Items tagged with MID
If the website and slogan (“We are different”) that are clear Apple rip-offs are any indication, JXD’s new S7100 MID borrows heavily from other companies...and presumably doesn’t have the rights to anything the device does. The S7100 is an Android-based tablet designed to play arcade and older ROMs, or as the site says: “Apple games, Android games, Sony games, Nintendo games, Arcade games, Sega games”. The JXD website specifically features the likes of MarioKart 64, Fruit Ninja 3D, Metal Slug, and more. Under the hood, the device runs on an ARM Cortex A9 chip and features 2-16GB of onboard storage, 512MB of internal DDR2 memory, an 800x480 7-inch touchscreen,...
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Microsoft's tablet strategy (or complete lack thereof) has drawn significant criticism, but the rumor mill suggests the manufacturer may take unprecedented steps to establish itself as a player in this space. DigiTimes, quoting unspecified industry sources, claims Microsoft may build and market its own tablet. MS is allegedly cooperating with Texas Instruments to design and market the device and plans to compete against its own industry partners. If true, it wouldn't be the first time Microsoft has tossed its hat into the hardware ring, but the company's track record in this area is anything but good. Its keyboard/mouse products have performed well, but the Zune ultimately failed to gain traction...
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Nvidia announced today that it's acquiring the fabless semiconductor design firm Icera. The UK-based company specializes in soft modem chipsets for a variety of devices, including laptops, netbooks, tablets, and smartphones. The two companies have a history of cooperation; Icera announced Tegra-compatible wireless chipsets back in 2009. Nvidia's Phil Carmack writes: "This is a significant step forward in NVIDIA’s strategy to be the processor company for the post-PC era... Icera’s baseband and RF technologies span 2G, 3G and 4G networks... Icera’s programmable baseband processor architecture will allow NVIDIA and its OEM customers to innovate and adapt signaling algorithms in...
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Samsung is adding to the Galaxy family with the addition of the Galaxy Player. These Android-based ultra-mobile devices feature 4- and 5-inch screens and have many of the same features and capabilities as Samsung's popular Galaxy S phones, just without cellular connectivity. The Galaxy Players feature Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) connectivity, front and rear cameras, stereo speakers, and support for Adobe Flash 10.1. There's 8GB of on-board storage and you can always add more via the microSD card slot. Both Galaxy Player devices are Google certified, so you'll be able to access your favorite Android apps via the Android Market. Both devices currently run Android 2.2 (Froyo) and will be upgradeable to...
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The IT industry has begun to warm to the idea of a sustained recovery after the hammering it took in 2009 through the first part of 2010, but industry analysis firm iSuppli has warned that the current level of inventory buildup could cause problems if market demand slows in 2011. Original graph, data from iSuppli At the end of 2010, inventory levels stood at 83.6 days, uncomfortably near to the 84-day level that kicked off the industry downturn in 2008. Current levels don't automatically mean a second downswing is imminent, but Sharon Stiefel, semiconductor analyst with IHS, notes that the situation bears watching. "Inventory levels arguably now are high by any standard, illustrating the difficulty...
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Intel kicked off the third and final day of IDF 2010 with a keynote detailing the future evolution of devices it refers to as "contextually aware." This is far from the first time Intel has put a spotlight on the future of device design; we've covered several announcements in this vein over the past 12 months. According to Justin Rattner, CTO and Senior Fellow at Intel, context awareness will change the nature of how we interact with devices. Intel's goal is to create devices that can function more like personal assistants and less like PDAs. These theoretical gadgets would gather and process both hard data (physical location, outside conditions) and soft data (calendar, social networking preferences,...
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Following months of speculation, leaked photos, and even a hands-on preview from several months back, Dell has finally gone and announced its Streak mini-tablet, though not by way of a press release. Instead, Micheal Dell surprised attendees at the Citrix Synergy conference when he went on onstage for his keynote speech, shoved his hand in his pocket, and whipped out the Streak for the device's first-ever public demo. "The device we use to access our information shouldn't matter anymore," Dell said as he prepared to show off the Streak. "Whether it's a phone, or a notebook, a netbook, or a desktop PC, your client image can follow you everywhere. "Actually, I've got a new little device here,"...
