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Techradar |
- Review: Lenovo IdeaPad U160
- CES 2011: Gigabyte Goes Deadly With G1-Killer Motherboards
- CES 2011: ACRyan's FLUXX capacitor
- CES 2011: Kingston getting in a solid state
- CES 2011: Hands on: LG Optimus Black review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Samsung D8000 plasma series review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Toshiba glasses-free 3D TV review
- Review: Samsung Galaxy Player 50
- CES 2011: Hands on: Sony Vaio F Series review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Prototype Google Chrome OS netbook review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Panasonic Viera Tablet review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Sony HDR-TD10E 3D camcorder review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Samsung LED D8000 series review
- Video: Motorola Xoom showing Android 3.0 features
- Video: Motorola Xoom showing Android 3.0 features
- CES 2011: Hands on: Blackberry Playbook review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Dell Venue review
- CES 2011: Hands on: Dell Streak 7 review
- CES 2011: Acer launches tiny Liquid Mini Android
- CES 2011: Dell launches Streak 7 tablet and Venue smartphone
- Breaking: Dell launches Streak 7 tablet and Venue smartphone
- CES 2011: Sony releases 3D prosumer Handycam
- CES 2011: Razer Onza Xbox 360 controller gets UK price, date
- CES 2011: Razer Switchblade to take on DS and PSP
- CES 2011: The best tablets, pads and slates at CES 2011
| Posted: 07 Jan 2011 01:30 AM PST  As well as the impressive ThinkPad business machines, Lenovo also manufactures the IdeaPad range. The U160 belongs to this series and offers good value, as long as your performance requirements are simple. Some of the more powerful laptops in this group test might prove to be overkill if your needs are limited, so while the Intel Celeron processor here isn't the latest model, it provides roughly double the performance of a netbook and will happily run most basic tasks with ease. The same can be said for the integrated graphics card. It provides basic graphical power and while suitable for consuming content, such as movies, won't provide the power for creating it, unlike the Asus U35JC-RX080V or Apple MacBook 13-inch. Despite the laptop's diminutive size – it is the smallest and, at 1.4kg, the lightest here – storage is excellent and the 320GB hard drive will provide plenty of space for your content. The laptop's battery life of 305 minutes is about average for the group, but with such a low-powered and resource-light processor, we expected more. However, you will have enough power for use on the daily commute. The solid plastic chassis and resilient lid provide plenty of protection for the laptop on the road. Like the Toshiba Portege R700-15x, the machine also features a sensor which recognises when the laptop has been dropped and takes measures to protect the hard drive – and your data – upon impact. The 11.6-inch screen is quite small, but features the standard 1366 x 768-pixel resolution. Images are very sharp as a result, and we were just as comfortable working on this laptop as the larger 13.3-inch models. Large keyboard The keyboard spreads the width of the chassis, but is just as usable as the Apple or Sony Vaio VPCS139LE/B. A crisp action is provided and the keys are just the right width apart.
One irritant worth mentioning is that that Lenovo has swapped the positions of the Ctrl and Function keys, with the latter now on the end of the row. This isn't exactly intuitive and took a while to get used to. There is no room for a dedicated numeric keypad. There are three USB ports for you to attach peripherals to, as well as both VGA and HDMI video out ports, and finally an eSATA interface – which transfers data to an external, compatible device at high speed – rounds out the specification. If you're after a small ultraportable with a decent battery life and performance enough for running work applications with ease, the IdeaPad U160 is great value at this very competitive price. Related Links
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| CES 2011: Gigabyte Goes Deadly With G1-Killer Motherboards Posted: 06 Jan 2011 11:26 PM PST  Gigabyte has introduced a new series of three gaming motherboards, known as the G1-Killer series. The killers comprise the G1.Assassin, G1.Sniper and G1.Guerrilla, all of them shown off for the first time at CES. The series is targeted at gamers who make great demands on their computers and require the best and fastest action. Henry Kao, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Gigabyte, said: "Gigabyte is thrilled to be able to introduce the world's first motherboard series designed solely for elite gamers." Advanced "The G1-Killer series features the industry's most advanced hardware and software solutions from Creative and Bigfoot Networks onboard as well as the top-notch quality and durability users have come to expect from GIGABYTE. So, lock and load gamers, the Gigabyte G1-Killer series motherboards deliver a gaming experience unlike any other." All of the Killer boards are based on the Intel X58 chipset and offer solutions from Creative and Bigfoot Networks, in addition to several exclusive features that Gigabyte is currently keeping secret. 
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| CES 2011: ACRyan's FLUXX capacitor Posted: 06 Jan 2011 10:37 PM PST  ACRyan, one of the fastest growing names in media streaming devices, is planning to launch its first Intel-based streamer in March this year. We had a sneak peak at the FLUXX box and a very impressive looking bit of connected kit it is too. Packing the 1.2GHz Atom CE4150, 1GB DDR3 and built in storage ranging all the way up to the 2TB mark, the FLUXX is a powerful little streamer. As well as the usual, almost limitless, format support the FLUXX includes its own application store, and will have a host of names ready at launch offering downloadable and/or streamed content at the touch of a button. These will include the usual video on demand services as well as casual games, weather and news reports and a full, Flash-capable web browser to access all the goodies that don't necessarilly come with a widget. The dual-core Intel Atom processor also brings its own DRM to the table, making the FLUXX a more attractive proposition to content providers such as the movie producers. ACRyan's team believe that this year could see movies being available on the FLUXX as soon as they're out at the cinema. Making it just as easy for the consumer to pick up legitimate versions of new media as it is to pick up the pirated, illegal versions can only be healthy for the movie industry. Though obviously the cinema companies don't share that view... The FLUXX will also ship with a remote housing more buttons than England have scored runs in this Ashes series. With a full QWERTY keyboard on one side and a host of shortcut and navigation buttons on the other the FLUXX remote is very button-happy. Compared to the simplistic Boxee remote this is a very different take on things. Though ACRyan maintain the fact the important, oft-used buttons on the front of the remote are all within reach of the average thumb makes that less of an issue. The remote pictured here is just a prototype though, but the basic design will remain though the buttons will be inversed so as to have black buttons with white text on them. Theses remotes will also be available as an optional upgrade for the existing PlayOn media boxes too. Look out for a full review of the ACRyan FLUXX in the next couple of months. 
