At the Smartphones market in Shenzhen China, you can find these experts who can open up any broken phone, find out what is broken and fix them. They have screws, soldering irons, volt measuring equipment, cutters, and other equipment to analyse, find the defects and fix the devices.
Category: OS
Metaio Augmented Reality status on the Texas Instruments OMAP4
Posted by – March 30, 2012
Metaio shows a demo featuring their latest status for augmented reality on the Texas Instruments OMAP4 platform.
MHL for the car, using the Pioneer AppRadio2
Posted by – March 30, 2012
Now the MHL standard can be used to charge your MHL compatible phone in the car and at the same time send audio and video to the car, and remote control the phone over Bluetooth and MHL using a larger touch-screen GPS and in-car entertainment type of screen like the Pioneer AppRadio2. As every phone is getting to have an MHL connector, it’s likely that every car also soon enough are equipped with an MHL connector. Your smartphone screen isn’t big enough to provide a safe in-car user interface, but it should be fully synchronized with your in-car optimized screens and user interface.
InHand Hydra-T3 Ruggedized 7″ Pixel Qi tablet released
InHand releases their new Hydra-T3 ruggedized 7″ Pixel Qi tablet. It runs on the Texas Instruments DaVinci DM3730 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 and 800MHz TMS320C64X+™ DSP, up to 1GB DDR2, up to 16GB eMMc Flash, the Pixel Qi LCD screen is the 7″ 1024×600 built using a chemically strengthened resistive touch screen layer (I wonder how readable this resistive Pixel Qi implementation is). Having been tested through the military specs MIL-SPEC, MIL-STD-810G, MIL-STD-461F it can support extreme temperature, fluid contaminates, solar radiation, fungus, immersion, shock and vibration. It uses a 37WHr redundant 3.7V Lithium Polymer battery for up to 10 hours of battery life. It can run Android 2.3, Ubuntu 10.10 and Windows Embedded Compact 6.
This tablet seems to compete with the Orchard Inc Toughlet which is also a ruggedized 7″ Pixel Qi tablet for military and industrial use. The military and the industry must be very eager to use the Pixel Qi screen for tablets outdoor readability, low power consumption as soon as possible.
Read more about this new Pixel Qi tablet at: inhand.com
Source: InHand press release
Sony to launch the first ARM Powered Chromebook?
According to some FCC leak and rumoring, it looks like Sony is about to release a new Chromebook and the FCC info may point towards it running on an ARM Processor! T25 is the leaked processor info, that sound like the Tegra 250 T25. I think the thinking was T25 is intermediary between T20 and T30, in between Tegra2 and Tegra3. Basically, I think, the hope should be that if it’s a Tegra2, that it has a new faster memory bandwidth and a higher clock speed compared to the “first generation” Tegra2 devices that were released back since the end of 2010!
The Dual-core TI OMAP4470 runs at 1.8Ghz, the Dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Krait S4 runs above 1.5Ghz, might it be that a new Dual-core Nvidia T25 processor also runs at similar clock frequency and might it be that the T25 has an improved memory bandwidth?
If Sony plans to have a target price for it around $199 for the 11.6″ version, with upwards 20 hours battery life, make it the thinnest, lightest, this can become one of the new top selling laptops in the world.
Source: laptopreviews.com via: engadget.com
Related articles
- FCC Documents Show Sony Chromebook, Potentially Running On ARM (techcrunch.com)
- Sony ‘VAIO CC111’ 11.6-inch Chromebook photos and manual outed by FCC (theverge.com)
900,000 Rockchip RK2918 7″ Tablets purchased by Thailand’s Government for Education
The 900,000 Scopad SP0712 Android tablets are going to be delivered before the next semester. The first batch of 50,000 tablets to be delivered within 15 days of the signing of the memorandum of understanding (which may mean 15 days from now).
The price per tablet is $82 and to be delivered by Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development. The Chinese Government had suggested four suppliers be considered for the deal including also Huawei Technologies Co, TCL Cooperation and Haier Information Technology (Shenzhen).
