ACER INTRODUCES ASPIRE V3 AND V5 LINE OF NOTEBOOKS

Acer introduced quite a few notebooks at the CeBIT trade show in Germany. There is a new line of ultrabooks. There are also new mainstream notebooks in the V5 and V3 series.

The Acer Aspire V3 Series notebooks will be available in 14 inch, 15.6 inch and 17.3 inch sizes. They will be equipped with Intel Core i-series processors and NVIDIA GeForce graphics. The Aspire V5 notebooks will be

ACER WORKING ON A 15 INCH ULTRABOOK

Ultrabooks are ultra thin and light laptops with 13 or 14 inch displays. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t find a 15 inch ultrabook. Actually Acer is building one. The Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 has an Intel Core i-series processor and NVIDIA GeForce GT640M graphics.

The Timeline Ultra M3 measures 0.8 inches in thickness. Some models will be available with a hybrid storage that combines a

GIGABYTE U2442V ULTRABOOK HAS HD DISPLAY

Gigabyte is working on an ultrabook with a high resolution display. The upcoming Gigabyte U2442V will have a 13.3 inch display with a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. Almost every ultrabook we have seen so far feature 1366 x 768 pixels displays. Gigabyte also plans to empower the laptop with a NVIDIA GT640 discrete graphics processor.


The Gigabyte U2442V was on display at CeBIT. It will

FUJITSU WORKING ON A 14 INCH ULTRABOOK

Fujitsu is the latest to jump on to the ultrabook bandwagon. The company has announced that it will soon bring its ultrabook to the market. Fujitsu also showed off a 14 inch thin and light laptop at the CeBIT trade show in Germany this week.


We still don’t have all the details, but the a few things are certain. The Fujitsu ultrabook has a 14 inch frameless display and a magnesium case. It will

HP PAVILION NOTEBOOKS WITH INTEL IVY BRIDGE PROCESSORS SPOTTED

The first batch of HP Pavilion laptops sporting Intel’s third generation Core i-series Ivy Bridge processors has been spotted. The new models include the Pavilion dv6 and the Pavilion dv7. They have 15.6 inch and 17.3 inch displays respectively.


HP is yet to officially announce the specifications of the tablet, so few details are available at the moment. However, it is almost certain that the

BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK BEST SELLER AT BEST BUY CANADA LAST WEEK

BlackBerry PlayBook was the best seller at Future Shop and Best Buy Canada last week. The tablet has been selling for $199 for several weeks. At that price point, RIM is unlikely to make a profit. Nonetheless, the company is promoting the tablet aggressively.


RIM launched the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 update last week. That update added a lot more functionality to the tablet including the

MEET NOVERO SOLANA, THE TABLET/NETBOOK HYBRID THAT RUNS WINDOWS AND ANDROID

A certain company called Novero Solana has launched a tablet / netbook hybrid running Windows and Android. The machine is expected to go on sale in the US for $799. In Europe it will run 699 Euros.

Specswise, the computer has a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N2600 Cedar Trail processor. It can run Windows 7 or Google Android. The tablet has a 9.7 inch, 1024 x 768 pixels touchscreen display.


The Solana

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 7.7 NOW AVAILABLE IN THE US

Verizon Wireless has started offering the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 in the US. As expected, the tablet isn’t cheap. The contract-free model runs $699.99. If you sign up for a 2-year service contract, you can get it for $499.99. The data plans start at $30 per month.

The Verizon version of the tablet is designed to connect to Verizon’s 4G LTE network. WiFi-only versions of the tablet are not

QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE UPCOMING ARCHOS ARNOVA TABLETS

Archos is all set to launch the third generation of its budget-friendly Arnova tablet lineup. Here is a quick overview of the upcoming Arnova models.

The major difference between the upcoming and existing Arnova tablets is in the operating system. All new models will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. All models are also expected to ship with the AppsLib Market instead of the

ARCHOS WORKING ON A $129 TABLET FOR KIDS

Archos is reportedly working on a 7 inch tablet for children. The Archos Child Pad, as it is going to be called, will sell for about $129.

The new tablet has a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. No word on screen resolution or storage capacity as yet.


The tablet will come pre-loaded with a Kids App Store powered by the AppsLib Android Marketplace.

