SAMSUNG GALAXY Note II

Live at IFA 2012 in Berlin, Samsung finally unveiled the Galaxy Note II. Samsung is pushing this as a “be creative” and “be expressive” device. Obvious the focal point is the S Pen, which is now longer, thicker and ergonomically designed for the perfect grip. The dedicated S Pen button allows the S Pen to magically recognize what users want to clip or edit. With Easy Clip users can instantly outline and crop any content on the screen for sharing. The Idea Visualizer allows users to easily add illustrations by handwriting keywords. Also when you pull out the S Pen from the holder, a quick launch of S Pen tools will pop up so you can quickly launch whatever app you need.

Just like the Galaxy Note 1o.1, multitasking it a major asset of the Galaxy Note II:
With Air View, users can hover with the S Pen over an email, S Planner, image gallery, or video to preview the content without having to open it.
Popup Note is much like Popup Play, and it allows users to open an S Note instantly as a pop-up window anywhere on the screen. This can be done while you are on a phone call or watching a video to jot down a quick note.
There’s even a new gesture pad feature called Quick Command. This allows users to quickly activate frequently used apps with the S Pen. A command pad will open when a user swipes upward on the screen. From there users can draw pre-registered marks on the command pad to send an email, make a call, or search a location. Users will also have the ability to register their own unique marks.
Photo Notes allows you to jot down notes on any photo. It’s just like we used to do for printed photos when we wrote a note on the back. Photo Notes will actually flip the photo to the back for you to jot your note.
Last but not least is the Recorder function which lets users record a sequence of actions taken on their screen and share it.
The Galaxy Note II will be available in October, and if you’re in the U.S, no word yet on availability. Best of all it will come with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Full specs

• 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD (1280 x 720) display
• 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor
• 2GB RAM
• Choice of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of storage
• microSD slot for storage expansion
• 8MP front camera
• 1.9MP rear camera
• 3100mAh battery
• Available in both HSPA+ and LTE
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• 9.4mm thick
• 180 grams
• Color options: Marble White or Titanium Gray

