Tablets

Qualcomm walks fine line between privacy, connected devices

NEW YORK--Qualcomm is walking a fine line between enabling the "Internet of Things" and protecting users' privacy, the chipmaker's chief executive said Tuesday.

Paul Jacobs, speaking at the Wired Business Conference in New York, said that nearly everything people interact with will be connected to the Internet in the future, but that also means companies have to figure out a way to make such technology less intrusive.

For example, department stores or restaurants can detect when someone is walking by and send them coupons, but not all people may want to receive those offers. So Qualcomm and … Read more

Tablet shipments to surpass PCs before year's end, says analyst

PC shipments may finally play second fiddle to those of tablets before the year is over, at least according to one analyst.

In one scenario outlined today by Sameer Singh, head analyst at technology incubator BitChemy Ventures, PC shipments will fall to between 70 million and 75 million in the fourth quarter, while tablet shipments would rise to almost 80 million. If so, that would be the first quarter in which tablet shipments outshine those of PCs.

In a second scenario, the crossover could happen even sooner. PC shipments could decline to around 65 million in the third quarter, while … Read more

Tablet Tuesday: A refurbished Google Nexus 7 (32GB) for $129.99

Among Android purists, the Google Nexus is widely regarded as the top tablet. I don't necessarily agree with that assessment, but I do know a good deal on one when I see it.

For a limited time, and while supplies last, TigerDirect has the refurbished Google Nexus 7 (32GB) for $129.99, plus around $4 for shipping. That's after applying coupon code QIS89281 at checkout and redeeming a $70 mail-in rebate (which comes in the form of a prepaid debit card).

Update: Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is already sold out. It's worth checking again later, though, as TigerDirect … Read more

Asus CEO 'very optimistic' about Windows 8 tablets

Look for Windows 8 tablets to have a strong year, says Asus CEO Jerry Shen.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in an interview published today, Shen said that his company is "very optimistic about sales for Windows 8 tablets this year," adding that he believes Microsoft's support for 7-inch slates will be the central move in the platform's success.

Windows 8-based tablets currently measure 10 inches or more in size. Microsoft and its fellow tablet makers reportedly are planning to launch 7-inch slates later this year that can still run the company's Windows platform. … Read more

Tablets, touch-screen laptops to energize the PC market

Tablets and touch-screen notebooks will give a helping hand to the PC industry in the coming years, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

Shipments of mobile PCs are forecast to reach 762.7 million globally by 2017, up from 367.6 million last year, according to an NPD report released Monday. Most of that growth will come about as tablets replace traditional notebooks as the dominant device and as touch screens wend their way to more notebooks.

For the purposes of its report, NPD DisplaySearch classifies a tablet as another type of PC rather than as a separate, unrelated device.

"The … Read more

B&N chops prices on Nook HD and Nook HD+ for one week

This tablet deal may be hard to beat. After adding the Google Play store to its tablets on Friday, Barnes & Noble is now offering major discounts on the Nook HD and Nook HD+ in a one-week-only sale for Mother's Day.

Today through May 12 (yes, that's Mother's Day), the 7-inch Nook HD is available starting at $149 for the entry-level 8GB model (normally $199) and the 9-inch NOOK HD+ starts at a mere $179 for the 16GB model (normally $269). Both products offer expandable memory via a microSD expansion slot.

The reduced prices are available online … Read more

Amazon Kindle Fire to go 10-inch

Amazon is expected to bring out a bigger version of the Kindle Fire, as it gradually grows the size of its tablets.

Amazon arguably started the small tablet fad when it launched the 7-inch Kindle Fire in November of 2011. And it followed that with 8.9-inch model, announced in September 2012.

Now it's moving up to the 10-inch class, Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, told CNET.

The biggest Kindle Fire yet will sport a stunning 2,560x1,600-pixel density 10.1-inch display, according to Shim. That's about 300 pixels per inch (PPI), considerably denser than … Read more

Add handwritten notes in Polaris Office on Galaxy Note devices

Sometimes only so much explaining can be done with text on the screen. Adding a handwritten drawing or diagram can help pull together and solidify an idea. This is especially true when you're following along on a document that was given to you, like a business plan or notes for a class.

Polaris Office works with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF files. When using this app on a Galaxy Note series device, you can use the included S Pen to draw directly in your documents. Here's how:

First, open a document or presentation in Polaris … Read more

Acer to launch Win 8 tablets with smaller screens this year

Acer plans to launch Windows 8 tablets with smaller screen sizes in the second half of the year, an executive said Friday.

Such devices will feature touch screens smaller than 10 inches, Emmanuel Fromont, Acer president for the Pan America region, and Sumit Agnihotry, Acer vice president of product marketing, told CNET in an interview following an Acer product launch event in New York.

They likely will cost below $400 -- the typical entry point for Windows tablets today -- and will be pushed as productivity devices that link to the traditional PC world more easily than Android devices, the … Read more