Lenovo 10.1-inch Ice Cream Sandwich tablet with 1.6GHz Tegra 3 by year's end

You wouldn't think a giant like Lenovo would stop at just three (or four) Android tablets now, would you? In fact, a little birdie has informed us that said Chinese company will release a new 10.1-inch tablet by the end of the year, and unsurprisingly, Ice Cream Sandwich along with NVIDIA's Tegra 3 T33 are on the menu. Other features include 2GB of speedy 1,600MHz DDR3 RAM, a standard USB host socket (covered by a not-so-elegant pop-out flap), a back-facing camera of unknown resolution, a "Special Fusion-Skin Body" and, most interestingly, a fingerprint scanner that apparently doubles as an optical joystick on the seemingly flat backside -- only time will tell whether this layout makes sense. Our source hasn't spilled any info on the dimensions and weight, but judging by the photos in our gallery, this 1.6GHz quad-core slate should be significantly thinner than the IdeaPad K1 or LePad sitting underneath. As always, you'll hear from us as soon as we find out more.

Tips to Buy the Best Tablet

It's difficult to remember a time before tablets, but it's been a mere 18 months since the first Apple iPad was released, and the current tablet market was born. Since then, we've seen scores of manufacturers trying to snag a slice of the tablet pie, which so far, has been dominated by Apple, who is now on its second iPad iteration. According to a study by Strategy Analytics, of the 7.5 million tablets that shipped during the second quarter, 80 percent were iPads, well ahead of those from rivals like Motorola, Samsung, RIM, Asus, and HTC.

That's not stopping others from trying. And the result so far has been a float of difficult-to-distinguish tablets at various price points, performance capabilities, and feature sets. There hasn't really been another standout. The latest big name to throw its hat in the already-crowded tablet ring: Amazon. The company's Android-based Kindle Fire won't be available until mid-November, but it comes at a very pleasing $199—a price low that no quality tablet has been able to yet manage. It will be interesting to see what Amazon's entry means for both the iPad and the non-Apple tablet market share.

USB 3.0: Three Times Awesome

If you’ve ever connected a media player to your laptop to sync up a few gigabytes of music and movies, only to spend the next eight hours waiting … waiting … waiting for the job to complete, you’re the number one candidate for USB 3.0.

USB 3.0, as the name implies, is the third major version of the USB standard, perhaps the most successful, universally-adopted connector format in the history of computing.

USB is beloved for its simplicity, its ability to charge battery-powered electronics connected through it, and phenomenal availability among thousands of devices – not just computer peripherals but also consumer electronics galore.

That is, until you find yourself in the fourth hour of that eight-hour synchronization slog. Then USB becomes a pain instead of a savior.

And that’s the main issue that USB 3.0 (also known as SuperSpeed USB) was designed to address, pumping up the maximum throughput of USB from the 48Mbps of USB 2.0 to the 480Mbps of USB 3.0.
That alone solves a lot of problems, but USB 3.0 also has another trick up its sleeve: The ability to charge more power-hungry devices than USB 2.0 could. USB 2.0 could provide up to 100 milliamps of power to gadgets connected via the connector. That was fine for the cell phones of 2004, but in 2011, USB gizmos often need so much juice that they can’t charge via USB 2.0. Most tablets won’t charge at all via a USB connection, and those that do will usually only “trickle charge,” an agonizingly slow operation that can take all day.

USB 3.0 bumps power output up to 900 milliamps, providing power aplenty for just about anything you could think to throw at it.

Best of all, in keeping with USB’s history, USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0 devices. In other words, if your computer has a USB 3.0 port, you can still plug a USB 2.0 hard drive into it – and vice versa – though in both cases the connection will operate at the slower, USB 2.0 speed.

While USB 3.0 was introduced last year, support for it remains spotty, and even computers that feature USB 3.0 ports tend to have only a couple instead of a full bank of four or more. Still, that support is coming, however slowly. USB 3.0 is on its way to everything – it’s just taking its sweet time getting there. Which, oddly, is so unlike the zippy USB 3!    (http://www.pcworld.com/article/242483/usb_30_three_times_the_awesome.html)

Galaxy S II Skyrocket and HTC Vivid : Ice Cream Sandwich

Are you excited for the new Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket?  How about the HTC Vivid?  While these hot new phones will be blazing fast at 4G speeds, They’re both going to be running on Android Gingerbread, a fact that can be viewed as somewhat disappointing seeing as the next iteration – Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) – has already been announced.


Well, no need to fret, while you will be able to pick up both of the new devices this coming Sunday, November 6 with Gingerbread, sometime in early 2012 you’ll be enjoying the goodness of the Ice Cream Sandwich flavor.  AT&T has confirmed that after going through all of the proper testing, both devices will indeed receive the upgrade.  There is sadly no time frame mentioned outside of the ballpark date that could be anywhere up to June of next year, but our suspicions are that it won’t take quite that long.

While this news shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise to anyone considering the timing of these phones being released, it’s still nice to see some confirmation of the fact.  Any Android phone coming out from here on out that isn’t going to be receiving ICS is going to have a tough time getting picked up by consumers who keep up on this sort of information, so it’s going to be essential that carriers and manufacturers get the word out about when and which handsets will receive the update.