Full press release

Be Creative, Be Expressive with the GALAXY Note II

The most powerful smartphone sparks everyone's creative inspirations
BERLIN, Germany—29 August 2012— At the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event held today at IFA, in
Berlin, Samsung introduced the GALAXY Note II, a whole new level of innovation for the GALAXY Note
category. The new Samsung GALAXY Note II enables unique experiences in personalized and expressive
content creation, making it the ultimate smartphone for on-the-go creativity.
"Last year at IFA, we launched the GALAXY Note, which opened a new category of smart mobile devices.
This year, again at IFA, I am proud to announce the GALAXY Note II, which will encourage users to
‘unleash their inner creativity.' With a perfect viewing experience and unique and differentiated features,
users can discover information and capture their ideas faster, express thoughts freely and manage tasks
more efficiently. For anyone who wants to be creative, expressive and unique, the Samsung GALAXY Note
II will be the ideal device, allowing users to live a life extraordinary," said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile
Communications Division at Samsung Electronics.
Since the first introduction of the GALAXY Note category, Samsung has continued to enhance and expand
the GALAXY Note product experiences. In May 2012, Samsung introduced 'Premium Suite,' a software
upgrade which provided enhanced user experiences. With the Ice Cream Sandwich OS upgrade, Samsung
offered innovative new features such as Shape Match and Formula Match, providing a new way for
organizing and expressing ideas in their personal and professional life. Also in August, Samsung expanded
the category further with the GALAXY Note 10.1, which has a 10.1-inch large screen, a Multiscreen feature
for the ultimate multitasking, and enhanced features for users' productivity, creativity and learning abilities.
With further enhancements, Samsung GALAXY Note II will help users unleash their inner creativity by letting
them discover information faster, capture ideas, and express them in a more organized and efficient manner.
Perfect viewing experience
The GALAXY Note II features a 5.5" (140.9mm) HD Super AMOLED screen, providing breathtaking visuals
and crystal clear detail. Its 16:9 screen ratio ensures an immersive and enriched cinema-like video viewing
experience, perfect for watching HD videos on-the-go. Its larger screen allows users to see content clearly
and vividly, with much enhanced readability. In addition to the stunning content consumption experiences on
a larger screen, users will also be able to accomplish more tasks efficiently and create content freely on-the-
go, as the GALAXY Note II comes with a thinner and portable body.
Easy multitasking
Air View allows users to hover with the S Pen over an email, S Planner, image gallery, or video to preview
the content without having to open it. This feature enables users to quickly search and see more information
in one view without screen transitions.
Thanks to the breadth of the GALAXY Note II's amazing viewing experience, a feature called Popup Note
extends the concept of Popup Play, which lets users open an S Note instantly as a pop-up window anywhere
on the screen. For example, when a user pulls out the S Pen during a phone call, the S Note application
automatically pops up on the screen, allowing users to jot down a quick note.
In addition, the device's new gesture pad feature, called Quick Command, lets users quickly activate
frequently used apps with the S Pen. The command pad appears when a user just swipes upward on the
screen with the S Pen button pressed. Users can quickly send an email, make a call, or search a location as
they draw pre-registered marks on the command pad or register a unique mark to allow for quick and easy
access.
Furthermore, users will be able to share their experiences with others quickly and easily using Screen
Recorder. It allows users to record a whole sequence of actions taken on their screen — a demonstration of
how to use an application, for example — and then share it with friends for comment, or just for fun.
Amazing expression tools – Advanced S Pen & S Note
The new S Pen is longer, thicker and ergonomically designed for the perfect grip. Therefore, it provides a
more precise, comfortable, and natural writing and drawing experience.
The S Pen's advanced features also provide enhanced capabilities to capture ideas and inspirations
instantly, and to combine handwriting with any digital content directly on the screen. By simply pressing the
dedicated S Pen button, the S Pen magically recognizes that users want to clip or edit the selected content
on the screen. The Easy Clip feature allows users to instantly outline and crop any content on the screen in
any shape to save, share or paste. Once done cropping the image, users can freely edit the cropped content
through coloring, shading, or their own personal handwriting. It is quick and easy.
Another amazing expression feature called Idea Visualizer allows users to easily add illustrations by
handwriting keywords on the S Note. It provides illustration images that match the handwritten keywords.
It's a fancy illustration match function that will allow users to express, organize and visualize ideas in a more
innovative and creative way. Users can even customize and add in their own illustrations library.
Powerful Performance
Powering content creation, sharing and multitasking capabilities, the GALAXY Note II comes with the latest
hardware technologies. A mighty 1.6GHz Quad-Core processor and HSPA Plus or 4G LTE connectivity
delivers easy multitasking, lightning-fast screen transitions, powerful browser performance, and minimal app
load time. The GALAXY Note II is powered by Android™ 4.1, Jelly Bean. This brings stunning graphical
capabilities and an upgraded Google Now service, including new features such as contextual search, to the
GALAXY Note II. The memory options are 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB with an expandable micro SD memory
slot. Thanks to a 3,100mAh battery, users can enjoy multimedia content, always be productive on the go,
and capture ideas whenever, wherever without suffering from power limitation.
The GALAXY Note II comes with an 8 megapixel rear-facing and 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera with HD
video recording. The camera has great features like Buddy Photo Share, Burst Shot and Best Photo, which
were introduced on the GALAXY S III earlier in the year. In addition to that, the GALAXY Note II features a
unique camera function called Best Faces. Best Faces allows users to choose the most preferred face or
pose of each person from group portrait photos. Users can also personalize photos by leaving handwritten
notes on the backside of a photo using the S Pen. Handwritten Photo Notes can be shared with others in jpg
format.

Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro to power LG Optimus G

Qualcomm has announced collaboration with LG to power the upcoming flagship device.

