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Friday, July 30, 2021
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Sony, LG, Samsung and Dell Tablets Will Have Preloaded Skype and Microsoft Office

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Microsoft has reached deals with LG, Sony, Dell and a few other electronics producers to install some of its most popular apps on Android tablets.

Dell, Sony, LG, and other important electronics brands customers will soon be able to use Skype, Microsoft Office and cloud services on their Android tablets immediately after they bought them after Microsoft signed an agreement with the OEMs to give out the installed apps and software.

The deal reaches to 31 partners, Haier and other smaller companies being part of the agreement as well. Microsoft has also included them in earlier contracts closed with with Samsung, Dell, Pegatron, which will allow Skype and Microsoft Office to be installed on their tablets. A significant number of these apps are already found on Samsung Galaxy S6.

The business deal with Microsoft has not been completely released, but the tech giant has announced a unilateral aim to open up new ways for gaining revenue for each of the partners.

LG is soon to start preloading Microsoft apps and software in their soon to be launched tablet, while Sony has already said they will be using them in their upcoming Xperia Z4 tablet in June.

The hardware companies from the deal will soon be uploading their Android tablets with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneDrive, OneNote, and Skype in the future months, a fact that shows Microsoft’s ambition to have their applications and software on non-Windows mobile gadgets.

The partnerships will enlarge Microsoft’s ecosystem to a large range of mobile devices to compensate for the tech giant’s slow growth in its own mobile gadget sales. With the applications installed on Android devices, Microsoft will manage to get its programs into the market with ease.

The software company’s move to offer free MS Office apps to Android gadgets has even included iPhones and iPads, after it gave out a subscription-free Office apps, while separate individual apps launched for Android and iOS in November last year.

At the same time, Microsoft has announced that Cortana – a digital personal assistant – will soon be available as a separate app specific to Apple iOS and Google Android.

“Our strategic agreements with these partners demonstrate how Microsoft is leveraging the scale of the hardware ecosystem, and working with partners in new ways to deliver rich experiences to our customers. This is a cornerstone of our cross-platform services strategy, to bring an array of Microsoft services to every person on every device”, the company announced in a blog post.

Image Source: Derek Lovell Coaching

Google Unveils Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus 6 Phone

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Last month we discussed the rumors that the HTC Nexus 9 was going to be revealed in October and today we’re here to tell you that those rumors were true. Yesterday Google unveiled three new devices: the Nexus 9 tablet, the Nexus 6 Smartphone and the Android TV player and the newest version of Android, the Android 5.0 Lollipop.  We’re absolutely thrilled to take a look at two of these impressive devices: the Nexus 9 tablet and the Nexus 6 smartphone.

Nexus 9 Tablet

The Nexus 9 tablet is an amazing device produced by HTC in collaboration with Google. It has an 8.9-inch display and it comes with the latest Android Lollipop. It has an IPS LDC screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Inside lies a little beast! The 2.3GHz nVidia quad-core chip will make playing games an experience you’ll never forget. It has 2GB of RAM and 16/32GB of internal storage. Naturally, the speakers are as wonderful as all the HTC ones, as it features HTC BoomSound speakers that give you an amazing, distortion-free sound. You can preorder the Nexus 9 tablet starting with October 17 (that’s tomorrow!). The 16GB version will cost $399 and the 32GB version, $479. The 32GB Nexus 9 tablet with LTE is a whopping $599.

Nexus 9 Tablet

Nexus 6 Smartphone

The Nexus 6 smartphone has a 6-inch display and it’s made by Motorola in collaboration with Google, the first time Motorola got involved in the Nexus project. It did an amazing job, we believe. It has a 1440×2560 p Corning Gorilla Glass 3 display, with 3GB of RAM and a 13MP back camera. It’s water resistant and it weigh only 184 grams. The Nexus 6 smartphone also comes with the Android 5.0 Lollipop. The Nexus 6 smartphone will be available for preorder at the end of October and it is going to hit the market in November. The unlocked version will cost $649 (32GB) and $699 (64GB).

