Windows 8 iPad killers: Round 1

Acer Iconia 510 in its laptop configuration.

(Credit: CNET)

The iPad-killing Windows 8 tablet-laptop has
arrived. Problem is, most aren't ready to dispatch the iPad -- or the MacBook Air for that matter -- yet.
So far, reviewers of shape-shifting Windows 8 tablets have not been kind. Otherwise known as "detachables," the devices can take the form of a standalone tablet or attach to a keyboard base to become a close facsimile of a full-fledged laptop.
And one of the key selling points -- if not the key selling point -- is that you can run all your favorite Windows applications. In other words, this isn't application-deprived Windows RT.
The fly in the ointment is Intel's underwhelming Atom Z2760 processor, which presents itself as a kind of paradox: it promises to run any legacy Windows application, but it doesn't really deliver.
CNET's review of the HP Envy x2, titled Half-tablet, half-laptop, all Atom, summarized the x2 this way: "a slower Atom processor means in performance it's far behind most ultrabooks, even though it's priced like one."
Another review, at Wired, of a similarly configured Acer Iconia W510 is even harsher:
"The W510 benchmarks at about a quarter of the speed on general apps versus the typical Windows 8 laptop shipping today, and it really can't run any graphics benchmarks at all."
And how about the Samsung Ativ 500T? ExtremeTech calls it "ridiculously underpowered."
The review continues: "Real Work is nuked by desktop lag, performance stuttering, and a ludicrously small amount of storage."
Yep, storage is another problem. Some of these detachables come with flash drives that are only 32GB or 64GB. That leaves precious little space to store applications after Windows 8 has occupied a disproportionately large part of the drive's real estate.

Related stories

• CNET's Microsoft Surface RT review

So, that's the bad news. Luckily, alternatives are emerging.
Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet -- due to arrive next Saturday, February 9 -- sports a fast laptop-class Ivy Bridge chip. And Samsung has the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T: a speedy detachable with the same chip. (See review here.)
And expect more products like this when Intel's more battery-friendly Haswell chip lands in the summer. Also, a new Atom is on the way -- probably late this year -- that has a completely revamped (read: faster) processor architecture and will be offered in quad-core variants.
Lastly, remember that the systems mentioned above are not "convertibles" like the Lenovo Yoga, Asus Taichi, or HP Revolve. Those are laptops first, tablets second and, accordingly, offer laptop-level performance.
And maybe convertibles and touch-screen laptops are the best that PC makers can offer for now. A shot at laptop-tablet nirvana will have to wait until Round 2.

The Iconia 510 as a standalone tablet.

Windows 8 iPad killers: Round 1

Turn your iPhone into a TV

The good: The compact design of the Escort MobileTV makes it
easy to carry around as a way to add television functionality to an iOS device. The associated IDTV app is free, and includes a program guide.

The bad: Programming for the MobileTV is limited to the Dyle network, and reception came in consistently for only about half of the available channels.

The bottom line: With its limited programming and reception, the Escort MobileTV will satisfy only a small segment of people who desire a portable television.

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The iPhone effectively replaced digital cameras and GPS devices, and now Escort MobileTV extends its reach to portable televisions. The MobileTV accessory works with iPhones and iPads, letting them receive broadcast television signals from the Dyle television network.
The MobileTV, essentially identical to the previously reviewed Elgato EyeTV Mobile, is a blocky little device with a 30-pin iPhone connector on one end and an antenna on the other. Despite the 30-pin connector, Escort says it needs an iPhone 4 or newer, ruling out its use with earlier iPhones. Likewise, it will only work with the fourth-generation iPod Touch or newer, but supports all iPads. For newer iOS devices, it needs the 30-pin-to-Lightning adapter.
There is also a Mini-USB port for charging on the end of the MobileTV accessory, as the device relies on an internal battery. A red LED on the black device shows when it is charging.
Connected to an iPhone or iPad, it sits neatly in the connector, adding its minimal, approximately 2x2-inch bulk. Hooking it up through a Lightning adapter to a newer iOS device makes it stick out a bit farther, and the whole apparatus feels more prone to being knocked loose.
Free app required
By itself, the MobileTV accessory does not do anything, as it needs the IDTV app to show television broadcasts on an iOS device. This app is free from the App Store, and available for iPhone or iPad.