Recently the news about LG Optimus G smartphone with large screen buzzed the webs. Now Qualcomm has formally announced of working closely with LG on the Optimus G smartphone.
The LG Optimus G smartphone will house the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 mobile processor with MDM615 modem chip noted AnandTech. That means the 4.7-inch True HD-IPS LCD display bearing Optimus G will feature quad-core processor with LTE network support.

LG is expected to show the Optimus G with L-Style design at the IFA Berlin by the end of this month. The Optimus G will feature 4.7-inch touchscreen display manufactured using True HD-IPS LCD panel for crispness and will support 720p HD resolution natively.
Under the chassis, this smartphone will house a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 mobile processor. Along with this new mobile processor, Qualcomm will also couple the MDM615 modem on the chipset to support the multi-mode 3G and LTE networks. With this device, LG aims Optimus G to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S III and HTC One X smartphones.

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 mobile processor had been delayed due to the shortage of the processor supply from the manufacturer side. Now it will be interesting to see how fast this company manages to ship the Optimus G smartphone.

At IFA Berlin, we shall get to see some of the novel and flagship devices from different handset makers which are likely to be made available in the fourth quarter of this year.

A 5 inch Android smartphone launched for Rs 11K

The Wicked Leak Wammy Note comes with a 1 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and 8 megapixel rear camera.

Wicked Leak has launched a new Android smartphone in the market. Named as Wammy Note, the smartphone runs on the Android operating system and features a 5 inch large touch screen. The smartphone is priced at Rs 11,000.

The 5 inch touch screen of the phone comes with 800 x 480 pixels resolution and runs on Android ICS operating system. It is also powered by a 1 GHz processor, comes with 512 MB of RAM and its memory is also expandable up to 32 GB with a micro SD card.


Wammy Note has a 8 megapixel camera with flash with auto focus and Burst feature (16 photos can be taken in 5 seconds). It can also record videos and has a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera.

On the connectivity front, it has Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G, Tethering hotspot and comes with a USB port and a micro SD card slot. Wammy Note also comes with GPS, Analog TV and FM radio.


The device measures 144 x 89 x 12mm and it has a 2,500 mAh battery that the company claims will provide up to 8 hours of talk time and 260 hours of standby time. Wammy Note is available in black and white colours.

The Wammy Note will be available from 30th August from Wicked Leak's website.

Galaxy 10.1 Note

Taking a second to think can result in second thoughts. In the Galaxy 10.1 Note's case it resulted in a second pair of CPU cores and double the RAM - a lethal combination, which only a select few of its foes dare stand against.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 official photos
This is in case you are wondering why you're a reading another preview of a tablet that should've been launched a good couple of months ago. Sent back to the drawing board shortly after its official announcement, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 starts fresh after a reboot. And we have no choice but start over.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 at a glance:

• Form factor: Tablet
• Dimensions: 262 x 180 x 8.9 mm
• Weight: 600g
• Display: 16M-color 10.1" PLS LCD capacitive touchscreen of WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels)
• OS: Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, TouchWiz UI
• Chipset: 1.4 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos 4 Quad chipset, 2GB of RAM
• Connectivity: Voice and data connectivity with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and quad-band (850/900/1900/2100 MHz) UMTS, 21 Mbps HSDPA and HSUPA 5.76 Mbps support, video calls, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Assisted GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, 30-pin connector
• Memory: 16/32/64GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via a microSD card slot
• Camera: 5 MP autofocus camera, LED flash with 720p video recording, 1.9MP front-facing camera
• Battery: 7,000mAh Li-Ion
• Misc: Infrared port, gyro sensor, accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation, ambient light sensor, Adobe Flash Player 11 support, DivX/XviD support, TV-out (adapter required), USB host (via an adapter)
• Proprietary 30-pin connector for charging and connectivity

