Samsung and Netflix have been working together on a 4K video solution for the Ultra HD world we’re entering. I just saw a demo of some of the 4K streaming content, and it’s horrifying. They’re going to have to work harder to not suck the life out of the video. More »
There are naturally a ton of smartphones on display here at CES 2013, but we couldn’t come to the show and not pay a visit to ZTE – especially when the company has its new Grand S phablet on the show floor. The Grand S LTE has been getting people excited ever since it was revealed last year, and even though it’s no Galaxy Note II, it definitely worthy of all the attention its been getting.
That’s thanks to the phone’s excellent screen. At 5-inches in size and displaying at 1920×1080 resolution, the screen on the ZTE Grand S looks great. It’s also slightly smaller than its biggest competitor, the Note II, so this might be the phone for those who want a big screen but find Samsung’s massive phablet a little too large. Keep in mind that the Grand S sports an impressive 13-megapixel sensor on the back, which is something we definitely don’t see in every phone.
Another big draw of the phablet is that its so thin. That will definitely be a major factor for some consumers, as that slim form factor helps it feel less clunky and more sleek. Clunkiness is a big risk with phones this size, but thankfully, the Grand S avoids that pitfall. The phone feels great, though it should be pointed out that I have large hands, so those with smaller hands may struggle a bit.
The phone’s 2GB of RAM keep things moving at a pretty quick pace too, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean helps make the whole package rather impressive. Unfortunately, at the moment this phone is only confirmed for China, and despite how much I liked it, a release in North America seems like a longshot. We’ll be waiting for more details from ZTE, but in the meantime, have a look around our CES portal to find our complete coverage roundup from the show!
ZTE Grand S LTE hands-on is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
For the past few months most of the tablets we’ve seen have been running Windows 8, but at CES this week Android tablets have seen a resurgence of sorts, starting with two from Vizio and now the Iconia B1-A71 from Acer. It’s hardly a flagship tablet. Quite the opposite actually: it has a dual-core Mediatek processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage, a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 display and a single 0.3-megapixel camera. Overall, the build quality and screen aren’t nearly as nice as what you’ll get on the Nexus 7. Still, for $150 it could be tempting for folks who think even $200 is a lot to spend on a tablet. We’re told this won’t go on sale in the US, so for all of our readers in the states this is nothing more than gadget tourism. For the rest of you, though, we’ve got hands-on photos and video below to help you decide if this is worth any further consideration.
Gallery: Acer Iconia B1-A71 hands-on
You’ve seen hints of it over the past couple months: a photograph here and there on Gizmodo that you could click and spin and almost play with. These are the work of the Gizmodoscope, an interactive imaging system that we’ve spent the past year developing to make the most badass pictures on the Internet. And CES is the Gizmodoscope’s maiden voyage. More »
You know, I’ve been wondering when we’d see a battery pack case for the iPhone 5. Mophie tends to be the first to market but it looks like iBattz might squeak one in first. With two 2200mAh batteries, both the Mojo Refuel and rugged Moro Armor can recharge your iPhone 5 up to three times, says the company. More »
[CES 2013] Regardless if you like the direction Microsoft took Windows with its Windows 8 OS, it seems the company is celebrating a milestone today as Windows 8 has sold 60 million licenses.
Unfortunatley, with today’s news, Microsoft didn’t disclose just how many of those licenses are based on consumers purchasing Windows 8 or how were sold in bulk to vendors and enterprises, but the Windows blog team had the following to share in regards with today’s news:
At the 11th Annual J.P. Morgan Tech Forum at CES 2013 today, Windows Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller announced that Windows 8 has sold 60 million licenses to date. This represents the cumulative sales of Windows 8 including both upgrades and sales to OEMs for new devices. This is a similar sales trajectory that we saw with Windows 7.
We have seen a significant increase in the number of Windows 8 certified systems since general availability at the end of October. There are now more than 1,700 certified systems for Windows 8 and Windows RT.
In addition to the news of 60 million Windows 8 licenses being sold, Microsoft is also seeing “strong growth” in the amount of developers building for the platform. According to Microsoft, over 100 million applications have been downloaded from the Windows Store after two months of being available to the public.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: NPD: 2013 Will Mark The Year When Tablet Shipments Overtake Notebooks, OLPC XO-4 Arriving This March,
OLED TV? Meh, that’s already passé: if you want to hang with the cool kids, you need a curved OLED else they won’t let you into their treehouse. Both LG and Samsung wheeled out flexed OLED panels at scales suited to your living room at CES this year, showing off their skills at twisting organic light-emitting diodes and each claiming to be the first to do it.
Both of the sets come in at 55-inches, and each runs at 1080p Full HD rather than Ultra HD. You’ll have to look to more traditional LED panels if you want 4K resolution, at least for the moment.
Even without those extra pixels, you’re getting a luscious viewing experience. We’re familiar with OLED’s richness of color and crisp detailing, from the previously-shown, flat OLED sets, but standing at the center of the flexed panels new for 2013 does feel somewhat more immersive than before.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait to experience that at home. Both Samsung and LG are tight-lipped on detailed specifications, launch plans, and pricing, which leads us to suspect that curvy big-screen OLED TVs aren’t headed to our living rooms any time soon (or at a price we could stomach).
It’s LG versus Samsung in the curved OLED TV wars is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It wouldn’t be a CES without a big showing from Sony. We’ll be speaking with the company a few times this week, starting with a conversation about its laptop offerings with VAIO product specialist, David Ng, including Sony’s jump into the convertible world of Windows 8. Jump on after the break to check out the conversation.
Check out our full CES 2013 stage schedule here!
Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Sony VAIO’s David Ng
It wouldn’t be a CES without a big showing from Sony. We’ll be speaking with the company a few times this week, starting with a conversation about its laptop offerings with VAIO product specialist, David Ng, including Sony’s jump into the convertible world of Windows 8. Jump on after the break to check out the conversation.
Check out our full CES 2013 stage schedule here!
Update: video embedded
We’re not exactly used to Archos making waves within the tablet industry, but the company definitely turned some heads when it announced its new GamePad last year. The idea is simple: make an Android tablet and give it physical controls for gaming. Mobile gamers frequently complain about touch controls and how they’re not usually as good as dedicated controls, so why not?
As it turns out, the idea of putting physical buttons and thumbpads on a tablet isn’t quite as crazy as it seems. Adjusting to the GamePad’s controls will definitely take a bit of time to get used to if you’re a daily tablet user, but gamers who use Xbox 360 or PS3 gamepads on a regular basis will probably feel right at home. The GamePad is lighter and slimmer than I expected too, though the downside to this is that it doesn’t feel like it would stand up to much abuse.
Unfortunately, not all games are going to work with the GamePad’s physical controls right from the start. Some will, but for others, you’ll have to map the controls yourself. The process of mapping the controls to the buttons seems pretty straightforward, and of course, you can always use touchscreen controls if you don’t have the the time or the desire to deal with mapping.
You’ve got a 7-inch 1024×600 display to work with, and though it looks decent, it didn’t look as sharp as I think a display on a gaming tablet should. A 1.6GHz dual-core processor and a quad-core GPU are working on the inside, so the GamePad should be able to handle most of the games you download from the Google Play Store. It definitely isn’t the best tablet we’ve ever seen, but it does get the job done and the physical controls are great for those who would rather stay away from touchscreen controls. For $169.99, that’s about all we can ask for. Be sure to check out our CES portal for much more from the show!
Archos GamePad hands-on is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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