It’s the thinnest Windows 8 tablet, Sony claims, and we can’t argue that the Sony VAIO Tap is certainly a slender little slate. Launched at IFA 2013 today, the 11.6-inch tablet is 9.9mm thick without its magnetically-attached keyboard cover, and also comes with a digital stylus. Inside, there’s an Intel Core processor and SSD storage, […]
Hungry for more ASUS IFA debuts? The company trucked out the two newest additions to its MeMO Pad tablet line, the 8 and 10, both budget devices set to arrive before the holidays. What all that actually means in terms of pricing and availability, however, the company’s not quite ready to say — though we assume that, at the very least, they’ll come in under flagship slates of similar size. Thankfully, however, ASUS did let us spend some time with both products.
The 8-inch device isn’t the highest-end mini-tablet we’ve seen (that might be the new Nexus 7), but the company’s done a good job building a solid-feeling slate. The front of the MeMO Pad 8 is extremely glossy — it’s fine in normal indoor lighting, but when we took the tablet up on the roof to check out the panoramic view of Berlin, it was a bit more problematic. Continuing our tour, above the 1,280 x 800 display you’ll find a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, and in the bottom bezel there’s a shiny silver ASUS logo.%Gallery-slideshow79414%
Nothing like a leaked video to get you pumped about a product. Of course, we’re not suggesting that ASUS went out of its way to post information about the forthcoming Fonepad 7, but either way, that teaser piqued our curiosity. Now that ASUS has officially unveiled the product here at IFA, though, we can confirm these are fairly minor upgrades to the company’s original 7-inch, talk-enabled phone / tablet crossbreed. Namely, ASUS moved to glossy back cover and (as we saw in that video) added an extra speaker on the front side.
Not that this isn’t a good speaker setup. A number of companies have tried and failed to perfect the art of speaker placement, but we quite like what ASUS did here. For starters, they actually, you know, face you while they’re playing. Quite the innovation, we know. And while they’re placed near where you hold the device when it’s in landscape mode, it’s quite easy to grip it without muffling the sound. That said, we weren’t able to get the sound all that loud when we played around with it in the echoey halls of Berlin’s Hotel de Rome. The sound was easily drowned out by the admittedly larger MemoPad 10.%Gallery-slideshow79397%
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS
Sony has released camcorders and cameras for a variety niches here at IFA, including a new HD action cam, the HDR-AS30V. It’s immediately noticeable that the second-gen model is 25 percent smaller and 35 percent lighter than the original, making it even less cumbersome when clipped onto a helmet — especially compared to a GoPro. As far as the layout goes, not much has changed; you’ll find USB, line-in and HDMI ports at the bottom, with the power and record buttons still on back. The rear panel also opens up to give you access to a microSD card slot and the battery compartment. The side features the same basic info LCD with two selection buttons, so you’ll still make need to make use of its onboard WiFi and a smartphone — or the new Live-View Remote (details in a bit) if you need a viewfinder.
You’ll find stereo mics and a fixed Carl Zeiss lens at the front with a 170-degree viewing angle, though you’ll only get a 120-degree field of view with SteadyShot enabled. Lastly, there’s the obligatory tripod mount at its underside. The new bits are essentially a backlit Exmor R CMOS censor, GPS and NFC. Full HD videos can now be captured at 1080/60p (last year’s model topped out at 30p), while 720/120p and 720/60p settings are available for slow-mo videos. As a bonus, it can also take 11.9MP images and shoot at interval timing. Using Sony’s PlayMemories Home app, you’ll be able to sync up video from two of the new Action Cams, rotate the orientation of your clips, and add overlays based on GPS data.
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Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Sony
Source: Sony
The rumors, we’re thrilled to see, are true. Sony’s unique lens cameras are now official, and they’re coming to a smartphone or tablet near you beginning later this month. As expected, there are two models on offer. Both cameras lack the display and controls of an ordinary point-and-shoot — instead, you’ll pair your Android or iOS handset or slate with the camera via WiFi, and use that device to adjust settings and frame each shot. Naturally, we expected lag to be a major issue here, but the feed was delayed by only a fraction of a second, and it was perfectly sufficient for this type of shooting. To get started, you’ll power on the camera then connect to the device’s ad-hoc access point. Then, launch the PlayMemories Mobile app and start shooting. You can also zoom and capture images using a toggle and shutter release on each camera, so they can be operated independently, if you’re willing to roll the dice with framing and exposure. Images can only be saved to the camera’s microSD or Memory Stick slot when you’re not connected to a smartphone or tablet — when the devices are paired, you can save images to either, or both.