So, the stylus-driven tablet has the same heart as the Galaxy S III beating beneath the 10-inch screen and twice the RAM to run the rich set of apps trouble-free. The Galaxy Note 10.1 doesn't run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean yet, but it comes preloaded with fantastic apps like Adobe's Photoshop Touch and Ideas. Not to mention Samsung's home-brewed S Note, S Memo and S Planner.
All in all, what was simply the artistic twin of the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is now a supercharged version that belongs right in the premium class.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 live photos

World's Fastest Android 4.1 Phone With 4.3" Screen

Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi has unveiled the Mi-Two smartphone.  This is the first officially announced handset featuring the much-hyped Snapdragon S4 chipset. According to the manufacturer, the Mi-Two can easily beat the current crop of flagship Android phones such as the LG Optimus 4X HD, HTC One X, and Samsung GALAXY S III in terms of performance. Apart from the powerful CPU, the handset features a 4.3" IPS screen and 8 mp camera. Here are the detailed specs of the device:

• 4.3" IPS panel with pixel dimensions of 1280x720.
• 8 mp camera with 1080p video recording, front 2 mp camera for video calling.
• 1.5 GHz Snapdragon APQ8064 S Pro chipset (quad-core Krait CPU + Adreno 320 GPU).
• 2 GB DDR2 RAM.
• 16 GB internal storage, microSD card slot.
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS.
• USB-port with MHL support for HDMI-Out.
• 2000 mAh battery (upgradable to 3000 mAh).
• 5" (l) x 2.4" (w) x 0.4" (10 mm) (d).

On the software front, the Mi-Two runs a heavily customised version of Android 4.1 (Jelly bean) called the MIUI. The handset will hit the Chinese market in October for 2000 HKD (approx Rs 15,000). While this sounds like a great deal, the phone is unlikely to be launched in India. Check out the gallery below for more product shots.

source techree

How to enable NFC on the Samsung Galaxy S II

If you have a Samsung Galaxy S II phone that is running a custom Jelly Bean ROM, you have probably noticed that you do not have NFC capabilities on your device. If you would like to restore that functionality, we have good news – XDA Senior Member jthatch12 has created a hack.
This will only work on phones that had the necessary NFC hardware built into the phone. The other requirement is that the phone is running Jelly Bean. Thus far users have confirmed success on i777 and M250k/M250s devices. The hack should work on:

• i9100 = NO
• i9100P = YES (it’s an i9100 exactly, but with NFC. ROMs for i9100 will work, but need to be modified to show NFC settings, otherwise no NFC options will show)
• i9100G = NO, it’s completely different from the i9100 hardware (TI-OMAP instead of Exynos). ROMs from i9100/P don’t work.
• T989 (T-Mobile GS2) = YES, but it’s completely different from the i9100 hardware (Snapdragon S3 instead of Exynos). ROMs from i9100/P don’t work.
• i777 (AT&T GS2) = YES, AOSP based roms have it but i9100 hellraised roms are missing it(due to NFC not being a feature of the i9100)
• D710 (Sprint GS2) = NO

If you are interested in trying this hack out on your NFC equipped Galaxy S II, you just need to download the file from the XDA forum thread (use source link below) and then flash it onto your device from recovery mode.
source: XDA Developers Forum

LG Optimus 4X HD gets UK date

Available from Phones 4u from 27 August

We knew it was coming to the UK, but we didn't know exactly when or indeed, where it would be sold. Both questions have now been answered.

Phones 4u has come forward as the seller of the phone in the UK, with a date of 27 August being confirmed. You can, however, order one as of today. In fact, if you are one of the first 50 to confirm, you and a friend get tickets to see Cheryl Cole in Birmingham as a 'bonus'. If that's a deal breaker, get in quick. Networks vary, as do prices, but the phone is available for 'free' from £26 per month.

As we mentioned before, the LG Optimus 4X HD packs a large 4.7-inch (1280x720-pixel) True HD IPS display, along with a Nvidia Tegra 3 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. There's also 16GB of storage, a 2150mAh battery, an eight-megapixel BSI (Backside Illumination) camera with LED flash, a 1.3-megapixel networking camera and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the operating system.

