J Display or Japan Display announced today the launch and the mass production of its latest 10.1″ IPS panel for tablet featuring a WUXGA resolution (1920×1200). This new panel comes with a 800:1 contrast ratio, a 178 degrees left/right viewing angle with a 2.14mm thickness for a 130g weight.
We just got more hands-on time with MSI’s S20 Slidebook, which we first spotted at Computex 2012. This ultra light (2.3 pounds / 1kg) and thin (0.78-inches / 19.8mm) convertible Ultrabook runs Windows 8 (naturally) and packs an Intel Core i5 processor (Ivy Bridge), 4GB RAM and a 128GB mSATA SSD. In front, there’s a gorgeous 11.6-inch 1920×1080-pixel IPS display with a 10-point capacitive multitouch layer plus an HD front-facing camera. A glossy white plastic bezel surrounds the glass panel and incorporates the MSI logo and the Windows button. The back cover is made of a silver magnesium alloy with matching plastic antenna covers for the built-in WiFi b/g/n, WiDi and Bluetooth 4.0 radios. Most of the ports are on the right edge along with the power / lock key and LED indicators — this includes the power input, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, a mini-HDMI output and a pair of USB 3.0 connectors. You’ll find a gigabit Ethernet port on the left side plus an SD card reader, orientation lock button and volume rocker in back.
Of course, what sets the S20 apart is its ability to switch instantly from a tablet into a usable laptop. The screen slides up and tilts forward to reveal a chiclet keyboard with excellent key travel and decent spacing. You’re not limited to any specific angle here — the display is fully adjustable from flat to almost perpendicular with the keyboard. The sealed 3-cell 3900mAh battery is rated for 7 hours of continuous operation. We spent several minutes using the Slidebook and came away pretty impressed — it’s incredibly light for its size, the screen is bright and crisp, and the keyboard is comfortable. Even in prototype form, performance and build-quality are top-notch. MSI plans to make its convertible Ultrabook available late November for $1,099 through major US retailers both online and in stores. The company expects to sell other configurations in other markets as well. Take a look at our gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.
Hands-on with MSI’s S20 Slidebook, a $1,099 Windows 8 convertible Ultrabook (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s only been half a year since the peculiar PadFone made its much-delayed entry into select markets, and earlier this week, ASUS’ launch of its second-gen phone-in-tablet brings us back to this old question: are we better off with just one mobile screen instead of two? Ask any ordinary manufacturer and the answer is likely the latter, because who doesn’t want to sell more products? Similarly, carriers would likely back such manufacturers for the sake of selling more data plans, even if they admire ASUS’ efforts (and they could already be selling ASUS tablets in the first place). Some folks also argue that if you have to carry the tablet module with you anyway, you might as well have two separate devices for better multitasking.
It seems like there’s a huge mountain to climb here, but on the flip side, ASUS’ innovative differentiation does have some advantages. You only need one data plan (and no tethering required) for both form factors, you get to keep the same data in one place instead of having to duplicate them and you can pretty much instantly switch between a small screen and a large screen for the same content. Not to mention that there’s also the added functionality of charging up the phone while it’s sitting inside the tablet. Alas, the original PadFone and PadFone Station didn’t quite hit the spot: the combined weight and bulk made it tough to justify the phone-in-tablet idea, which is why we said it’s all about the PadFone 2 in our review. Let’s see if ASUS has done it right this time ’round.
Gallery: ASUS PadFone 2 review
Continue reading ASUS PadFone 2 review: two times is a charm for this phone-in-tablet combo
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS
ASUS PadFone 2 review: two times is a charm for this phone-in-tablet combo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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There’s nothing quite like a good prank, and what prank is better than convincing innocent people that they are about to meet their bitter, messy end? That’s the path LG went down for this ad, where they use IPS displays to fool people—however briefly—that an elevator’s floor is falling out from beneath them. More »
You’ve heard it before: the more things change the more they stay the same. It wasn’t that long ago that we reviewed LG’s flagship Optimus 4X HD, the world’s first quad-core HSPA+ handset. Despite representing the company’s best engineering and design effort to date, it wasn’t quite able to match the competition’s global offerings — Samsung’s mighty Galaxy S III and HTC’s lovely One X. Today, just a few months later, quad-core LTE superphones are the state of the art. Samsung’s selling the global Galaxy Note II, HTC’s just announced the One X+ and LG’s betting everything on the Optimus G — the first handset to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro together with an LTE radio.
The Optimus G is a pivotal device for the Korean manufacturer, especially in the US, where rival Samsung is massively popular and LG’s success has been hampered by a series of forgettable products (hello, Intuition) and a lackluster track record for software updates. It’s so critical that LG even invited us to spend some quality time with the Optimus G at the launch event in Seoul last month. In the US, LG’s partnering with Sprint and AT&T and there’s strong evidence that Google’s upcoming Nexus will be based on the Optimus G. So, does the company’s latest powerhouse measure up to the competition? How different are the US versions from the Korean model? Does LG finally have a winning formula with the Optimus G? Find out in our review after the break.
