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Android tablet royal rumble

As predicted, it’s tablet city at IFA2010. Samsung swung in with the Android running Samsung Galaxy Tab and that was one thing for the iPad to think about. Now, with Toshiba launching the Toshiba Folio 100, well, there’s some decisions tablet PC buyers out there are going to be have to be making and making soon.

It’s easy enough if you’re an Apple fanboy. You just pick the one with the OS to match the rest of your gear. However, given that both the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Toshiba Folio 100 both sport Google’s open mobile OS, which should the Android-ites be going for? The answer lies within these words…

Form

Winner: SamTab

91 x 120 x 12mm, 380g

Loser: Folio

281 x 181 x 14mm, 760g

You’re not exactly going to be fitting either of these tablets in your pocket. So, to some degree, the dimensions are a bit of a red herring. That said, it’s worth knowing that the SamTab is thinner and will feel a lot less weighty both in your hand an in your travel bag. While you get the bonus of a bigger screen on the Folio as a counterpoint, all the same, it is a little on the chunky side.

Display

Winner: SamTab

7in, 1024 x 600, multitouch

Loser: Folio

10.1in, 1024 x 600, multitouch

Even though the Folio has a bigger screen, it’s well worth nothing that it has exactly the same resolution but spread over a large area. In short, the pixel density is far better on the SamTab and you’re going to see much crisper pictures. Of course, the payback is that you might want to hold Samsung’s device a little closer to your eyes to get that same big screen effect as you do on the Toshiba Folio 100. The trouble is that you don’t get that choice to make the pixels denser with the Toshiba.

Engine Room

Winner: Folio

Nvidia Tegra 2

Loser: SamTab

Samsung Hummingbird

Both tablets run with the ever popular system on a chip solutions at their core and what the Hummingbird offers is almost identical to the iPad with an ARM Cortex A8 1.0GHz CPU and PowerVR SGX540 GPU combo. Toshiba has the edge though even over what is already an impressive engine on the SamTab. There’s a dual Core 1GHz ARM 9 offering heavy mobile power as well as solid multi-operational processing plus there’s some hardcore Nvidia GPU action going on in there as well. For smoother video playback and better games performance, it has to be the Folio by a mile.

Software

Tie: SamTab

Android 2.2 (Froyo) + TouchWiz

Tie: Folio

Android 2.2 (Froyo)

Horses for courses in this department. Both devices are as up to date with Android as you can get right now and will happily cope with Android 3.0 and better as soon as they arrive. The only major difference is that the SamTab comes with Samsung’s TouchWiz custom UI on top. Now, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Toshiba didn’t come out with some Brandroid of its own. If that did happen, one would expect it to be a less accomplished work than TouchWiz - simply because Toshiba has had less practice at it. However, for the time being, we’ll consider this one a draw.

NB: Both of these devices are marketed as coming with all sorts of bits of software such as Fring, Swype, Evernote and others already installed. Do remember that 99 per cent of these you can go and get yourself on the Android Market. That said, the Folio is stated to come with Documents to Go which is a paid for app, if the full version.

Imaging

Winner: SamTab

1.3MP front facing, 3MP rear facing

Loser: Folio

1.3MP front facing

Both manufacturers have added the all important webcam, clearly recognising that video calling is one of the killer apps of this gadget form. However, it’s only Samsung that has adorned its creation with a 3-megapixel camera plus LED flash to play with on the other side. You might not be buying a tablet to be able to shoot snaps or capture video but it’s one of those things you’ll get annoyed with when start looking to download augmented reality apps.

Storage

Winner: SamTab

16/32GB + SD

Loser: Folio

16GB + SD

Neither of these devices offer as much storage on board as the iPad but, with an upper end model available from Samsung, there’s a lot more room to keep all your HD videos, photos and whatever else one keeps on a tablet these days. Neither are terrible here given that you can buy big, fat SD cards in this day and age.

Price

SamTab

TBC

Folio

?329

For the minute, there’s no 3G version of the Folio but we know that the Wi-Fi only will cost ?329 when it arrives in October. Whether the mobile broadband edition is more or less costly than the SamTab remains to be seen. Keep ‘em peeled on Pocket-lint and we’ll let you know as soon as the decision’s been made.