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| CES 2011: Kingston getting in a solid state Posted: 06 Jan 2011 10:19 PM PST  Talking with memory stalwart Kingston today it was mentioned that we could expect to see Sandforce-powered SSDs released under the enthusiast class HyperX branding in the first half of this year. It's the first time the manufacturer has gone into the enthusiast market with a high-end SSD drive, "we've been getting by with mainstream drives," said a Kingston rep. And he's right, the V+ series of SSDs have struck a great balance between price and performance, offering decent solid state performance for a fraction of some of the competitor's offerings. HyperX The HyperX SSD though will come out at the top-end of the market with the next generation of the Sandforce controller, running on the SATA 6Gbps interface. This is part of an increased push for the HyperX branding. As well as the new steely HyperX dual-channel memory modules for the Sandy Bridge platform, including the first 8GB 2,133MHz kit to go through the full Intel XMP testing, there has also been the HyperX Max USB 3.0 drive. As soon as the Sandforce controller is out in the wild we should see these new Kingston drives adding to that growing list. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: LG Optimus Black review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 08:26 PM PST  LG has been fleshing out its Android offerings of late and the latest handset off the production line is the LG Optimus Black. Sporting a slick lightweight design and a bright-yet-power efficient NOVA screen, it will sit alongside the also-new LG Optimus 2X in LG's range. The NOVA screen is possibly the most interesting feature. While some premium phones like the Samsung Galaxy S feature super bright AMOLED displays, the NOVA screen is able to match it on brightness while keeping power consumption to a minimum.
It was certainly very impressive. We weren't able to test battery performance, but the screen certainly seemed a match for most of the AMOLED screens we've seen. LG says that a standard AMOLED display will consume twice as much power as the Optimus Black's NOVA screen. The Black's other distinguishing feature is that it's the world's thinnest smartphone, replacing Apple's iPhone 4 at the top of the list. It certainly feels very thin in the hand, and it's lightweight too.
Browsing Android 2.2 was quick and easy, and the Black's new 'Gesture UI' overlay was also pretty neat. It allows you to directly access messages, emails and missed calls from the lock screen. There are also some new commands too, like lifting, shaking and tapping for functions like answering calls and opening the camera app.
We weren't able to test web performance as the sample we looked at had no internet connection. The phone should be released in the UK in the coming months, with an Android 2.3 upgrade already on the cards. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Samsung D8000 plasma series review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 07:36 PM PST  After Pioneer announced through teary eyes that it was no longer supporting plasma TV technology, three main players were left in the market: LG, Panasonic and Samsung. While there's been numerous talk that plasma was an aged format that was destined for the scrapheap, the technology has flourished in the era of 3D. Because of this Samsung has announced more lines than even of plasma TVs, with the pick of the crop being the plasma D8000.
The D8000 Series is a full HD panel that has a similar metallic bezel seen on last year's C9000 but it is now much thinner. This means that Samsung has managed to eek an extra inch out of the TVs (calling it Plasma+1) without compromising on panel size. This means that sizes are now rather obscure, so instead of 50 inch, you have 51 inch panels and so on.
The D8000 plasma uses Real Black Filter technology that reduces onscreen glare and Samsung's hyper real engine is also on board, as is Cinema Smooth technology. Both of these technologies iron out any wrinkles in Blu-ray playback. Like the LED screens, Samsung is utilising new slimmer designed active shutter glasses for use with the D8000. These glasses use Bluetooth instead of infrared and because of this there are less problems. Battery time is a very reasonable 40+ hours.
In addition to 3D capabilities there's also Samsung's Smart Hub on board. In-built Wi-Fi means you can connect to Samsung's new and improved UI, and watch on demand movies, handle your social networking and download an app or two to use. There is also DLNA on board, so you can hook up compatible devices to the TV.
Samsung looks like it is keeping the plasma dream alive with the Samsung D8000. Plasma technology has some of the biggest die-hard fans in technology, and the D8000 looks like it caters for their every need. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Toshiba glasses-free 3D TV review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 06:32 PM PST  Despite the billions of pounds that the big manufacturers have collectively invested developing and marketing 3D products, many people are yet to be convinced that 3D is worth paying a premium for. While 3D is undoubtedly impressive, the glasses are seen by many as a bit of a barrier, and so glasses-free lenticular 3D TVs are regarded as the holy grail of the industry. They use a special filter over the top of a super high-res display in order to create a parallax. In other words, each of your eyes see a slightly different picture without having to use glasses to facilitate the separation of the two pictures. The result, in theory, is a 3D picture that's much more comfortable – and convenient -to look at. Philips dazzled us with its lenticular prototype at IFA last year, and now Toshiba has become the first of the big names to break cover and launch a product.
Toshiba's flagship lenticular 3D TV is a 65-inch model, and it's joined by a 56-incher and a 20 inch. We'll focus mainly on the two big'uns. First, the good news. The problem traditionally encountered by lenticular displays is that if you move off-axis while watching, the picture becomes distorted as both of your eyes encounter scattered light from both pictures. Philips' display was impressive, but as soon as you moved, the 3D effect was destroyed. Toshiba's TV though is a lot more robust. You can view from almost any angle and still get the 3D effect. Even if you move from side to side or up and down, the ripple distortion is kept to a bare minimum. The result is a picture that looks good, and we can imagine some people feeling quite comfortable with having this TV in their homes. However, there's a but, and it's a biggy. To reduce the ripple distortion, Toshiba seems to have sacrificed much of the depth that makes traditional 3D TVs so impressive. While the 3D effect is undoubtedly there, it's nowhere near as powerful as an active shutter or passive display. Indeed, we'd go as far as to say the 3D effect was mostly underwhelming.
Another drawback is that while the panel underneath the filter has a 4096x2160 resolution, the perceived resolution each of your eyes see is nowhere near that high. It's not even anywhere near 1080p. The truth is that it's impossible to really work out what the exact resolution of the picture is - Toshiba admitted to us that it didn't know what it was. The result of this is that the panel lacked any sharpness, and what's more there were clear vertical lines on the display, betraying the presence of the otherwise invisible lenticular filter. Toshiba assured us that when these TVs eventually go on sale, they'll be a bit better than these prototypes. But frankly, we reckon they'd need some fairly substantial improvements to make the products as good as even the cheapest active shutter TVs out there – especially considering the inevitable high retail prices they'll command.