ASUS UPDATES EEE PC 1011CX WITH CEDAR TRAIL ATOM PROCESSOR

Asus has updated its Eee PC 1011CX with an Intel Atom Cedar Trail processor. While the laptop originally had the Intel Atom N455/N570 Pine Trail processor, it now sports the brand new 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N2600 Cedar Trail chip. The Eee PC 1011CX has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixels display. It has also got a 0.3 megapixel webcam, VGA and HDMI output port, 3 USB 2.0 ports and an Ethernet jack. Both 3-

ACER ASPIRE ONE D270 HITS FCC

The Acer Aspire One D270 is one of the first 10 inch netbooks to sport the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N2600 dual core processor. It hasn’t started shipping yet, but the launch date is fast approaching. The netbook passed through FCC last week which is an indication that its launch is imminent.


The Aspire One D270 has a 10 inch matte display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. It has also got 3 USB

GALAXY TAB 7.7 COMES TO VERIZON FOR PRICES STARTING AT $500

US wireless carrier Verizon will start offering the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 on March 1st. The 7.7 inch tablet will support Verizon’s 4G LTE mobile network. If you sign up for a 2-year service contract, you can pick up the tablet for $499.99.


The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has a 1280 x 800 pixels Super AMOLED Plus display with wide viewing angles. The tablet is powered by a 1.4GHz dual core

RASPBERRY PI COMPUTER FIRST BATCH ALREADY SOLD OUT

The $35 Raspberry Pi computers have gone on sale. Interestingly, the first batch has already been sold out but we won’t know exactly how many units were there. You can now register to be notified when more computers are in stock.


The Raspberry Pi has a 700 MHz Broadcom BCM2835 ARM system-on-a-chip processor and hardware accelerated graphics which will be able to handle 1080p HD video playback

TOSHIBA LAUNCHES EXCITE 10 LE ANDROID TABLET IN THE US

The Toshiba Excite 10 LE tablet is expected to go on sale in the US on March 6th. Toshiba introduced the tablet at CES in January. At that time it was called Excite X10.


The tablet has a 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4430 dual core processor. The 10 inch IPS display has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The tablet measures just 0.3 inches in thickness and weighs 1.2 pounds. The model with 16GB of storage

APPLE TO UNVEIL IPAD 3 ON MARCH 7

Apple will unveil its iPad 3 on March 7th. The company has already started sending out invitations to an event scheduled to be held on that date in San Francisco.


The iPad 3 is expected to have a higher resolution display. There is no official confirmation on that as yet, but it is one of the rumors that has been floating around for months. The iPad 2 has a lower resolution 9.7 inch, 1024 x

SONY TABLET P COMING TO AT&T

The Sony Tablet P has a pair of 5.5 inch displays which can be used to display two apps at once. Or you can have the same app spanning across both screens. The tablet has been available since last year, and now AT&T is getting ready to launch it on its 4G HSPA+ network.

The AT&T version of the tablet will be available starting March 4th. You can pick up the tablet for $399.99 if you sign up for

TOSHIBA COULD BE BUILDING A 7.7 INCH TABLET

Toshiba is yet to officially announce that it is planning to launch a 7.7 inch tablet. Nonetheless, the company showed off a prototype behind closed glass at CES in January. The same model is on display at the ongoing Mobile World Congress too.


The prototype tablet has a 7.7 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core processor. The

DELL XPS 13 NOW AVAILABLE FOR $1000 AND UP

The 13.3 inch Dell XPS 13 is now available for purchase from Dell. The laptop was introduced at CES in January. It runs $999.99 and up.


For that price you will get a 1.6Ghz Intel Core i5-2467M processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The 13.3 inch display has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Higher end configurations with more storage and faster 1.7Ghz Intel Core i7-2637M processor are also

CORNING GORILLA GLASS 2 COMING

Corning’s sturdy Gorilla Glass has been pretty popular with mobile device makers, thanks to its scratch and shatter resistant surface. And now the company is working on the next version of the Gorilla Glass. It will be thinner and more touch sensitive. Of course, there will be no compromise in the sturdiness department.

Corning says that the first devices sporting Gorilla Glass 2 could start

HUAWEI LAUNCHES MEDIAPAD 10 FDH ANDROID TABLET WITH QUAD CORE PROCESSOR

Huawei introduced a new 10 inch Android tablet at the ongoing Mobile World Congress. The device has a quad core processor and a high resolution display.

The Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD indeed has some top-of-the-line features. It is powered by the just introduced Huawei K3V2 ARM-based quad core processor. This processor is based on the 64-bit architecture and is reportedly the fastest ARM processor

HUAWEI LAUNCHES ARM-BASED K3V2 QUAD CORE PROCESSOR

Samsung and Apple already produce their own ARM-based processors for powering their mobile devices. And now Chinese company Huawei has joined the list. The company has just launched a new chip called Huawei K3V2. It will be first used in the Huawei Ascend D quad smartphone.

The Huawei K3V2 has four ARM Cortex A9 processor cores that can run at 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz. It is based on the 64-bit

SAMSUNG UNVEILS GALAXY TAB 2 10.1 ANDROID TABLET

Samsung has finally officially unveiled its Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1). As the name itself indicates, it has a 10.1 inch display.

Samsung is no newbie in the tablet space. The company has already launched several tablets with 7 inch, 7.7 inch, 8.9 inch, 10 inch and 5.3 inch displays. So what exactly is new in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1)? Here is a quick overview.


The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 has a 10.1

VIEWSONIC ANNOUNCES THREE NEW TABLETS

ViewSonic will reportedly introduce three new tablets at the Mobile World Congress next week. The machines sport 7, 9.7 and 10 inch displays. Here is a quick overview.

The 7 inch model is the ViewSonic ViewPad G70 we have already heard about. It has a 1024 x 600 pixels display, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of storage. It will run the Google Android 4.0 operating system.


The 9.7 inch ViewPad E100 has a

IS LENOVO EXITING THE NETBOOK MARKET?

Lenovo did introduce a couple of netbooks at CES in January. None of them have started shipping yet, but it looks like the company isn’t betting big on them and that is hardly surprising. Netbooks don’t offer good profit margins. Dell has already exited the netbook market. Acer has also hinted at a similar exit strategy. Lenovo could be the next.


The company’s older netbooks in the IdeaPad S

SAMSUNG LAUNCHES QUAD CORE EXYNOS PROCESSOR

Samsung has built a new quad-core processor. The Samsung Exynos quad-core processor is designed to compete with NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 chip which has already started showing up in tablets and smartphones.


The new Samsung Exynos processor has four ARM Cortex-A9 processor cores with clock speeds ranging between 200 MHz and 1.5GHz. The 32nm chip also comes bundled with ARM Mali graphics. Samsung is

HP MINI 210 GETS CEDAR TRAIL ATOM PROCESSOR

The HP Mini 210 has been updated with Intel’s third generation Cedar Trail Atom processors. The Mini 210 is now available with a choice of the 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N2600 or the 1.86GHz Intel Atom N2800 processor.


The new HP Mini 210 will have the same $299.99 starting price as the previous models. For that price, you will get an Intel Atom N2600 processor, Windows 7 Starter OS, 1GB of RAM and a

HAIPAD LAUNCHES ANDROID 4.0 TABLETS

Chinese company HaiPad has already launched a few Android tablets. None of these machines had particularly impressive specs, but they were cheap. And now the company has launched a new crop of Android 4.0 tablets which seem to have better specifications than their predecessors.


Haipad A10A10
The HaiPad A10A10 has a 7 inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It is powered by a

HYBRID STORAGE TO MAKE ULTRABOOKS CHEAPER

Ultrabooks are ultra thin and light laptops sporting Intel’s latest processors and super-fast solid state disks. At least that is how Intel defines this new breed of laptops. While SSDs are fast, they are also pricey and that is one of the reasons behind the high price tags of ultrabooks. But high prices have never boosted sales. Needless to say, PC makers are trying innovative techniques to

ASUS EEE PC 1025C CEDAR TRAIL NETBOOK UP FOR PRE-ORDER FOR $300

Retailer J&R has started taking pre-orders for the Asus Eee PC 1025C for $299.99. This is one of the first netbooks on the market to sport the third generation Intel Cedar Trail Atom processor.


