Hasta La Gadget!

If you’ve been dutifully checking your mobile app updates (you do check, right?), you may have noticed a Google+ upgrade slip through largely unannounced. That revision might be bigger than you think — although its exact value depends entirely on the platform you’re running. If you’re an iOS user, you now have the choice to open web links in Chrome for iOS instead of Safari; it’s not the same as changing the default browser, but it will keep Google fans firmly ensconced in their preferred ecosystem while they’re using Apple devices. On the Android side, it’s now possible to watch live Hangouts On Air sessions if friends aren’t ready and waiting for a chat. Both versions now let teens join any kind of Hangout, and there’s a raft of tweaks on either side of the fence. If you’ve been waiting for either of the two major features to jump in, the app downloads are waiting at the source links.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

Google+ update lets iOS open links in Chrome, Android join Hangouts on Air originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mobile Burn, The Next Web  |  App Store, Google Play  | Email this | Comments

After delivering an overachieving laptop, Lenovo has delivered financial results that also exceeded expectations, producing $8 billion in revenue and $141 million net profit. Those figures are up 35 and 30 percent respectively over last year, which the company has chalked up to a higher than ever market share of 15 percent. That growth came in part from a 59 percent sales bump in emerging markets like India and Brazil, on top of a 9 percent spurt in its home market — lifting the company 24 percent in world-wide PC shipments for the quarter. Lenovo has also become the second largest player in China’s smartphone market, after Samsung, now up to a 13 percent market share. CEO Yang Yuanqing also proclaimed that, unlike other Redmond partners, he wasn’t stressed about Microsoft’s Surface tablet — and that his company had “much better hardware” than the software giant.

Continue reading Lenovo’s Q1 shows ‘record high’ market share, profits up 30 percent to $141 million

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Lenovo’s Q1 shows ‘record high’ market share, profits up 30 percent to $141 million originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WSJ  |   | Email this | Comments

Kno’s post-hardware textbook platform has called the iPad its only tablet home for more than a year; it’s about to spread its wings. Starting with a bundled presence on the Galaxy Note 10.1, Kno is an option for K-12 and college students who’d rather go the Android route. While all the 3D, note-taking and navigation features remain the same, there’s an obvious selling point in supporting the S Pen (and hopefully other pens) to more directly put thoughts to virtual paper — or, let’s admit it, doodle in the margins. All of us, Android and otherwise, get a new Social Sharing component that lets us crib each other’s notes before the big exam. We’re still waiting on Kno for other Android devices as well as the already-promised Windows 7 support, but it’s hard not to appreciate at least a little more variety in our digital learning.

Continue reading Kno textbooks arrive on Android with the Galaxy Note 10.1, take on a social side

Filed under: Tablet PCs, Software

Kno textbooks arrive on Android with the Galaxy Note 10.1, take on a social side originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 00:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Kno, App Store  | Email this | Comments

Whenever we review tablets, the section on audio quality is usually short, and it usually goes something like this: “The quality is tinny and the volume is low, especially since the speakers are located on the back side.” (Translation: “What did you expect, people?“) That’s a shame, given how tablets are supposedly ideal for content consumption. Fortunately, though, this is something Dolby’s been working on. The company is bringing a new version of its Digital Plus technology to tablets, phones and laptops with the aim of enhancing sound quality, and also making movie dialog easier to make out. In the demo video embedded after the break, for instance, that Galaxy Tab is cranked to full volume, but it’s still hard to follow along with The Incredibles. With Digital Plus turned on, the conversation is easier to hear, and you can also parse background noises, like a phone ringing in an office.

Right now, the technology is compatible with Windows 7, Win 8 and Android. Dolby says the software is specially tuned for each device, and it’s up to OEMs to license the technology, so don’t hold your breath for an app you can download on your own. For now, we don’t know of any devices with Digital Plus, but a Dolby rep told us the first should be announced within the coming months. So, what you’ll see in the video after the break isn’t some unannounced product but rather, an older Samsung tablet rigged to run the software as a demo. Oh, and the UI is apparently not final, so don’t put too much stock in the way the app looks. Anyway, have a listen and let us know if you can hear the difference.

Continue reading Next generation of Dolby Digital Plus coming soon to tablets and phones, we go ears-on (video)

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Next generation of Dolby Digital Plus coming soon to tablets and phones, we go ears-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

HP has been offering plenty of glimpses of its upcoming Windows 8 tablet, but it so far hasn’t been doing much talking about it — or about Microsoft’s own entry into the tablet market with Surface, for that matter. That’s now changed thanks to an interview senior sales VP John Solomon gave to CRN, however, where he promises that HP will have more to share about its business-minded tablet “pretty soon.” What’s more, unlike some other big OEMs, Soloman says that HP doesn’t see a problem with Microsoft’s Surface plans. He says that he thinks Microsoft “was basically making a leadership statement and showing what’s possible in the tablet space,” adding that, “our relationship has not changed at all due to Microsoft’s announcement. In fact, I applaud it.” That’s not to say he doesn’t take some issue with Microsoft’s efforts, though, noting that while the Surface’s keyboard accessory is “a great occasional use keyboard,” there’s “no way” that professional content creators will “use a keyboard like that for everyday use.” You can find the full CRN interview at the source link below.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

HP says Surface has not changed its relationship with Microsoft, promises more tablet details ‘pretty soon’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge, AllThingsD  |  CRN  | Email this | Comments