Battery

Winner: SamTab

7 hours video

Loser: Folio

Less

Toshiba’s power stats for the Folio are perfectly respectable. The headline is that you’ll get 7 hours of play but only when split something like 65 per cent web browsing, 10 per cent video and 25 per cent standby. Whether it’s having to power a larger screen or not, that achievement has rather been blown out the water by Samsung who claim you can watch video for 7 hours straight on the Galaxy Tab. Significant when you’re talking about entertaining yourself on a long haul flight.

Connectivity

Tie: SamTab

Wi/3G/BT3.0/HDMI/DLNA

Tie: Folio

Wi/3G/BT2.1/HDMI/DLNA/USB

Althouth there are differences, we’re not going to be petty enough here to say that one device comes out over the other. The Galaxy Tab has Bluetooth 3.0 as well as the n-Wi-Fi, 3G and DLNA credentials but there’s no USB port. Everything has to be done either by the 30-pin dock or removable SD cards.

On the other hand, strictly speaking there’s isn’t actually a 3G version of the Folio available just now but it does have USB 2.0 which might save a little bother when connecting peripheral devices.

Conclusions

The Toshiba Folio has only picked up one winner’s medal in the this match up but that doesn’t make it a bad device. It’s answered some very big questions with some very big answers and, on spec, anyone buying one is unlikely to be disappointed. If Tosh has tuned everything nicely - think a decent touchscreen interface - then you’ll get some seriously impressive grunt out of this larger tablet and that might pay dividends for those looking to run some more serious games.

All the same, we’re going with the Samsung Galaxy Tab as the better of the two. It’s a good size with a great screen, astounding battery life, plenty of guts, two cameras, just about all the connectivity you could ask for and it also happens to be a phone. Eat that, iPad.

Related links:

• PHOTOS - Samsung Galaxy Tab hands-on

Tags:
Tablets Samsung Samsung Galaxy Tab Toshiba Folio 100 Toshiba Features Android IFA2010

Samsung Galaxy Tab vs Toshiba Folio 100 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:40:01 +0100

IFA 2010: Playtime with the 7-inch wonder

It’s one thing seeing images, leaked or otherwise, of a hot new product, it’s another entirely getting to fiddle about with one. And that was the case with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab as, while it looks good in the shots, and the specifications read well, it’s a different kettle of fish up close.

It’s better.

The first impression of the Tab is that it is the perfect size for a portable multimedia device. Its 16:9 7-inch screen is ideal for watching video content, text is still fully legible on both websites and ebooks, and it doesn’t suffer from the iPad’s cumbersome girth when trying to play action games. In short, it is the Galaxy Tab that will be a true game changer (pardon the pun).

Of course, it also offers way more, in terms of functionality, than Apple’s device. There’s cameras front and back for starters, and while the rear one is a mere 3-megapixels, that’s 3-megapixels more than the iPad. The memory storage is also upgradeable, being as it uses micro SD cards (up to 32GB), so you don’t have to choose between gradually more expensive options.

And there’s voice calling. This may be a little cumbersome to use, to be honest, and will certainly not replace a phone, but we could see that it would be ideal for conference calls, video or otherwise.

We’re also pleasantly surprised by the Tab’s chunkiness, it feels solid in the hand. That may not sound as exciting as some other company’s “slimmest tablet” claims, but it is reassuringly well-built, and that’s, perhaps, more important. Indeed, we saw someone drop one on the Samsung stand at IFA, Berlin, which clattered to the floor like a piano in a Laurel and Hardy film, but it was still fully operational and intact - thumbs up.

If there were any caveats, it would be that the swiping of a finger has a slight delay with on-screen motion, but we suspect that might be fixed in a later build of the firmware (and certainly before general release).

The other minor whinge is that there’s so many features that it’s impossible to have played with all of them in the brief time we had with the Tab at the show. Damn you Samsung and your fully-featured, wunderkind of a tablet.

