Microsoft-branded tablet coming on Monday!

Laptops

Microsoft could be about to unleash a branded tablet, taking the fight for slate supremacy directly to Apple.

The Redmond-based software monger has scheduled an event for Monday, at which it will be making a 'major' announcement that the company says "you will not want to miss".

According to The Wrap, which cites an individual with knowledge of the company, Microsoft will use the event to launch an own-brand tablet.

There's no hint as to what such a gadget would look like (the image above is just Windows 8 stuck on an HP TouchPad), but the report claims that Microsoft will manufacture the new toy itself.

I'd rather see Nokia building Microsoft's flagship tablet, having allied with Microsoft closely over Windows Phone and proving it has the hardware chops to make a desirable bit of kit.

As for the operating system, if the tablet proves real then Windows 8 RT (the version built for tablets) would be all but guaranteed.

Personally I think a Microsoft-branded tablet would be a smart move. It's fair to say that Microsoft isn't exactly regarded as the coolest of brands (thanks Clippy), but a tablet bearing the Microsoft logo and running Windows 8 would at least be easy to explain to shoppers.

Less tech-savvy buyers would likely find a branded slate easier to wrap their heads around than, say, an Asus device that's running Microsoft's operating system. One potential obstacle for anyone looking to buy an Android tablet is the sheer number of devices out there.

Microsoft could be getting protective over its new operating system, with recent reports suggesting that the company has blocked HTC from the first round of Windows 8 devices, deeming the Taiwanese phone flogger too inexperienced.

Would you use a tablet running Windows 8? Is making a tablet the best way for Microsoft to battle Apple? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.

Original Report | CNet 15 June 2012

MacBook Pro With Retina Display Can Cost $9,000 With All Of The Accessories And Add-Ons.

The Retina display on Apple's new top-of-the-line MacBook Pro is eye-popping. So is the price, if you want all the fixings.

The 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro --unveiled by Apple at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on Monday-- starts at $2,199. That's the price for the most basic configuration, with a 2.3GHz processor and no upgrades in storage or any accessories. As an experiment in excess, I decided to find out how much money I could hypothetically spend on the new MacBook Pro, if I upgraded every spec, purchased every accessory, and turned down no augmentation, embellishment, or anything, really, that Apple offered me during checkout.

It was a little like the Jim Carrey movie "Yes Man," if "Yes Man" followed a character who couldn't say no to any internal hardware enhancements.

So how much money would you spend on a new Retina MacBook Pro if you upgraded everything and bought every accessory offered to you in the shopping process? Turns out: About $9,000. For a new laptop. You could buy a perfectly lovely two-bedroom house in Stockton, Calif., for that much cash.

Anyway, here's how I got to the $9,000 MacBook from the advertised $2,199 starting price:

Original report here :

Which of these Bluetooth speakerphones sounds the best? (comparison)

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(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

Most phones sold these days have a speakerphone mode. This setting is usually good enough for an impromptu hands-free call in a quiet office. However, when you get on the road in a noisycar, the phone's flaws are made apparent. For example, the built-in microphone can be less than ideal for canceling the levels of road and wind noise present in a car at highway speed, which leads to poor quality on the receiving end of your calls. I'm sure that you dislike repeating yourself to callers as much as I do, so let's look at how to improve call quality.

Visor-mounted Bluetooth speakerphones feature more sophisticated microphones with noise and echo-cancelation technology located closer to your head, which can dramatically improve sound quality. How much of an improvement should you expect? I've recorded outbound calls from five speakerphones (and my test phone's internal microphone) to demonstrate.

All of the recordings below were made on the same day in our CNET test car--the 2007 Chevrolet Aveo, one of the noisiest cars that I've ever driven--while doing 55 mph over the same stretch of US-101 just North of San Francisco in an attempt to eliminate variations in engine noise, wind noise, road texture, and cabin acoustics.

full report :

Apple’s Wedge Design Patent

 Apple has been awarded a patent for the wedge design of the MacBook Air. The definition of the design is broad enough to cover many ultrabooks, extending Apple's apparent ownership of black rectangles to thin, vaguely katana-like triangles. 

 The design is defined by the solid lines in the patent drawings—the dotted lines are what Apple deems irrelevant to the overall patented design. So really, any laptop that is wedged could fall into this category. Even machines like the new Lenovo X1 Carbon, or the Dell XPS 13, both of which are substantially different from the MacBook Air, but are shaped kinda the same sort of a little. Ugh. 

