on Oct. 23

It is October and the news about the Apple iPad Mini becomes more and more, some released photos also showed that the maximum suspensive iPad Mini will hit the shelves soon. According to the sources, the unveiling of the Apple iPad Mini will happen Oct. 23 at “an invitation-only event.”

In last month, Apple missed its chance to announce the tablet alongside the iPhone 5. And the expected Apple invitations to an Oct. 17 event in honor of a mini version of the iPad didn’t arrive in in-boxes on Oct. 10. Now, a new rumor suggests that invitations to Apple’s grand unveiling will head out in Oct. 23. We hope this date is true and iPad Mini will soon be joining Apple’s lineup.

                                                   

Instead of a major bash, as Apple hosted for the iPhone 5 launch—taking over San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and closing out the event with a concert by the Foo Fighters—it’s likely to welcome the iPad Mini with a much smaller affair.

                                                  

The timing of an Oct. 23 event would also have the Apple-friendly effect of distracting from Microsoft’s planned Oct. 26 launch of its Windows 8 platform and Surface tablet. The iPad Mini—which won’t compete directly with the Surface but is nonetheless likely to redirect sales—is expected to feature a 7.85-inch display, front and back cameras, and iOS 6, despite the well-reported shortcomings of its Maps app. It’s similarly made out of aluminum and the screen is said to be with a narrower bezel and with the same resolution as the iPad 2, or 1024 x 768 pixels.

                                                   

Apple is rumored to release the iPad mini in both a Wi-Fi-only and 3G versions, both coming in the traditional black and white colors. The compact tablet will allegedly sell for a very affordable price (rumors have it that the iPad Mini should arrive on the market for $249-$299) and still be noticeably larger than Android 7-inch tablets.

                                                       

In an August research note, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, who has been expecting an iTV and an iPad Mini for some time, described the future by writing, “We believe Apple’s product leadership, vertical integration and vast scale mean that it will receive the lion’s share of the economic benefit from the three biggest multi-year trends in technology: smartphones, 4G and tablets.”

We really hope the thin, iPad-like design iPod Mini would herald a new era for tablets world. But as Amazon and Barnes & Noble announced tablets that directly compete with the iPad last month. Whether the smaller iPad will win the fierce battle or not, let us just see!

Apple’s 5th Gen iPod Touch and 7th Gen iPod Nano Ships Now and Sets to Arrive on Stores by Oct. 15

When Apple announced the new 5th generation iPod Touch and the 7th generation iPod Nano along with the new iPhone 5 at the widely-covered event in San Francisco last month, we weren’t sure when Apple was going to release these new goodies, Apple company only put a loose ‘October’ release date for both products, with all of their online stores still sticking to this vague shipping time frame. But now according to the related news, these two fresh iPod products are shipping now!

                                                    

Apple has reportedly started that users who had pre-ordered the iPod Touch and iPod Nano have received email notifications that their orders have been shipped and deliveries are expected by October 15. Devices that have been pre-ordered from Apple.com will reportedly arrive from Monday 15th and stores across the world will be stocking the refreshed line-up of media players shortly after.

                                                    

The new iPod Touch is a thinner, lighter device with the same 4-inch Retina Display as the new iPhone 5, plus a dual-core A5 chip and 5MP iSight camera on the back. It’s also running off the new Apple iOS6 software, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The iPod Touch has up to 40 hours of audio playback and up to eight hours of video playback. It is available in 32GB and 64GB versions which are priced at £249 and £329 respectively, and you can get them in a range of Black, White, Pink, Blue and Red colours.

                                         

                                                     

The new iPod Nano range has been given a full makeover with the media players now having a 2.5-inch touchscreen display which can show up to six apps per page now, plus an FM tuner, and an inbuilt pedometer, a new unibody aluminum design with the new Lightning port, and Bluetooth 4.0 for use with things like headphones and speakers. The iPod Nano has up to 30 hours of audio playback and up to 3.5 hours of video playback. The iPod Nano is available in a 16GB version only for £129, but you can get it in a variety of colours including Black, White, Purple, Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue and Red.

Apple is also expected to announce a new iPad Mini in the month of October, as well as a new version of iTunes. Yes, October is big month this year for Apple releases.

Quad-core + Android 4.0, LG LS970 is Upcoming

At the beginning of this year, LG introduced its first quad-core smartphone-LG Optimus 4X HD, this phone uses Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and boast with excellent hardware configuration. However Since May, a digital model named LG LS970 with quad-core processor frequently appeared, and this new model’s hardware configuration is even better than LG Optimus 4X HD. Thanks to an appearance at the Federal Communications Commission, this LG LS970 is said to hit the shelves sooner this year.

                                                                                                 

It was reported from related media that the FCC filing of LG LS970 shows this phone supports 4G LTE high-speed networks, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi wireless networks and NFC (Near Field Communication). As for the processor configuration, the FCC released filing did not mention, but previous reports have claimed that LG LS970 is a quad-core smartphone with strong hardware configuration.

