Hasta La Gadget!

Panasonic has jumped on the 4K bandwagon, but not just in TVs: the company has a ridiculously appealing 4K Windows 8 tablet at CES, squeezing 3840 x 2160 pixels into a 20-inch frame. Officially a prototype, though one which Panasonic tells us is very likely to see production, the unnamed slate may not fit into your purse like an iPad mini, but it does have some compelling applications in graphic design, video editing, architecture, and more. Read on for our hands-on first impressions.

Panasonic’s claim that the 4K tablet is the “lightest and thinnest” in the the 20-inch category seems a little redundant, given the scarcity of rival machines, but the rest of the specifications hold muster. As well as the 230ppi 15:10 display there’s an Intel Core i5-3427U 1.8GHz processor and NVIDIA GeForce graphics keeping things ticking along, along with 4GB of RAM (up to 16GB supported) and a 128GB SSD.

Connectivity includes microSDXC, a single USB 2.0 port, WiFi a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0; there’s also a front-facing 720p HD webcam, though the absence of a rear camera is unlikely to disappoint too many people given the whole thing weighs in at 5.3lbs and measures 18.7 x 13.1 x 0.4 inches.

The display itself supports ten-finger multitouch, but also an Anoto-powered digital pen that can be used to annotate documents, sketch, or generally make more precise edits. Panasonic had a few suggested uses for the slate, with one demo showing a live preview from a nearby DSLR, complete with editing tools, while another demonstrated how a pair of the 4K tablets could allow for collaborative work in different locations, each mirroring the changes made on the other. The crispness of the display is what engages you first, though, with Panasonic’s demo schematics ink-on-paper precise even when you got up close to the glass.

While you might not whip the 20-incher out in the line at the grocery store, there’s nonetheless a battery inside with a “healthy” 2hr runtime estimate; given the size of the screen, and the fact that most users will probably only ever rely on onboard power when toting the slate between rooms, that’s probably more than sufficient. It’s definitely a two-hander when carrying it, but it’s not ridiculously heavy.

Pricing and availability are still a mystery, with Panasonic coy about being specific on launch plans. Still, there’s definitely a drive to get the 20-inch tablet onto the market, and with 4K still not having much relevance in TVs – despite the plethora of sets supporting it at CES – out in the mainstream, this could be the best application for Ultra HD resolution so-far.

Panasonic 20-inch 4K Windows 8 Tablet hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve spent a big chunk of this morning talking to Intel’s Mooly Eden, who showed us through the company’s new perceptual computing platform. He’s an effusive and passionate speaker who describes himself as one of the company’s dreamers and thinks that a user interface revolution is shortly upon us. We’ve already spent some time interacting with the company’s new depth-camera and eye-tracking technology, but now we wanted to dig deep to understand the thinking behind the system and what technical and practical limitations that need to be addressed before we can get to the computing future of Star Trek.

Continue reading Intel’s Mooly Eden: ‘Voice will do to touch what touch did to keyboards’

Filed under: Misc, Science, Intel

Comments

Designed to complement the Roomba, the Scuba, and the myriad of other cleaning robots that keep your floors spic and span, the new Winbot 7 uses its suction powers to stick to and clean your windows instead. So when it’s available come April for somewhere around $400 to $500, you may never have to buy Windex or paper towels again. More »

There’s no point in feigning surprise. We knew this one was coming. Still, it’s hard to deny the importance surrounding the Grand S, which ZTE just made official. Just as quickly, the Chinese outfit secured its title as manufacturer of the world’s thinnest full HD smartphone — a ballsy move for a company that’s historically associated with the bargain bin, at least in the US. The Grand S now stands as ZTE’s flagship handset, and there’s little doubt that the company’s looking to stake its claim in the high end market. As you’d expect, the phone carries a spec sheet that’s designed to grab a lot of attention.

For starters, yes, we’re looking at a 5-inch HD (1,920 x 1,080) display. The Grand S is powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro and will debut this quarter in China with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It’s accompanied by a 13-megapixel auto-focus camera on the rear and a 2-megapixel camera on the front. Both shooters are capable of recording video in 1080p. The Grand S boasts 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, and despite its super thin 6.9mm enclosure, it features a microSD card slot — something the Droid DNA can’t match.

If anything, it appears that ZTE sacrificed battery capacity to meet the size constraints of the Grand S, as a somewhat meager 1,780mAh cell is sealed within the phone’s unibody enclosure. As for connectivity, ZTE has revealed that its svelte beast includes LTE, but the company has yet to disclose which bands are supported. To learn more, be sure to check our hands-on.

Continue reading ZTE Grand S unveiled: at 6.9mm, it’s the ‘world’s thinnest’ 5-inch, 1080p phone

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

The name ZTE doesn’t mean a ton in the U.S. The Chinese company has only had a handful of phones make it stateside and they’ve been way on the low end. Now, suddenly, they’re going for broke with the Grand S. More »