owngadget.com
Tech News and Reviews
PlayStation Vita launches in Japan, shifts 321,400 units in two days
Dec 21st
Kaz Hirai probably had a sleepless weekend as he and the team waited for the two-day sales figures for Sony’s PlayStation Vita. He can probably relax a little, knowing that 321,400 of the things were exchanged for cold, hard cash in the retail outlets of Japan. In comparison, Nintendo’s 3DS sold 50,000 more units but sales soon stalled — only to be rescued with a hefty price cut. Of course, now the company has to ensure that the performance issues that early-adopters have been facing are resolved — we’d hate to experience the same teething trouble when it arrives over here in February.
LG’s Magic Remote enables voice control for its smart TVs
Dec 21st
LG was quick to introduce Wii-style motion controls and pointing to its smart TV controllers, but its new Magic Remote also adds voice recognition, allowing you to enter search terms without ever contemplating the alphabet. In a radical move, it also conjures up a scroll wheel — perhaps for no reason other than to spite Samsung’s now dowdy-looking QWERTY rival. The fact that it can control your LG Cinema 3D TV without forcing you to star-jump is a happy bonus. There’s a full PR after the break, although no sign yet of availability or pricing.
New Arrival: Teclast A10 1080P Android 2.3 OS Tablet PC with LG IPS Screen and Dual Cameras
Dec 21st
Product page: http://www.ownta.com/teclast-a10-1080p-android-2.3-os-tablet-pc-with-dual-cameras-wifi-3g-8gb.html
Teclast A10 Tablet PC Features:
- CPU: RK2918, ARM Cortex A8 processor, 1.2GHz,Support Flash Player10.3
- Display: 9.7 inch, 5-point capacitive multi-touch,LG IPS screen, 1024*768 pixels
- OS: Android 2.3 operating system
- UI: Android 3.0
- Memory: 8GB Storage memory, 1GB DDR3 RAM, support MicroSD card that can expand up to 32GB
- Camera: 0.3MP Front Camera, 2.0MP Back Camera
For more android tablets, please check our online MID category: http://www.ownta.com/wholesale-dropship-computers/tablet-pc-mid-and-umpc/
Disney-branded AppClix camera for iPad turns you into the world’s happiest shooter
Dec 21st
If you thought using the iPad’s camera — or any other tablet, for that matter — was an awkward way to do mobile photography… well, you were right. But, this mind-boggling AppClix ($60) is about to take things to a new level. The bizarre external shooter gives you access to all of its 7.1 megapixels via Apple’s proprietary connector, and you also get an SD card slot, 4X zoom for distant shots and a 1.5-inch LCD display for “previews.” As if the souped-up specs weren’t enough, the portable camera comes in a variety of flavors, so if Mickey or Minnie Mouse aren’t your characters of preference, you’ll be glad to know that you can also choose between Phineas and Ferb, Princes and Tinkerbell. Oh, and did we mention the Disney Pix editing app? If you’re silly enough to buy this thing, we’re told it’s a must-download.
Nook Tablet update closes sideloading loophole, lacks holiday spirit
Dec 21st
Remember all that extra functionality your Nook Tablet used to have? Well, that’s what memories are there for. The recently-released Nook 1.4.1 firmware update apparently prevents the Nook Tablet from installing Android apps from non-Barnes & Noble sources. As a result, the unit is confined to the roughly 2,000 apps available through B&N’s app store (many of which are priced higher than their Android Market equivalents). This lockdown has already been performed on the Nook Color and trying to sideload a new title will pop up a warning that only apps from the Nook store can be installed on the device. At least it appears that third-party apps already on the tablet will continue to run and there’s always the hope of a custom ROM that could reenable the feature on Christmas morning.
Lenovo ThinkPad X130e delayed until February, early-adopting school districts to blame
Dec 21st
We’ll be honest: when Lenovo said it would ship the new student-friendly ThinkPad X130e starting on December 20th, we didn’t actually program an alert in our calendars, reminding us to place our orders on the very first day it became available. But it looks like at least a few you did just that, and were quite taken with this durable 11.6-inch laptop. As it turns out, though, you’ll have to wait a little longer to get yours — Lenovo’s product page is now saying it won’t be available for individual purchase until February. Apparently, it’s because the X130e’s rubber bumper, recessed ports, reinforced hinge and Core i3 / Fusion innards were just too irresistible to educators: a Lenovo rep told us all the early units have been scooped up by hungry school districts, meaning individual students and other fans of inexpensive, ruggedized laptops will have to wait for a later batch.
Olympus’ Tokyo offices raided over accounting scandal
Dec 21st
Eke. A nearly-century old outfit is currently giving up office space to Japanese prosecutors, who today moved in on Olympus‘ Tokyo facilities in a raid surrounding an ongoing accounting investigation. According to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, the scandal involves many billions of dollars — “irregularities” that have raised serious concerns about the outfit’s handling of funds. It’s bruited that the company has been running a scheme to conceal over $1.5 billion in investment losses, and we’re told that the raid should pass right on through Olympus’ headquarters and into the “homes of executives involved in the cover-up.” All of this follows an admission last month that the firm had used “inflated payments made in acquisitions in recent years,” and while it remains unclear what all of this means for its future, there’s no doubt a few dark months are ahead as things sort themselves out. So much for looking pretty for the camera, eh?
Lenovo LePhone S760 shows up with Android 2.3.5 and 3.7-inch AMOLED display
Dec 1st
Alongside the LePhone S2 and the two-and-a-half tablets from earlier today, Lenovo also showed off a 3.7-inch Android 2.3.5 phone dubbed the S760. Packed within is a 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, a vibrant AMOLED display, five megapixel camera and Lenovo’s usual customised UI. Externally the phone looks very much like the S2, though the former’s shiny plastic backside gives out more of a toy-like feel. No prices just yet but expect this to hit the Chinese market at the end of December.
Lenovo LePad S2005 vs. Dell Streak 5… cuddle!
Dec 1st
It’s inevitable that these two 5-inch tabletphones — the Dell Streak 5 on the left and the Lenovo LePad S2005 on the right — are to meet in the Chinese capital. With the exception of the slightly taller body on the S2005 everything else are suspiciously similar, especially the button and camera layout. Well, there’s a good explanation for this: we’ve been informed that this new tabletphone hails from the same ODM, Qisda, as Dell’s counterpart. Too bad Lenovo decided to keep the same screen resolution though.
According to Stone Ip from Engadget Chinese, he found that the S2005 has a nicer grip than the Streak, and he also digs its more masculine appearance — obviously this is open to debate. Performance-wise this slate responded well to our input, but the lack of promise on an Ice Cream Sandwich update will probably make potential geeky buyers think twice. Well, good thing we have some awesome modders around the interwebs these days.
Lenovo LePhone K2 to arrive with 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core chip
Dec 1st
Frankly speaking, the phones that Lenovo have announced so far this week haven’t been all that exciting (unless, of course, you’re somehow aroused by its 5-inch tabletphone), but it turned out the folks had a little surprise for us: the LePhone K2. What we got here is a 4.3-inch IPS display (resolution of which not yet announced), a powerful dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 chip, 1GB RAM, 1GB ROM and an eight megapixel 1080p camera. Sadly, like the S2 and the S760, this crouching tiger also packs Android 2.3.5 instead of Ice Cream Sandwich, but without a price or a release date, perhaps there’s still a small chance that we’ll see it eventually launching with the newer OS. Anyhow, that’s just our wishful thinking. Chinese hands-on video after the break.