Do you think the Nexus 9 tablet and the Nexus 6 smartphone are too expensive? Are you looking forward to getting your hands on the new Android devices? Drop us a line in the comment section below and tell us about it.

Lenovo Reveals the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro and the Yoga 3 Pro

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Back in February we took a look at the lovely Lenovo Yoga tablet 10 and saw how sleek and smart it was. Well, today Lenovo went out and did it again, as it revealed two impressive devices yesterday: the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro and the Yoga 3 Pro.

The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro and The Yoga 3 Pro

Lenovo loves its Yoga brand so much, that it unveiled a series of new Yoga laptops and tablets yesterday. The most impressive of the bunch were the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro and the Yoga 3 Pro.

Yoga Tablet 2 Pro

The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro is a 13.3-inch tablet with an integrated mini projector that runs Android. The LCD screen has a resolution of 2560×1440p, 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB internal storage. The dual cameras have a resolution of 8MP on the back and 1.6MP on the front. The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro will be available at the end of this month for $499.

Yoga Tablet 2 Pro and the Yoga 3 Pro

Yoga 3 Pro

The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is a 13.3-inch tablet that has a 360 degree hinge and runs Windows. Lenovo claimed that this model in particular is made up of more than 800 parts! Yikes!

This laptop is sleek, has an amazing 3200×1800 display resolution which is coated with Gorilla Glass. 8 GB of RAM will ensure that everything runs smoothly on it and has up to 512 GB of internal storage. The new Yoga 3 Pro starts at $1349.

The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro and the Yoga 3 Pro are impressive devices that aren’t just smart, they’re drop dead gorgeous! If you’re thinking about getting a new laptop or a tablet, these two are great choices. Still, we recommend you wait just a tiny bit longer, because Apple has announced their next big media event on October 16, where they will be launching the new iPad Air 2.

What are your thoughts on the new Yoga Tablet 2 Pro and the Yoga 3 Pro? Drop us a line in the comment section below, we would love to hear from you.

Dell Latitude 13 700 Tablet/Laptop has Core M Chip

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A while back we reported on the Alienware 13 gaming laptop and today we’ve got an exciting launch, by Dell this time: the Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop. The tablet doubles as a laptop, or it can be the other way around. Let’s take an in depth look at the new Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop and its brand-new Core M chip.

Dell Latitude 13 700 Tablet/Laptop

Dell has packed the newest technology on the market, the Intel Core M chip, in newest device, the Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop hybrid. With this product, the company is creating some tough competition for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3.

The Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop us a 13.3-inch tablet that can be attached to a keyboard dock, thus transforming itself into a neat little laptop. Dell says that this tablet/laptop is much more battery friendly than other regular laptops.

Dell Latitude 13 700 Tablet Laptop

The main thing that allows this tablet function as a laptop is the Intel Core M chip, a new low-powered personal computer chip which has been adapted for tablets; it was made using 14-nanometer process.

The Dell Latitude 13 7000 tablet/laptop lays the foundation for wire-free computing, which is, we believe, where personal computing is heading in the future.

Unfortunately, Dell hasn’t released any more details about the features of this tablet/laptop just yet, but by the look of the promotional picture, it’s going to be quite a device!

What we do know about the Dell Latitude 13 7000 tablet/laptop is that it can provide up to 512 GB of internal storage, 8 GB of RAM, a 2 MP front camera, an 8 MP rear camera and has a screen resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. Remember that the Surface Pro 3 has a screen resolution of 2160 x 1440-pixels. The Dell has LTE broadband connectivity, as opposed to the Pro 3. It starts from $1,199 and it will become available worldwide starting October.

 Any thoughts on the Dell Latitude 13 7000 tablet/laptop? Drop us a line in the comment section below, we would love to hear from you.

