Hasta La Gadget!

Intel is kicking off its ultrabook symposium in Taipei tomorrow, and details have emerged of exactly what the company will be showcasing for the platform going forward. NetbookNews sat down with Navin Shenoy, the Vice President of Intel’s Architecture Group, and gleaned some information as to what to expect. As you might imagine, Intel is keen to promote ultrabooks and bring even more to market. Currently there are around 35 designs available to buy, but Intel says there are at least 140 designs for the platform.

Intel is also hoping to hit a very aggressive $699 price point for entry-level ultrabooks going forward in order to stave off competition from Apple’s MacBook Airs. There have been a couple of Sandy Bridge-based models that have briefly touched that price, but Intel is hoping for a wider range of ultrabooks to start hitting that specific number.

Standard ultrabooks are currently flooding from the market from a variety of manufacturers, but Intel hinted that around 40 ultrabooks with touch capabilities would see the light of day soon enough. Those models will launch around the fourth quarter, coinciding with the release of Windows 8 which places a new emphasis on touch operation.

Finally, the company once again hinted at its next-generation processor, Haswell. The processor will mark another jump in speed for Intel, but also bring with it reduced power requirements. Intel is pitching the 22nm processor as the first System on a Chip for the PC, claiming that it will use up to 20 times less power than Ivy Bridge. That low-power requirement will be especially important for ultrabooks, enabling true all day computing and bringing them closer to ARM-based tablets.

Intel: $699 ultrabooks coming soon is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google continues to integrate their system in an ever-tightening web of connectivity with video chat for Gmail. This video chat comes in the form of Hangouts, the same system that’s currently working in their social network Google+. You’ll be able to use this chat system without signing up for a Google+ account, but Google is encouraging you to do so anyway, of course, for “even more” special features than you’d get without such an account.

This upgrade will be rolling out starting today and will be coming across the world in the coming weeks. Hangouts allows users to work with high reliability and “enhanced” quality over anything Google has used before for video chat. Because this new system is not just peer-to-peer, you’ll no longer have to worry about cut-outs and chopped-up video. This system also works not only with people on Gmail, but with people in Google+ in their browser or using their Android or iOS device as well.

Some of the features you’ll get if you grab a Google+ account as well are the ability to watch a YouTube video or chat with up to 9 people at once. You can collaborate on Google documents, you can dress yourself up like a pirate with enhanced facial-recognition technology, and one whole heck of a lot more! This system is made for simple video chat for Gmail and an enhanced experience for Google+ – in essence, it’s a hook.

And a hook is what you’ll get in the demonstration video above as well. At the end there’s a bit of some pirate action while the fine folks at Google explain your many abilities once you’re fully hooked up. This video chat system will appear on the left of your screen right next to where you’d otherwise be chatting with your contacts online. The video symbol will launch you into a window where you can invite additional guests and chat the day and night away. Let us know if you’ve gotten the upgrade already!

[via Gmail Blog]

Gmail gets Hangouts integration for super simple video chat is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There certainly have been some advances in the way diabetics test their blood sugar levels. Glucose monitors have gotten more compact, the amount of blood needed for an accurate test has gotten much smaller. iDevices have been thrown into the fold with special apps for keeping track and sending results to your doctor. Heck they’re even developing a tattoo that changes color in response to your glucose levels, but what we really want is a way to accurately check those levels without having to be stuck with a needle… ever.

Well, scientists at the University of Michigan as well as a biomedical engineer at Arizona State just might have some answers to the kinds of devices we’ve been waiting for, the U of M scientists have developed a sensor that is able to detect diluted levels of glucose in the tears of animals, and Dr. Jeffry Labelle from Arizona State is working with the Mayo Clinic in order to develop a device that you simply press against the white part of your eye in to check your levels. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Dr. Labelle’s device boasts an accuracy the same as blood testing, the material is easier to gather than a blood sample, is painless, and requires only that a test strip be held against the white of your eye. Unfortunately, presently the sample requires swift handling and immediate measurement to get those accurate results, so thats where the scientists have their work cut out for them. They are now working to make this painless test  more user friendly and consistent. Never fear however, their diligent work looks like it could payoff sooner than you think, and the device could be in your hands in as little as 2 – 5 years. Wouldn’t that be great?

source: HuffingtonPost.com

[ The Future Glucose Monitoring – The “Eyes” Have it copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

This week the folks at Nokia are bringing on the next generation of their hardware and software integration talks with none other than their own Floris Van-De-Klashorst speaking about the future of automotive. The Connected Car, as they call it, is one which is a futuristic concept – this meaning that though we’ve got cars at the moment that are relatively connected, we’ve not yet scratched the surface. According to Nokia, it’s Points of Interest (POI) search capabilities that are at the center of the future for vehicles that use what they call “Intelligent Technology.”

Built-in phone technology as well as data connectivity is at the center of this concept as well – as Nokia sees the future, anyway. They’ve presented a video showing off some concepts as they sit inside the concept known as the Ford Evos. This vehicle is a blue beast, with no less than cloud services and APIs, search technology, mobile connectivity, and build-in communication technology as well. Have a peek at this concept video and see what the future holds.

Nokia is announcing this week via their Conversations by Nokia blog – or perhaps re-announcing for those of you that’ve followed along with the Evos rather closely- that they’re working with Ford as one of its main integrators of futuristic tech. This partnership will use Nokia’s own Location Platform to support the vehicle’s in-car location-based set of systems. This vehicle will, thanks you Nokia, not only know where you are and what businesses and places of interest are near to you at any given point, it’ll know which kinds of music you like to listen to on certain commutes.