The smaller 20-inch prototypes were a great deal sharper, but still, the 3D effect lacked depth. Toshiba is clearly very excited about these products though. Despite having six of the bigger panels on display, it hid them in an enclosed area on its stand and forced punters to queue up to get in and have a look. Toshiba obviously wants to create some buzz and in many ways it worked. However, we canvassed some opinions from some of the people who saw the TVs and the response was a bit lacklustre. The general consensus was that the TVs were impressive, but were not knock-your-socks-off amazing. We very much look forward to testing the finished products, and we really hope that the final models are a bit better. So while we left the Toshiba stand a bit disappointed, we're very excited about the prospect of lenticular glasses-free 3D TVs. It surely won't be too long before the technology is mastered, and then maybe we can all learn to love 3D like the big brands want us to. 
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| Review: Samsung Galaxy Player 50 Posted: 06 Jan 2011 05:10 PM PST  With the Samsung Galaxy Player 50, we seem to finally be seeing a household name come out with major competition to the iPod touch. Now that the Galaxy brand is strong, the time seems right for this Android media player. Samsung's plan seems simple enough: forget the over-engineering and compete on extra features and price. It's a familiar Android tune, and one that's worked pretty damn well in the smartphone market. What we have is a touchscreen PMP with Android 2.1, Wi-Fi, micro-USB connectivity, a two-megapixel camera and a built-in microphone. It beats the iPod touch in a couple of key areas, with a built-in GPS chip, removable battery, FM radio and a microSD card slot for adding up to 32GB of additional memory. There's already 8GB of on-board memory, so all that looks pretty good for £149 – £40 less than the 8GB iPod Touch. There's also a 16GB version for £179. All of that sounds enticing, but there are a few caveats. The 3.2-inch screen is slightly smaller than the iPod's 3.5 inches, which isn't that big a deal in itself, but the resolution is only 240 x 400 pixels.
While we weren't expecting Samsung to match the glorious 480 x 960 of Apple's Retina display, we were hoping for something more like the 480 x 800 four-inch screen on the Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Omnia 7 or Google Nexus S. One other thing those handsets have in common? They're all AMOLED. This isn't. The screen on the Galaxy Player really looks low-res, too. It's pixelated and text can appear unclear. The other advantages the iPod has is its front-facing camera and the ability to record video in HD. Spec for spec, are these worth the £30 more that Apple's charging? We'd say yes, primarily for the Retina display, but the microSD expansion and GPS chip mean we'd probably call it even on value for money based purely on the specs.
The Galaxy Player is plastic, and feels light and a little cheap. However, that's not to say it's low quality. It's feels solid in the hand, and the lightly bumped battery cover adds some grip to it.
At 54 x 11 x 105.5mm, it's a fair bit thicker than the iPod Touch, but is smaller in the other two dimensions. At just 84g, the Galaxy Player trounces the iPod when it comes to weight, with the latter coming in 101g.
On the front of the player, underneath the multi-touch screen, are three buttons: Menu, Home and Back. The Home is a physical button, while the others are touch sensitive.
On the device's right side is a lock/on/off key and the microphone, while volume controls are on the left. On the top is the 3.5mm headphone socket and the micro-USB port, which has a little slide-over cover that actually feels pretty solid and reliable.
The removable battery is 1000mAh, which is much smaller than what you'd get on a smartphone. This isn't so much of a problem as there's no cellular radio constantly going here (unless you let the GPS run all the time), so battery life is actually pretty acceptable. Not really any better than its competitors, but not bad by any means. You'll have already seen the score for the Samsung Galaxy Player, so you're probably wondering what's wrong, considering nothing on the previous page was that bad. Most of the time, at least on the model we tested, the Galaxy Player is unusable. By that, we don't just mean that it's a bit slow or awkward. It spends the majority of its time crashed when you try to launch apps, or even when you just wake it from the lock screen. It's unusable in the sense that you are completely unable to use it. The most ridiculous thing is that it works fine sometimes. On those occasions, getting around the Android Home screens and menu is exceptionally fast. Opening an app is like a game of Russian Roulette, though. Will the notifications bar bring everything to a standstill? Will your email inbox simply fail to load? Will the Maps app cause a totally blank screen? Connecting to Wi-Fi can cause it, as can plugging in earphones.
The worst part about these crashes is that they don't fix themselves quickly (as they almost always do on iOS, for example). You're simply left hanging until the task manager finally catches on and gives you the option to force close things. This can take 10 or 15 minutes sometimes, and still isn't guaranteed to get everything back on track.
The Android Market is almost certain to make the device crash whenever opened. What should be the Galaxy Player's major selling point was totally useless. It crashed the operating system nearly every time, and even when it did load, we couldn't install any apps. We were told there wasn't enough space on the device. Checking the settings told us that there were zero bytes available in Program Data Memory, which is ridiculous whene there's 6GB of internal memory that could be used and we had an 8GB microSD card installed. Sometimes, the crashes got so bad we had to restart the Galaxy Player... and when you do, it forgets your settings! Every single time we turned the device off it forgot all of our email inboxes, our synced Google accounts and our Wi-Fi passwords. On the plus side, the Music and Video apps crashed far fewer times, but the music player slowed right down a few times, which is just as bad. Music quality was on a par with the iPod touch, but it supports a far wider range of codecs, including MP3, AAC, OGG, WMA, WAV and more. It's the same story with video, with MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV, DivX and Xvid all supported. Our music was spotted and sorted easily enough over drag-and-drop, though you can use Samsung's Kies software if you want an iTunes-style option.
The SoundAlive equaliser mode is a nice idea, but trying to move a load of sliders when the device is barely responding is a recipe for frustration. Video playback is generally smooth, and the screen is nice and bright, but the low resolution means that everything will inevitably look pixelated. If a video doesn't fill the screen natively, you can make it bigger. However, instead of enlarging and cropping it, in the way Apple's devices do, it simply gets stretched to fill the space, meaning you really have to watch it in whatever the original aspect ratio was. As far as the internet goes, the Galaxy Player is quite slow to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot, but the browser is as fast to render as Android always is. No Android 2.2 means no Flash 10.1, but Eclair still has some great internet capabilities.