The IDTV app features a program guide, although it did not fill out details for every channel.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

However, the MobileTV and the IDTV app may not be enough to turn your iOS device into a portable television. It also needs to be within the Dyle television network's coverage area. Dyle includes a convenient coverage map on its Web site, which also shows which channels are available in each area.
Never heard of the Dyle television network? This service retransmits existing television network programming as a digital signal for mobile devices. The MobileTV will receive programming only from Dyle, and is not able to pick up any other over-the-air broadcasts. Dyle promises to offer access to its network free of charge through 2013.
This means the MobileTV can only get the channels Dyle carries, which in the San Francisco Bay Area is limited to five. From our testing, that meant Fox affiliate KTVU, NBC affiliate KNTV, independent KICU, Telemundo affiliate KSTS, and Qubo affiliate KXPX. New York appears to be the biggest market with eight broadcasters, including MyTV, and three local independents.
Channel scanning
After a couple of setup screens, the IDTV app scanned for available channels. On our first test, performed within our sixth-floor office, it only came up with four of the five available. During a second test, outside in San Francisco, it found only four again, although a different set of channels. Although the IDTV app saves the channels it finds, it does not automatically rescan for channels every time you start it up or change location. You will have to run a manual scan to find available channels in different areas.

The IDTV app lets you select channels using the iOS scroll menu.

Turn your iPhone into a TV

[ Technology ] Smart and Hello

[ Technology ] Smart and Hello

Google updates image search to be faster, more reliable

Google Images enhances its search function.

(Credit: Google)

Google announced today that it is revamping its image search
to make it speedier and more reliable. Soon, people will be able to simultaneously see images and image information while searching for photos, illustrations, and graphics.

"Based on feedback from both users and webmasters, we redesigned Google Images to provide a better search experience," Google Images Associate Product Manager Hongyi Li wrote in a blog post today. "In the next few days, you'll see image results displayed in an inline panel so it's faster, more beautiful, and more reliable." When users look up images currently, they see large thumbnail images for whatever they are searching. For example, the "Pacific Ocean" brings up images of maps, photos of sandy islands covered in palm trees, and pictures of waves crashing on rocks. If the user wants to know more about the image, they have to hover their mouse over it and then click to get more.
With Google's enhanced image search, people will be able to see a display of smaller images with one central image enlarged and accompanied by image information. This should significantly cut down on the hovering and clicking.

Here are some of the changes explained by Li:

• We now display detailed information about the image (the metadata) right underneath the image in the search results, instead of redirecting users to a separate landing page.
• We're featuring some key information much more prominently next to the image: the title of the page hosting the image, the domain name it comes from, and the image size.
• The domain name is now clickable, and we also added a new button to visit the page the image is hosted on.
• The source page will no longer load up in an iframe in the background of the image detail view. This speeds up the experience for users, reduces the load on the source website's servers, and improves the accuracy of webmaster metrics such as pageviews.

"You will be able to quickly flip through a set of images by using the keyboard," Li wrote. "If you want to go back to browsing other search results, just scroll down and pick up right where you left off."

Topic Khmer

Google updates image search to be faster, more reliable

Japan launching spy satellite to monitor North Korea

TOKYO: Japan is to launch a new spy satellite on Sunday to strengthen its
monitoring capabilities amid concern that North Korea may carry out more missile and nuclear tests.

A rocket carrying a radar-equipped satellite is scheduled to blast off from a space centre at Tanegashima in the southwest, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has announced.

The space agency said the satellite would be used for information-gathering, including data following Japan's 2011 quake and tsunami, but did not mention North Korea by name.

The launch, planned for Sunday between 1:00 and 3:00 pm (0400-0600 GMT) comes after Pyongyang rejected dialogue on its atomic programme following tightened UN sanctions for a banned rocket launch.


The North's foreign ministry responded angrily to the UN Security Council action, saying there would be "no dialogue to discuss denuclearisation" and hinting that a new atomic test could be planned.

Japan hopes the satellite launch will enable it to complete a system first devised in the early 1990s as a response to fears about North Korea.


From an altitude of several hundred kilometres, the satellite will be able to detect objects on the ground as small as a square metre, including at night and through cloud cover, thanks to its radar.

Tokyo has four operational satellites in space, of which just one is equipped with radar. It has used satellites for monitoring and information-gathering since the late 1990s.
Last year Pyongyang launched two long-range rockets. The first failed but the second in December flew over the southern Okinawa island chain, jangling nerves in Japan.
 
North Korea insists its December 12 rocket launch was a peaceful, scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite in space. The UN condemned it as a disguised ballistic missile test.

Topic Khmer

Japan launching spy satellite to monitor North Korea

Scottsdale car auctions fetch $223.8 million

Several classic-car segments are expected to climb in value; even a 1969 Ford Bronco hits half a million.

