asus

The best tech we reviewed this week is just that: the best. But these devices aren't without a few contradictions.

For example, Wayne Cunningham reviewed one of the most lovely-looking cars on the outside, the 2012 BMW 335i, which comes with a top-notch stereo and pleasing dashboard tech but a shockingly bland interior. Then Jessica Dolcourt took a hard look at T-Mobile's version of the Samsung Galaxy Note, which arrived at the carrier last Monday. The Note, we note (yeah, see what I did there? I'm sorry. Couldn't help it.), is a polarizing paradox of a … Read more

One pleasant surprise from the past couple of months has been the number of good-to-great laptops we've reviewed that can be had for $1,000 or less. That price range is usually Compromise City, with cheap-looking systems that may have decent CPUs, but skimp on a lot of other stuff. And, of course, no one wants to be seen in the coffee shop with a hunk of molded plastic while every other table sports a metal MacBook.

Whether you're gearing up for the fall semester or you're just ready for a pre-Windows 8 upgrade, the systems below all strike a good balance between price, design, and features.… Read more

Well, that was fast. Just one week after the 16GB-capacity Google Nexus 7 tablet suddenly ran out of stock, the higher-capacity version of Asus' critically acclaimed Android tablet is back in the Google Play Store, with a current delivery estimate of three to five business days.

That's the same estimated delivery time as the 8GB Nexus 7.

Since the 16GB version only costs $50 more to order, it feels like a logical step up for the versatile 7-inch tablet. While 8GB might be enough for some basic users, the Nexus 7 lacks an SD card slot or any other … Read more

According to its North American Facebook page, Asus will bring Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, to three of its devices: the Asus Transformer Pad, Transformer Pad Prime, and Transformer Pad Infinity.

In the post, Asus said it strives to include "regular software and firmware updates" for its products, and that this Jelly Bean update is scheduled for "the coming months."

Other than those three devices, no products have been confirmed for an upgrade. However, Asus said it is still "investigating Jelly Bean updates for other devices." … Read more

The Asus Eee Slate B121 12.1-inch tablet runs Windows 7 and is currently available for as low as $1,200 on Newegg. The tablet houses a 1.33GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

The tablet is more of a tablet/laptop hybrid than a pure tablet like the iPad or Nexus 7.

I know what you're thinking. Why on earth would you want to turn Google's quad-core, Android 4.1 supertablet into an Amazon Kindle Fire?

Well, you're right. But don't worry, I'm not here to neuter your Nexus 7. I'm here to show you how to get (nearly) all of Amazon's great Android offerings on the Nexus.

In Android 4.1, Google finally shows off the full breadth of its ecosystem of media services, right out of the box. Boot it up, and you'll see Google Books, Google Music, Google Video, and the … Read more

Announced just last week, the Nexus 7 tablet is already attracting patent-infringement claims.

Google unveiled the Asus-built 7-inch device running Android's new mobile OS, Jelly Bean, at Google I/O in San Francisco. However, Nokia alleges that the Nexus takes advantage of Wi-Fi technology covered by Nokia patents that neither Google nor Asus approached the Finnish handset maker about licensing.

"Nokia has more than 40 licensees, mainly for its standards essential patent portfolio, including most of the mobile device manufacturers," a Nokia spokesperson told The Inquirer. "Neither Google nor Asus is licensed under our patent portfolio.&… Read more

In October 2010, Steve Jobs explained in detail why a 7-inch iPad, or iPad Mini, wasn't in Apple's future.

"Apple has done extensive user testing and we really understand this stuff...There are clear limits on how close you can place things on a touchscreen, which is why we think 10 inch is the minimum screen size to create great tablet apps," he said. "One naturally thinks that a 7-inch screen would offer 70 percent of the benefits of a 10-inch screen...this is far from the truth. Seven-inch screens are 45 percent as … Read more

Google will soon launch a tablet made by and co-branded with Asus, an executive for Asus said today.

"It's targeting Amazon," the unidentified exec told Reuters about the device. "The Kindle is based on Google's platform but with its own service, so Google has to launch its own service, too."

Google is expected to unveil its own 7-inch tablet at the company's I/O conference, which starts today and runs until Friday. But the Asus executive's statement is the first that seemingly confirms an upcoming launch of the new product.… Read more