Gallery: LG Optimus G review (Korean model)
Gallery: LG Optimus G review (Sprint model)
Gallery: LG Optimus G review (AT&T model)
Gallery: LG Optimus G review (comparisons)
Continue reading LG Optimus G review: a quad-core powerhouse with Nexus aspirations
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, LG
LG Optimus G review: a quad-core powerhouse with Nexus aspirations originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We were at the LG Optimus G launch in Korea on September 17*, where we were able to briefly play with it. The Optimus G is the first smartphone to launch with the Quad-Core SnapDragon S4 Pro processor, so it is supposed to offer state-of-the-art performance. From what we have seen with the pre-production unit in Korea, it was fast indeed.
It looks like LG is back in the game of high-end smartphones with this well crafted unit that is truly a great competitor for the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S3. The elegant chassis sports a Quad-Core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor 2GB RAM (vs 1GB for both the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3), a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display (1280 x 768 pixels), a 13 MP camera or 8 MP depending on regions (the international unit we have here has the 13 MP shooter) and 32GB of internal storage.
Google seems to have acknowledged the Optimus G as a top device since, according to the recent rumors, the search giant’s upcoming Google Nexus 4 smartphone might have been designed by LG. This would be the first time that LG will manufacture a Google phone.
With a 2-year contract, the Sprint LG Optimus G will retail for $199.99, which is in line with most high-end smartphone launches, with a few exceptions. AT&T has just announced that the handset will be available on 2ndof November and will be priced at $199.99.
Although performance looks good on the paper and as perceived on the pre-production unit, we need to look into this in detail and answer the question: “How good is it?”. Our goal here is to provide you with our best shot at answering this. In this review, we hope to give you a realistic feel on how it is to use the LG Optimus G in the real world. Ready?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: LG Optimus G more details – preview with videos, New LG P930 device hinted in an XML file could be a smartphone,
It’s taken nearly half a year for Lenovo’s transforming IdeaTab S2110 to go from CES reveal to retail shelves and it’s arrived barely unchanged. But despite the initial fanfare, the company chose to slip this slate into the marketplace quietly, ahead even of its official launch at IFA. In that time, ASUS managed to announce and ship a new hybrid tablet of its own, the Transformer Pad TF300 — a keyboard-optional rival offering the same 10-inch, 1,280 x 800 IPS display and Android 4.0 experience, along with a quad-core Tegra 3.
While Lenovo’s offering may not come with four cores or an unskinned version of Ice Cream Sandwich, there is a very contemporary dual-core S4 inside, clocked at 1.5GHz and buffered by 1GB of RAM. Alongside that, the tab’s also outfitted with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter and 5-megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video capture. Other specs include radios for WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, a battery rated for up to 10 hours of browsing (augmented to 20 hours when connected to the dock) and either 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage. At $430 for the base model alone, it’s already positioned as a higher-priced alternative to the TF300. Add the dock and full storage, and you’re looking at a cool $580. So, will this be a case of “too little, too late” for Lenovo? Can the S2110 lure undecided customers away from cheaper similarly specced offerings? Read on as we attempt to answer all that and more.
Gallery: Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review
Continue reading Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review: a competent Transformer competitor running Android 4.0
Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review: a competent Transformer competitor running Android 4.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It must be Big Touchscreen Day over at Acer headquarters. In addition to announcing a pair of all-in-one desktops, the company is trotting out two touch-enabled monitors, available in 23- and 27-inch sizes. Though both have 1080p resolution, the 23-inch T232HL uses IPS technology to achieve wide viewing angles, while the larger T272HL has a Vertical Alignment (VA) panel. Otherwise, the specs are near-identical: a 100 million to 1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time and a trio of inputs that includes VGA, DVI and HDMI. As for design, you’ll notice they have a similar industrial design as the new all-in-ones, with thin frames, edge-to-edge displays and a see-through stand. Both will be available this month, with the 23-incher going for $500 and the 27-inch model selling for $700.
Acer outs T232HL and T272HL touchscreen displays, on sale this month for $500-plus originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I-O Data outs this morning in Japan a new monitor with the LCD-MF271CGBR. This new 27″ LED Backlight Monitor main feature is its WQHD (2560×1440) IPS Panel and its 420cd/m2 brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 4.3ms response time. Set for a launch nationwide at the end of this month at an announced price of 49,800 yen, the LCD-MF271CGBR comes with a pair if 2W integrated speakers, DVI-D (Dual Link), HDMI, D-SUB and DisplayPort.
Not to be outdone by ViewSonic’s recent introduction of the 27-inch VX2770Smh-LED display, AOC’s coming out with a large IPS monitor of its own. The i2757fh is being touted as a “borderless” panel, and the reason behind that claim is its slim 2mm bezel. Aside from those narrow characteristics, AOC’s new 27-inch monitor also boasts a decent 1920 x 1080 resolution with 50,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, 5ms response time, two HDMI ports and, naturally, the great viewing angles you get with an IPS unit. As far as pricing goes, AOC’s slapping a not-too-shabby $349 tag on the i2757fh, but there is a Best Buy-only deal which knocks 50 bucks off of the original MSRP. Hit the break for an additional angled shot as well as official PR.
Continue reading AOC outs ‘borderless’ 27-inch IPS monitor, available now for $349
AOC outs ‘borderless’ 27-inch IPS monitor, available now for $349 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 06:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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