Precisely speaking, the laptop has a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N2600 dual core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. The 10 inch display has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Other specifications

BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK GETS OS 2.0 UPDATE; STILL SELLS FOR $199

RIM has already rolled out the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 update for its PlayBook tablet. And as you would expect, the update has certainly made the tablet more useful. It now has the capability to run select Android apps. The update has also added email, contacts and calendar apps to the tablet.


RIM launched the PlayBook last year with a starting price of $499. However, the tablet had few

ASUS EEE PAD MEMO 171 PRODUCT PAGE GOES LIVE

Asus introduced a new 7 inch tablet called Eee Pad MeMo at CES in January. It had a 1280 x 800 pixels display, a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core processor and a $249 price tag.

Recently Asus added a product page for another tablet called Eee Pad MeMo 171. It also has a 7 inch display, but it looks like it is the MeMo tablet the company introduced at CES in 2011.


The MeMo 171 has a 1.2GHz Qualcomm

UNANNOUNCED VIEWSONIC VIEWPAD G70 MAKES AN APPEARANCE

An unannounced tablet called the ViewSonic ViewPad G70 has showed up at some retailers. The device runs Android 4.0 operating system.

Few details are available at the moment but the device seems to have a 7 inch 1024 x 600 pixels display, 4GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. It has also got an HDMI output port and front and rear facing cameras. The supported connectivity options are WiFi, Bluetooth

8GB NOOK TABLET NOW AVAILABLE FOR $199

The 8GB version of the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet is now available for purchase. This is a cheaper version of the original 16GB Nook Tablet. While the 16GB version has 1GB of RAM, this model has only 512MB. The difference in specs also reflects in the price. The 8GB model is priced at just $199. The 16GB version runs $249.


Like the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet too has a 7 inch display.

LENOVO IDEAPAD U300E UP FOR PRE-ORDER

The budget-friendly Lenovo IdeaPad U300e is now up for pre-order. It is a cheaper version of the IdeaPad U300s. While both laptops have identical specs, they differ in the processor and storage options.


The IdeaPad U300e is available with a choice of Intel Core i3-3467M or Core i5-2467M processor. The U300s is also available with a Core i7-2677M processor. While the only storage option

ASUS X54C-BBK7 15 INCH LAPTOP AVAILABLE FOR $350 FROM BEST BUY

The Intel Pentium based Asus X54C-BBK7 is now available for purchase for just $350 from Best Buy. The 15.6 inch laptop has a 2.2Ghz Intel Pentium B960 dual core processor. It is the fastest mobile Pentium CPU available at the moment. While it is not fastest processor out there it has enough power to handle every day computing needs.


In some benchmark tests this processor performs better than

7 INCH EDENTAB WITH MIUI ANDROID HITS JAPAN

MIUI built by a company called Xiaomi is a custom version of Google Android with its own home screen design and a number of unique apps. In a sense it is similar to Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC Sense. The OS isn’t all that popular with the general public because few devices ship with it right now. Nonetheless, hackers have been using it for a while. And now the first tablet with MIUI is going to

UPCOMING ASUS NETBOOKS TO HAVE 'INSTANT ON' FEATURE

One of the most impressive features of the ultrabooks is their ability to quickly resume from sleep. But Asus feels that this feature shouldn’t be specific to ultrabooks. The company is working on bringing a similar feature to its Intel Atom-powered netbooks.


The upcoming Eee PC 1025C and 1025CE both have an ‘Instant on’ feature which allows the laptops to resume from sleep in just 3 seconds.

GIGABYTE LAUNCHES D1080 MULTIMEDIA DOCK FOR ITS WINDOWS TABLETS

Gigabyte has introduced a new multimedia docking station for its tablets S1080 and S1081. The D1080 dock will add speakers, a DVD drive and a range of ports to the tablets.

The Gigabyte S1080 and S1081 run Windows 7 operating system. The S1080 has a 10.1 inch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. It is powered by a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N570 dual core processor. The S1081 has a speedier

FUJITSU'S TABLET AND LAPTOP PLANS FOR 2012 REVEALED

Fujitsu’s tablet and laptop plans for 2012 have been revealed, thanks to a leaked slide. In May, the company is expected to launch two new ultrabooks. In June, they will be followed by what is called a ‘Slimbook’ and a mainstream Android media tablet.