Alas, the usual Galaxy Player restrictions come into play. When it's working well, panning around and zooming on websites is smooth, but then it starts misbehaving and you might as well write into TechRadar using snail mail asking for the latest news, and we could write out the contents of the site by hand and post them back before you'd get anywhere with the Galaxy Player. The two-megapixel camera has a fair few options, as well as a video recording mode. However, the quality is generally pretty low, as you can see on the next page. Video recordings are 15 frames per second at a resolution of 320 x 240 allegedly, but when we played it back on our PC our software said it was 478 x 358. There is the option to geotag photos, but that would depend on the GPS chip working, which it didn't for us. At all. Not once. Which also made the Maps app quite a bit less useful. We liked The Samsung Galaxy Player 50 has a nice build quality that makes it really very light. It feels plasticky, but we don't mind that. It's still incredibly solid. The price is pretty good, especially considering the opportunity for microSD expansion. Even if you got the 16GB and a 32GB card, you couldn't match the 64GB maximum offered in the iPod touch range, but you really pay for that kind of storage. Add in the fact that there's a GPS chip and some other handy features and we think Samsung is aiming in the right area. We disliked The software is simply appalling. Frankly, if you tried to use this implementation of Android 2.1 to show someone how Google's OS can match Apple's iOS on non-phone devices, they'd laugh in your face (it also still frequently mentions 'your phone' in menus and alerts). How can it be that Android is so good on Samsung-made phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S and Google Nexus S, but so bad here? It may be £40 less than the iPod touch, but if it's only going to work a third of the time at most, it needs to cost a third of the price at most. It's the very definition of false economy. With the Market refusing to install apps (if it even runs), it also loses the ability to stand up to Apple on expanded functionality. The screen is even lower quality than the original iPod touch, let alone the new one's Retina display. The size is also getting a bit small for it to be any good for internet browsing – we reckon 3.5 inches is the minimum to be comfortable, though you may not mind this. Verdict The gulf in quality between this and the iPod touch is incredible. There's simply no reason to choose this over any other PMP, even if you really want the expandable storage. It barely functions, and you never know how long its grace will last even if it does work. Frankly, if you want to go Android, buy an Orange San Francisco (for £50 less!) and just use it without a contract. Otherwise, do your sanity and blood pressure a favour and get an iPod touch. Camera samples from the Samsung Galaxy Player 50's two-megapixel camera.
Panorama mode
Video sample from the Samsung Galaxy Player 50. Related Links
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Sony Vaio F Series review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 04:30 PM PST  Sony's 16-inch Vaio F Series certainly isn't the first notebook to make a play with 3D – many have boasted 3D gaming courtesy of Nvidia, but it's certainly the most groundbreaking. Why? It adds 3D Blu-ray and can perform 2D to 3D conversion on the fly from a Blu-ray disc or DVD. In fact, a button on the laptop means you can flick between 2D and 3D at will. That's pretty smart, so we popped to the Sony booth here at CES to check it out - and it looks stunning.
The LED-backlit screen features Sony's sequential panel technology to alternately display Full HD 3D images for your left and right eyes at up to a frame refresh rate of 240fps. The graphics power comes courtesy of Nvidia's GeForce GT540M.
As for the more standard laptop-type stuff, the unit is running an Intel Core i7 processor (presumably this will be a new Sandy Bridge variant when it ships). There's also support for the new USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0 too as well as 8GB of memory and a 640GB hard drive. There's also an HD webcam, which seems to be the norm now.
The virtual 5.1 sound system features Dolby Home Theater v3. S-Force 3D tech which produces some very powerful sound.
The OS of choice is, naturally, Windows 7 Home Premium. Sony says the notebook will be available from the end of February – hopefully it will come to the UK as we'd rather like to have a lengthier look. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Prototype Google Chrome OS netbook review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 04:06 PM PST  We've had a play with Google's Chrome OS running on an Intel Atom-powered netbook here at CES. Of course, we're no strangers to Chrome OS here on TechRadar, having seen some features demonstrated previously and having installed a very early version of the OS. But this is the first time we've been able to play with a near-ready (or perhaps even ready) build on a netbook.
Touring the Intel booth, this netbook was plumped in between the Jolicloud netbook and other Atom-based devices, including some kit running MeeGo. Indeed, Intel has quite a lot of Googleness on its booth this year - there are also several Google TV boxes.
Google's new OS is certainly basic and, as our Intel representative told us, it "takes you a while" to get used to the fact you have no standard desktop - you simply have a browser.
How useful Chrome OS is remains to be seen - it's so reliant on connectivity. Don't know about you, but keeping a constant connection on mobile broadband in the UK can be difficult if you're moving around. And without connectivity Chrome OS isn't that useful - while the offline features in Gmail should keep you going, we think Chrome OS will only be OK in this regard if proper offline support for Google Docs is reintroduced - Google axed offline access as it moved away from Google Gears. At the same time as announcing the Chrome Web Store in December, Google said it was "expecting to deliver" offline Google Docs support "early in 2011. For those who used offline, we are bringing back the much improved feature by taking advantage of advancements in modern browser technology like HTML5." The Chrome Web Store is, of course, also very much part of Google's strategy for Chrome OS.
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Panasonic Viera Tablet review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 03:30 PM PST  To say that Panasonic surprised when it announced the launch of an Android tablet at CES would be an understatement. At the company's press conference on Wednesday, Panny's president Shiro Kitajima only touched on the tablet briefly but a visit to Panasonic's stand today reveals that there's not just one Viera Tablet – there's three. Joining the 7-inch Viera Tablet is a 10-incher and a cute little 4-inch model that looks more like a phone than a tablet. All three Viera Tablets run Android 2.2 and are designed to partner the latest generation of Panasonic's Viera TVs. That said, at their core they are still just standard Android tablets, and you can still install apps and browse the web on them as normal. There's no access to the Android Market, but there is a Viera Market for all of Panasonic-endorsed apps.
The core function of the tablets, though, is for real-time interaction with your TV. Panasonic launched its new Viera Connect IPTV service this week, and the Viera Tablets are designed to help you browse the content and add value to your viewing experience.
When you switch on the device, Android boots as per normal and from the home screen you can load up the Viera Connect app. The first basic function of the app is to act as a remote control for the TV, so you can use it to choose content to watch from the Viera Connect service, and to browse available apps. To choose and watch a programme you need only flick the thumbnail over in the direction of your Viera TV.
