Hasta La Gadget!

Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet 2 isn’t new – the company announced it officially earlier this month – but we had our first time to get up close and personal with the Windows 8 business-focused slate at IFA. Unlike Lenovo’s Android models, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 is Lenovo very much on form: it’s clearly from the ThinkPad stable, for instance, and is filled with details that suggest the company was thinking about their business users first and foremost.

The choice of full Windows 8 rather than Windows RT is a good start – the Tablet 2 will slot neatly into any existing enterprise setup, and run all the same apps – and the ThinkPad keyboard dock, which is obviously removable, has similar feel to the company’s laptop ‘boards. Both slate and dock were non-final hardware, however, so we’ll have to wait for final builds to know exactly how well they match.

Then there’s full sized USB, that old favorite the TrackPoint, and the option for integrated 3G/4G for road warriors. Pull out the stylus – as long as you’ve specified the active digitizer option – and you can use handwriting recognition and sketch in OneNote. We do wish Lenovo had gone for a bigger pen, however, as Lenovo’s barrel is a little thinner than we’d like.

Lenovo isn’t specifying which Intel Atom processor is powering things, and nor is it talking about pricing. That’s likely to be the biggest deciding factor for business users, though Lenovo is potentially waiting to see how Microsoft prices the Surface Pro. Speaking of which, Lenovo EMEA chief Gianfranco Lanci claims the company isn’t concerned about Microsoft wading into the hardware business:

“It’s very welcome if other people – including Microsoft – come with [a] Windows 8 tablet, I think it’s good for Windows 8. I see it from a positive point of view and not a negative point of view, unlike a lot of people, because they think that Windows 8 can be a player in the tablet market. It’s also a good advert for us … we’re not negative at all about this movement”

We’ll know more when the ThinkPad Tablet 2 goes on sale, alongside Windows 8 on October 26.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Designed for more realistic living quarters, LG’s unleashed its Personal Smart TV to the IFA crowds. With a 27-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 IPS display, you’ll also find the typical stable of connectivity options, including two HDMI, three USB, component, LAN and SCART connections. The screen seemed well-lit with the IPS panel offering suitably reliable views from most angles. It’s a pretty stylish-looking TV too, with a rough metallic finish to the bezel, which while not jaw-dropping, is still suitably narrow. The Smart TV functions were also navigable through LG’s Smart Remote, offering a WiiMote-ish approach to media browsing. Our demo model was already packed with German media content — in both 2D and 3D — ready for when it launches here next month. It’ll be appearing in shops across Europe around the same time, although there’s no word on the set landing on US shores. Check out our quick hands-on video after the break.

Follow all of our IFA 2012 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Continue reading LG 27-inch Personal Smart TV hands-on (updated: video)

Filed under: Displays, HD

LG 27-inch Personal Smart TV hands-on (updated: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo had a trio of Android tablets for IFA 2012, with the most interesting being its IdeaTab S2110. Like many Ice Cream Sandwich slates we’ve seen in recent days, the S2110 comes with a useful keyboard dock that turns the tablet into a mini-notebook; unlike most, that dock also includes a battery for prolonging runtime. We snatched some hands-on time to see how it shapes up.

The specs are par for the course for Android tablets: Qualcomm S4 dualcore processor, a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 touchscreen, and twin cameras. Lenovo has gone for a decent IPS LCD, which has wide viewing angles and looks good in both portrait and landscape orientation, and a more structured hinge than rivals like Samsung have gone for.

That leaves the S2110 looking clunkier than other docking tablets we’ve seen recently, and the chrome-effect looks better in Lenovo’s renders than it does in the plastic. The ‘board itself wasn’t functional, though we were able to get a feel for how thick the pair would be when joined up.

In short? It’s pretty thick, a long way away from the slimline world of Samsung and Dell, even when you take into account the 10hrs of extra battery, full sized SD card slot, and two USB ports.

Still, Lenovo’s model is up for sale today, while Samsung and Dell haven’t confirmed when we’ll be able to buy their docking slates, so that’s a big advantage for the IdeaPad S2110 if you’re in desperate need of a tablet today. It’s priced at $399 slate-alone or $499 with the keyboard thrown in.

Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Thought LG didn’t have any more to add to the L-Style series to offer the world? Behold the L9. Announced yesterday, the device made an appearance on the IFA show room floor this week, boasting a big and bright 4.7-inch IPS display that makes its brethren look downright shrimpy by comparison. In spite of the display size, the phone feels light, with an 8.9-millimeter profile.

It’s important to note here that, in spite of being the king of the L-Series, it’s still part of a budget lineup, and as such, the phone’s body feels a bit plasticky, and the textured rear had a bit of trouble staying snapped in place in the two models (black and white) that we played with. Specwise, we’re talking a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM inside, 4GB of storage (expandable via a microSD slot) and a 2,150mAh battery. The handset’s rocking Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.4, to be precise).

The handset’s got a fairly nice bezel, with the front-facing camera on the top and a home button on the bottom, flanked by illuminating back and menu touch buttons. A larger, 5MP camera is located on the rear of the device, above the flash. Vodafone has the handset priced at €50.90 subsidized and €340 unsubsidized. Peep a video of the handset, after the break.

Continue reading LG Optimus L9 hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

LG Optimus L9 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was all getting a little quiet on Intel-powered smartphone front, but now ZTE’s decided to refresh its not-so-elderly Grand X with a Medfield processor and Ice Cream Sandwich. Part of ZTE’s showing here at IFA, it’s the company’s first Android 4.0 device, running on an Atom Z2460. Expect HSPA+ speeds up to 21Mbps, alongside some familiar Grand X specs. This includes a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 screen, while this model now packs an 8-megapixel camera and 1,650mAh battery. ZTE’s latest redesign will arrive in Europe at the start of next month — and we’ll be tracking down a model in Berlin later today.

Follow all of our IFA 2012 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Continue reading ZTE Grand X IN: Intel-powered ICS smartphone to launch next month

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

ZTE Grand X IN: Intel-powered ICS smartphone to launch next month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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