Other features include an Eco-Mode, which will allow you to manually shut down any of the Tegra 3’s cores for even more control over power consumption and performance and Quick Memo, which gives one the ability to jot memos or notes over a screen image for saving or sharing with others.

If that sounds like your kind of phone, you know where to go.

iPhone 5 pre-orders could start on 12 September

But UK shelf date likely to be in October

There's not long to go until Apple launches its next generation iPhone, a handset we're currently calling the iPhone 5 for obvious reasons. The launch event is almost certainly scheduled for 12 September – and pre-orders could start the same day.

The iMore site is claiming inside information on the actual sales, with that info pointing towards iPhone 5 orders starting on the same day as the launch in the US. So where does it leave the UK? Well, the site claims that the second round of iPhone launches, specifically 'international markets', will begin on 5 October. That's likely to include us.

How good is the information? Well, the site claims the details on Apple pre-orders comes from 'sources that have provided iMore with accurate iPhone related launch dates in the past', while the info on the international launches was leaked by contacts that have provided 'accurate information in the past.' So not set in stone, but it sounds like a decent guide to what could happen.

Whether Apple launches an iPad Mini too is still very much speculation. But if it does, it is unlikely to launch in the same timescale. Single devices have knocked out Apple's website in the past. A double high-profile launch might throw it into meltdown.

Source: iMore

HTC One X gets Android update

New version of Ice Cream Sandwich rather than Jelly Bean

Good news and bad news. The good news is confirmation of an Android update for the HTC One X. The bad news? It isn't the Jelly Bean update we would've hoped for.

That's perhaps no surprise. HTC is rumoured to be bringing out a sequel on the form of the HTC One X2 or X+ in the coming month, so if there is a Jelly Bean upgrade, it is likely to be held back for that.

In the meantime, enjoy a better version of the OS you already have, with several improvements listed in Android version 4.0.4., as well as some enhancements to the Sense interface, all of which are rolling out now.

The update will allow users to map menu functions to the 'recent app' key (improving visual presentation in non-ICS apps like Facebook), improve tab management in the browser with a dedicated tab switching button and enhance camera capabilities such as white balance and continuous auto-focus.

There are also 'enhancements' to memory, platform stability and the overall browsing experience, along with the option of a single sign-on for Facebook and upgrades to Beats Audio.

Not exactly life-changing, but certainly a step up. If you like the idea of that, just check for the upgrade now.

Samsung to launch black Galaxy S III

S3 IN BLACK IS COMING

New colour to follow 'white' and 'pebble blue' versions

It's not official, but indicators are now pointing to the launch of a Samsung Galaxy S III in black.

How do we know? Well, we don't, but two big clues lead us to think that it will be here – and soon. Firstly, Samsung posted up a couple of snaps, including the one here, on Facebook. It might have been by accident, or it could have been to intentionally drum up some expectation for a new colour. Either way, the phone in black seems very real.

If that's not enough for you, here is that other clue. An 'insider' at Carphone Warehouse got in touch with the Android Police site with a screengrab of the company's internal database. Listed on it is 'Samsung Galaxy S3 Black', alongside the existing blue and white models. Seems pretty definitive to us.

It might launch at the IFA event and represents something of a u-turn for the colour black. Once the standard colour for every mobile phone on the market, it's now a special edition. Funny old world.

Sources: Unwired View and Android Police

Google Nexus 7

 

The Google Nexus 7 is a smart seven-incher, perfect for gaming, movies and getting online, and it won’t hurt your wallet as it’s cheaper than almost every other Android tablet

Pros :
Unbelievable price, quad-core power, pin-sharp screen, Android Jelly Bean

Cons :
No microSD slot, no rear-facing camera

Look and feel
The Google Nexus 7 tablet is a compact tab that’s perfect for carrying around. It might not be the slimmest tab around, but it looks smart and the soft-touch rear feels good, although the glossy front is a magnet for scuff marks and dust