You can also stream live TV from your Panasonic telly so that you can continue watching your programmes even if you're walking around your home. The tablet is also compatible with multi-angle content, like the kind you get with live sports broadcasts. So while you're watching the footy on the big plasma, you can watch alternative angles and replays on the tablet. In the same way, if you see an interesting product advertised during a break, the Viera Tablet will allow you to quickly navigate to read more about and even buy the product. Unfortunately, we were unable to test most of these features because the tablets only had early builds of the apps installed. Plus, most of the tablets on display were not paired with TVs. However, we were able to test them as Android tablets in their own right, and in this regard the Viera Tablets are nothing to write home about. While no official specs have been announced yet, it's clear that the hardware is rather basic. In its press release, Panasonic claims the tablets feature a 'slim and lightweight design'. However, while they are certainly lightweight, slim they absolutely ain't.
Unless of course you consider 1cm+ to be slim. The screens are also very low quality. The resolutions seemed very low indeed – individual pixels could be made out very easily. These are not high-end devices by any means.
Of course, the large form factors could mean that the battery life on these things is excellent, but as they were all plugged in and secured the the stands, we were unable to test this. Essentially these Viera Tablets, while running Android 2.2, are unlikely to send ripples across the tablet market. If you're planning to buy one of Panasonic's sexy new plasma screens and want to make best use of the new Viera Connect service, they may well be worth considering. But otherwise we can't see these first-generation efforts making much of a splash when they finally go on sale. Ultimately, it will probably come down to how much they cost. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Sony HDR-TD10E 3D camcorder review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 02:47 PM PST  Sony spent most of its CES conference celebrating all things 3D, and with good reason. The company's 3D portfolio is full to the brim of 3D goods – and this year the third dimension expanded to its camera, PC and camcorder line-up. The Sony HDR-TD10E 3D camcorder is one chunky beast. The chassis has a lot of extra width, due to the fact that Sony has to squeeze two lenses into the camcorder, each one recording 1080p footage. The camcorder's integrated dual lens system also means that Sony has had to double up on its Exmor R CMOS sensors. And there are also two BIONZ image processors on board.
Sony is hoping that it will make 3D shooting as easy as shooting 2D video. This is something of a challenge, mainly due to the fact that you have to deal with things like depth of field and stop messy jolts and zooms in your footage.
There's some interesting features to make shooting easier. These include a dual recording system that means the camcorder has the ability for 3D content to be played back in Full HD 2D automatically on non-3D displays.
Although playback of the footage has to be on a 3D TV and through glasses, you can view your content on the camcorder. The 3D footage can be played back without glasses on the Xtra Fine 3.5-inch 3D LCD touch screen. Other features include 10x optical zoom with Optical SteadyShot (Active Mode) and iAUTO are offered in 3D mode.
Memory wise, 64GB of flash memory is on board which makes the HDR-TD10E an enticing product when it is released in April 2011. We recommend you find yourself a pair of bigger hands first, though. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Samsung LED D8000 series review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 02:19 PM PST  Samsung at CES has always been something of a showstopper. The Korean company managed to wow everyone in 2010 with the launch of the C9000 – a flagship TV that was a design marvel, matched by a great list of specs. This year, a TV has landed that's rivals the C9000's looks and feature list. The D8000 is an impressive feat in TV manufacturing, boasting an ultra-thin bezel. Samsung reduced the bezel size by up to 80 per cent and is calling it the One Design bezel.
After eventually dragging our eyes away from the frame, the TV has been stuffed with new features. These include: a much-improved UI for Samsung's online Smart Hub, full web browsing capabilities – it's the same webkit that powers Google TV – and use of social-networking apps like Twitter. Skype and Facebook. To access this Smart Hub, the TV has been equipped with Wi-Fi.
To complement the TV, Samsung has created a brand-new remote control, the TwinView Touch Control TV remote. This comes with the TV and can pipe out one television feed – on its 3-inch screen - while you are watching another on your big screen. The remote control has all the functionality of a PMP and looks like a smartphone. The Samsung panel has a 2ms response time, improved LED backlight scanning, 2D to 3D conversion.
The TV is also the first to offer advanced Micro Dimming technologies making whites whiter and blacks blacker. The D8000 Series also comes with Samsung's new 3D glasses. Instead of using IR, they are now using Bluetooth connectivity and will work for 40 hours on one charge.
The Samsung D8000 series has a UK release date of around April, with pricing to still be announced. 
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| Video: Motorola Xoom showing Android 3.0 features Posted: 06 Jan 2011 02:10 PM PST After the Motorola CES press conference yesterday we snapped this video of the demo in action. The Android 3.0 you see here isn't quite finished – the shots of Honeycomb running on the tablet are just images, while our demo guy plays videos to show the browser Google Talk videochat in action. Still, it's certainly worth a look, especially if you're interested in what Android 3.0 will have to offer. 
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| Video: Motorola Xoom showing Android 3.0 features Posted: 06 Jan 2011 02:10 PM PST After the Motorola CES press conference yesterday we snapped this video of the demo in action. The Android 3.0 you see here isn't quite finished – the shots of Honeycomb running on the tablet are just images, while our demo guy plays videos to show the browser Google Talk videochat in action. Still, it's certainly worth a look, especially if you're interested in what Android 3.0 will have to offer. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Blackberry Playbook review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 02:05 PM PST  The Blackberry Playbook could well be the tablet that changes the game. In a word, it's a triumph. We've been talking about the Playbook for months now, but only now at CES in Las Vegas have we been able to have a proper play with it. And boy is it impressive. Running a brand new Blackberry Tablet OS and powered along by a 1GHz Cortex-A9 dual core processor and 1GB of RAM, it's without doubt the most impressive iPad rival we've seen. It's so stonkingly awesome, in fact, that we'd say it's the first tablet that genuinely has a shot at knocking the iPad off its best-in-class pedestal. Yes, it's that good. At first sight, the Playbook doesn't look particularly special. The bezel is quite wide and makes the 7-inch tablet look a bit bloaty. However, unlike all the other tablet devices out there, the Playbook's bezel packs hidden secrets.
