Category: OS

Huawei SmaKit S7 Android 7″ Tablet

Posted by Charbax – February 15, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, MWC, Android

Here’s a 7″ Android Tablet prototype presented by Huawei at Mobile World Congress 2010, it has got a customized Android user interface, with special home screens and other customizations designed by Huawei to make the 7″ Android tablet user experience pretty good.

NEC EMMA Mobile EV ARM Cortex A9 evaluation board

Posted by Charbax – February 15, 2010
Category: Exclusive videos, Renesas, MWC, Android

NEC is showing a new single core and dual core ARM Cortex A9 solution running Android.

Mentor Graphics at Texas Instruments showing 3D Android Home Replacement

Posted by Charbax – February 15, 2010
Category: Smartphones, EDA, Exclusive videos, Texas Instruments, MWC, Android

This is a pretty good looking 3D accelerated home replacement using Open GL ES 2.0 hardware acceleration for Android on Texas Instruments based devices.

Qualcomm Android Tablet Prototype

Posted by Charbax – February 15, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, Qualcomm, MWC, Android

Thunder Soft has customized a version of Android for this Qualcomm Snapdragon based Tablet prototype.

Motorola Quench at Mobile World Congress 2010

Posted by Charbax – February 15, 2010
Category: Smartphones, Exclusive videos, MWC, Android

Here’s a new Motorola Android phone.

Huawei U8110 Android Phone

Posted by Charbax – February 15, 2010
Category: Smartphones, Exclusive videos, MWC, Android

Huawei is showing this new Android 2.1 based compact smart phone.

Archos opens up Linux Tablets for developers

Posted by Charbax – February 5, 2010
Category: Tablets, Texas Instruments, Archos, Android

Dozens of awesome open ARM Powered Linux Tablets coming to the market from MSI, Asus, ICD, Notion Ink, HP, Dell and others, most are based on Android and are likely to foster competition that can provide cheaper and better Tablets than Apple. Archos is the only manufacturer with powerful Android Tablets on the market since October 2009, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet (8GB) is now available for $249 in Radio Shack and (16GB) for $279 in Best Buy. Today, Archos is releasing the Special Edition Firmware that adds Ångström Linux as a dual-boot for their latest Archos 5 Internet Tablet generation so that developers can start developing powerful Linux solutions for the Archos Linux tablets and not only do Android stuff.

Read more and download the Special Edition Firmware: archos.com

You can discuss this in the ArchosFans.com forum: http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=30431

Samsung launches SHW-M100S, 3.7″ AMOLED WVGA Android 2.1 phone

Posted by Charbax – February 4, 2010
Category: Smartphones, Android

3.7″ AMOLED WVGA
800mhz, probably ARM Cortex A8
5megapixel
720p camcorder
T-DMB tuner
Android 2.1 with Google Marketplace and Samsung Touchwiz user interface stuff

Look forward to my video hands-on of this device at Mobile World Congress February 15-18th.

source: danawa.com
via: techmeme.com

Chromium and Firefox within Android

Posted by Charbax – February 3, 2010
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Software, Opinions, Archos, Google, Android

The default Android web browser is really awesome in terms of speed, it even works amazingly fast on the ARM9 Powered web browser of the Hivision PWS700CA that I tested in my video-review a few days ago. Though for Laptop form factors, also known as ARM Powered Netbooks or Smartbooks, and for Android Tablets like the Archos 5 Internet Tablet that has a HDMI output and supports USB and Bluetooth keyboards and mice, the default Android web browser might not be enough.

This is why the support of the full desktop-like experience using Chrome and Firefox web browsers within Android are really going to be nice. Perhaps the June 2009 release of the Native Android SDK can help developers reach this goal.

The Mozilla team is showing this screenshot of Firefox running within Android (check also Mozilla’s wiki entry on Android: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Android):

Since Google is now working on releasing the full Chrome OS for ARM Powered devices, perhaps it would make sense to take the source code of that Chrome web browser for ARM, and make it into an Android application. This way on a Pocketable Android tablets or phones the default Android web browser would still be used, but when in HDMI output mode to a HDTV and when using USB or Bluetooth keyboards and mice, the Chrome browser or Firefox would thus be the browser of choice.

I think it would be nice as well if it was possible to provide a full speed browser experience even on cheap ARM Powered Android devices that come with little RAM memory such as only 128MB or RAM, still enable the use of unlimited amounts of opened tabs by somehow perhaps saving the state of each tab into ROM memory and be able to quickly in few milliseconds be able to pull that back into RAM memory when the specific tab is selected.

On the other hand, I also think it would make sense to support all Android applications within Chrome OS, thus this might mean that eventually Android and Chrome OS will merge.

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Slashgear.com: hands-on with Texas Instruments OMAP4 development hardware

Posted by Charbax – February 3, 2010
Category: Texas Instruments, Android

Slashgear.com went to Texas Instrument’s Dallas Texas headquarters to write an article about the OMAP4 dual-core ARM Cortex A9 1ghz development platforms which can decode 3 videos at the same time, with 1080p HDMI video output, a built-in pico-projector, significantly higher resolution support than WVGA 800×480 for the on board screen (1024×600? 1280×720?), 1080p 24/30fps video encoding, “universal decode” which they say means it will support playback of all video codecs (High Profile h264 MKV 1080p at up to 50mbit/s?).