We’ll just have to have a further fiddle another time.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab will be coming to the UK around October time (depending on the network providers) and price is unknown at present.

Tags:
IFA2010 Samsung Galaxy Tab

PHOTOS: Samsung Galaxy Tab hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:47:00 +0100

Ultimate Ears range gets launch

Logitech has launched a range of earphones, with so many pairs available that you’re bound to find some to fit your taste or budget.

The Ultimate Ears range are “music genre” inspired and each model has its own unique features.

Starting with the cheapest option, the Ultimate Ears 100 offer 24dBs of noise cancelling and come in five different styles and colours.

Philippe Depallens, Logitech vice president explains:

“Many performing artists we work with enjoy putting personal artwork on their stage in-ear monitors as an additional form of self expression”.

“Now, with the Ultimate Ears 100 collection, we’ve created a way for our retail customers to do the same - giving them five killer designs to choose from. Now you can feel a connection to the design of your earphones, as well as the music coming out of them”.

Indeed.

Moving on, the top of the range pair are the Ultimate Ears 700 that have 26dBs of noise isolation and use “a custom-tuned dual-armature micro design that separates the high and low frequencies to deliver sound so full and detailed you’ll hear breaths in between lyrics”.

Again, indeed.

These buds are compatible with your iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones, and have an on the chord control panel for volume adjustment and so on.

In between the 100 and the 700 pairs, you’ve got four more options, the Ultimate Ears 200, 300, 400 and 600s. These all work with your phones as well (with the vi options) and include unique features that should cater for what you are after in your buds (the 300s have shape-able ear loops for example).

All Ultimate Ears sets include five pairs of soft ear cushions and a protective case for your buds.

Price wise you’re looking at ?17.99 for the 100s, ?24.99 - ?34.99 for the 200s (depending on whether you go for the vi phone control option), ?44.99 - ?54.99 for the 300s, ?74.99 for the 400s, ?99.99 for the 600s and ?159.99 for the 700s.

All the sets will be hitting the shops in October, except for the Ultimate Ears 100 which should land during September.

Tags:
Logitech Logitech Ultimate Ears Audio Earphones

Logitech hopes it’s developed the Ultimate earphones originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:17:00 +0100

Demo of what is possible for the games of tomorrow

Today’s app is more of a demo than an app to be fair, however you’ll be so impressed by it you’ll want to show all your friends. To us that makes it worthy of a download, especially when you don’t even have to pay a penny.

Epic Citadel

Format

iPhone/iPod touch/iPad

Price

Free

Where

iTunes

Created by gaming company Epic, Epic Citadel is a demo allowing you to experience the company’s Unreal Engine 3 running on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad in full glorious colour.

If that sounds like we’ve drunk the cool aid a bit too much, well that’s because we have. The graphics are simply stunning, and while there is nobody in this fine city, the potential is massive.

As the blurb states: “From the circus bazaar on the outskirts of the castle grounds to the mysterious cathedral at the center of town, Epic Citadel will dazzle you with a visual parade of special effects that recreates a stunning and realistic world only imagined by Epic Games, and powered by the critically acclaimed and award winning Unreal Engine 3″.

Strong words, but as you can tell from the screen shot it does look lovely.

The app lets you either sit back and enjoy the ride or explore for yourself, and a simple two finger navigation approach is very easy to pick up and master.

What are you waiting for? If you are an iOS owner, hit the download button now.

Tags:
Mobile phone apps iPad apps iPhone apps Epic Epic Citadel App of the day

APP OF THE DAY - Epic Citadel (iPhone/iPad) originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:00:00 +0100

IFA2010: 3D Blu-ray support and real time stereoscopic upscaling

Toshiba has shown some more love to its 3D laptop extraordinaire that is the Satellite A665. The manufacturer has added 3D Blu-ray disc support as well as the ability to upscale 2D video in real time to the kind that jumps out of the screen at you.

The 3D upscaling is taken care of by the proprietary Toshiba Video Player 3D software, which you cannot put onto other machines. On top of that, the company has also added 3D streaming over the HDMI port so that you can watch all of these goodies on your 3DTV if you get bored of the 15.6-inch TruBrite HD display with LED backlighting.

