Hasta La Gadget!

We’re still not quite sure why Intel decided to forego mentioning the product name in this morning’s keynote, but that Atom-based tablet with Wireless Display technology? That’s the ExoPC, according to the very people who make the device. We caught up with the company at IDF 2010 and checked out both an older version of the device and a near-production model — still a super-glossy glass screen with admittedly bad viewing angles, but we’ve been promised the final display will alleviates those problems. The unit we held was also a good bit lighter than before — 144 grams to be exact, according to the rep — and had a rubber matte feel to the back. The ExoPC is powered by Intel’s PineTrail — specifically the Atom N450, although Oak Trail is something the company’s looking into for the future. We won’t go into every detail of what we saw, as you can check out our preview from May for a more exhaustive (and still pretty accurate) look. We will say that the unit is still incredibly snappy (thanks in no small part to 2GB RAM and SanDisk SSD) and we’re still loving the ability to switch from Windows 7 to the very friendly “Connect Four” UI (our unofficial name for it). The keyboard is still Windows 7 standard, but we were told it’s reached out to multiple companies — including Swype — and is also looking to its developer community for greater support in the buildup to launch.

So, about that WiDi demo this morning… the company wouldn’t tell us the story behind that, only to say that it was an ExoPC in the demo, WiDi will be included eventually but no promises were made as to its inclusion at launch. It’s our understanding that the hardware wasn’t changed, implying the capabilities are already there or that all it takes is a software fix, but… we’ve also heard from Intel that WiDi is a hardware-based solution, so we’re still not quite sure what to make of everything. At any rate The company’s still targeting mid-October for its developer pre-orders and touting its Flash and Silverlight support, reminding us how easy it is to port from Windows Phone 7 to the device. We’ve got a video walkthrough coming later, but for now, check out some pics in the gallery below.

Continue reading ExoPC is Intel’s WiDi-enabled Atom tablet, we go hands-on with near-final build (update: video)

ExoPC is Intel’s WiDi-enabled Atom tablet, we go hands-on with near-final build (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

India’s $35 tablet is apparently the Hivision Speedpad originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 21:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Androidos.in  | Email this | Comments

Digg If you’ll recall, a little while back HTC waved its white flag amid AMOLED shortages and made the jump to the readily-available SLCD for its Desire and Nexus One handsets. As a quick recap, here’s what CEO Peter Chou said about the swap:

“The SLCD displays provide consumers with a comparable visual experience to HTC’s current 3.7 inch displays with some additional benefits including battery performance.”

So, just how “comparable” is the SLCD? To find out, we picked up both flavors of the Desire to perform some comparison tests. Let’s start off with the picture quality: what caught our attention straight away was how much sharper SLCD is, but alas, AMOLED is still in the lead for vibrancy and brightness. We dug a little deeper and learned that this has to do with the different pixel arrangements on the two types of panels — unlike traditional TFT LCD panels, AMOLED’s PenTile RGBG (red, green, blue, green, etc.) filter matrix utilizes just two subpixels per pixel instead of three in the same amount of space, thus allowing greater transmittance due to the larger red and blue subpixels. But obviously, the downside is that the pictures aren’t as sharp as the denser-packed SLCD. Read on for more!

Continue reading Spot the difference: HTC Desire’s SLCD versus AMOLED

Spot the difference: HTC Desire’s SLCD versus AMOLED originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

This is Intel’s Sandy Bridge — the actual silicon itself. And if you think about what the previous generation of Core processors looked like under their heatspreader hoods, that internal codename actually makes a good bit of sense now. But we’re sure you’d rather know what’s inside. To that end, you’ll find a handy diagram right after the break.

Continue reading Intel’s Sandy Bridge, eyes-on

Intel’s Sandy Bridge, eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Today, Contour announces that the latest feature to come to its line of HD helmet-cams: Location awareness in the new ContourGPS. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20016299-48.html” class=”origPostedBlog”The Car Tech blog/a/p