You’ll also be working with Satnav maps to bring on your ability to avoid locations in your city (or wherever you’re driving) with heavy pollution. With detectors and reporting devices such as what we’re seeing here with this vehicle and its connected services alone, we’re hoping for a completely world-environment-aware vehicle in the very, very near future.

Have a peek at our hands-on look at some Nokia Windows Phone mapping technology that we saw back at CTIA earlier this year as well to get deeper into Nokia’s love for knowing where you are at any time – and what’s around you as well.

First have a peek at Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport:

Then get in deep with Nokia Maps, the center of the whole Nokia GPS universe:

Finally check out Nokia City Lens – an amazing next-generation vision on Nokia Windows Phone devices which will allow you to see tags on every business and building of interest around you – it’s fabulous!

Stay tuned for more awesome Nokia location-aware technology, and get ready for awesome Nokia-embedded vehicles as well!

Nokia gets connected with automotive futures is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week we’ve got our hands on the Samsung Galaxy Note as carried by T-Mobile in the USA – and with it we’ve got another home-run for the unique device team. Samsung took the time to create something unique in the Galaxy Note when it was first revealed for an international audience, and now the T-Mobile user base has the opportunity to use it on their favorite carrier. Is that the beginning and the end of it? Let’s have a peek!

Hardware

You’ve got a massive 5.3-inch screen here with 800 x 1280 pixel resolution (285 pixels per inch) across its face. Without a doubt, this is the largest smartphone you’ll ever have come across – as it is the largest smartphone on the market. Samsung would have you believe that this is not a smartphone, but a unique device that’s not a smartphone and not a tablet – but when it comes down to it, it’s completely up to you on how you define it.

The size of this device along with the width of it makes it so using the S-Pen docked within it is almost a necessity, but not quite. You’ve got a hearty collection of abilities with the device’s pen, many of which you’ll see with the Premium Suite upgrade that comes standard with this device (right out of the box.) Have a peek in the software section below to get a better handle at what the pen can do for you.

This Galaxy Note has a removable back panel so you’ve got access to your sim card as well as your microSD card, and your battery is removable, and therefor replaceable, as well. The exterior of the device is plastic on the back and around the rim while the front is one giant smooth flat reinforced glass panel. While the international edition of this device has a single physical home button, this version, as it is with the AT&T version, has a set of four capacitive buttons which work with both taps and long-presses to bring on your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades such as multi-tasking with recent app selections.

The device is certainly something you’re going to want to hold in your own hands before you purchase – it’s something you’ve got to get used to if you’ve always used palm-sized devices in the past. Once you do get used to it, you’ll have a tough time going back to a smaller screen as well as going without a pen.

Software

With this release of the Samsung Galaxy Note you’ll get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box. This device has the Premium Suite as we detailed recently on the AT&T Galaxy Note – this device has the same software save the carrier-specific bits. That means you’ve got T-Mobile’s collection of data watchers and content devourers, otherwise the whole experience is the same as the AT&T device.

Have a peek at some hands-on time we had with the AT&T Galaxy Note with Premium Suite here:

Note that you’ve got the hook up with a variety of Samsung-specific sharing abilities as well as the Media Hub for movies and television shows as well. T-Mobile also provides live TV (for a fee) and some other gems that will make you glad you’re on the big pink carrier. Benchmark tests on this device have turned up, on the whole, to be the same as they’ve been with the AT&T Galaxy Note with Premium Upgrade. Have a peek at Quadrant Standard here:

Battery Time and Signal Strength

We’ve collected several speed tests here both in Minnesota and in Southern California so you get a double dose of signal strength data. You should really take the time to check if you’re in an optimal environment for your T-Mobile 4G data to come through with the ultimate speed for yourself, as you do live in your own unique area wherever you make your home, but what you see here will give you two ideas of what you might see.

The battery on this device is massive and, like the original Galaxy Note as well as the rest of the smart device on this planet, the amount of time you’ve got with your device without battery charging completely depends on the amount you use it. If you’re a heavy user, this meaning you stream video with the Samsung Media Hub (or download it) and Tweet and snap photos and chat all day long, the possibility exists that you’ll need to charge after about 10 hours.

As for those of you that are light or average users – like myself if I’m not out traveling – you’ll not need to worry about charging all day long. Make sure you’ve got the device hooked up to a charge when you sleep at night and you’ll be fine throughout the day.

Camera

The camera here on the Galaxy Note is exactly the same as we’ve experienced with the original Galaxy Note as well as the AT&T Galaxy Note. This is not a bad thing. Check out a few 8 megapixel photos and a 1080p video shot with the device for good measure.

Wrap-Up

This is your time, T-Mobile loyal fans, to finally attain the massive handheld device known as the Galaxy Note for your own. You’ve had the opportunity to pick up the international version for one gigantic wad of cash before, as it did (and does) work on T-Mobile bands, but now is the time when you can actually purchase an affordable version right from the T-Mobile store with 2-year contract. The decision you’ve got to make now is whether you want a Galaxy Note or a Galaxy S III – both are available on T-Mobile right this minute.

Lucky you, we’ve got a Samsung Galaxy Note vs Galaxy S III on T-Mobile post prepared for you to have your sweet time with, and an international comparison if you need another look. Of course there’s also a selection of other devices on the carrier as well, but when you’re addicted to Samsung, you’re addicted to Samsung. Let us know in the comments below whether or not you’re going to latch on!

T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.