Hasta La Gadget!

At last, Intel finally has its very own LTE modem chip! Intel’s Computex 2013 press conference is going on right now, and a company press release states we’ll see a 4G LTE multimode solution paired with its 22nm quad-core Atom SoC for tablets. The XMM 7160 will bring Bay Trail tablets (demonstrated on stage running graphically intense games and streaming 4K video over the integrated LTE) with global roaming capability “towards the end of the back to school season.” While it’s not clear when consumers can get their hands on this technology, hopefully we’ll see something pop up on our end before the end of the year. The talk is still ongoing and we should have more details shortly, check out the press release after the break for now.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Intel

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Source: Intel

A good notebook can’t just do one thing well these days, it has to multi-task in at least two ways, and so on that front the ASUS Transformer Book Trio is off to a good start. Revealed at Computex 2013 this morning, the 11.6-inch notebook is billed as “the world’s first three-in-one mobile device” with a removable screen section that can flip between Windows 8 and Android, and which can be used both on the desktop and while mobile.

In ultrabook mode, the Transformer Book Trio is a compact ultraportable with a full keyboard and a 1080p HD display. However, it can also be pulled from the keyboard to make an Android tablet, or slotted into a PC Station dock for desktop use.

In the slate section itself, there’s a 2.0GHz Intel Atom Z2580 processor and up to 64GB of storage: that can run either Windows 8 or Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, depending on which mode you switch between. There’s a dedicated key to hop between the platforms, and ASUS says that users should not only be able to access data from the other OS, but stay on the same webpage they’re currently viewing.

The PC Station gets its own, dedicated processor, however: a 4th-gen Intel Core i7 no less. There’s also a 750GB hard-drive, and connectivity for an external display if 11.6-inches isn’t quite your ergonomic ideal for desk-bound operations. The dock recharges the slate section’s battery, too.

ASUS hasn’t confirmed pricing for the Transformer Book Trio, though it’s expected to reach the market sometime in Q3 2013. Whether there are sufficient buyers intrigued enough in a twin-OS hybrid that can only really be used by one person at a time (unlike, say, an ultrabook and a separate Android tablet) remains to be seen.

ASUS Transformer Book Trio runs Android and Windows on lap, desk & in hands is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

ASUS has revealed its take on the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the ASUS FonePad Note, a 6-inch Full HD Android phablet brought fresh to Computex 2013 today. Fronted by a 6-inch, 1080p Super IPS+ display running at 450 nits brightness, the FonePad Note comes equipped with a digital stylus for notetaking and sketching – just as Samsung proved there was a market for with the original Note – while on the inside there’s a 1.6GHz dualcore Atom Z2560 processor, rather than the ARM chip we might have expected to have discovered.

The x86 chip is paired with 2GB of memory, along with a DC-HSPA+ modem for getting online. No LTE, though you should be able to see speeds of up to 42Mbps down – network depending – from the device. It should also support voice calls.

Otherwise, there’s an 8-megapixel camera on the back, along with a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front for video calls. ASUS has also shifted the stereo speakers to the front, too, flanking the touchscreen top and bottom.

The big-phone-with-a-pen category has had mixed results for different companies, so it’s nowhere near clear whether ASUS’ device will have what it takes to succeed. On the one hand, you have Samsung and its surprise hit, the Galaxy Note series. Now in its second generation, the Note II is half an inch (diagonal) smaller than the FonePad Note, though rumors have pegged the third-gen version – which is expected to be revealed sometime around September, most likely at IFA 2013 – as getting even smaller, just as the Galaxy S 4 has grown smaller with it.

However, on the flip side, there’s LG’s little-loved Optimus Vu, the company’s attempt to cash in on the stylus segment. That offered a more unusual 4:3 aspect ratio display, attempting to more closely mimic a physical notepad, but sales never reached the same level as Samsung’s phone. LG later shifted to do away with the pen for the Optimus G Pro, which it has positioned as a rival to the Note II despite not having active digital stylus functionality.

A big deciding factor for ASUS will be pricing and availability, of course; the company is yet to confirm either.

ASUS FonePad Note brings 6″ Atom-powered attack to Galaxy Note is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In recent years, Intel’s Celeron and Pentium processors have been cut-down versions of more advanced counterparts. For the chips’ next updates, Intel is taking an opposite tack — it’s bringing low-end Atom architecture into the big leagues. The company is confident enough in the speed and flexibility of the Bay Trail-based Atom platform that it’s launching desktop and laptop versions (Bay Trail-D and Bay Trail-M) under the Celeron and Pentium badges. There isn’t much more to share regarding the CPUs beyond their expected releases late in the year, although there’s a good chance that we’ll learn more at Computex next week.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Intel

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Source: PCWorld

This particular rumor has been swirling for a while already, but Reuters says its own sources are now backing it up: Samsung will switch from an ARM-based design and use Intel as the supplier of the processor inside at least one version of its next 10-inch slate, the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. Word is that Samsung will run Android off Intel’s latest x86 Atom architecture, Clover Trail+, which we’ve so far seen in just a handful of Android smartphones including the Lenovo K900 and ZTE Geek.

By way of corroboration, Korea Times is reporting the exact same Galaxy Tab 3 rumor and has also quoted an anonymous Intel employee who claimed that the number of Atom engineers based in Korea has ballooned from six last year to as many as 50 personnel today. They’re said to be working on “Samsung-related projects with a mission to customize circuits for adaptation in Samsung products” — which certainly doesn’t sound like typical Intel behavior. Korea Times specifically says that Samsung is looking to reduce its reliance on the tricky supply of its own ARM-based Exynos processors, while Intel is offering the Korean giant good prices and cooperation in order to build its mobile market share. This all tallies with the idea of Atom coming to some high volume Android products — and it’s very possible that we’ll see proof of that at Computex next week.

Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Samsung, Intel

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Via: Android Beat

Source: Korea Times, Reuters