Haptic feedback - gets physical

 Tactus Technology

 Guess it was about time for something like this to "surface" :) What's it about? Well let me tell ya one or few things 'bout it. It's a new way to interact with your smartphone, tablet or any smart appliances you may plan to upgrade to.

 If you ever wrote an e-mail using your tablet's touchscreen and then used your qwerty feature phone to type a text message, you might have wondered how it would be to use that physical keyboard instead of the virtual one displayed on-screen.

 Today all that's about to change thanks to the Tactus Technology and its "appearing and disappearing" haptic user interface that translates into a "physical keyboard that rises from a flat touchscreen". Some of you may wonder: "What kind of sorcery is this?" :) It's as real as it gets, so now sit back and relax cause it's "welcome to the future" time.

 Link: Tactus

Tablet with an attitude

 Dell Latitude 10

 Windows 8 is just around the corner and many of us are wondering about its hardware requirements from a more portable point of view...
 Here's where Dell comes in with its Latitude 10: dual core Atom processor, 2 GB of ram, 128 GB SSD, Intel integrated graphics, 10.1 inch screen with 1366x768 resolution and a fingerprint reader.
 As for the battery life, it should be able to last up to 8 to 12 hours depending on the usage and the system's configuration.

 iOS and Android are tough contenders for Microsoft in the mobile segment. The user's preferences, hardware performance, price, availability and more - will determine the next step in the mobile world evolution and we'll get the chance to witness it.

 Link: Dell

                                                     
                                             Image courtesy of neowin.net

Excite 10

 Toshiba Excite AT200

 Thin supermodel physique or the thinnest and lightest tablet with a 10.1” LED backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors @1280 x 800 pixels - meet the AT200 tablet from Toshiba which is 7.7mm thin and weighs a mere 558g.

 Hardware wise this “excitement” is powered by a 1.2 Ghz dual core processor, 1GB of ram and a  PowerVR SGX540 Gpu. When it comes to storage it has 16 or 32 GB of internal memory with the possibility to upgraded it up to 32 GB more by using its microSD card slot.

 Wireless connectivity is assured by Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and EDR(enhanced data rate) and GPS. It also features a micro USB port (data transfer and charging) and a micro hdmi out port.

 The main camera takes snapshots at 5MP with autofocus and is recording HD video @720p.

 Android 3.2 Honeycomb runs the show until the planned update to Android 4.0 ICS would be available later on to even better handle the AT200’s “excitement”.  The battery life extends up to 8hrs depending on usage. 

 The best contenders of AT200 are: Asus Transformer Prime, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and iPad(2012).

 If you haven’t made up your mind yet – choose what best suits you cause beauty is in the eye of the beholder :)

 Link: Toshiba Excite
           Where to buy

I Padfone? This time Honeycomb flavored :)

Asus Padfone

 Have you ever wondered, what should you use? A full featured smartphone, a tablet, a netbook? Well, Asus seems to have the answer - the Padfone. The concept it's simple and ingenious at the same time. Wanna relax and watch a movie? Or maybe edit some docs? The phone's screen is too small for that, just place it inside the tablet form dock and you're set to go. The Padfone is yet to be released, an interesting concept though. So, what's your game: smartphone, tablet or both?

 Link: Asus Padfone

Your multiple lifestyles, you decide!

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101

 The tablet wars gets hotter by the day. Many companies have deployed lots of foot soldiers on the battlefield but it's seems that Asus has the advantage of a sharpshooter, aiming right at their hearts - the price tag. The Eee Pad Transformer runs on Android 3.0 Honeycomb and it's based on nVidia Tegra 250 SOC (system on a chip) platform.

 Apart from being the most affordable Honeycomb tablet on the market, it can be hooked up to a keyboard dock thus transforming into a netbook form factor with full Qwerty keyboard and extended battery life up to 16 hours. Here are the full specs: Eee Pad Transformer

 This video: I can transform ya  - would make a fine product commercial, don't you think?

Smartbooks - to be ola or not to be ola *(ola - online always)

 So, here we are ladies and gents almost mid 2011. The tablet-hype reached it's peak. Nowadays even grandma wants to read the news online or check the e-mail  - most of which could be spam anyway. You can find touchscreen tablets everywhere, ranging from dirt cheap to the full price of a Core i5 powered Notebook. I won't get into much details cause stirring up an Apple fanboys rebellion it's not my cup of tea, at least not today.
 So let's take a look at the big picture: Smartphones, Netbooks, Touchscreen Tablets - they all fit in the MID (mobile internet devices) bucket. What about smartbooks? First time I heard about 'em I was like wtf? A mobile OS designed for touchscreen usability transferred to a netbook form factor? As I got the chance to experience Android 2.2 on a Asus Eee PC 900 (fresh OS install by me) I had a sudden change of heart. Everything fell on place just like a 3 year old puzzle. Using keyboard and mouse with the Android OS it's not a bad user experience after all.
 Nowadays I'm eager to get my hands on a Toshiba AC100 Smartbook. It's powered by a nVidia SOC (system on a chip) Tegra 250 with dual core cpu, full HD capabilities and it runs Android 2.2 Froyo. Don't know if an update to Android 3.0 Honeycomb would be available but still, hardware wise it's more than a match for most Netbooks out there powered by Intel's Atom cpu's. So I'd like to hear from you, don't be shy and post your own opinions/comments on the matter. To be continued...

Links you might be interested in:

Porting Android OS to x86
Smartbook - Wikipedia
Toshiba AC100 Smartbook