Those buying the Satellite A665 new will have all this as standard, but a firmware download is also available to already purchased models.?

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Read

Tags:
Laptops Nvidia 3D Toshiba Satellite A665 Toshiba IFA2010

Toshiba beefs up the 3D on the Satellite A665 laptop originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:24:00 +0100

IFA 2010: New TVs flying in all over the place

Toshiba hit IFA with full force this year - going launch crazy at the Berlin expo.

Not only did the Japanese electronics giant get on board with both the tablet and the 3D TV revolutions, it also found time to unleash some new cameras, Blu-ray players and….a whole lot of TVs.

The pick of its non 3D TV bunch is the premium Regza VL range, which is Toshiba’s thinnest LED TV to date, measuring in at just 28mm thick.

Available in 40 and 46-inches, the range has 100Hz processing and Wi-Fi connectivity (with an optional dongle, otherwise wired internet via Ethernet) meaning YouTube and BBC iPlayer in your living room. The range is, of course, full 1080p HD with Freeview HD built in.

Like its 3D cousins in the WL range, the VL series also gives you access to your Windows 7 network, four HDMI options and two USB ports which playback a range of media file types directly on your telly-box, including JPEG, MP3 and DivX HD.

Toshiba is also talking up the sound on this range, stating:

“The Regza VL series also offers users rich, immersive audio, thanks to Dolby Volume and Toshiba SoundNavi technology. Dolby Volume keeps volume levels consistent across any channel or audio source, regardless of content, while SoundNavi provides even stronger sound projection, enabling users to optimise the integrated speakers for when the set is wall mounted”.

As well as this premium range, Toshiba also used IFA as an opportunity to announce other new models such as the Regza 42SL738 - which it describes as its entry level large screen LED TV, but still has full 1080p HD, and a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio - and the smaller Regza SL series which has sets with 1366 x 768 resolutions in 19-, 22-, 26- and 32-inch sizes.

All the TVs announced should be available in October, although UK prices have still yet to be confirmed.

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Related links:

• Toshiba @ IFA - Folio 100 gets official
• Toshiba @ IFA - Toshiba brings 3D to BD with BDX3100KB Blu-ray player
• Toshiba @ IFA - Toshiba Camileo S30 and P20 to take on pocket camcorder market
• Toshiba @ IFA - Toshiba joins the 3D revolution with first ever 3D TV

Tags:
Home Cinema Toshiba Regza VL Toshiba Regza 42SL738 Toshiba Regza SL738 Toshiba Televisions IFA2010

Toshiba goes TV launch crazy at IFA originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:17:00 +0100

IFA2010:…and a little entry level love as well

Toshiba has approached 3D at IFA2010 in exactly the same way that it didn’t Blu-ray - quickly and with great gusto. The Toshiba?BDX3100KB 3D Blu-ray player is arriving in the UK in October and will allow anyone with a 3D TV to enjoy 3D Blu-ray movies as well at the Fullest of 1080p/24fps HD resolution.

There’s a USB port for MP3, MKV, AVCHD, DivX and JPEG playback as well as a trusty old 3D compatible HDMI. The?Toshiba?BDX3100KB supports both of the top HD audio standards in the form of Dolby TruHD and DTS Master Audio Essential, and can offer up to 7.1 channels - provided you’ve got that many speakers, of course. All of that plus SD upscaling to 1080p and BD Live 2.0 for any added content that you might find out there on the intertubes.

If you don’t have a 3D TV or just aren’t interested, Tosh has also introduced an entry level player in the shape of the Toshiba?BDX1100KB. It has the same credentials as its bigger brother, minus the 3D aspect and unfortunately that USB slot as well. So, you can wave goodbye to all that digital file support. Doubtless it’ll be reflected in the price come October just as soon as Toshiba tells us what it is.