I don’t know if those have capacitive screens, what the battery life is going to be.
I think it’s crucial for the successful use of tablets in education for those to include a Pixel Qi LCD screen! Readability and very low power consumption are crucial features for these! Android tablets can become very successful tools for education, but they need to last 20 hours on a battery and not 5 hours! And the screens need to be as readable as paper! And the screen must be usable outdoors!
Not using Pixel Qi I think may be the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful educational tablet initiative! In rich countries, consumers don’t care much, because they always have enough power, they don’t care about reading and they are satisfied just playing video games on the devices, in rich countries, the tablets are just being used as entertaining gadgets for a bit of fun, nearly no productivity happens thus far. If you want to use tablets in education, you really carefully have to think about usability, battery life and productivity.
A $5 keyboard dock design can also be quite crucial for those to actually be usable for productive learning!! A built-in kick-stand I think is also pretty much compulsory.
The Pheu Thai Party promised during its campaigning ahead of last year’s election that, if voted in, it would give a tablet computer to every first-grade student nationwide.
Gp Cpt Anudith said the next step was to draft the agreement and forward it to the Office of the Attorney General for checks. The process would be finished before the end of this month, he said.
Chinnapat Bhumirat, secretary-general to the Office of Basic Education, said: “The G to G contract and MoU agreement are not that different, and the Chinese government will help us deal with the supplier and get as low a price as possible.”
Mr Chinnapat said the first batch of about 50,000 tablets would be sent to Thailand within 15 days of the MoU being signed. A team of 1,000 experts will train 15,000 teachers and supervisors nationwide on tablet use in early May.
According to Rockchip, here are the 3 key points for the Rockchip Tablet solution to win governmental tender projects:
1: RK2918 has the highest cost-performance for governmental tender projects;
2: RK2918 MID has already passed CTS certification from Google both on Android 2.3.5 and Android 4.0.3 version, which is the most important thing for governmental tender projects;
3: RK2918 has its good reputation for its well software-supporting service from Rockchip Electronics among its clients all over the world.
Source: bangkokpost.com
Grandstream GXP2200, GXP2124, DECT phones announced at CeBIT 2012
Posted by – March 19, 2012
GrandStream is one of the leaders in cost effective VOIP SIP phones. They’ve now been on the market for 10 years and they are showing their next generation Android powered VOIP phones for the office, hotels, also for any consumers to use in the home. Just get one of these with your SIP VOIP account and you’re all set for free phone calls!
This video features following devices:
GXP1105: 1:49 (40€)
GXP1405: 2:18 (50€)
GXP1450: 2:38 (60€)
GXP2100: 3:00 (80€)
GXP2110: 3:35 (110€)
GXP2120 (110€)
GXP2124: 4:48 (new announcement at CeBIT)
GXP2200 Android HD IP Phone: 5:22 (new announcement at CeBIT)
GXV3140: 7:18 (140€)
GXV3175: 9:06 (240€)
DECT phones: 10:06 (new announcement at CeBIT)
Xattel, augmented reality community/messaging app
Posted by – March 19, 2012
Xattel is an app shows an augmented reality layer for social networking.
brightsideofnews.com: Huawei U9510 Ascend D Quad XL Benchmarked
Posted by – March 17, 2012
Brightsideofnews.com provides this benchmark of the HiSilicon K3V2 powered Huawei U9510 Ascend D Quad XL phone comparing it with some of the other super phones on the market:
According to this benchmark (which I don’t really know how it was measured and what it really means in terms of real Android usage performance):
Huawei K3V2 processor managed to beat NVIDIA Tegra 3, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8660, Samsung Exynos, TI OMAP4 right off the bat. At 1280×720 resolution (HD Ready), the HiSilicon K3V2 and its GPU managed to achieve 25 frames per second, with the closest follower being Qualcomm Snapdragon and its Adreno 220 GPU with 18 fps. In the same benchmark, NVIDIA Tegra 3 with its ULP GeForce GPU only managed to reach 12 frames per second.