Ease of use
Android Jelly Bean is a beautifully smooth update to Ice Cream Sandwich. The Nexus 7’s screen is perfectly responsive, which makes it ideal for playing with apps and surfing the web

Features
You might not get a rear-facing camera, but we’re not saddened at all by this omission. The Nexus 7’s front-facing camera means you get Skype with friends, and you get built-in GPS and NFC

Performance
With a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor on board, you’ll have no worries playing the latest power-hungry games for some time to come. We saw no glitches or stutters when messing around in apps or zipping through Jelly Bean’s menus

Battery life
We got almost nine hours of movie streaming on a single charge, placing the Nexus 7 above most other Android tablets for battery life

FULL REVIEW

The full Google Nexus 7 by Asus review Ever since we first heard whisperings of a Google-brand tablet, we’ve been cyber-stalking the search giants relentlessly, in hope of a teasing glimpse. After all, the creators of Android were bound to conjure up something special, after impressing the world with the excellent own-brand Nexus S smartphone. When you also consider that Asus helped produce the hardware – the same Asus that built the epic Transformer Prime tablet – it’s hard not to be thrilled.



It’s been a lengthy wait, but the Nexus 7 tablet is here and we’ve fallen in helpless, drooling love – and the moment we saw the price, we almost exploded with joy. Yep, this isn’t a typo: just £160 will bag you a quad-core tablet with a crisp and colourful screen, plus access to over half a million apps and games.

The two tablets
This has been a fantastic month for Android tablets, as we’ve been blessed with two excellent wallet-friendly seven-inch devices. First came Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 (seven-inch edition), boasting a sleek all-black look. The Google Nexus 7 has a similar design, with a thick black border surrounding the screen, giving you plenty of space to clutch it. At 340g it won’t ache your arms either, making it comfortable to wield. That glossy front might collect fingerprints like China collects gold medals, but flip the Nexus 7 over and you’ll find a textured rear that’s soft to the touch and easy to grip. It’s not a super-slender tab like the Toshiba AT200, but it’s not particularly chunky either.



While the Galaxy Tab 2 sported Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, the Nexus 7 comes with the very latest version of Google’s OS (nicknamed Android Jelly Bean 4.1). It’s the same slick interface, giving you five desktops to populate with your apps and widgets, plus a shortcut bar at the bottom for your favourite programs.

However, Jelly Bean has a number of tweaks that boost it over Ice Cream Sandwich. Most impressive is the smooth transitions between desktops and menus, which finally make Android feel as slick as iOS. Add in full customisation – you can personalise the Nexus 7 with whatever wallpaper, widgets and whatnot your heart desires – and this is the best mobile OS to date. We've already reviewed Google Android Jelly Bean, so check out our full Jelly Bean review for more info.

One of the major draws of Android tablets is the Google Play store, which currently packs over 600,000 apps and games, as well as a host of ebooks, mags and movies. The choice is overwhelming but you can browse charts of the most popular downloads, and Google is keen to start you off, handing you £15 credit (a limited time offer) and giving you some freebies to play with – although we’re not sure that a Jeffrey Archer ebook and the latest Transformers film will be to everyone’s tastes. Still, to get anything at all considering the low price of the tablet is commendable.

Tough display
The seven-inch display is a great size if you plan on taking this tablet further afield than your couch. Don’t worry about the screen getting scratched up either, as it’s made from mega-tough Corning Gorilla Glass. We’ll happily watch entire movies on the Nexus 7, which look fantastically crisp thanks to the sharp 1280x800-pixel resolution. When the camera zooms into someone’s face, you can see every pore and blemish – truly terrifying during home movies.



Full HD video streams perfectly over a decent Wi-Fi network, but if you can’t find a hotspot you’ll have to stay offline, as there’s no 3G support. You can always carry films or TV shows on the 8GB built-in drive (boosted to 16GB in the £200 model) if you find yourself web-less, a generous amount of storage given the price although there’s no microSD card slot to upgrade it. Don’t worry about the battery dying mid-trip, as we managed to stream video for almost nine straight hours before the Nexus 7 died on us.