There are two flavors on offer here, and while they look similar, internally they’re quite unique. The DSC-QX10 is the “high-zoom” model, with a relatively compact 10x optic. That 18.2-megapixel model will ship in black or white for $249, but it’s specifically geared toward entry-level shooters, with mid-range optics and limited manual control. Advanced photographers are going to want to focus on the “quality” QX100, which features the same 1-inch 20.2-megapixel sensor and 3.6x f/1.8-4.9 lens as the $750 RX100 Mark II. It’s no surprise, then, that this chunkier lens camera will retail for $499. With it, you’ll have access to advanced modes like aperture or shutter priority, but Sony opted to exclude access to a full-manual mode, so you’ll need to use exposure compensation to make any tweaks. We weren’t able to review image quality in detail with either model, but both performed quite well during our hands-on. Expect more in-depth analysis after the QX100 and QX10 launch in a few weeks, but you can snag a sneak peek now in our hands-on video after the break.%Gallery-slideshow73501%
Sony’s Xperia range of Android phones has been on a roll of late, with the Xperia Z proving a sleeper hit to rival the Galaxy S 4, and the Zperia Z Ultra putting the company’s big screen display expertise to work. Now there’s the Sony Xperia Z1, still waterproof but with a sleek metal casing […]
Well, ASUS already spilled the beans on this one. Just a few hours ago, the company posted a YouTube video of its new Zenbook UX301 Ultrabook — i.e., the same Zenbook Infinity we saw back at Computex, just with a new (less catchy) name. Well, if a teaser video didn’t make it official enough for you, the company just revealed the laptop on-stage here at its IFA press event in Berlin. As we learned back at Computex, this has a lid made of Gorilla Glass 3, which promises to stand up to both scratches and maybe even drops. Meanwhile, the palm rest is also made of glass, though there’s a ceramic coating mixed in, so it doesn’t feel at all glassy; just exceptionally smooth. (Think of how smooth the metal on Samsung’s old Series 9 felt and maybe you’ll get the idea.) All told, this definitely isn’t the thinnest or lightest Ultrabook we’ve held, at 1.38kg (3.04 pounds), but on the plus side, you get a good deal of travel on that backlit keyboard, and most of the keys are amply sized too.
Also revealed in that spoiler of a YouTube video: the UX301 comes standard with a 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,440 IPS touchscreen. On the inside, it combines a Haswell dual-core Core i7-4558U processor with 802.11ac WiFi, up to 512GB of solid-state storage and Intel Iris graphics — basically, the best Intel has to offer short of a discrete GPU. If you do need more power, though, ASUS will also offer an NVIDIA GT 730M GPU on some models. Additionally, ASUS will sell a lower-end spinoff called the UX3012 (not pictured here), which will have generally the same design, but a lower-res, 1080p screen. Both will be available in white, along with a dark, navy blue — quite the departure from ASUS’ usual color scheme. No word yet on pricing or availability, except that the line is still on track to ship sometime in the fourth quarter. For now, we’ve finally had a chance to get some hands-on time — remember at Computex when we had to snap photos through a glass box?%Gallery-slideshow79395%%Gallery-slideshow79404%
We had two major gripes when we reviewed ASUS’ original Transformer Book. One, it cost a lofty $1,500, even with a last-generation Ivy Bridge processor. Two, it was on the heavy side — though to be fair, a 13-inch dockable tablet is unwieldy by definition. Well, ASUS went back to the drawing board and addressed at least one of our complaints. The refreshed Transformer Book, the T300, ships with a Haswell processor, which promises not just faster performance, but longer battery life (eight hours, to be exact). It also steps up to a max of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, up from a 128GB SSD and 4GB of memory last time around.
Unfortunately, at 1.1kg (2.43 pounds) for the tablet and 800g (1.76 pounds) for the dock, it still feels weighty in the hand regardless of whether you’re using it in tablet mode or as a proper clamshell laptop. Otherwise, the key specs are the same — namely, a 13.3-inch IPS display with 1080p resolution and a mix of micro- and full-sized ports on the tablet and dock. No word yet on pricing or availability, but for now we’ve got hands-on photos below.%Gallery-slideshow79408%
For a while, it looked like Sony was going to work its way up and down the alphabet with each new phone. More recently, however, it’s settled on one letter — for its flagships at least — and the ultimate letter at that. Following the lead of other OEM’s, Sony appears to be easing off the fragmented releases, instead training us that Z means business, Z Ultra means bigness, and the freshly announced Z1? Well that we’ll soon find out. The oft-leaked, officially teased and newest member of the Z-family comes with a few distinct features, not the least of which is that Nokia-bating 20.7-megapixel camera. In addition to the show-stopping features, there are a few more that Sony is fast making its own (such as waterproofing). Does it all add up to a new masterpiece, or is it an incremental update? We spent some time with it to try and find out.%Gallery-slideshow79370%
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
It’s sort of insane to think that Sony, a goliath of the consumer electronics industry, is only just getting around to releasing its first Windows 8 tablet. But you know what they say: better late than never, right? The company today unveiled the VAIO Tap 11, a standalone tablet that seems specifically designed to obliterate the Surface Pro. Similar to Microsoft’s flagship tablet, this is an 11-inch device with a kickstand, Intel Core processor and 1,920 x 1,080 IPS display that supports pen input. Also similar: it works with a keyboard that latches onto the tablet via a magnetic connector.
Here, though, the keyboard attaches on the front face, not on the bottom edge, and it’s a proper wireless keyboard with surprisingly decent travel — not at all like the flat Touch Cover that goes with the Surface. What’s nice, too, is that even with the thicker keyboard attached, the Tap 11 is about as thick as the Surface Pro itself. In fact, Sony says this is the “world’s thinnest tablet PC.” Which it might be — until the next-gen Surface comes along, anyway. Also worth noting: the keyboard conveniently charges through the connector on the tablet, so the odds of the battery dying on you mid-sentence are thankfully very low.%Gallery-slideshow74530%%Gallery-slideshow79317%
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