Lenovo Tab S8 – A New Low-Cost Android Tablet

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We’ve recently talked about the latest iPad rumors and now it’s time we took a look at another tablet that has just been released: the Lenovo Tab S8. It’s not a flagship product but at the price Lenovo is pushing, it doesn’t matter anymore.

 Lenovo is making good efforts into making better low-cost Android tablets and with the Lenovo Tab S8 it seems that it’s succeeding. The new Lenovo tablet starts selling this month for the price of $199.

Lenovo Tab S8 – Tech Specs

Lenovo Tab S8

Let’s see what the Lenovo Tab S8 has under its hood! Firstly, it is an Android tablet, which runs Google’s Android 4.4 operating system. It has a quad-core Intel Atom chip (Bay Trail). Apparently, the chip is capable of running applications that are PC oriented and of rendering HD videos.

The Lenovo Tab S8 has an 8-inch display that offers a 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution. If you find that a bit familiar, it’s because it’s the same resolution as Google’s Nexus 7, which costs $229.

The Lenovo Tab S8 is 7.87 mm thick and weighs 294 grams. Lenovo claims that a single battery charge will keep it running for seven hours, which is pretty impressive. The front-facing camera has 1.6 megapixels and the back of the tablet is packed with an 8-MP camera. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and features 16GB of internal storage.

The majority of Lenovo tablets with screen sizes under 10 inches are running Android operating systems. The Lenovo Tab S8 will ship in multiple countries, including the U.S. and most of Europe.

What are your thoughts on the Lenovo Tab S8 tablet? Does it sound appealing? Is the price enough to make you purchase it? Drop us a line in the comment section below and share your thoughts with us!

Rumor Is iPad Gets Bigger: 12.9 Inches Display

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Apple is preparing a new tablet to be released in 2015. The iPad gets bigger than any tablet produced by Apple so far. The news comes not so as a surprise, but rather as a challenge. Tablets have seen a dramatic decrease in sales numbers in the last two quarters and the iPad was not an exception. Customers who were interested in tablets already bought them. As no other major upgraded models were introduced, there was no incentive to buy a new one.

Microsoft aimed to maintain its profile as a company oriented toward productivity when it released Surface. Tablets are associated with leisure activities more than anything else. Sure, when there are important emails to read and answer immediately, tablets are fine. But laptops and desktops are still the main input device for businesses. So anything more complex than an email will probably be postponed until a physical keyboard is under the fingers. Moreover, the mouse cursor is still much more precise than a finger. How about working in Excel on a tablet?

But Microsoft was stubborn enough to continue promoting Surface even when tablets were all fun and games and in smaller sizes. The company even released i3 and i7 versions of Surface Pro 3 in August.

The iPad gets bigger as Apple plans to target businesses

In the meantime, Apple did not promote the iPad as a business device. Soon this will change and Apple will attempt to follow Microsoft’s model. Apple recently even partnered up with IBM in an effort to penetrate the business environment.

Right now Apple produces 7.9 and 9.7 inches tablets. Bloomberg reports that according to ‘some people’ who asked to remain anonymous as the information is not public yet, Apple will soon start producing a 12.9 inches tablet.

The first time rumors of a larger iPad occurred was in May, when a Korean website launched the information. That is when MacRumors decided to more precisely observe the difference between the three tablets would be and asked an artist for the rendering you can see.

ipad gets bigger as Apple plans a 12.9 inches tablet for 2015

Until the iPad gets bigger, the existing under 10 inches iPad models will be released in updated versions just in time for holidays.

Equally important, according to the same sources, Bloomberg confirms that Apple will unveil two new iPhones on September 9, both the 4.7 and the 5.5 inches models.

 

Toshiba to run Windows 8.1 on Tablets

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Windows 8.1 on TabletsToshiba is a strong competitor on the gadget market. Just take a look at the Toshiba Satellite P55t Laptop and how it is challenging the MacBook Pro. Today we’ve got some great news for Windows and Toshiba lovers. Toshiba will put Windows 8.1 on tablets! How about that, Toshiba fans?