Bulging quads
Unbelievably for the price, Google has crammed a quad-core Tegra 3 processor inside the Nexus 7. If you’re not familiar with mobile processors, this makes the Nexus 7 one of the most powerful tablets around, able to run all kinds of apps simultaneously without issue. We tested some of the latest 3D games and they played perfectly as expected, with silky smooth frame rates. Gamers get serious future-proofing, so should be able to play the most intensive titles for the foreseeable future.



Of course, all that power would be pointless if the touch-screen was unresponsive, as you’d end up being pummelled into mush in every game you played. Thankfully the display responds instantly to every swipe, which is especially noticeable during fast-paced games and when browsing through complex websites. Google’s own Chrome browser comes pre-installed and is a speedy way of surfing the web as you can open multiple tabs to do several things at once.

Google Chrome on the Nexus 7 isn’t perfect, however. Webpages take a moment to update when zooming in and out, and we couldn’t play videos over BBC iPlayer because of a lack of Flash support. More strange is the lack of landscape support – tilting the Nexus sideways doesn’t flip the screen, so you have to constantly hold the tablet in portrait mode. This can get annoying on some of the busier websites, where text appears alongside photos. That said, we still really enjoyed wasting the odd hour online, and other browsers are available if it bugs you.



Features
Considering the puny price, you’d be smart for thinking that the Nexus 7 comes with barebones features. We can happily report that you’d also be wrong. Not only does Google’s tablet come with built-in GPS, which helps with localised searches and navigating in Google Maps, but it also has full NFC support. This is a future-proofing move, for when household devices such as TVs all support NFC – at which point you'll be able to share a video with your TV simply by tapping it with your tablet, for instance.

Google has cut a corner with the cameras, as you only get a front-facing lens for Skype calls – there’s no rear-facing camera for taking random snaps on the go. We’re not too sad at the omission, as wielding a tablet to take photos has always seemed strange to us. The front-facer is typically low resolution, but works fine for video chats with friends and family.



The verdict
If you’re after an Android tablet, especially one that’s portable enough to carry around everywhere, there’s little reason to look elsewhere. Google’s Nexus 7 is a well-built seven-incher rocking a powerful quad-core processor and sharp, vibrant screen, and costs less than almost all of its rivals.

Interesting search suggestion in google

Apple Rumored To Set iPhone Launch Event For Sept. 12

Apple is widely expected to debut the iPhone 5 – and a smaller version of the iPad – sometime this fall. And now we have a potential date for the launch event.

The blog iMore is reporting that the company will hold a launch event for both devices on Wednesday, September 12, with the new phone to ship on Friday, September 21. The report is attributed to “sources who have proven accurate in the past.”

Also to be launched on the same date, according to the report, will be a new version of the iPod nano. The post says the release date for what everyone has been calling the iPad mini also could be September 21. The report speculates that a new iPod Touch could debut at the same event.

As the post notes, the iPhone 4S was launched on October 4, 2011, and released 10 days later. The iPad 3 was announced on Wednesday, March 7, and launched 9 days later.

Given the typically robust early sales for Apple products,  a September launch date for the new iPhone could mean a big boost for the company’s September quarter financial report; the Street consensus has been that the launch would in October, rather than September.

Rumour: Details Of Upcoming Lenovo Windows 8 ThinkPad Tablet 2 Leaked

As reported earlier, Chinese manufacturer Lenovo could very well be the first to launch a Windows 8  tablet in the market. Techin5.com claims to have received an anonymous tip that revealed detailed information about Lenovo's upcoming tablet based on Microsoft's new OS.

