Posted on 30 November 2011
The 11.6” Samsung 900X1B, the 1KG sibling to the 13” 900X3A that we tested a while back, arrived today and I’ve had a solid afternoon of testing, and enjoying, this pre-Ultrabook. I won’t call it an Ultrabook alternative because just like the Apple MacBook Air it pre-dates the Ultrabook launch but uses the same design principles…and it’s just as good. With an 11.6” screen it obviously goes up against the Asus UX21 and Apple MacBook Air. Here are some first impressions, relatively detailed, that might help you raise or lower […]
Posted on 30 November 2011
Acer’s Jim Wong has told media in Taiwan that Ultrabooks are on track and prices will fall, potentially to $499 in 2013. Acer had planned to ship, that’s ship, 250000 to 300000 units of the Acer Aspire S3 this year and expect to achieve that target. It’s a slightly veiled shout of confidence to the media but even shipping a third of a million devices requires a lot of risk-taking and investment.
Posted on 29 November 2011
We love Ultrabooks but we also love the competition from other parts of the notebook industry. Lower prices, faster processors, bigger batteries, discreet graphics and other features give the consumer a choice and challenge the designers of future Ultrabooks. There are some devices that are closer (MacBook Air, Series 9) than others (DM1, SH771) but we can’t ignore them.
Posted on 29 November 2011
Available with Core i3 (1.3Ghz non-Turbo) and Core i5 (1.6Ghz, Turbo-enabled) the Samsung 900X1B (Series 9 range) is a stylish alternative to the ASUS UX21. It’s been around for a few months and in theory, it’s not an Intel Ultrabook but apart from slightly slower quick-boot and a missing TPM module (we are told) it’s an Ultrabook! Later this week we’ll be testing it and comparing it to our ASUS UX21 experiences.
Posted on 29 November 2011
Cyber Monday deal shopping may have been yesterday but my favorite deal-a-day site, Woot.com, still has the deals rolling. Today they’ve got a refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 deal for a reasonable $320 (+$5 shipping). That’s $130 ( 29%) less than you can get the same Galaxy Tab 10.1 new from Amazon, and $179 (35%) less than buying it direct from Samsung. This is the 16GB WiFi-only version, so don’t expect to hook this up to a cellular provider for 3G or 4G internet access. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 […]
Posted on 29 November 2011
From Sony Tablet P Thanks to Al Sutton of Funky Android at Droidcon NL in Holland this week I got a lot of hands-on time with a retail version of the Sony Tablet P that has just arrived on the shelves in the UK. It’s the Psion 5-like dual-screen Android clamshell that I found quite exciting at IFA in Sept. It may look strange but there’s some nice mobile usability features tucked inside. Sony have done a reasonable job of optimizing Sony apps and gaming capabilities for the screen but […]
Posted on 29 November 2011
I’m testing Beta 2 of the new WordPress 2.0 for Android application and I like what I see so far. The team have implemented windows (I assume fragments on 3.x – I’m testing on a Galaxy Tab 7 with 2.3.5) and completely re-designed the user interface with an icon-based dashboard and a new editor. The content editor now allows images to be added anywhere in the post. ? Here for example. And. . . ?
Posted on 28 November 2011
I often refer to the Sandy Bridge platform as an HDR Computing platform that can span multiple mobile usage scenarios but how about adding that platform to a product that covers every angle in terms of hardware too? The Gigabyte T1132N might just be that device. Forget Ultrabook looks but do think about flexibility and expandability.