The company also plans to launch ‘a performance slate’ with a detachable keyboard in September. That model will probably be similar to the Eee

SAMSUNG NP900X3B AND NP900X4B SERIES 9 LAPTOPS UP FOR PRE-ORDER

The Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B and NP900X4B thin and light laptops are now available for pre-order in the US. While the NP900X3B has a 13.3 inch display, the NP900X4B sports a larger 15 inch panel.


Retailer J&R have started taking pre-orders for both models. The specifications include 1.60GHz Intel Core i5-2467M processor, 128GB SSD, backlit keyboards and higher resolution 1600 x 900 pixels

ASUS TF300T SPOTTED IN THE WILD: COULD BE A CHEAPER EEE PAD TRANSFORMER PRIME

A new Asus tablet bearing the model name TF300T has been spotted in the wild. It is expected to be a cheaper version of the Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

The new tablet seems to have the same 10 inch, 1280 x 800 pixels display and optional keyboard docking station as the original Transformer Prime. However, there are a few differences as well.


The TF300T has a slightly slower 1.2GHz Tegra 2

LENOVO DISCONTINUES THINKPAD X120E

Lenovo has pulled the plug on its ThinkPad X120e thin and light laptop. The company has already replaced the X120e with the X130e.


The ThinkPad X120e was introduced last year. It was the first ThinkPad laptop to sport an AMD Fusion processor. It is no longer available for purchase from the Lenovo website. The ThinkPad X130e has the same semi-rugged case as the X120e. It is also available with

ARCHOS LAUNCHES ARNOVA 8B G2 ANDROID TABLET

Archos has made yet another addition to its Arnova line of low-cost tablets. The new Arnova 8b G2 is only slightly different from the Arnova 8 G2 which has been available for a while. The new tablet doesn’t have physical buttons for home, back, menu or search buttons.

The tablet runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system at the moment. But the fact that it doesn’t have physical buttons is

ACER ICONIA TAB A100 AND A500 TO GET ANDROID 4.0 IN APRIL

Acer has announced that its Iconia Tab A100 and A500 will get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update in April. The Iconia Tab A100 has a 7 inch display while the A500 sports a larger 10 inch panel. The Iconia Tab A200 has already started getting the Android 4.0 update.


The Iconia Tab A100 and A500 both run Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS at the moment. The Android 4.0 is the latest version of the

BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK OS 2.0 COULD LAUNCH ON FEBRUARY 21

Research in Motion is expected to launch its BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 on February 21st. This major software update will bring a lot of features that the BlackBerry PlayBook doesn’t have at the moment. For example, it will bring native email, calendar and contact apps to the tablet. It will also give PlayBook the capability to run some Android apps. Of course, it won’t be able to run all Android

AMAZON COULD HAVE SOLD 3.9 MILLION KINDLE FIRE TABLETS IN 2011

Amazon has always maintained that its Kindle line of tablets and ebook readers have been best sellers. The company has never released exact sales figures so we don’t know exactly how many Kindle devices have been sold so far.


Now the folks at iSuppli have done some math and released the estimated sales figures of the Amazon tablets / ebook readers. According to them, Amazon may have moved

ARCHOS G9 TABLETS WITH ANDROID 4.0 UP FOR PRE-ORDER

Archos usually shipped its tablets with Android 2.3 or earlier versions of the OS. The Archos G9 tablets were the first tablets from the company to launch with Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system. They also had access to Google Android Market. Now they are getting even better.

The 8 and 10 inch tablets will soon get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Dynamism has already started taking

ATOM-POWERED SMARTPHONES AND NETBOOKS SHOULD COST $199 TO $299, SAYS INTEL

Intel only makes processors. Of course, its chips power the vast majority of laptops and desktops out there. That, however, doesn’t mean that Intel gets to decide what price device makers will charge for their products. Nonetheless, Intel can set guidelines.

Intel is expected to launch its first line of processors for phones and tablets later this year. The company’s Cedar Trail processors for

ZTE LIGHT TAB 2 7 INCH TABLET NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK FOR 235 POUNDS

Chinese company ZTE has been making phones and tablets for a while. But up until now its devices were only available in China. Of course, some of them were sold in the West under different brand names, but it was not easy to sport a device carrying the name ZTE. But that is changing. ZTE has started selling its products in western countries under its own brand name. In the US it is offering the