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Intel's Wireless Display technology is one of the hottest technologies we have seen in recent years; announced at CES this year, the tech hasn't really found a home yet in products. But once it does, watch out. It basically allows products to wirelessly transfer content on a screen onto some other screen, and it's something that could've made the iPad a truly killer device (not to mention any other tablet PC out there that feels like adding it in at the 11th hour). But now, Intel seems to have bigger plans. Not only will this technology find its way eventually into netbooks and notebooks, but handheld devices are on the roadmap as well. According to new executive statements made about the tech,...
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Acer plans to launch a new line of mobile Internet devices (MIDs) by the end of May. The new line is part of the company's efforts to boost profitability and add to its array of mobile devices. The new MIDs will feature version 4.0 of Acer's Shell user interface and will include 3G wireless connectivity. Recognizing that people want to be connected and share information, the new MIDs will be able to interact with one another and share data. Mobile devices such as the new MIDs, laptops, and netbooks are Acer's primary source of revenue. In the first quarter of this year, mobile computers such as laptops and netbooks accounted for 69 percent of the company's revenue. Acer currently excels in the...
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In January, Sony announced their Dash personal Internet viewer at CES. Now this new Wi-Fi device is finally shipping for just under $200. It's available at www.sonystyle.com, Sony Style retail stores, and other dealers throughout the country. The Dash features a 7-inch color touch screen and over 1,000 free apps. The Dash also lets you view TV episodes, films and other video content on the device through BRAVIA Internet Video. SONY’S DASH ON SALE NOW New Device Brings Real-Time Internet Content to You as a Dashboard For Your Online Life SAN DIEGO, April 29, 2010 – Sony today announced that its new Dash™, a Wi-Fi touch screen device that pushes real-time, personalized Internet...
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Look out, guys--Acer is on the move! That's the message being spun by a computer company on the rise, and judging by the numbers, it honestly looks like Acer is poised to shake-up a market place long dominated by the likes of HP, Dell and Lenovo. A recent Forbes article has taken an interesting in-depth look at Acer, a company that doesn't receive nearly the recognition or respect it deserves in the mainstream. Currently, Acer's market share is only behind HP in terms of total units shipped (based on Gartner figures), yet you rarely hear of these guys. In fact, you probably hear about Asus and Apple more often than Acer, and neither of those companies have total market share (for PC sales) in...
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Wow, talk about quick implementation. It was only 1.5 months ago that the world was introduced to the mash-up of Maemo and Moblin, and now the first go at MeeGo is on. "Day 1 is here," states the beaming post from a MeeGo development board, and it really says it all. Google's Android operating system has all but taken over the mobile space when it comes to MIDs and UMPCs, but with names like Intel and Nokia behind this project, we could definitely see this leading to competition. Today, MeeGo is finally available to download by developers, but it's still not quite fully cooked and ready for use on devices by general consumers. Still, anyone with a Nokia N900 smartphone, an Atom netbook or a Moorestown...
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There's no doubt that tablet PCs are all the rage in 2010, but that big-screen bandwagon seems to be bleeding over into various other realms of consumer electronics. Take Mio, for example. The relatively unknown navigation company has made big waves this past week at CeBIT thanks to the unveiling of their Moov V780. What makes this unit stand out from similar devices from Garmin, TomTom and all of those other guys is the massive display. At 7" diagonally, it's easily one of the largest GPS panels out there.The massive touch panel is just the beginning, as this 2010 iF Design Award winner also includes a full-scale multi-media player and a carry case with an integrated keyboard and optical tracking...
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Moblin and Maemo, Maemo and Moblin. Now, you two turn and face one another, shake hands, and start living together. It sounds like an odd relationship, but if there were ever forced marriages in operating systems, this would be one of the most talked about. Two companies that have historically been rivals, at least in the software department, have not only put their differences aside today, but have agreed to work together in the most intimate of fashions.At Mobile World Congress, Intel and Nokia announced that they would be merging two of the most talked about mobile platforms in order to form a single OS for "future computing devices." The new OS is called MeeGo, and it's a combination of Maemo...
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Cydle, one of South Korea's biggest electronics makers, plans to make a big splash at the 2010 CES trade show with the announcement of a portable GPS system that has built-in HD Radio and free HD live traffic updates. The new T43H from Cydle is part of the company's line of wireless digital devices that combine navigation with entertainment, offering GPS, Live HD traffic updates, HD Radio, rich multimedia, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, black box, mobile TV, and more. “The car should be a haven,” said Woody Lee, U.S. director of sales, Cydle. “Whether a driver needs accurate traffic information and alternate routes to get somewhere on time, wants to watch a video of his or her family while on a business trip,...
