tablet

Special Intel 'Ivy Bridge' chips to enable new laptops, tablets

Intel will talk more about limited-run versions of its Ivy Bridge chips next week at the Consumer Electronics Show that are expected to be used by select device vendors, as it tries to take on rivals with increasingly power-efficient Core series processors.

"Limited SKUs" of Intel's 3rd Generation processor, aka Ivy Bridge, will have a power rating below 10 watts, allowing the silicon to throttle down to a sub-10-watt power envelope, an Intel spokesperson told CNET. This "will enable new ultrabook designs" and the chip is "coming very soon," he added.

That power-efficiency … Read more

Archos 97 Titanium HD tablet to offer retina-like display

Archos attempts to strengthen its Element series of tablets by announcing the 97 Titanium HD. The 9.7-inch tablet will ship with Android 4.1 and a promising 2,048x1,536 IPS display. This matches the resolution of the current generation iPad.

The tablet houses a 1.6GHz dual-core A9 processor, a quad-core Mali 400 MP4 GPU, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. Other features include a micro-SD expansion slot, micro USB port, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Pricing and availability have not been announced. Archos has yet to release some of its previously announced tabletsRead more

Amazon Kindle Fire gains Web usage market share on iPad loss

Web usage of Apple's iPad fell more than 7 percent in North America after Christmas, while competing tablets from Amazon, Google, and Samsung all registered gains, according to a new study released today.

While the iPad dominates the market with 78.8 percent Web usage, its usage after Christmas dropped 7.14 percent, according to Chitika Insights, which sampled hundreds of millions of smartphone and tablet ad impressions in the U.S. and Canada between December 1 and December 27. The Kindle Fire -- the distant second-place player in the market -- gained 3 percent to account for 7.… Read more

Windows 8 wrestles with PC's legacy

I'm by no means the first one to say this but Windows 8 and older PCs make an odd couple.

But let me back up for a second. Before the release of Windows 8 on October 26, I tested Windows 8 on tablets only, such as the Intel-based Samsung slate that Microsoft sold in its stores. And I was impressed with Metro.

That was then. Windows 8 Pro 64-bit is now installed on my Dell Adamo laptop. And I rarely venture into the Metro UI unless if I'm forced to.

Of course if you're one of the … Read more

Upcoming book gives look at early Apple designs

Apple fanatics may find themselves foaming at the mouth over some retro conceptual Mac computer photos featured in Hartmut Esslinger's upcoming book "Design Forward: Creative Strategies for Sustainable Change."

The book explores Esslinger's journey as a German designer who worked with Sony, Louis Vuitton, and others before moving on to Apple in 1982. Apple hired Esslinger to transform the successful yet scattered startup into a brand with a globally recognizable design mantra. … Read more

LG bringing high-res tablet, smartphone, and TV screens to CES

As a person who reviews both monitors and tablets, display quality is of particular interest to me. And early next month at CES 2013, LG intends to give me a reason to be excited. However, the company has not confirmed that the following display technologies will be attached to actual products; only that differently sized, impressively specced displays will be showcased. And by "showcased" I mean shown at a "private" booth at the show. But I'm not yet sure exactly what that means.

LG will demo several Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs at three different … Read more

iPad Mini in hot demand in China -- analyst

Apple's iPad Mini is creating a frenzy among Chinese tablet buyers, according to Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White.

Checks of retailers in China and Hong Kong show "an insatiable appetite" for the Mini, leading to a supply shortage, White said in an investors note out today. Stores in China are out of stock, while those in Hong Kong are sold out of nearly all flavors of the 7-inch tablet.

The iPad Mini is proving much more popular in China and Hong Kong than its bigger 4th-generation brother, which remains in stock.

"Prior to the China … Read more

'Twas a very mobile Christmas (week in review)

Android and iOS devices were apparently popular gifts this Christmas -- more popular than ever before.

Device activations soared from their daily December average of 4 million to 17.4 million on Christmas Day, a 332 percent increase, according to analytics firm Flurry. That's more than double the 6.8 million devices activated on Christmas last year, the previous single-day record holder. And in a first, more tablets were activated on Christmas this year than phones. Apple tablets dominated the category, but the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch made its strongest showing ever.

iPhone and iPad app downloads jumped 87 percentRead more

LG wants Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 banned in Korea

LG Display has fired back at Samsung in the ongoing patent skirmish between the two Korean companies.

An injunction filed today by LG seeks to ban Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 in Korea based on allegations that the tablet 's display panel violates certain LG patents. LG said it filed the suit over Samsung's use of OLED displays, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The patents in question are related to the viewing technology used in OLED displays, which helps people better see the screen from any angle. In addition to halting sales of the Galaxy Note, LG is … Read more

Retail sites see 27 percent traffic jump on Christmas Day

Following suit with other major holiday shopping days, Christmas Day also saw a jump in online traffic this year.

According to marketing firm Experian, the top 500 U.S. retail sites had 27 percent more online traffic on this year's Christmas Day compared with last year. A total of 115.5 million people in the U.S. visited sites like Target, BestBuy, Sears, and Apple's online store.

Looking at the past seven-week period, online retail traffic went up 10 percent over 2011, and each major shopping holiday had traffic increases this year, according to Experian. Thanksgiving had a … Read more