Windows 8.1 on Tablets – Toshiba’s Newest Move

Toshiba just announced their new additions to their 2014 back-to school lineup. It includes two competitively priced 8 inch and 10 inch tablets that will run Windows 8.1 with Bing. The two tablets are called Encore 2. To make things even more exciting, they announced an even cheaper 7 inch Android tablet.

So this is the trend Toshiba wants to follow: the low-price Windows and Android Oss trend. We think that it’s a good move, if they make the gadgets a little bit appealing. They don’t have to put flagship-like features on their tablets, but they do have to make an effort. And that they did!

It seems that the effort can show, because all three tablets will have Intel’s quad-core Atom Z375F processor. The Encore 2 with an 8 inch screen will have a 1 GB of internal memory and 32 GB of storage with a price of $199 and the Encore 2 with the 10 inch screen will have the same technical specifications as the 8 inch tablet and it will cost $269.

This is a huge step forward for Toshiba. If you don’t remember, allow us to refresh your memory. They launched the initial Encore tablet, the Encore 1, for $329 and it had an 8 inch screen.

The 7 inch Android tablet is called the Excite Go and will have 1 GB of internal memory and 8 GB of storage. It will have a MicroSD card slot for additional storage and also a Micro USB port for file transfers. The street price of the Excite Go is going to be a cool $100.

Both Encore 2 models will have IPS displays with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels which is decent and not mind blowing. But hey, at that price who expects something mind blowing? They will each have one front camera (1.2 MP, 720p) and one back camera (5MP, 1080p). If the internal storage isn’t satisfactory, then you’ll be happy to find out that the tablets have MicroSD card slots that can support up to 128GB. And lastly, they both have Bluetooth 4.0 and stereo speakers.

What are your thoughts on Windows 8.1 on tablets? Are you excited about these three tablets?

HP Slate 7 Review

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HP Slate 7 reviewThe rumor mill is working hard and it appears that Samsung will soon launch some Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablets which are going to be lighter and cheaper, but until that time comes, we’re going to take a look at HP and their new Slate 7. Read our HP Slate 7 review and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

HP doesn’t know tablets, let’s face it. They do desktops like no other, their commercial laptops are the bomb, their workstations have no rival and even their POSs are awesome, but they don’t do tablets. Remember HP’s latest and biggest fail? It was called the TouchPad and the company pulled the device a less than months after it launched. It took such a drastic measure because the device was bad. Incomparably bad!

HP Slate 7 Review

The HP Slate 7 is a tablet computer introduced by HP last year and it is aimed at budget shoppers. HP Slate 7 has a quad-core processor with a 1.5GHz, which is alright. It only has 8GB of RAM of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. It supports 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, a Bluetooth 2.1 and has a nifty accelerometer. Up until now, there’s nothing too impressive, but when you learn that it has no GPS hardware and no gyroscope, you’ll be impressed at how budget it really is.

The resolution is where HP really messed up. Instead of going a bit out of its way and making it 1,280×800 pixels, HP chose to pack only 1,024×600 pixels on the Slate 7’s display, which made it obsolete before it even hit the stores. The HP Slate 7 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

What we like about this tablet is the fact that it has a 7-ich screen with a thick bezel, which makes holding it awesome. No more touching the screen by accident and activating apps or clicking at random. At the top of the bezel it has a low-quality VGA camera. It takes such photos that we have to wonder what HP was thinking putting such a horrible camera on their tablet.

Yay or Nay?

To be honest, our answer is nay. Our HP Slate 7 review made us realize that the tablet was simply not worth the money. We’re bothered by the fact that HP failed to give the tablet a Full HD display and we’re more than annoyed with the apps taking forever to load. We know it’s a budget tablet, but still, we expected a bit more.