Source: brightsideofnews.com
Read more at: huaweidevice.com
More benchmarking: phandroid.com
Archos 101 G9 Turbo 1.5Ghz for $259 on Woot.com today only
Posted by – March 17, 2012
Only today, the Archos 101 G9 Turbo 1.5Ghz is being sold for $259 at http://sellout.woot.com/
It’s basically better than the iPad3 and for half the price! Here are some of the reasons I think it’s better than the iPad3:
1.5Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 vs 1Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9, Kick-stand, HDMI output, full sized USB-host port for 3G/4G/LTE dongle (for now only 3G is on the market for Europe/Asia), that full sized USB host can also be used for USB Keyboards/Mice/Hubs/Hard Drives etc, second USB-host through Micro-USB with adapter, Samba/Upnp file streaming, full codecs up to MKV 1080p high profile full bitrates with up to DTS audio (meaning any video you download from the Internet just works natively), Android Ics Cream Sandwich runs on it and is open unlike iOS (meaning you can install any app you want through any app store you want and customize the OS as you want), the 1280×800 10.1″ capacitive screen is decent although the next generation of 10.1″ 1920×1200 screens are coming (obviously for more expensive prices), etc.
Found via: carrypad.com
Zenithink ST-Ericsson U8500 3G 7″ 1024×600 Tablet for $150
Posted by – March 15, 2012
Zenithink shows their new ST-Ericsson U8500 Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 based tablet designed by ontim with a built-in 3G HSPA+ modem, bluetooth, WiFi, and a decent 1024×600 screen resolution. The price is $150 for an order of at least 1000 units. They also show a $65 AmLogic based Android set-top-box with a built-in DVB-T tuner.
RightFriend Electronics Technology shows ARM and x86 tablets
RightFriend Electronics Technology shows some Freescale i.MX51/53 based tablets, AmLogic and some x86 based Windows 7 tablets.
Boeye Sibrary RK2818 fast refresh E Ink e-reader
Boeye shows a Pearl E-ink based e-reader using the Rockchip RK2818 processor and a software optimization for fast page turns. They claim it’s as fast as the latest Kindle Reader.
Archos G10 xs, Archos Elements and Arnova 50€ announced
Archos had an investors event in Paris today, they showed a teaser video for the next generation Archos G10 xs series:
The keyboard dock magnetic screen protector is awesome. But I’d like them to use the kick-stand and attach the thin keyboard dock like a Laptop in a way there’s a mouse pad that can be used. Archos has always innovated using Kick-stands, I hope they continue and I think using the kick-stand is the best way to make the thinnest, coolest ARM Powered Tablet/Laptop convertible. If possible the kick-stand angle can be adjustable. If you’re in an airplane and the space is limited, you don’t need to use the kick-stand, the tablet can rest against the seat that is in front of you. I think the keyboard should also fit behind the tablet when the keyboard does not need to be used. Preferably in a way so that the kick-stand can also still be used even when the keyboard dock is magnetically fixed behind the tablet.
Archos claims to have technology that makes G10 the thinnest tablet on the market. Something about patented paper-thin steel assembly technology. Archos has always been good at fitting huge battery capacity in extremely thin designs. I hope that Archos manages to make a deal with Pixel Qi and use the 10.1″ 1280×800 sunlight readable screen on this one. That’d provide for 20+ hours of battery life, sunlight readability, Kindle Reader competitiveness for reading and use for education and work, and it’d use much less power thus enabling a form factor and weight in the ultra-light class of 400-something grams for a 10″ tablet. Perhaps best to use Neonode’s IR touch technology instead of capacitive for least reflections and best readability.
For the processor on Archos G10, I think that one can expect either the OMAP4470 1.8Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 with SGX544 graphics or even the OMAP5430 with SGX544 graphics which can also run upwards 1.8Ghz in frequency or more. It depends if Archos plans to release the G10 already from mid-year or if they don’t plan to release it before the end of the year.