Read

Tags:
Home Cinema Blu-ray Blu-ray 3D Blu-ray players Toshiba IFA2010

Toshiba brings 3D to BD with BDX3100KB Blu-ray player originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:55:00 +0100

Mystery invite arrives in our inbox

Well, well, well….what have we here then?

We get a lot of exciting invites popping through the Pocket-lint letter box (we’re quite a big deal don’t you know?) so it’s often hard to cut the wheat from the chaff.

But one invite that did come our way, and straight away got the geek-juices in us flowing, was this one from LG regarding the Optimus.

Now, it’s all very mysterious, with just the outline of either a smartphone or a tablet on show and the words, “Coming Soon”.

Could it be the Optimus Pad, that has been leaked onto the web? Or could we be looking at the grand unveiling of LG’s new Android and Windows Phone 7 range?

Who knows? We’ll just have to wait until 14 September to find out.

Related links:

• News - LG Optimus Series: LG’s new Android and Windows 7 range
• News - LG Optimus Pad to take on Samsung and Apple
• News - LG Optimus Z: Heavyweight Android handset launching in South Korea

Tags:
LG LG Optimus LG Optimus Pad LG Optimus 7 Tablets Phones Mobile phones

LG Optimus to go live in September originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:43:00 +0100

IFA2010: Touchscreens brought to the mini-cam range

Toshiba has sharpened its attack on the pocket camcorder market with the arrival of the next generation of Camileos at IFA2010. The Camileo S30 and P20 both shoot Full HD video at 30fps, but now feature a touchscreen 3-inch swivel display which used to be dead to the hand.

There’s 10x digital zoom for any fool wishing to use it plus video stabilisation technology, as well as ports for HDMI, USB 2.0 and composite cables. Neither model has any on board storage. All of that you provide yourself with SD cards. Should you wish to use the bundled software, there’s also one button YouTube and Picasa uploading too.

The difference between the two devices is that the ?139.99 Camileo S30 is marginally more premium with a thinner 59 x 106 x 19mm and lighter 141g frame and will snap 8MP shots. It’s out in January 2011. The Camileo P20 only goes up to 5MP, weighs 151g and measures 74 x 11 x 22mm. You can pick that one up for ?119.99 from October.

Tags:
Cameras IFA2010 Camcorders Toshiba Toshiba Camileo S30 Toshiba Camileo P20

Toshiba Camileo S30 and P20 to take on pocket camcorder market originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:21:00 +0100

IFA 2010: Regza lineup gets a 3D overhaul

It’s taken a while, but Toshiba is now well and truly aboard the good ship 3D TV following its launch event over at IFA.

Amongst a barrage of product launches, the highlight, in terms of home cinema at least, was the arrival of the new Toshiba Regza WL 3D TV range.

The WL768 series comes in three sizes - 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch and all are full 1080p HD 3D LED displays with an impressive 7,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

They feature Toshiba’s MetaBrain engine meaning “a range of advanced Toshiba picture enhancement technologies, including new and enhanced Resolution+ and Active Vision M200HD Pro picture processing”.

The TVs have a 200Hz refresh rate and use active shutter tech for your 3D viewing. They also feature intelligent 3D tech which compensates for the lack of brightness and 3D Resolution+, which “analyses each single image and improves edge detail and texture in near-real time, generating a 3D image at near Full HD quality from a side-by-side input signal”.

The Regza WL series have a built in DVB-T2 tuner, meaning Freeview HD is ready from the off. As well as four HDMI inputs, there are also two USB ports which allow for DivX HD, MKV, JPEG and MP3 playback.

The TVs are also Wi-Fi connected so you can get services like YouTube and, more excitingly, the BBC iPlayer piped straight to your set. The series is also compatible with Windows 7, meaning seamless streaming from your home network.

The Toshiba Regza series is out in October, with prices still to be confirmed.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, you’ll get just the one pair of Toshiba 3D specs in the box - you better tell the missus that she’s going to have to develop her own active shutter eyesight.

Tags:
Toshiba IFA2010 Toshiba Regza Toshiba Regza WL Home Cinema

Toshiba joins the 3D revolution with first ever 3D TV originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:16:00 +0100