Lenovo A Series Tablets – New Android Tablets on a Budget

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Lenovo A Series TabletsLenovo’s Yoga tablet 10 is an aluminum beauty, priced at around $350, which makes it alright for a tablet, but not a budget tablet. Last week, Lenovo jumped on the budget tablets bandwagon and released three cheap tablets, the Lenovo A Series tablets: the TAB A7, A8 and A10 – three Android tablets that are not going to make a hole in your wallet.

Lenovo A Series Tablets

Lenovo’s Android tablet portfolio always lacked a real budget series. Now, the new Lenovo A Series tablets are filling that void and doing a pretty good job too. The tablets are obviously focusing on value rather than state-of-the-art performance or even features. Let’s take a look at the three Lenovo A Series tablets and see what they’re capable of!

Lenovo A7-50

The Lenovo A7-50 is the smallest of the three Lenovo A Series tablets with a display of only 7 inches; it is IPS and has 1,280 x 800 pixels. It has a quad-core MediaTek MTKK8121 processor, which boasts 1GB of RAM and a cool 16GB of internal storage. It also has a Bluetooth 4.0, a 5MP rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-facing one. The company markets the Lenovo A7-50 as the on the go reading companion, so don’t expect to be able do much than browsing the internet, reading and sending emails and maybe playing some not-too-complicated games. The A7-50 will cost $129 and it will begin shipping in May 2014.

Lenovo A8

The Lenovo A8 has an 8-inch IPS display and the same resolution as the A7, 1,280 x 800 pixels. Other than that, it has absolutely the same identical technical specifications as the Lenovo A7: the MediatTek processor, the 1GB of Ram and the same front and rear facing cameras. The A8 will be priced at $179 and it will hit the stores at the same time the A7-50 will, in May of this year.

Lenovo A10

The Lenovo A10 is the largest of the three and it features a 10-inch display with the same 1,280 x 800 pixels as its sister tablets. When it comes to large tablets, the A10 falls behind with the display, but we need to remind ourselves that this is a budget tablet. Other than that, it has the same cameras, speakers and processor as the two smaller Lenovo A Series tablets. The A10, the largest tablet of the bunch, will cost $249. Have the money ready in May, when all three tablets will start shipping.

The Lenovo A Series tablets are some of the most affordable Android tablets from an established producer. Are you excited about these three tablets? Thinking about buying one? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro Is More of a PC than a Tablet. And That’s a Good Thing!

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samsung galaxy note proThe new Samsung Galaxy Note Pro is the new Holy Grail on the tablets market, a development field one would say that can’t bring on too many surprises, especially with the news regarding smartphones and smartwatches being so many and exciting. But Samsung seems to always have an ace down its sleeve when it comes to baffling the competition and the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro tablet is such a (pleasant) surprise. Bigger, better, faster, more seems to be Samsung’s new motto and the Note Pro doesn’t disappoint: this is a significant bigger tablet than the ones we kinda got used to by now and has PC – like features that clearly aim to charm the desktop users. While it seems the PC era is slowly reaching its dusk and more and more professionals and business men are stirring to tablets, Samsung comes to welcome them with a product featuring a more comfortable 12.2-inch display and a set of preloaded software for enterprise oriented users.

The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro Specs

As we said, this tablet is corporate friendly and a fierce challenger to all Windows 8 products, thus it comes with the Hancom Office – a variety of the more popular Microsoft Office suite, a myriad of apps, widgets and very useful features such as e-Meeting, and WebEx, e-mail, Internet, spreadsheets and so on. One of the most interesting features however, is that the tablet being generous in size, Samsung managed to provide it with a customer friendly keyboard – a traditional full onscreen keyboard to let the users type fast and with little errors, as the keyboard features a key-specific haptic feedback – it vibrates underneath your fingers to let you know you pressed the keys. However, the best card Samsung plays for its niche customers is, of course, the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro battery life: upon testing, experts found that the device can last for a few days (meaning three or four), while with an average of 2 hours use per day, it can hold as much as a week.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro put an end to the desktop era? Will it become the next corporate device, being light as a feather, comprising amazing features and giving users all the power and freedom they need?