Last weekend's classic-car auctions in Scottsdale, Ariz., totaled a blistering $223.8 million, yet another reminder that no price is too high for an old Ferrari.

In fact, three Ferrari 250 GTs were among the 10 highest-grossing sales from all six auction companies, according to Hagerty, an insurer of collector cars. A 1958 California Spider, similar to the replica model seen in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," sold for $8.25 million, while a 1960 Competizione Berlinetta went for $8.14 million.

Oddly enough, the original 1966 Batmobile seen in the TV series ranked third and swept $4.62 million, more than any other Porsche, Maserati or Mercedes. The only other American car to break the top 10 was a 1933 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing-Top Convertible at $2.69 million.

Scottsdale car auctions fetch $223.8 million

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• Screen : 11.6" (1366 x 768) Touch Screen
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Price : $ 485 

Computer ASUS X202E-CT141H Touch Screen Price 485$

NTT DoCoMo to release low-cost tablet in Japan: Nikkei

The new tablet will be able to connect to the Internet via wireless LAN, but will not be compatible with 3G or LTE high-speed wireless services.

Mobile phone service provider NTT DoCoMo Inc will soon release a low-cost tablet computer in Japan priced
between 10,000 yen ($110) and 15,000 yen, the Nikkei reported.

The tablet will be made by China's Huawei Technologies Co and feature a 10-inch screen, the Japanese business daily said.

The new tablet will be able to connect to the Internet via wireless LAN, but will not be compatible with 3G or LTE (Long Term Evolution) high-speed wireless services, the newspaper reported.

Telecom equipment maker Huawei has diversified into the mobile devices area selling dongles, mobile phones and tablet PCs, aiming to tap the fast-growing sector.

The new product will be launched by this spring, for sale at DoCoMo Shops and electronics mass merchandisers throughout Japan, the daily said.

Apple Inc, maker of the iPad, already faces stiffening competition in tablets from a growing crowd of rival products from makers, including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd with its Galaxy and Microsoft Corp's Surface.

With the consumer shift to smaller 7-inch screen devices, tablet-makers have responded with Apple coming out with its iPad mini, Amazon.com Inc with its Kindle and Google Inc with its Nexus 7. ($1 = 89.7950 Japanese yen)

NTT DoCoMo to release low-cost tablet in Japan: Nikkei

LG may be back as the second top phone manufacturer in the US

Yup, after years of poor performance in the mobile phone sector, LG may actually be back on track. We last heard that they've sold some 55 million handsets in 2012, even though their Optimus G was not doing terribly well, selling only 1 million units during the first 4 months of its availability.
But hey, perhaps due to the incredible popularity of the competitively priced and Google-sanctioned LG Nexus 4 (pictured left), LG managed to outgrow Apple's 13% US market share.
According to Counterpoint Research, LG actually scored a market share of 14% in the US. Now how's that for a comeback? We are yet to see where this would take them in the quarter that lies ahead.
Of course, we would advise anyone at LG to wait for a second confirmation from another market research agency before popping up that champagne.
On a side note, Samsung is still the market leader in the US with a 33% market share in the same period.


It looks like LG (066570) is starting to get its mojo back. Yonhap News reports that new data from Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research shows that LG has climbed over Apple (AAPL) to become the second-largest handset vendor in the United States. Counterpoint’s numbers, which include sales of both feature phones and smartphones, show that LG had a 13% market share in the U.S. this past December, while Apple had a 12% share. Both companies still significantly trailed Samsung (005930), however, which dominated the American handset market with a 33% share in December. Counterpoint said that LG benefited from strong holiday sales of its Optimus G smartphone, which the company has set up as a competitor with Samsung’s hit Galaxy S III line.

LG may be back as the second top phone manufacturer in the US

Show The new iMac of Apple

Creating the stunningly thin design of the new iMac took some equally stunning feats of technological innovation. We refined, re-imagined, or re-engineered everything about it from the inside out. The result is an elegant all-in-one computer that’s as much a work of art as it is state of the art. Learn more

How did we make an already gorgeous widescreen display even better? By making it 75 percent less reflective. And by re-architecting the LCD and moving it right up against the cover glass. So you see your photos, games, movies, and everything else in vivid, lifelike detail. Learn more

With third-generation Intel Core processors, the latest NVIDIA graphics, Thunderbolt, and groundbreaking new storage options, the slimmest iMac yet is also the most powerful. Learn more

OS X Mountain Lion makes every Mac intuitive and easy to use. It also makes it simple to find, organize, share, and do just about everything. And thanks to iCloud, it makes your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch work wonderfully together. Learn more

Show The new iMac of Apple