Texas Instruments OMAP4 development platform

The chipset can simultaneously record 1080p and D1 (e.g. regular TV resolution) footage, as well as still images, giving you an HD copy for local playback and a smaller version for uploading. Meanwhile there’s enough processor grunt to spare for digital video stabilisation, both for recording and, potentially, for stabilising the pico-projector when you’re operating it handheld.

Wow, it will be nice to encode full quality 1080p at high bitrate for archiving and at the same time record D1 for uploading to the web. Although my favorite combination would be something like a combined 20mbit/s 1080p and a 720p 4mbit/s encoded with high encoding complexity to provide a good baseline 720p version to be uploaded to the web. Though it would also be nice to record decent 1080p which Youtube supports, and at the same time encode D1 at low bitrates to stream on 3G networks or to stream over WiFi to live video services like Qik or Ustream.

And in terms of how Texas Instrument OMAP4 compares with Nvidia Tegra2:

While production devices based on the Tegra 2 aren’t available yet, TI reckon there are several points at which they eclipse their rival. According to Marcelo O Vieria, general manager of the OMAP business group, the OMAP4 1080p video codec is stronger than that of the Tegra 2, in fact he reckons TI “have a better video engine than [NVIDIA] do”. OMAP4 also supports 20-megapixel or higher image processing, as well as three simultaneous displays, and it has significantly more memory bandwidth than Tegra 2 which means it’s better at multitasking. Worth remembering, too, is that OMAP4 is suited to smartphones, which is an area Tegra is yet to extend into.

This all just sounds very awesome, I look forward to see Texas Instruments demonstrate their new OMAP4 platform in Mobile Computing products and reference designs, hopefully as soon as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona between the 15-18th February, where I plan to film 50 new videos of the latest most awesome ARM Powered devices.

Be sure to check out the full article with pictures and video at Slashgear.com: http://www.slashgear.com/texas-instruments-omap4-hands-on-0172231/

Slashgear.com also filmed this video of Texas Instrument’s e-ink development platform which the Texas Instruments representative clearly says could also run a Pixel Qi screen:

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Pricing and availability on Archos 7 Internet Tablet (8GB) leaked

Posted by Charbax – February 1, 2010
Category: Tablets, Opinions, Texas Instruments, Archos, Google, Android

If the leaked pricing rumor of £149 for the Archos 7 Internet Tablet is correct, this may mean that it will be sold for only $199 in the USA. Consider that European retail pricing always includes around 20% VAT taxes which are not included in US retail pricing.

In September 2009, Archos did announce that they would upgrade to 1ghz processors, thus I expect it may be the new Texas Instruments OMAP3640 that is a 45nm process or a 1ghz version of the current OMAP3440 processor.

Archos 7 Internet Tablet (8GB)

The cheaper $199 Archos 7 Internet Tablet, means the Archos 5 Internet Tablet will probably also be available $50 to $100 cheaper. It is currently sold at $249 at Radio Shack. Thus by March, pricing for the Archos 5 Internet Tablet (8GB) may be lowered to around $179 (I am speculating here).

Archos 7 Internet Tablet (8GB) specifications

It’d be really nice to see Archos come during the next few months with more screen sizes from 4.3″, 4.8″, 7″, 8.9″ and even 10.1″ Android Tablets. I speculate on what the overall pricing of those may be in this post: http://archosfans.com/2010/01/29/my-recommendations-on-archos-cheap-android-tablet-revolution/

Most importantly, if full Google Marketplace can officially be supported on larger screened Android Tablets, and if all bugs are fixed soon for very stable full Android and VOIP usage, I think this positions Archos and the whole Android Tablet segment as a really good value alternative to the $499-$829 Apple iPad.

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Android Laptop Review: Hivision PWS700CA

Posted by Charbax – January 29, 2010
Category: Laptops, Exclusive videos, Reviews, Rockchip, Android

This is the world’s first video-review of the Hivision PWS700CA ARM9 Powered Android Laptop, find more info at Hivision’s website. (Hivision, which I previously video-Interviewed about cheap Laptops from the trade shows at CES 2010 and IFA 2008)

Hivision Android Laptop

The Hivision PWS700CA is based on a Rockchip RK2808 600mhz ARM926 processor, 128SDRAM, 7″ 800×480 screen, 720p Video playback support, WiFi, Ethernet, audio input/output and weights only 650grams.

The price has not yet been announced officially because Hivision is looking for worldwide distributors who will then decide how much it will be sold for to end consumers. But you can understand that if Hivision was able to sell those types of laptops for $98 to distributors more than a year ago (when I filmed my popular video from IFA 2008), then surely the mass manufacturing price has not gone up since then. My expectation is that if a giant consumer electronics reseller such as Walmart or Best Buy approaches Hivision today to order huge quantities of this laptop, it could be sold below $100 to end users.