When it comes to the LS970's configuration, the previous leaked specs show that the LG LS970 would be equipped with the Qualcomm Krait quad-core processor with built-in Adreno 320 GPU, and has 2GB of RAM, runs on Android 4.0 operating system, and also ships with a 13-megapixel camera. Experts indicate that it is bound to be a strong opponent of the Samsung S3 since its release.

                                                                                                    

The bad news is that the LS970 may still be a bit of a ways out, as a Bluetooth SIG listing claimed that it'll be arriving around the end of October. That's certainly a bit of a wait, but for the LG lover, it is the right phone that worth waiting for!

The "Four Deadly Sins" of iPhone 5

In western Catholicism, "Seven Deadly Sins” are usually given as wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. In the movie “Seven Deadly Sins" actor Morgan Freeman wonderful interpreted the Cardinal Sins to educate and instruct Christians concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin. But here I will pay attention to iPhone 5. As we all know, iPhone 5 is a big evolution of the Apple iPhone series, thanks to its high-end configuration and nobility feeling, it is still a perfect model in most people’s minds. But now I aim at listing some fatal flaws of the iPhone 5 during this time but this has nothing to do with blasphemy.

First sin: the Apple Map

The most dissatisfactory point of a series of improvements Apple iPhone 5 has made is its upgraded iOS 6, which has abandoned the Google Maps and use their own home-design map. However, this is really awful and Apple Map’s coverage makes people crazy and may lead you into places where you do not want to go. Furthermore, the Apple Map looks difficult to understand.

                                           

However, the news would not have been so bad, Apple has modified the iOS 6 native Map Flyover 3D feature. Thanks to the joint efforts of consumers, Apple retail store employees, and the R & D team of Apple Map, and media test shows that the same operation on Google Maps and Apple Map, Apple saves 80% data traffic than Google Maps.

Second sin: Many mistakes of iOS 6

Although Apple claims that more than 200 new features have been added to iOS 6 operating system, many users reflect that when they upgraded system to iOS 6, App Store becomes unusually slow. Though Apple has redesigned iPhone's App Store, users found some VoiceOver related issues.

　　                                      

Third sin: Wi-Fi connection

A large number of users reflect that iOS 6 Wi -Fi problems exist and mainly visible on two aspects. One seems only for the iPhone 4S and iPad 3, after the iOS 6 upgrade they can not connect local Wi-Fi network. The second seems to be related with WPA2 AES. When users’ home wireless router encryption mode changed from WPA2 AES to WPA2 TKIP, their iOS devices (iPhone 4S) can no longer connect to WiFi, WiFi options on the equipment is gray, this problem seems to be still under resolution.

                                         

Fourth sin: easy to get Diaoqi and leave behind scratches

When the iPhone 5 is officially on sale, some of them are easy to Diaoqi especially the black models and aluminum body exposed, and what’s more, the back body is prone to getting visible scratches. Apple believes that the paint falling is a normal phenomenon, and recommends that users wear protective sleeve for the body.

                                                

However, iPhone 5 is not useless, people love iPhone 5 so much that they want it to perform perfect. In all fairness, there are a lot of improvements like best camera, thinner display and so on to enhance the user experience. It's absolutely the best iPhone to date, and it easily secures its place in the top tier of the smartphone universe.

Rumors Confirmed that the 4.7-inch LG Nexus Phone is Upcoming

October 8, 2012, according to the news leaked from internet, Google will release several Nexus devices to expand its existing Android phone products lineup. At the same time, Spanish website MovilZona seems deeply convinced that LG will be one of the Nexus phone manufacturers later this year.

                                                                                    

In line with anonymous sources, Nexus phone is rumored to be working on a huge 4.7-inch display with 1280×768 resolution, its display quality and technical details are almost close to iPhone 5’s Retina display. Obviously, such a description is very consistent with the recently released LG Optimus G phone, so there is reason to believe that the Nexus phone is just one version of LG Optimus G.

                                         

It is said to be configured with Google Android 4.2 OS which features with added new functions and supports, and this Android 4.2 OS is remarked as the biggest spotlight of LG Nexus. Thanks to its inserted Google player, more online contents will be shared smoothly. It is capable of running on games that other mobile phones and devices are unable to support. In addition, the new custom center is also one of the major changes of the new system, to help users do more personalized settings on Android. Google Now will also get update and add the guidance on how to use and set Android.

Aiming at the inefficient battery life of the Android system, Google will improve battery life with the help of Project Roadrunner in the new system version. Currently, the Android 4.2 system device has immerged, phone code name is Occam, and the tablet’s Manta.

                                                           

It remains to be seen whether the LG Nexus phone is just a version of the LG Optimus G or a more differential cell phone, but this does not affect the possibility that Google will regard LG Optimus G as the template of its Nexus phone. In short, it is believed that this smartphone must have best hardware configuration as soon as a few months later it is produced.