While the touchscreen interface on most tablets extends only to the edge of the screen, the Blackberry Playbook's touch features extend right across the bezel in all directions to the edge of the device. And this is integral to the navigation of the operating system.
Swiping your finger from the edge of the device, across the bezel and onto the screen will bring up all manner of options and features, depending on which side you choose to swipe from and which app you're using. For instance, in the web browser, a swipe from the top down will pull down the tab menu where you can either switch to another tab or open a new one.
It's surprisingly intuitive and we picked up the basics immediately. The playbook packs two cameras - a 3MP front-facing camera and a 5MP rear-facing one. Both produced surprisingly decent images. While we were unable to transfer the pics we took onto another device to have a proper look at them, they looked very good on the Playbook's own screen. Even te front-facing camera was producing some very sharp shots.
The screen itself is super sharp. The 1024x600 resolution is the same as on the 10-inch iPad, but because of the Playbook's 7-inch display, the increased pixel density makes all the difference. It's sharp and crisp, and HD video looks fabulous.
Talking of video, the Playbook can play full HD 1080p videos without breaking a sweat. It can also output them via a mini HDMI connection, and what's more – it can play more than one HD video at once. Indeed, if you're watching an HD video clip, you can swipe the screen to pull up the media menu and switch to watch another video. If you don't stop or pause the original clip, it'll continue to play in the background. In the video menu you'll be able to see both clips' thumbnails playing side-by-side. Switching between them is quick as you like. There's no lag, there's no brief pause. It's just slick and easy.
We set a couple of HD video clips playing and then opened YouTube in a browser in order to play a Flash video at the same time. We were amazed - it all worked perfectly.
Of course, the battery drain from this kind of intensive processing is likely to be catastrophic. All the samples at the show were plugged into the power so we were unable to test battery performance. Even if RIM has put the best battery in the world in there, if you buy one you're going to have to be very careful with how you use the multitasking. It's so good that it's exceedingly easy to leave videos and music playing in the background without realising.
Videos aside, general multitasking on the Playbook really is fantastic. It makes the multitasking on Android 2.2 look mediocre, and needless to say it makes the 'sort of but not really' faux-multitasking on the iPad and iPhone 4 look utterly last-generation. The interface is a joy to use and absolutely matches iOS in terms of ease of use. Unfortunately, RIM had disabled the settings menu on all the display samples so we were unable to take a look at that side of things. We'll have to wait for a proper review sample for that.
But in terms of being able to easily find and load apps, manage your music and videos, play games and browse the web, Blackberry has an absolute gem on its hands. The Playbook is due to go on sale in the US within the next few months and should be launching in the UK in the Spring. We can't wait to take another look at it, and of course we'll bring you our full review as soon as RIM gives us a sample. 
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Dell Venue review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 01:14 PM PST  Dell took the wraps off its Venue smartphone at CES today and we've had a play with it. The new handset is similar in basic styling to the Windows Phone 7-toting Venue Pro, but this new model is Android 2.2 all the way. It seems like a great Android handset to us, even if it's lacking some of the killer specs we've seen elsewhere at the show. It'll be interesting to see how it's priced - as well as how it will stack up alongside what'll be launched at next month's Mobile World Congress.
The new handset feels extremely pleasant in the hand. It's really nicely styled with metallic sides and curved ends – surely the best looking thing Dell has yet produced.
The front is the best; Venue has the same curved glass screen as its older brother and, again, is a 4.1-inch OLED screen.
It didn't seem as bright as it should have to us, even if we struggled with various reflections as we photographed it in Dell's suite here at CES. However, the clarity is excellent.
The screen also the same Gorilla Glass used in the Dell Streak variants as well as on Microsoft's new Surface. At last night's keynote Microsoft said you can drop a beer bottle onto Surface and it still won't break but, mobile phones being what they are, we doubt it will be long before someone breaks this one.
So what else does the Venue offer? It's nothing extraordinary - there's an 8 megapixel camera as well as a 1GHz processor. Details on the processor are sketchy, but we'd bet on it being the same Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM-based chip found inside the Venue Pro.
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| CES 2011: Hands on: Dell Streak 7 review Posted: 06 Jan 2011 12:59 PM PST  Not only did Dell unveil the Dell Streak 7 at its CES press conference, but it also offered a sneak peek of a new 10.1-inch model to go alongside the 7 and existing 5-inch Streak tablets. The Streak 7 is rather similar to the Dell Streak 5 (as it would seem to have been rebranded) but it differs in one crucial way – it has a dual-core version of the Nvidia Tegra processor. The Streak 7 is also a 4G tablet. As we don't have 4G networks in the UK as yet, you might think that it won't appear in the UK, but the tablet will be available elsewhere too.
Like the Streak 5, the Streak 7 also features Gorilla Glass and has full Adobe Flash 10.1 support. As you'd expect there's Bluetooth and Wi-Fi alongside the cellular options plus front and back cameras.
The size seems a little strange at first sight. It seems quite compact for a device that sits in between the original Streak and the iPad – indeed it doesn't really feel big enough. The Streak 5 may feel like a big phone, but this is kind of a halfway house.
Dell is positioning it as a "family tablet," but if for the home we're not sure why you'd plump for it over a 10-inch tablet. Naturally Dell knows this and will make its 10-inch play in the near future – and surely you'd be looking at this size of device if you wanted to play back content on your tablet. And, as a tablet designed for media, we're definitely disappointed by the meagre 800x480 display. Dell will have to up its game here for the 10.1-inch variant.
Dell Stage is a very interesting user interface – it seems it will appear on a whole plethora of new devices though it will be interesting to see if it sells much content. New content services have a lot to prove, especially when they come from people you don't expect to be offering you content.
Like the Streak 5, expect the Streak 7 to be available from a carrier partner as well as direct from Dell.com.
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| CES 2011: Acer launches tiny Liquid Mini Android Posted: 06 Jan 2011 12:23 PM PST  Acer has launched the Liquid Mini, a tiny Android phone that comes in a range of different colours. The Acer Liquid Mini is essentially a smaller version of the original Acer Liquid Android phone, with similar styling but a smaller form factor. "The subtle curves of liquidmini meet the beautiful chrome edges, wrapped in a soft touch casing shaped to fit your hand perfectly," reads Acer's lovingly-crafted press release. "You will be amazed to discover so many features into this charming Android smartphone." Android fashionistas It also comes in loads of different colours, for the fashion conscious Android fans out there, including blue, silver, black, green and pink. The Acer Liquid Mini runs on Android 2.2, and features a diminutive 3.2-inch capacitive screen with multi-touch input and both Wi-Fi and 3G support to keep you connected. Additionally, there's a GPS and you can also stream music and video to a DNLA-certified TV from the device. There's only 512MB in-built memory, but you can beef it up with a microSD if you want to store loads of tunes or movies on the phone. No pricing details in from Acer as yet, though we do know that the Acer Liquid Mini will be available in the UK from April. 
