Hasta La Gadget!

Okay, so we didn’t quite know what to make of Gigabyte’s lamp / Ultrabook hub. But what about its new smartphones? The company is showing off three handsets here at Computex 2013 — the Maya, Sierra and Simba, in ascending order of impressiveness — all of which have dual SIM slots, IPS displays, 1GB of RAM and a stock build of Android 4.2. To tell the truth, none of them are exactly high-end (even the top-tier Simba runs just a dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor), but we were impressed by the quality of those IPS screens, which offer wide viewing angles even under harsh lighting.

They’ve all got thick, plastic builds too, but some are at least nicer-feeling than others. The 5-inch Sierra has a slightly metallic finish that could possibly pass for metal at a glance. The 5-inch Simba is done up in a trendy white, but with a glossy, tacky sort of look. And the lowest-end Maya (4.5-inches) is made of plain, drab plastic. Not much to see there. On the inside, as we said, the Simba has a Snapdragon 400 (Krait) SoC, while the other two make do with a 1.2GHz, quad-core processor from MediaTek. As for screen quality. the Maya has QHD resolution whereas the Sierra and Simba step up to HD; either way, no 1080p flagships here. That’s about all we have to share at this point — Gigabyte hasn’t announced pricing or availability — but a company rep did tell us these phones should at the very least be headed to Asia and Eastern Europe. For now, head past the break for a quick video tour.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Huh? While we knew the Galaxy Tab 3 is certainly coming with a Clover Trail+ chipset, there was another device that is apparently making the transition to Intel’s mobile chip: the GS4. At least according to Intel’s mobile keynote slide, seen above. Are the pair waiting on LTE capability to arrive? Quite possibly. During the Q&A session afterwards, We asked Intel’s Hermann Eur, General Manager for Mobile, who reiterated that the GS4’s 3G model contains Intel’s modem, although that doesn’t explain quite why the phone is nestled alongside an otherwise all-Atom lineup of tablets and smartphones. We’re looking into it.

Update: We grabbed an Intel spokesperson who tells us the Galaxy S4 made the lineup due to the aforementioned 3G radios. We’re taking their word for it, but we’ll be hearing more from big mobile brands and Intel over the next year.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Intel

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At Computex 2013 Sony is refreshing its Vaio Duo hybrid which is a tablet PC that can slide out to become a laptop. The new design improves upon the previous generation in significant ways. First, the overall design is thinner, […]

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Sony has just launched two beautiful Ultrabooks named Vaio Pro 11 and Vaio Pro 13. With this new models, Sony wants to propose “the lightest Ultrabooks” in the world, nothing less. Sony is not holding back on the specifications: the […]

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If you’ve been mourning Sony’s decision to discontinue its super-thin Z Series laptop, you can at last dry your tears: the company just announced two flagship Ultrabooks that should more than make up for your loss. For starters, the VAIO Pro 11 and Pro 13 each weigh less than the Z, at 1.92 and 2.34 pounds, respectively — in fact, Sony claims they’re the lightest touchscreen Ultrabooks ever made. They also last longer on a charge and have an optional sheet battery that promises to double the battery life, providing up to 14 hours on the Pro 11 and 13 hours of use on the Pro 13. Presumably, they’re faster too: both ship with Haswell processors, and the 13-inch version in particular will be offered with PCIe solid-state drives. And, lest you worry Sony evolved the Z too much, its flagship laptops are still made of carbon fiber from top to bottom.

Either way, you’ll have your choice of Core i5 and i7 processors, with 1080p IPS displays, NFC, backlit keyboards and Exmor webcams all standard. Just about the only things you won’t get back from the Z are a dedicated GPU and an optical drive. (And who wants a DVD writer, anyway?) If nothing else, perhaps the price might convince you to settle for integrated graphics: these machines are considerably more affordable than the Z, which started at two grand. Now, in the year 2013, you can pay $1,150 and up for the Pro 11, or $1,250-plus for the Pro 13. They’ll be available June 9th with black and silver color options, but if you have to know more now, we actually have a review of the Pro 11 ready for your perusal. (Spoiler alert: we like it. We like it a lot.)

Filed under: Laptops, Sony

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