Does this news make you any more likely to pick up the Skyrocket or the Vivid?

ASUS Transformer Prime benchmark tests

While the ASUS Transformer Prime is far from being sold at retail outlets, it looks like ASUS (or somebody with access to the tablet) has been doing some benchmark testing with the tablet. While doing a review of the original Eee Pad Transformer using the AnTuTu benchmark app, the writers at Tech2 noticed an interesting entry in the results comparison chart. Right at the very top, miles ahead of the Galaxy Nexus was the ASUS Transformer Prime. While the screenshot posted shows a quad-core 1.4GHz version of the tablet, apparently there’s a quad-core 1.6GHz Transformer Prime benchmarked with AnTuTu as well.

The 1.4GHz quad-core CPU that powers the Asus Transformer Prime sure sounds promising, but the real question is how much of a performance boost it brings. And, as it turns out, the answer is a lot. About two times, to be specific. 

Assuming that the results weren’t faked and the device wasn’t spoofed – these very positive results show us that the hype behind the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3/Kal-el processor used in the Transformer Prime is very real. More details about the Transformer Prime will be revealed on November 9^th when ASUS officially unveils the device.

As it turns out, the Tegra 3 chipset isn’t all talk and no action – that thing is blazing fast. The Transformer Prime score appeared in the results browser of the AnTuTu benchmark and it’s more than twice higher than that of the Tegra 2-powered Motorola Xoom.


Even the Ice Cream Sandwich-running Galaxy Nexus barely achieves 60% of the Transformer Prime score. And you shouldn’t forget that the Samsung smartphone needs to handle lower resolution than the Asus tablet (even if the difference is tiny).
 
Who’s excited?

Android Coming To TV With Gesture Recognitions

TVs are about to grow some brains. Hisense Group, a leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer signed a licensing agreement with eyeSight Mobile Technologies, a developer of touch free interfaces for digital devices. Together the two will integrate eyeSight’s innovative Hand Gesture Recognition Technology into new models of Android based Smart TV sets. Yep, Android is coming to the TV.

The first model of Hisense Smart TV with this unique feature is Series XT710, which has been introduced to consumer markets in China to mark the October 1st National holidays. Users will enjoy a natural, new intuitive way of interacting with their TV sets. They will be able to control basic TV functions, without having to move out of their comfortable viewing position to reach the remote control. Users will also be able to play games using intuitive gestures and touchless use other applications on the device.

But how does all this work, your all too human neurons might be asking you. Well, these smart TVs will use motion monitoring cameras to read a persons hand and body gestures and in turn control various functions. Hisense will be making use of eyeSights SDK on their new XT710 smart TV, which makes use of 2D cameras to monitor hand gestures and movements. It’s back to the future, folks!
[UberGizmo via PR]

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Google has taken the stage in Hong Kong to make the next version of Android OS, nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich, a thing of reality. Better known as Android 4.0, the update offers a massive redesign to the user interface and adds a plethora of new features. Some of the highlights include an NFC-enabled feature called Android Beam, offline search in Gmail, new lock screen features and a fancy unlocking method called "Face Unlock," which uses facial recognition to ensure strangers can't use your phone without permission.

Ice Cream Sandwich also includes enhancements in almost every native app within Android itself. The SDK is already available for Android 4.0, and the update itself will make its first public appearance on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, also unveiled tonight. After the break, we'll cover all of the nitty gritty details, along with some excellent screenshots below. So come along, why won't you?

Here's some of the enhancements found in Ice Cream Sandwich:

1. Option to use virtual buttons in the UI, instead of taking up capacitive touch buttons
2. Widgets are in a new tab, listed in a similar list to apps
3. Folders are much easier to create, with a drag-and-drop style similar to iOS
4. A customizable launcher
5. New phone app with visual voicemail functionality that lets you speed up or slow down voicemail messages
6. Pinch-to-zoom functionality in the calendar
7. Gmail has offline search, a two-line preview, and new action bar at the bottom
8. Swipe left or right to switch between Gmail conversations
9. Integrated screenshot capture by holding power and volume down buttons
10. Improved error correction on the keyboard
11. Ability to access apps directly from lock screen (similar to HTC Sense 3.x)
12. Improved copy and paste
13. Better voice integration
14. Face Unlock, a facial recognition service
15. New tabbed web browser, allowing up to 16 tabs
16. Browser now automatically syncs your Chrome bookmarks
17. Modern "Roboto" font
18. Data Usage section in settings lets you set warnings when you reach a certain amount of use and disabling data when you go over your limit
19. Ability to kill off apps that are using data in the background
20. Camera app: zero shutter lag, time lapse settings, zoom while recording
21. Built-in photo editor
22. New gallery layout, organized by location and person
23. Refreshed people app with social network integration, status updates and hi-res images
24. Android Beam, a NFC feature that lets you exchange websites, contact info, directions, YouTube, etc.
25. Don't like some of those preloaded carrier apps? Disable 'em. Android Engineer Dan Morrill mentions that, among other new features, any app can be disabled, and while it will still take up space in ROM, it won't be snatching any of your precious resources or clock cycles again if you don't want it to.