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| CES 2011: Dell launches Streak 7 tablet and Venue smartphone Posted: 06 Jan 2011 11:39 AM PST  Dell has announced the Streak 7 tablet at its press conference here at CES as well as the new Venue smartphone. Both run Android 2.2 although the Streak 7 will be upgradeable to Android 3.0 Honeycomb "soon after its release." The tablet is very similar to the standard Streak (now seemingly known as the Streak 5). So if the new tab will be Honeycomb after a while, presumably the Streak 5 will be too.
Dell also previewed a 10.1-inch tablet that will be on the market soon, although this shot really is all there is. And there was no indication of how soon "soon" actually is.
The Streak 7 is the first 4G tablet in US on T-Mobile, while there's a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. Both also have full Adobe Flash 10.1 support. Dell says it will sell the Streak 7 outside the US though, so it shouldn't be too long before we see it in the UK. The Streak 7 also packs the Dell Stage multimedia interface that a Dell representative told us will be on a huge variety of Dell and even non-Dell devices. Like the Dell Venue Pro, the new Venue has a curved glass screen and is very similar in much of its styling. Unlike the Venue Pro though, there's no slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
Both the Streak 7 and Venue will be available "in the next couple of weeks" according to Dell. Initially the Venue will be sold unlocked on Dell.com. 
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| Breaking: Dell launches Streak 7 tablet and Venue smartphone Posted: 06 Jan 2011 11:39 AM PST Dell has announced the Streak 7 tablet at its press conference here at CES as well as the new Venue smartphone. Both run Android 2.2 although the Streak 7 will be upgradeable to Honeycomb "soon after its release."
Dell also previewed a 10.1-inch tablet that will be on the market soon.
The Streak 7 is the first 4G tablet in US on T-Mobile, while there's a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. Both also have full Adobe Flash 10.1 support. Dell says it will sell the Streak 7 outside the US though.
Both the Streak 7 and Venue will be available "in the next couple of weeks" according to Dell. Initially the Venue will be sold unlocked on Dell.com. More to follow. 
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| CES 2011: Sony releases 3D prosumer Handycam Posted: 06 Jan 2011 11:29 AM PST  If the new 3D-capable Sony Bloggie's just don't cut it for your amateur 3D movie making needs, then you might be more inclined to invest in one of Sony's just-announced 3D Handycams. There's two of everything: two lenses (naturally), two Exmor R sensors, and two image processors. UK pricing is still 'tbc' though we know that the US price when it launches in April is around $1500 (£969). So it's not cheap, basically. However, if it's a fully-specced high-end camcorder that you want that is pretty well future-proofed, then the new Handycam could well be worth a look-in. Double Full HD The new Sony HDR-TD10E is, according to the manufacturer, the world's first "Double Full HD" 3D consumer camcorder, featuring an integrated dual lens system, with two Sony G Lenses, double "Exmor R" CMOS sensors, and double "BIONZ" image processors.] What all these strange and bizarre marketing words mean is that the new 3D Handycam shoots decent 3D video. Though we will have to see exactly how decent it is when we get hold of a review unit to test out in the coming months. The HDR-TD10E also lets you watch your 3D footage without glasses on an Xtra Fine 3.5-inch 3D LCD touchscreen display. Of course, the new Handycam is really being marketed to those early adopters that have already invested in a fully 3D capable HDTV (or are perhaps already starting to think about making that investment). Aside from the high def 3D shooting, you also get a 10x optical zoom with Optical SteadyShot (Active Mode) and iAUTO in 3D mode, along with 64GB of flash memory. 
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| CES 2011: Razer Onza Xbox 360 controller gets UK price, date Posted: 06 Jan 2011 11:15 AM PST  Razer has finally unveiled the UK pricing and release date for the eagerly anticipated Razer Onza Xbox 360 Tournament Edition and standard controller. Peripherals giant Razer has announced that the controversial Onza – which offers mappable multi function buttons, Hyperresponse buttons and PC compatibility – along with a 15 foot cable, because we all know that wired is for the 1337. The Razer Onza Tournament Edition will cost a not inconsiderable £45, with the Standard edition around £35. Both are available for pre-order on January 17. Mass hysteria "We predict mass hysteria in-stores, people will fight over fast-selling stock. Blood might be spilled," over-enthused Robert "RazerGuy" Krakoff, president Razer USA, not a man scared of a bit of hyperbole. "So I recommend pre-ordering for minimal stress and safety issues. With the Razer Onza controllers, we are excited to bring the attention to detail and precision we give our PC gaming peripherals to the Xbox 360." The press release lays out why the controller is likely to prove popular, although the controversy around the fine line between macro cheating and good kit giving people the edge is unlikely to be blunted. "Built for the hardcore competitive gamer, the Razer Onza Tournament Edition offers superior customizability with adjustable resistance analog sticks meaning nothing stands in your way for exceptional precision, says Razer's release. "Twist the analog sticks in one direction to make them more resistant for steadier control, or twist in the opposite direction for quicker, fluid movements. Boom! He's dead. Boom! She's dead. You're just too fast; nothing's stopping you when you have an Onza in your hands." Cheating or not, we reckon it can only help us negotiate that tricky Burnley versus Real Madrid Fifa 10 Champions League final match before polishing off the n00bs on the Black Ops server. 
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| CES 2011: Razer Switchblade to take on DS and PSP Posted: 06 Jan 2011 10:39 AM PST  Gaming giant Razer has unveiled the Switchblade concept mobile PC gaming device that replaces the traditional mouse and keyboard with a multi-touch screen, dynamic tactile keyboard and 'intelligent user interface'. The bold move by a company most associated with gaming mice and keyboards, uses Intel's Atom, and claims to port the 'full mouse and keyboard' experience onto a console type device, although it is still at the concept stage. Whether this proves to be the answer to the dreams of first person shooter addicts who like their mouse or RTS aficionados remains to be seen, but the principle is intriguing. WoW!