I don’t know if Archos will continue to sell that 3G Stick solution in G10. Maybe there is a way to allow for a modem module of any of the 3G/4G/LTE types to be manually added by the user, under full warranty, in some slot on the back of the device without it having to be through a USB host port. Maybe the multi-mode wireless modems are now so cheap, can even be included on the same CPU dye, that maybe they just included it by default even on the cheapest G10 tablet and provide just an unlocked SIM card slot on the side.
Archos did mention making one Windows 8 on ARM based Tablet/Laptop convertible by the end of the year. I hope they make sure to make it dual-boot the latest and greatest Android also.
Archos Elements brings Google Certified tablets at as low as 100€/$100. My guess is that Archos Elements brings the Rockchip RK30 Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 performance and higher capacitive screen resolutions than Arnova at extremely competitive pricing.
The new Arnova with Ice Cream Sandwich are going to be sold for as little as 50€/$50 at retail price!! My guess is 50€/$50 is the 7″ WVGA Dual-touch or single-touch resistive type with an RK2918 512MB RAM and Ice Cream Sandwich. It goes up to 150€/$150 retail price for what I think is probably the 9.7″ IPS capacitive RK2918 1GB RAM and Ice Cream Sandwich tablet. Basically with the new upcoming Arnova G3/G4 you get $49 basic alternative to the Kindle Fire and a $149 better-than-iPad1 tablet. Those are amazing low-priced targets for mass consumer retail Ice Cream Sandwich tablet pricing.
Archos is the top Android tablet seller in the major European markets, about equal to Samsung, in front of Asus, Acer, Motorola, Dell, LG, Toshiba and others. Archos CEO Henri Crohas sees a great opportunity to expand that lead with his company. Archos has announced a 32.9 Million € gross profit margin for 2011 on a yearly revenue of 171.4 Million €. They have announced an agreement to borrow upwards tens of millions of Euros more from one of the leading French banks Societe Generale (in exchange for stock guarantees, probably something similar to a capital increase, basically adding new stocks for cash to be used for the expansion) which Archos can use to further accelerate the mass production and mass distribution of their tablet series in the coming months.
You can discuss this post in the forum: http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=63964
Sources:
Related articles:
- Archos Teases G10 XS Tablet With Ultra-Thin Steel Chassis (techcrunch.com)
- Archos will launch Gen10 premium tablets this year (liliputing.com)
I’m on the BBC (on YouTube)
Posted by – March 13, 2012
Rory Cellan-Jones from the BBC interviewed me at Mobile World Congress last week about my Motorola Kopin Golden-i Augmented Video-blogging system. By the end of the year, thanks to the fast moving world of Technology, we’ll all be walking around with compact wearable computers, augmenting our reality, it’s going to be awesome!
ZTE Tania and ZTE Orbit
Posted by – March 12, 2012
These are probably some of the cheapest Windows Phone devices to be released on the market. They are waiting for the Tango version of the Windows Phone software before releasing these.
Fujitsu Arrows Ultra Slim 6.7mm Waterproof Android phone
Posted by – March 12, 2012
Made with special materials, Fujitsu shows how the screen is unbreakable, unscratchable, the special casing makes it the worlds thinnest smartphone at only 6.7mm. Sorry about the bad sound quality, my microphone was nearly out of battery (I bought a new Sennheiser MKE400 for 199 Euro at Media Markt just in case my previous same microphone is somehow broken now after 3 years of use).
LePhone Z1 MT6573 4″ and 3.5″
Posted by – March 12, 2012
Blephone shows a 4″ capacitive MT6573 Android phone.
Shenzhen Victory Electronics ATVD-001, HDMI Stick on ARM Cortex-A9
Posted by – March 12, 2012
Shenzhen Victory Electronics shows their new HDMI Stick design (just a mockup for now?) with an ARM Cortex-A9 processor. The price is $50 per unit when bought in bulk of at least 1000. Please write in the comments if you know which processor they are using.