Reportedly, the slate is named the Windows 8 ThinkPad Tablet 2 (quite a mouthful). With a 10.1" pixel-packed IPS screen, the device intends to take Apple's iPad head-on. It's expected to be powered by an Intel Cloverview dual-core Atom CPU. Here are the detailed specs:

• 10.3" x 6.5" x 0.4" (9.8 mm), 650 grammes.
• 10.1" WXGA IPS panel with pixel dimensions of 1366x768 (16:9), anti-glare screen, and 10 finger multi-touch support.
• 8 mp back camera with auto-focus and LED flash, 2 mp HD-capable (720p) front camera.
• 2 GB RAM, 64 GB internal storage, microSD card slot.
• Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC (optional), Bluetooth 4.0, 3G SIM (optional).
• Mini-HDMI, USB 2.0 with OTG (for connecting USB peripherals), 3.5 mm headphone \ mic jack, docking connector.
• 1080p video playback at 30 fps, supports DirectX 9.
• 2 x 1 Watt stereo speakers, dual-array mic with noise cancellation.
• 30 Wh battery, which roughly translates to 6000 mAh.
• Optional accessories such as stylus, fingerprint reader, and keyboard dock.
• Accelerometer, compass, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor.

While the tablet appears to be promising, only time will tell whether it'll make a dent in the iPad's dominance. Needless to say, the pricing will be a crucial factor in its success. How much would you be willing to pay for this tablet? Quote your price in the comments section below.

Micromax funbook pro with Android 4.0 And 10.1" Screen Lands On Snapdeal.com Before Official Launch

Continuing with its trend of featuring gadgets before the official launch, Snapdeal.com has now listed the Micromax Funbook Pro for sale on its site, though it's not been officially released by the Indian phone manufacturer. The tablet is available for purchase at a price tag of Rs 10,000.

The device is powered by a 1.2 Cortex-A8 CPU with 1 GB of RAM. It also boasts of a dual-core Mali-400 GPU, with separate cores for handling 2D and 3D. This should give it a good bit of grunt in the graphics department. Furthermore, a 10" capacitive multi-touch TFT LCD display packs in 600x1024 pixels, while a massive 5600 mAh battery powers the whole setup. The detailed specs are as follows:

• 1.2 GHz Cortex-A8 CPU, dual Mali-400 GPU, 1 GB of RAM.
• 0.3 mp front camera.
• 1080 video playback with HDMI-Out.
• 8 GB of internal storage, 32 GB microSD card slot, USB 2.0 port.
• Inbuilt Wi-Fi, 3G via external dongle (supports only Tata DOCOMO Photon+).
• 3.7 V \ 5600 mAh battery.

The retail package includes an offer to obtain a 3G dongle from Tata DOCOMO at a discounted price of Rs 500. Micromax has positioned this tablet as an "edutainment" device. In addition to support for Google's Play Store, the Funbook Pro offers study material and "interactive" video classes for students, ranging from the primary school to degree sections. It also has courses and sample exam papers for various engineering, medical, and MBA entrance exams. Keep in mind though that none of this is free — the educational material costs extra for each course and has to be purchased separately. Which is probably a good thing, considering that tablets are pretty much useless when it comes to productivity.

 

SOURCE TECH TREE

Samsung to announce Galaxy Note II on August 29

Samsung will announce the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet at the IFA 2012 convention.

Samsung has started sending out invites for its 'Samsung Unpacked' event on August 29 at the IFA 2012 show, a trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances, in Berlin. At this Samsung Unpacked event, the company is expected to unveil the next Galaxy Note smartphone-tablet. A Samsung representative has confirmed this to the Reuters. This is interesting because the next Apple iPhone is expected to launch two weeks after that on September 12.

Notably, Samsung had unveiled the 5-inch HD Super Amoled display bearing Galaxy Note last year at the Samsung Unpacked event at IFA 2011 as well. This year's event invite of Samsung states the text - When Magical Moments Come Alive.

Though the details are scarce on this device, we can expect a quad-core mobile processor inside it. Along with this hybrid device, Samsung is also expected to show the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet with quad-core processor and bigger S-Pen stylus.

With two major device announcements taking place on one day, we also expect Samsung to shed more light on its plans with the S-Voice personal assistance service. Stay tuned to this space for more updates about the Samsung Unpacked event on August 29.