Hasta La Gadget!

There are now several devices on the market that Samsung has added its “Note” brand name to, this week adding the Galaxy Note II for a larger screen than the original with a whole new styling in its case as well. With the birth of the Galaxy S IIIcame the dawn of a new smooth generation of aesthetics for Samsung, this spilling over first into the tablet universe with the Galaxy Note 10.1 then hitting the Galaxy Note II. With this tie-up came brand recognition that was all Samsung’s own, and with two devices on the market with the same styling and many of the same abilities, its become time to make with the comparisons.

With the Samsung Galaxy Note II you’ll be working with a 5.5-inch display at 1,280 x 720 pixel resolution – if you’d like to know how this and the rest of the features and abilities compare to the original Galaxy Note, head over to our Galaxy Note war posted earlier today. This device compares to the original Galaxy Note quite readily, while with the Galaxy Note 10.1 on the market we’ve got a device with a much more giant display and similar backbone. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has a display that measures in at 10.1-inchs with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The Galaxy Note II uses HD Super AMOLED technology while the Galaxy Note 10.1 uses TFT LCD.

Both devices are able to take microSD cards, but the Galaxy Note 10.1 is not equipped, as the II is, to take 64GB cards. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has a 5 megapixel camera on the back and a 1.9 megapixel camera on the front, this matching the Galaxy Note II on the front while the smaller device has a much more powerful 8 megapixel camera on the back. You’ll certainly want the Note II if you want to take high quality photos, that’s for certain. Both devices also us S-Pen technology and have a Samsung S-Pen embedded within them for easy carrying.

The Galaxy Note II is the smaller of the two devices at 5.95 x 3.16 x 0.37 inches while the Galaxy Note 10.1 rings in at 7.1 x 10.3 x 0.35 inches – quite a bit larger, but actually just a bit thinner. Both devices use Bluetooth 4.0 and are able to connect with Wi-fi, but the Galaxy Note II will also be able to connect to mobile data as well – carriers to be announced soon. The Galaxy Note 10.1 may also be able to connect to mobile data in the future, but at the moment it’s just a wi-fi machine. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be appearing on the Galaxy Note II while the Galaxy Note 10.1 currently has Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Jelly Bean on the way “very soon.”

Have a peek at our hands-on with the Galaxy Note II from IFA 2012 to get a bit more information on this next-generation device and see our Galaxy Note 10.1 review to get a full in-depth look at the tablet device already on the market.

Samsung Galaxy Note II vs 10.1 tablet is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Well folks, today marks the first major day of IFA 2012 over in Berlin, Germany, and we had tons of exciting and worthwhile news from Sony, Samsung and multiple others. For those that missed the bulk of the news in the early hours this morning we have a full breakdown of Sony’s IFA aspirations. From 84″ TV’s to Android tablets and more. Check it out below.

Now obviously Sony has tons of products on display for IFA 2012, so we’re just going to round up and mention a few of the important product launches that stood out the most this morning. That all starts with their new 84″ 4K Bavia HDTV. Yup they just launched their first 4K TV and it comes in at a massively impressive 84″ with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160. It upscales everything into 4K and even has some passive 3D features for that crowd too. It’ll be expensive and hit stores sometime early September. Who’s buying?

Next up we wanted to talk mobile considering Sony’s been slowly but surely getting more popular in the smartphone market. Today Sony rebranded their tablet line into the XPERIA name and launched a new and improved Sony Xperia Tablet S. It rocks a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich all for $399. Next up was smartphone and Sony had a new range of three smartphones. The top-tier Xperia T, then they also launched an Xperia V and a budget friendly J.

That was then followed by a brand new Microsoft Surface competitor with their new Windows 8 convertible PC called the Sony VAIO Duo 11 tablet. The picture above should explain plenty otherwise hit the link for Sony’s take on a Surface-like Windows 8 tablet PC. It rocks a Core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM and up to 256GB SSD options. Not bad right?

Then to round off a few more interesting aspects of Sony’s day we have a personalized 3D headset called the Sony HMZ-T2 Personal 3D viewer. This unit is designed to give users a personal, private, and unique perspective of 3D content and looks rather interesting. We’ll be hearing more on that soon I’m sure. Lastly they showed off a few NFC-capable Bluetooth wireless speaker systems that will work with the above Xperia tablet and smartphones. Simply tap the device to the speaker and NFC will enable music playback and start right off from your last played favorite track. This is music enjoyment in its simplest form. Last but not least they announced a micro action cam to take on the GoPro called the Sony Action Cam.

We will have plenty more coverage from Sony, and everything else at this years IFA 2012 event so stay tuned and don’t forget to stop by our IFA 2012 Hub.

Sony IFA 2012 Wrap-Up is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Somewhere there’s a tired joke about the Konami code waiting to be made for this awesome arcade-themed light switch plate. But we’re going to take the high road here and just focus on why this is a must-have addition to your gaming room. More »

Reddit has crashed today under the immense weight of visitors attempting to ask questions of the President of the United States Barack Obama. The format today’s question and answer session is taking is AMA – this standing for Ask Me Anything. People of all kinds, be they celebrities, leaders, or just interesting people in interesting situations are often asked to take part in said sessions on the site, this often leading to in-depth personal reactions and rather interesting connections between internet users who might never have otherwise connected.

This situation has the Commander in Chief speaking with users of all types in simple text format in a setup not unlike a vertical forum. This session began at 4:30 PM ET today and will go as long as the President sees fit. While the format of this session and the location of the talk do allow you to be somewhat anonymous, we do encourage you to remain respectful and stay within the bounds of questions you’d think appropriate to ask President Obama in person.

UPDATE: Reddit is now back up and in business.

Obama posted a “verification photo” as well as a verification Twitter update that made it clear that the situation was indeed legit. These bits of information also show that the President is in campaign mode as shown by the posters behind his desk – he’s also got an Apple wireless mouse and a MacBook Pro, if you’d like to know. Have a peek at the session now and be sure to report back if he’s got anything monumental to say.

Should Obama speak up about anything gadget or technology related, we’ll be sure to report it here as well – stay tuned! Also check out the timeline below to see the 2012 Presidential Election campaign trail unfold – there’s some strange things going on in the tech side of the universe, that’s for sure.

Barack Obama answers all questions on Reddit, crashes site is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You can easily imagine this undulating three-person bench at a crazy surreal garden party hosted by Salvador Dalí. Named Baud, it was created by Vito Selma, and it was designed to be a “tribute to the ocean.” More »