World of Warcraft is featured heavily in the gallery for the new product at http://www2.razerzone.com/switchblade/, and the appeal of that MMO behemoth on a portable device is certainly going to attract interest. "The main problem with mobile PC gaming so far is that no one has been able to port the full mouse and keyboard experience onto a small size portable solution," said Min-Liang Tan, CEO and Creative Director, Razer. "By combining adaptive on-the-fly controls and display, we managed to maintain the full tactile keyboard in a miniature computer while saving valuable screen estate." Intel keen
Intel's Brad Graff believes that the platform has promise, stating: "The Intel Atom processor, combined with Razer's expertise in bringing gaming solutions to market, will help make it possible for consumers to have a powerful gaming experience in mobile devices. "With our established focus on human interface devices, moving the mouse and keyboard experience to the next level was a natural step. "Razer isn't just about bringing innovation to the PC, but creating products that will change the future of gaming. The Razer Switchblade is one such product." The device looks small and, well, interesting, and we'll endeavour to get a closer look as soon as we can. 
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| CES 2011: The best tablets, pads and slates at CES 2011 Posted: 06 Jan 2011 10:37 AM PST  The tablet-friendly Android 3.0 OS is one of the stars of CES 2011. You'll find it running on a number of new tablet devices that hope to chip away at the dominance of Apple's iPad. The tablet market is poised to explode. Here's a handy run-down of who is doing what... BlackBerry PlayBook RIM unveiled its tablet-sized BlackBerry PlayBook last September and we've been playing around with it on the show floor. Like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, it has a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels and some iPad-beating extras... Measuring 10mm thick, it runs a tabletized version of the Blackberry OS and is powered by a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor. There's a 3MP camera on the front, a 5MP lens on the back; plus 4G support, 3G support via Blackberry phone and 802.11b/g/n wireless. LG G-Slate Like Motorola's Xoom, the oddly-titled G-Slate runs the forthcoming Android 3.0 software. The new device is also 4G-ready and will debut on the T-Mobile network in the US. We await rock-solid details. Acer Iconia Tab A500 Another smart-looking tablet that, in tech terms at least, eclipses the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Iconia prototype on show at CES is running Android 2.2, but will rock the tablet-specific Honeycomb OS come launch.
Like the Motorola Xoom, Acer has opted for a 10.1-inch touchscreen display here, 4G connectivity and a zippy dual-core Tegra 2 processor. There's also an HDMI out and full-size USB port, which will make this baby very versatile. Motorola Xoom Much of the attention at CES has been focused on the Motorola Xoom, a 10.1-inch (1280x800) tablet packing a dual-core processor, the Android 3.0/Honeycomb OS, 1080p video playback and 3G/4G/Wi-Fi connectivity.
It also incorporates two cameras - a 5MP lens on the back (capable of 720p video recording) and a 2MP front-facing camera for video chat. Makes the 1st -gen iPad look a little old hat, don't you think? Lenovo LePad The LePad incorporates a 10.1-inch (1280x800) touch-screen, 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and runs a customised version of the Android 2.2 OS. Available in 16GB and 32GB versions, it's 3G-only and includes a front-facing 2 Megapixel camera.
Uniquely, the LePad can be docked into a companion U1 base equipped with a 1.2GHz Intel Core i5-540UM processor, becoming a beefier Windows 7 netbook. VIERA Tablet
The so-called VIERA tablet isn't a tablet PC that will rival the other devices here. In contrast, this Android-powered screen works with VIERA Connect (formerly VIERA Cast) to access internet services via your Panasonic HDTV. Screen sizes will reportedly range from a dinky 4 inches to 10 inches. Samsung Galaxy Tab Launched last year, the Galaxy Tab was arguably the first credible alternative to the iPad. At CES, Samsung announced that 1.5 million of the 7-inch Tabs have been shipped to date and that a Wi-Fi-only version will be available this year. Asus Eee Slate
Head over to Amazon.com and you'll find that the 12.1-inch ASUS Eee Slate EP121-1A011M is now listed for preorder. A cool $999 will buy you this high-end Windows 7-powered tablet, which incorporates a Intel Core i5-470UM CPU, up to 4GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD, Bluetooth 3.0 and a 2MP webcam. The 4 Cell battery will give you 'up to 3 hours battery life', which begs the question: 'what's the point?' Asus Eee Pad Three different versions of the Eee Pad have been launched at CES 2011, with and without keyboards. The Eee Pad Slider combines a shallow QWERTY keypad with a 10.1-inch (1280×800) touchscreen, Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, Android 3.0 and dual cameras.
The Eee Pad Transformer, meanwhile, retains the core specs of the Slider model, above, but the keyboard is an optional attachment rather than a built-in feature. Finally, the Eee Pad MeMo reduces the screen size down to 7.1 inches and uses a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. Toshiba Tegra 2 tablet Following the embarrassing failure of its Folio 100 device, Toshiba has returned with an as yet unnamed tablet packing NVIDIA's Tegra 2 processor. Like many other tablets it boasts a 10.1-inch (1280x800) touchscreen, 5MP/2MP cameras (back/front) and Android 3.0. Assorted others... The tablets, pads and slates above are far from being the only iPad rivals at this year's show. A 7-inch version of the Dell Streak has been spotted on the T-Mobile website, while NEC has been showing off a dual-screen 'Cloud Communicator' at CES.
There are also tablets incoming from Notion Ink, Netbook Navigator, Vizio, MSI and Sharp, which is readying its 10.8-inch Galapagos tablet (pictured above). Elsewhere, Fujitsu reportedly has an Oak Trail Win 7 tablet in the works; Samsung has unveiled the TX100 'slider' tablet, while Archos has upgraded its 7-inch device with a faster processor. Apple iPad 2? No tablet article would be complete without mentioning a potential iPad 2. Judging by the specs of the Motorola Xoom and Asus Eee Pad, the original iPad now lags behind in terms of technology. Who'd care to bet against a higher resolution Retina Display and added digital cameras (plus FaceTime) in the next version? Anyone? Check out the iPad 2 rumours. What tablet device are you most looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below... 
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