I’ve seen those kinds of cheap laptops running Windows CE or some less optimized Linux distribution at Buy.com (2), at Amazon.com, at Kmart.com and plenty other places for even cheaper. The point of this video is to show that Android can make all these cheap laptops much more usable when it comes to browsing the web. The Android browser is much better than the one in Windows CE or the Mozilla-based ones used in other Linux distributions. More usable web browsing means more people will want to buy it, which means even cheaper prices.

Click on the thumbnails below to see the full sized pictures at Picasa:

Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail Hivision Android laptop thumbnail

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Archos 5 Internet Tablet competition from Dell in Dell Mini 5

Posted by Charbax – January 29, 2010
Category: Tablets, Archos, Android

I provided Michael Arrington founder of TechCrunch with the Archos 5 Internet Tablet at the LeWeb conference in Paris last December, when I convinced Paris-based Archos to provide review units to some of the most influential bloggers at that conference.

Yet, so far it doesn’t seem Michael Arrington has wanted to post any review or any of his impressions of the product on any of his sites.

He did make a video of Michael Dell using a Dell Mini 5 competitor at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland:

It would be interesting to hear if it uses a capacitative 4.8″ touch screen, what the price might be, which version of Android it might use and if Google allows for the full Google Marketplace to be included.

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Tim Sweeney talks about Unreal Engine on ARM Powered devices

Posted by Charbax – January 25, 2010
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Smartphones, Set-top-boxes, Software, Exclusive videos, Nvidia, CES, Android

Tim Sweeney is the founder of Epic Games, he is in charge of the Unreal Tournament, Gears of War and plenty more very famous game franchises. But not only does his company make games, Epic makes the most famous and most popular 3D game engines on which hundreds of other games all over the industry are based on.

Now the Unreal engine is being launched for the Nvidia Tegra2 processor and has been showcased to run on other OpenGL ES based ARM Powered devices like the ipod touch.

In this interview, I ask when we will see Android devices with support for the Unreal Engine, and how many games does he think will work on all these ARM Powered devices that have the advanced 3D acceleration built-in.

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When will Nokia release Android devices?

Posted by Charbax – January 23, 2010
Category: Smartphones, Texas Instruments, Android

Hackers have installed Android as a dual-boot on a Maemo Linux based Nokia N900. Although Maemo Linux for sure is better than Symbian, I think Nokia might soon just as well release Android based devices. Android is free and open-source, it doesn’t really make sense for Nokia to stubbornly stay with their own OS even if their own LiMo stuff also is open-source. My guess is Nokia engineers are working on Android and that it’s only a political matter until Nokia officially would announce Android based products.

source: engadget.com

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HP Compaq Airlife 100 hit the FCC

Posted by Charbax – January 21, 2010
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Exclusive videos, Qualcomm, CES, Android

Wow, so HP is likely going to be pushing the awesome looking Qualcomm Snapdragon powered Android laptop on 3G networks! See my previously posted video of it:

Source: engadget.com

See more videos of this product from CES:

Netbooknews.com‘s video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIm5BQhvhgk

JKKmobile.com‘s video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5RdVAEXqCc

Liliputing.com‘s video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o3T5w9NDvA

HP’s official CES video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXMl0XISYnY

Andy Clipsham, Product Manager on the HP Android Smartbook, unveils it at the Qualcomm keynote at CES 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSvGhXa6RdY

Google Marketplace on Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android using hack on Firmware 1.7.33 (and all newer ones)

Posted by Charbax – January 21, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, Reviews, Texas Instruments, Archos, Android

Here is a video that shows you how easy it now is to install the full Google Marketplace experience on a Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android with the new firmware 1.7.33 that integrates a whole bunch of the Android 1.6 software features from Google that optimize everything better for Archos’s larger screen:

Discuss this video in the forum: http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=29833&p=195177#p195177

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NetbookNews.com: Yi Fang M5 at CES 2010

Posted by Charbax – January 21, 2010
Category: Tablets, Rockchip, CES, Android

Yi Fang M5 is a 4.8″ Android tablet based on a ARM9 Rockchip processor. Comes with webcam, MicroSD, announced price for distributors is $128:

Posted by NetbookNews.com, found via android-france.fr

Pegatron Neo Android Laptop at CES 2010

Posted by Charbax – January 19, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, Nvidia, CES, Android

A cool looking Tegra2 powered Android laptop.

Marvell slim desktop solution Ebox based on the Marvell Armada 510 processor

Posted by Charbax – January 18, 2010
Category: Set-top-boxes, Exclusive videos, Marvell, CES, Ubuntu

Marvell is showing an awesome looking full Ubuntu 9.10 desktop solution, based on their Marvell Armada 510 processor and system on chip design, manufacturers can now make desktop computers running Ubuntu to be sold for as little as $100 to $150 depending on volumes and margins taken by retailers. You get HDMI output, e-sata, 3 USB ports, audio in/out, all integrated in one ultra slim and light desktop box. It can playback 1080p video, output 1080p Ubuntu user interfaces and also render 3D games like Quake3 at the same time. This ebox Ubuntu desktop example is manufactured by Quanta.

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