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When the FTC sued Intel last week over the company's alleged anti-competitive behaviors, we noted that NVIDIA could be one of the main proponents (and beneficiaries) of such a lawsuit, particularly given the price structure of Intel's Atom products. It's now been alleged that NVIDIA's interest in the FTC's investigation goes beyond Atom's chipset; The New York Times claims the GPU designer may have been working on an x86 processor since 2007. This particular rumor has been kicked around a time or ten before, but the FTC complaint does raise the question. (If you want to see the full FTC complaint, you can view it here.) According to the FTC, Intel's decision to sell Atom+chipset packages at a...
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For the past 18 months, Intel has been the company talking about mobile internet devices (MIDs), Atom, ultra-mobile PC's (UMPCs), and how it sees these burgeoning form factories as a new frontier for the company. AMD, in contrast, has talked down the importance of the netbook and sub-netbook market, choosing instead to focus on a thin-and-light product segment that better matches the company's current products. We've discussed AMD's reasons for avoiding the netbook space (for now) and why they ultimately made good business sense; more details are available here. Check the recent news from both companies, however, and you might blink in confusion. Over at AMD Corporate, Patrick Moorhead, vice...
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An upcoming version of Mio Technology’s MiBuddy will be among the latest devices to run Google’s Android operating system. The new MiBuddy joins a list of Android-powered gadgets that fit outside the realm of smartphones. The MiBuddy 4.7-inch touchscreen MIND (mobile Internet navigation device) will offer full Internet browsing capabilities, a slide-out keyboard, and will also serve as a full navigation device. For ease of use during navigation, the MiBuddy will fit into a car dashboard mount. Mio Technology’s current MiBuddys use the Windows CE operating system. With the next generation of MiBuddys that will come out next year, Mio Technology will offer both Windows CE and Android powered devices....
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After Toshiba showed a prototype of its JournE tablet computer at the IFA electronics fair in Berlin, many are wondering if Toshiba will beat Apple to the tablet computer market. Thus far, Apple has remained mum on the subject of a tablet computer, despite many rumors and supposed sightings of a possible device. Toshiba’s JournE multimedia touch-screen tablet, or Mobile Internet Device (MID), weighs less than a pound and has a 7-inch touchscreen. It has a brushed aluminum shell. Running on Windows CE 6.0 Pro (now called Windows Embedded Compact) with a Toshiba interface, the JournE tablet has 1GB of NAND Flash memory and uses an ARM chip, though the speed is still unknown. For connectivity,...
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If you haven't generated a UMPC/MID/Tablet PC of your own by now, you've probably missed the boat. In an effort to catch the last vessel out, Sharp has this week introduced a new portable PC that isn't likely to sell well based on figures from prior attempts, but it's certainly a compelling device. The so-called mini mobile PC is designed to boot up quickly, support touch inputs and recognize key presses via a QWERTY keyboard. One could say that this unit slides into the confusing new "smartbook" category, which is designed to please those who feel that a smartphone is too small and a netbook too large. This "NetWalker" device ships with a 5" high-resolution touch panel (1024x600), 800MHz Freescale...
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NVIDIA has built its brand and reputation as a GPU designer since the company was founded in 1993, but recent comments by the company have implied that it believes platforms like Tegra and ION will be key revenue generators in the future. We've previously discussed NVIDIA's ongoing emphasis on the GPU as a massively parallel processor capable of handling workloads and programs far outside the realm of video games, but to date, reviewers and analysts alike have treated Tegra as more of a side project than a future core competency. The two core components of NVIDIA's mobile strategy: ION and Tegra Given how difficult the last twelve months have been for NVIDIA, it's easy to wonder...
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Lian Li launches the PC-B25F Midi tower Chassis for discerning consumers Classic style and refined elegance combine 27 August 2009, Keelung, Taiwan – Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd has launched the PC-B25F midi tower chassis. The hair-line brushed all aluminum chassis is based on the original PC-B25 “Blue Ring” classic, however it has a few more refinements to make it that much more attractive. It still retains the basic award winning design but now has a completely tool-less functionality inside the chassis to help you install and uninstall your components with ease. These latest tool-less features are becoming an expected aspect of Lian Li chassis and ensure time saving as well as securing...
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