 Here's the thing, though. 

If we take Tim Cook at his word—which, let's do that for the sake of argument—he doesn't want to bludgeon everyone on patents. But given the landscape, it's obliterate or be obliterated. It's Larry Holmes beating up Muhammad Ali, begging the ref to call the fight. Or, you know, take the fight out back and blow it up with a nuclear warhead. [Verge] 

 Full report

Apple wants to keep Samsung's Galaxy S3 out of U.S.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 smartphone.

(Credit: Brian Bennett/CNET)

Excited shoppers weren't the only ones buying Samsung's latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3, when it went on sale in the U.K. last month. Apparently Apple bought one too, and wasn't too happy about what it found in the box.

In a new court filing (PDF), picked up by intellectual property-tracking blog FOSS Patents, Apple says the S3 infringes on two of its patents, both related to software features. As a result, the company wants to keep it from being sold in the U.S.

"Because the Galaxy S III contains two of the exact infringing features already at issue with respect to the Galaxy Nexus, the S III is not more than colorably different from the Galaxy Nexus," Apple wrote in the motion, which was filed yesterday.

The two patents in question are U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604 and No. 5,946,647. The '604 patent covers "unified search," while the '647 patent covers "links for structures."

The S3 is due to launch on five U.S. carriers beginning June 21. As the name suggests, it's the third major iteration in the Galaxy S series, which runs Google's Android OS. That line, along with a number of other Samsung devices, was targeted in a patent infringement suit filed by Apple last April, accusing the company of making "slavish" copies of its iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad.

"Samsung believes Apple's request is without merit. We will vigorously oppose the request and demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive," a Samsung spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement. "We would also like to assure consumers that the U.S. launch and sales of the Galaxy S III will proceed as planned. The Galaxy S III has already been highly received in markets where it has been introduced. Samsung looks forward to bringing the Galaxy S III to the U.S., and we believe that Apple's actions would only serve to disrupt consumers' access to the latest innovative mobile technology.

Full report :

3D printing could 'revolutionise manufacturing'

Published on May 30, 2012 by Euronews : 3D printing technology is progressing rapidly, and some experts say it could revolutionise the way objects are made in the future.

An object is scanned - or designed on computer modelling software - then sliced up, into many thousands of tiny layers, which are then printed out, eventually forming a solid three dimensional product.

Top 5 Android 4.0 tablets

Finally! Enough Android 4.0 tablets are now in the wild to warrant a Top 5!

The biggest challenge in coming up with a list of the best Android 4.0 tablets was deciding whether to include only tablets that shipped with the OS installed or to also include Android 3.0 tablets that are upgradable.

However, once I realized that a "shipped-with only" list didn't fully represent Android tablets the way it should, the challenge of choosing became much easier.

So here it is. My list of the top (shipping with or upgradable to) Android 4.0 tablets (so far). Also, if you've no idea what Android 4.0 (also known as Ice Cream Sandwich) is, the video up top should fill in the blanks.

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All tablets should be using IPS or PLS panels. The A510 uses neither and (although you can't tell in this shot) suffers for it.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Acer Iconia Tab A510 

Still a bit expensive compared with what the rest of this list offers, but the Acer Iconia Tab A510 gets points for Tegra 3 power, expandable storage, and Micro-HDMI. Read the full review.

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The first Samsung tablet to ship with Android 4.0. Hopefully, we'll see some OS updates to its previously released tablets as well.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

Though 7-inch Android 4.0 tablets will likely soon be even cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with its $250 price, for now, this is one of the most highe-value full-Android 7-inchers on the market. Read the full review.

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I've definitely warmed up to the folded-back-magazine look and feel of the Tablet S.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Sony Tablet S

Sony recently bestowed an Android 4.0 upgrade on the Tablet S, which retains the very distinct Sony aesthetic as well as its software features. Also, with its new, lower price, the S is one of the better tablet buys right now. Read the full review.

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Yep. GPS actually (and officially) works here. No dongle required.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Asus Transformer Pad TF300

The best full-size Android tablet value out there. It includes the expected extras like Micro-HDMI and expandable storage, but also a powerful Tegra 3 processor and a pretty fantastic camera.Read the full review.

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Yep, I'm still waiting for Bladeslinger...

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Asus Transformer Prime TF201

The current big daddy of Android tablets, with fast performance, sensible and durable design, and a robust feature set, the Prime isn't only the best Android 4.0 tablet, but is second only to the iPad as the overall best tablet available. Read the full review.

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